Tempted by Love

by Jennifer Ryan

Alina dismissed Noel, too, with a slight shake of her head. “Let me grab my purse.” She walked to a back office and disappeared.

  Noel approached him. “So you and Alina are seeing each other?”

  Jay nodded. “We have been for a while now.”

  “Funny, she never mentioned you.”

  Jay took the jab in stride. “I’m sure she wants to keep her business and private life separate.” And she probably didn’t say anything to Noel because she didn’t share those kinds of personal things with him.

  “Still, it’s interesting she wouldn’t mention dating a DEA agent. I mean, her brothers are agents as well.”

  “They’re friends. I work with them all the time.”

  “Oh. And they’re okay with you dating their sister.”

  Nosy asshole. “They appreciated that I was there for Alina after her so-called accident last week.”

  Noel paled. “I thought the police concluded it was random.”

  “We’ll see.”

  Noel’s eyes widened. “You’re investigating.”

  “Her brothers and I don’t think someone running her off the road after he’d followed her for some distance is an accident. It seems targeted, don’t you think?”

  “Maybe seeing you is dangerous,” Noel shot back.

  Jay went fishing. “We think there’s something else going on.”

  Noel shrugged it off despite his earlier deep concern for Alina. “Strange things happen all the time.”

  If Noel had a thing for Alina, Jay expected him to be outraged someone would target her. He expected the guy to demand they find the culprit, put him in a cell, and throw away the key. Instead, Jay got things happen.

  Alina appeared without her white coat, her purse over her shoulder, looking very pretty in black slacks and a pink top that made her gray eyes look more blue and her hair appear black as night.

  Noel stared at the back of Mandi’s head as she worked on the computer, then went to Alina. “After all that’s happened, maybe you should let me take over the drug talks.”

  Alina narrowed her eyes. “You asked me to do it so you’d have more time with Lee.”

  “You’re doing too much. You need time to heal.”

  “I’m fine,” she assured him and stepped around him. “I don’t mind doing the talks. In fact, it’s become very important to me. The community needs the help. Now, I’ll be back in about an hour.”

  Jay took her hand as she came out of the side door. Walking with the ice pack stuffed up his pant leg made his limp more pronounced.

  “What happened to you?” Noel called after them.

  “Someone tried to blow me up.”

  Noel’s shock almost made Jay laugh as he held the door open for Alina. They stepped out onto the sidewalk outside the pharmacy.

  “That wasn’t nice,” she scolded him.

  “What? It’s the truth.”

  “Yeah, but now I’m going to have to answer a million questions when I get back.”

  “Maybe you should ask him why he got so paranoid and agitated when he saw a DEA agent in the store.”

  “You noticed that?”

  He cocked an eyebrow at her. “What do you make of it?” He led her to his SUV, held the door open for her, closed it once she settled in the seat, and made his way around the car to the driver’s side, climbed in and started the car. He drove them out of the lot.

  He glanced over and caught her pensive stare. “Well, what’s up with Noel?”

  “I’m not sure. He’s under a lot of stress because of his wife’s illness. His daughters are away at school, but they seem to be doing okay even though Noel worries about them being out on their own.”

  “None of that has to do with his freak-out that you were pulling records and a DEA agent was present.”

  “As you know, Schedule II drugs are strictly regulated and monitored. We face hefty penalties and fines for errors or not reporting who and how much we dispense the drugs to, loss, and theft. We have to account for every pill in stock. With all he’s facing with his wife, maybe he panicked because the last thing he needs is an investigation when we are so diligent about keeping accurate records.”

  Sounded reasonable. “Maybe.”

  “Did you know home burglaries are on the rise in this area? The robbers are targeting people’s medicine cabinets.”

  “Well, the DEA has seized a huge portion of the street drugs people use instead of those prescription pills because they’re cheaper. This weekend, we seized two thousand pounds of cocaine and seven hundred pounds of heroin before it hit the streets. In the last year, Caden and Beck have closed down a couple of meth labs that had enough volume to supply most of the state. Because of that, dealers need to find another means to get their product and feed the demand of their customers. Prescription pills go for a high price on the streets.”

  “Drugs do so much more damage than just to the user. Two people lost their lives in those break-ins.”

  Jay pulled into a parking spot outside Mia’s restaurant, Cream of the Crop.

  “We can’t eat here.” Alina sank down in the seat.

  “Why not?”

  “My sister-in-law will tell my brother that she saw us together.”

  “Alina, I hate to tell you this, but your brothers are top-notch investigators and figured out you and I are together at the wedding.”

  “What?”

  “Well, they suspected something was going on. Beck asked me about it after you left me at the hospital.”

  “I didn’t leave you.”

  He chuckled at her incredulous tone. “You know what I mean.”

  “Well, you’re still in one piece, so I guess he didn’t try to kill you.”

  “No. But he did ask me my intentions.”

  Alina rolled her eyes and groaned. “Oh God, how embarrassing. They make me feel like I’m fifteen and incapable of running my own life.”

  “They don’t think that. They want you to be happy. Which is why after my talk with Beck he promised that he and Caden would back off and let us do this without their interference.”

  “Really?” At his nod, she added, “Well, that’s unexpected. What did you say to him?”

