by Sheila Kell
Forks clanked on plates and men gulped their beverages. They acted like nothing was wrong. He’d think they cared more about their sister and niece’s safety than to act so nonchalant about the investigation. Dammit. If he was in charge, he’d… he’d… just what the hell would he do? The Ponzi scheme was a crime committed entirely on paper. And, her boss’s records were all destroyed.
Okay, maybe they weren’t nonchalant. Maybe they realized the same thing.
But… “Were you able to track the kidnappers back to anyone?” Jake thought aloud.
Nodding, Jesse retook his seat. “Yeah. Back to her boss, Michael Wright.”
“Then, you’d better damn well find him.” Maybe he should go out and search for the man. No. He wanted to be here beside Em and Amber. He’d have to trust her brothers. “What now?”
Devon set his coffee cup down. “Em gave me some of her boss’s clients to research. It’ll take time for me to successfully grab the information we need.”
“Why not bring the SEC in on it?” Hell, Paul was out of the way.
“Not yet,” Devon responded. “We need to find out how deep this thing is first. This doesn’t sound like a small operation. If we get the wrong person, we’ve exposed her.”
Jesse looked pointedly at him and cocked one eyebrow. “Don’t worry. We will when the time is right. In the meantime, they’re safe here. As you see, we have someone tracking down her boss and coworker, and Devon is pulling more information. Does this meet with your approval?” His lip twitched.
Cocky son of a bitch. Jake stood and tossed his napkin on his plate. “Yeah. Just keep me in the loop.” He turned and walked away before someone could make another comment. They had the investigation handled. For now.
PULLING off his gray T-shirt, Jake used it to wipe the sweat streaming down his face and neck while walking to the huddle with Jesse, Kate, Matt and Les. In their game of touch football, his team was ahead by two touchdowns. It would’ve been three, but he’d allowed Em to pass him to score for her team. His team wouldn’t let him forget it or cover her again.
The brothers had always been competitive, and with the addition of Kate and a couple of the HIS team members, the game had turned into a rivalry that mimicked dirty warfare where sometimes touch became tackle, and they were gunning for him.
“Who’s winning now?” Blake shouted across the yard, long tongs in his hand, smoke from the grill floating up behind him and disappearing, but not before it sent a tantalizing smell of beef, chicken, and pork toward their makeshift football field.
Raising her hands over her head, Kate grinned widely. “We are! Woot woot!”
Laughing, Jesse ran to his wife and grabbed her close for a kiss.
Her right hand on her hip, Megan turned from her game with the children and raised a light-colored eyebrow. She looked cool with the fan blowing on her, swishing the skirt of her flowery sundress around her legs. “AJ Hamilton, are you really letting them beat you?”
Before her husband could respond, Les, who’d been named temporary field team leader when Ken had been called home on a family emergency, mocked AJ, garnering deep laughs from everyone except the man himself who didn’t seem to appreciate his wife laughing along with the group.
“Let’s just get back to the game,” AJ growled. “It’s our ball.”
“I want Trent,” Jake said to his team. The bastard had given Em a friendly, sporty, swat to the butt, and he hadn’t liked it one bit. The intensity of his jealously almost suffocated him as his mind whirled around scenarios of Em and Trent in scenes that only boiled his blood. A wave of newfound energy, probably that green-eyed monster, flowed through his exhausted limbs. Being on defense was the perfect opportunity to let the playboy know how Jake felt about his actions.
Jesse narrowed his eyes at him as if assessing him, then nodded.
Four shirtless men, and one woman in a drenched tank top, lined up on each side of the football and an imaginary scrimmage line, facing their opponents, spouting bullshit in an attempt to rile them.
Devon hiked the ball to AJ, who stepped back, watching his team race down the field, attempting to find an open player. AJ looked up, and his eyes widened at Matt pushing Brad, so he rushed a pass to his closest teammate, Trent, who Jake had left open.
Charging, Jake tackled Trent, hitting the ground hard, the impact knocking the wind from the man, the ball dropping to the ground. Kate and Em raced over while Trent worked to suck oxygen into his lungs.
“What the fuck?” AJ shouted.
Jake wasn’t sure who chastised his brother first for his language with the children around—his wife, his father, his sister-in-law or even his brothers. He thought he even heard Reagan yell to her mother that Uncle AJ said a bad word.
Looking at Trent as he stood, Jake smirked. “I tripped.”
While the women babied their injured player, everyone took the opportunity for a water break, chased the girls around or looked over Blake’s shoulder at the grill, giving him instruction.
“Do you feel better now?” At least Jesse hadn’t lectured him or given him shit about it.
Jake moved the bottle of water to his lips and nodded before he chugged it.
His brother wiped sweat from his brow. “How’re you holding up? Tired?”
Hell yeah, he was tired. There was no way he’d sit down like a pussy while the women still had the energy to play. He’d never live it down. “I’m good.”
Jesse crossed his arms over his sweaty chest; his expression belied disbelief of Jake’s answer. “Okay. I’m putting you back on Em then. Let her have another touchdown, and I’ll beat your ass myself. And don’t you dare fucking tackle her.”
Chuckling, he reached for a towel and wiped his face before running it across his upper body, his eyes strayed to Em and Amber petting Dottie. The sight made him smile, but it was missing one thing… him. “Gotcha.” Taking a step toward his daughter, his brother’s hand on his shoulder halted his progress.
“Break’s over. Let’s go, boys and girls!” Jesse yelled.
Standing across from Em, her tank top stuck to her body, outlining her breasts and small waist, set his blood afire. She turned her head away from him after he winked at her. His patience of waiting for her was at an end, but how to change it without angering her more still eluded him.
With the entire family here, doing that and having just the three of them alone was not easy. Asking the family to go somewhere wasn’t possible. Without knowing who the leader of the scheme was, or where her boss happened to be, left the requirement to keep Em and Amber protected.
That thought sent a shiver snaking through him, rubbing its scaly cover everywhere, bringing his desire down a notch. This game had been a break for everyone since they’d hit a few roadblocks. A chance to blow off a little steam and kick out some of their anger at not solving it yet. Glancing over at Devon, he knew the only way they’d pulled him outside, into the game, was because his computer was compiling the information he spoke of at breakfast. Jake prayed they’d find something useful.
Em darted past him before he realized AJ had the ball ready to pass. She stopped and turned with her arms up.
Yes! They planned to throw it to her expecting him to allow her to score again.
Jogging in her direction, he left space so AJ could see she was still open. After she caught the ball, he grabbed her around the waist before she could turn and then pulled her close, spinning her around as the football dropped to the ground.
Stopping, he watched her eyes darken, and she didn’t look away like she had been doing. The world slipped away, and it was just the two of them, locked in a heated embrace, a current of desire flowing between them, melting them together. Her breath hitched when his dick began growing against her belly.
He had the urge to kiss her, and based on her reaction to being in his arms again, there was no mistaking
that she wanted the same. Memories of her kisses… the sweetness… the passion… the urgency had his pulse speeding through his body faster than AJ’s driving.
What the hell? AJ? Why did he come to mind?
Slowly, an awareness of everything other than Em returned to him. Fuck!
“Enough you two,” the unwelcome invader of his thoughts said before slapping him on the shoulder. AJ was damn lucky Em was in his arms, or Jake would have connected his fist with the man’s jaw.
Letting her down, he slid her close to his body, giving her a promise with his gaze. Or at least that was what he hoped she got from it.
“Daddy, fudball.”
Looking down, he watched Amber struggle to pick up the football with her small hands. Figuring it out, she held the ball close to her chest, smiling up at him, looking proud of her accomplishment.
His lust for Em gushed away, and parental pride replaced it. Kneeling down a couple feet from his daughter, he opened his arms. “Throw it here, princess.”
No one laughed at her attempt to toss the ball when it fell from her hands to the ground. She leaned over to pick it up again, fumbling, but determined.
Reaching forward, Jake grabbed her and stood, swinging her around, her legs flying through the air. He couldn’t get enough of that giggle, even when it included hiccups like it did now. Dizzy himself, he stopped and set her on her feet. She tried to step and fell down. The laughing never stopped.
After recovering, she stood with her arms open up to him. “Again, Daddy.”
Scooping her up, he strode toward the family by the picnic tables. “Daddy can’t do that again, or he’ll fall like you.” He poked her in the belly, and she reached up and grabbed his finger. “What has my little girl been doing?”
“I pet Dottie. Thee gonna have baby dogs.”
Finally, he could understand her words. He’d worried she was behind or had a speech impediment, but he’d been assured by Em, Jesse, and Blake that it was normal at that age. Smiling, he kissed her on the cheek. “You know now that she’s going to have puppies you can’t ride her?”
Amber nodded, almost butting him in the nose. “I not ride Dottie ‘cause I too bid.” She turned to him. “Can I hab a pony?”
Chuckling, Jake wondered if every kid asked for one. He remembered the day he’d asked his mother for one, promising to keep him in his room and brush him every day. She’d held a smile behind her serious voice telling him that ponies weren’t allowed where they lived. He’d huffed off when she wouldn’t agree to move so he could have one.
He’d been on his bed, arms tight across his chest, his head down and lip poked out when she’d come to the room to tell him dinner was ready. He grumbled that he wasn’t hungry, yet his stomach rumbled making a liar out of him. She’d played dirty and cooked his favorite—macaroni and cheese with hot dogs cut up in it.
“Mommy tay no pony in New Ork.”
Stopping beside Em with a twinkle in his eye, he smiled at her. “Mommy’s right. You can’t have a pony there.”
Amber wiggled out of his arms and ran to Reagan. They dropped down on the bench beside a sleeping cat. Megan’s cat, Bob, stretched and yawned when the girls petted him. Amber needed something bigger than a fish. Maybe one of Dottie’s puppies. He wondered if Em’s landlord would allow it.
Mentally shaking his head, he knew that Em and his daughter couldn’t return to New York. She no longer had a job there, and he lived here. Plus, the family was here. They should live near the family so Amber could grow up around everyone.
He had no idea what she wanted. His jaw tightened. She might want to move back there. Jesse had hired someone to put her home back to rights.
She’d mentioned her career as an accountant was over, but he couldn’t believe that. Why would any firm hold what she’d done against her? She’d reported a criminal.
Her love for numbers growing up had helped him and AJ on more than one occasion. Even though she had been four years behind them in school, she could figure out almost any problem they had in their high school math courses. They might not have passed if it hadn’t been for her tutoring them and refusing to do their homework but agreeing to check it.
There was no need to waste his time considering her move. They’d be married and live in Baltimore. He worked here and couldn’t just up and move to New York for her to have a job there. Shit. He didn’t have a job any longer. He’d quit the FBI and didn’t want to go back. He needed a job before he proposed again. That could be remedied easily.
As for being a family, his heart felt light since he hadn’t had an episode with his daughter, or anyone else. No flashbacks, no terror-filled moments. It must’ve been temporary. Now, nothing held him back.
“She looks just like you,” he told Em with his gaze fastened on their daughter.
“She has your eyes.” Her breathless response caught his attention.
Looking down at her, he saw desire still swimming around in her eyes. He wanted her to be the one to come to him, but she’d been the one to do that the first time, so he figured she wanted him to take the step this time. Leaning down to whisper in her ear, he rasped, “Tonight.”
Her breath hitched.
“Food’s ready!”
Dammit! They had to get somewhere alone. He loved the family, but they kept interrupting at the wrong times.
NERVOUSLY pacing her bedroom, Emily brought her hand to her mouth to bite on her fingernail. Realizing what she’d been about to do, she yanked her arm back to her side. That had been a bad habit she’d fought to end in college after she’d bitten them down to the cuticle and had drawn blood during a history final exam. She’d passed the class, barely, and after tasting the jalapeño juice she’d placed on her thumb to halt her from chewing on it again, she’d decided she couldn’t stomach the little, hot pepper ever again, even mixed in food.
Pushing aside her thoughts she’d used to divert her attention from the issue at hand, she dropped on the bed; the mattress bounced in response. Would Jake really come to her room? After the demonstration in the bathroom, she’d say he would. But, was he using her desire for him to drive her to agree to marry him for her daughter’s sake or did he truly want her?
The man had gone his whole life pushing her away like a petulant child and now, suddenly, he wanted to be with her and be her husband. Funny how telling a man he was a father would do that. How was she to truly know? If she asked him and he said it was only for his daughter, Emily would be crushed. She couldn’t do it.
Memory of their one night together, the two of them naked and sweaty in each other’s arms, elicited a warmth to spread across her flesh at the thought of the pleasure of his touch. She closed her eyes to will away the need driving through her, puckering her nipples, leaving her breasts tender and a pulsing between her thighs.
Maybe it would’ve worked if she hadn’t been in his arms earlier, absorbing the electricity that zapped to her from the arms that held her tight against his hard body. His working out to rebuild the muscles in his body left her drooling whenever he returned with her brothers from the basement gym. He typically wore a sleeveless T-shirt that was wet and stuck to his body, and she admired the returning definition of his muscles. A sight she didn’t want any other woman to see.
She jerked her head to the door when Jake slipped in wearing shorts, and only shorts. Holy crap.
He silently walked to her, slid his hand behind her head and angled his head down. With his lips barely touching her, in a hoarse voice, he said, “My sweet Em.”
Loving the sound of it, she didn’t argue when he reached his other arm around her, pulled her against his body and claimed her mouth with a slow, sensual kiss. The swirl of heat enveloped her, taking her breath away.
It had been too many years since she’d known passion that lit her need to be touched. She’d waited for the only man who could complete her.
She slowly slid her arms around him and pulled herself closer. The feel of his body, the touch of his lips and his arms around her brought only the two of them into focus. The world around them melted away. Moving her hand higher, she ran her fingers through his short dark hair.
She opened her mouth, and their tongues danced for several moments before the kiss changed to searing and then hungry, demanding. She moaned, and a delicious shudder rolled through her being, leaving tingles in its wake.
Raising his mouth from hers, heat coalesced between them as he searched her eyes. “Before we go any further, I need to know you’ll leave Trent and be mine. Only mine.”
Only his? She’d waited almost her whole life to hear that. What the hell did he mean by her leaving Trent? At that moment she didn’t care; she wanted him to kiss her again. “I’m only yours, Jake.”
His lips curved into a sexy smile that melted her insides. It was like all those years ago except her dream was coming true that this time she knew he was awake.
Leaning in, he brushed a tantalizing kiss in the hollow of her neck, weakening her knees. Then gently working his way up her neck to her ear, he nibbled on her earlobe. His warm breath created a heated shiver that moved through her, snaking through her veins with erotic pleasure that left an excited tremble in its wake.
“Let me help you out of these clothes.”
Unwinding her arms, she stepped back, eager for him to touch her body, to make her feel what he had once before.
The next moment she was topless, and his hand slowly massaged her breast before he squeezed her taut, sensitive nipple. “God, Em. I need you.” His gazed held hers as intimately as his hand did. There was more than just sex in his eyes.
She dropped her head back and held a moan in. Lethal hands. That was what he had. His simple touch sent currents of ecstasy flying straight to her lower belly. If she allowed him to continue to fondle her, they might not make it to the bed. She had it that bad for him. But she wanted more. She wanted all of him.