  “That you and I want the same thing.” He took her hand, brought it to his lips, and kissed her palm. “I told him, I need you. You make me smile and laugh and want all those things I put off for someday right now. When I’m not with you, all I want to do is be with you.”

  Tears gathered in her eyes. “Oh, Jay.”

  “No crying. Mia will see, she’ll call Caden, and I will be dead.”

  “If the guys are going to stay out of this, let’s keep them out of it, too.”

  “Deal.” He opened the door and slid out. He meant to open the door for her, but she met him at the front of the car and walked right into his arms, went up on her toes, and kissed him. “What you said, it means everything to me.” She kissed him again, then fell to her flat feet and smiled up at him. His chest swelled with emotion as he returned her smile.

  “You guys are adorable.” Mia stood between the parked cars, phone held up as she took their picture.

  “What are you doing?” Alina asked.

  “Sending this to Caden to show him his radiant sister with a caption that says, The happy couple.”

  “You should mark it, First official date.”

  Mia beamed. “And you chose my place. That’s so sweet.”

  “Jay picked the place. And, yes, it is sweet.”

  Jay tried to hold back the sheepish grin. “They say they’ll stay out of this, but they won’t. Might as well embrace it. And eat. Please. I’m dying.”

  Alina pushed him toward the door. “Let’s go. Two thick, grass-fed beef burgers, stat!”

  “Do you want your usual fried zucchini?” Mia asked Alina.

  “Please tell me you made that awesome ranch with the little bits of red onion.”

  Mia laughed at the pure desperation in Alina’s voice. “Just the way you like it.” />
  Alina sat across from him at the table near the kitchen. “Thick and creamy.”

  “As always. What can I get you to drink?”

  “Iced tea,” they said in unison with a laugh. “No lemon,” they added at the same time.

  “Jinx,” Mia said for them. “Coming right up.”

  Jay reached across the table, took Alina’s hand, and tugged her forward so he could kiss her palm and lay it against his cheek. Her smile set off a wave of flutters in his belly and made him wonder why he hadn’t taken her to his place for something much more intimate and private. “I finally have you alone.”

  “Did you miss me?” The teasing tone didn’t hide how much his answer meant to her.

  “More than I can say.”

  “From all the drugs you seized, it sounds like you got a lot done.”

  “I did, but . . .”

  “What?” She read something in the way he stared at her, hoping what he said next didn’t frighten her off again. “Jay, you can say anything to me.”

  “I tried to stay busy, but it kept coming back to me at odd moments.”

  “The explosion?”

  “Yeah. It came out of nowhere. All I could think was that I finally had a woman I wanted, more than anything, in my home and I wasn’t going to make it back to her.”

  Alina squeezed his hand. “You made it. And I’m right here.”

  “In those moments, I wanted you to be there. I wanted to hold on to you and convince myself you’re real. This is real.” Jay never opened up like this with anyone. He and the guys joked, teased, told crude and inappropriate jokes to deal with the things they did and saw on the job. They held it in and coped with distraction. Some guys drank to dull the pain and blur the gruesome images in their heads. Others lost themselves in family life, ignoring the problem altogether. Some of the guys had become real adrenaline junkies. Others worked out, boxed, whatever to spend the excess energy and aggression that masked the pain they were in.

  Jay usually found comfort at home on his ranch, riding his horse out on the open land where he could think and regroup. The last two days, he’d found he didn’t want that ride, the solitude to brood and feel all the emotions he didn’t share with others. He just wanted to be with Alina. She’d listen. She’d understand. She’d do what she was doing now and hold his hand and offer comfort. With her, he’d find a way to breathe through the bad.

  Alina rose from her chair and came around the table. He sat back and she plopped right into his lap. Her arm hooked around his neck and drew him in for a hug. He wrapped his arms around her.

  “Next time you need me, call me. You don’t have to say anything, you don’t have to give me all the details. I’ll do all the talking if you want me to, or I can just be quiet with you.”

  That’s exactly what he’d wanted. Someone there to fill the silence with their presence and understanding.

  He held her closer and sat with her, ignoring the stares from the other customers. He inhaled her sweet citrus and honey scent, breathed, and reminded himself that bomb almost ended his life, but he had a damn good reason to live now.

  “Everything okay?” Mia set their drinks on the table and eyed them warily.

  Alina stared up at Mia. “I needed a hug. It’s been a rough couple of days.”

  Jay silently thanked Alina with a squeeze for not outing him for being the one who needed the hug because some days his job was harder than others.

  Mia nodded. “You two make a pair. Your bruises from the accident are fading and his are fresh. That gash on your head looks bad.” Mia pointed to the line of stitches near his hairline.

  Jay absently touched them. “They itch.”

  “The leg is worse, I take it. You’re limping a lot.”

  Jay reached down, pulled his pant leg up, and pulled the warm ice pack out. “Mind dumping that in the trash?” He pushed his pant leg down.

  Mia went back to the kitchen. Alina kissed him long and soft. Nothing too sexy because they were in the middle of a crowded restaurant, but enough to let him know the heat between them hadn’t dimmed. She slipped off his lap and took her seat again.

  “So, we have an agreement?”

  He liked that about her. She didn’t let him get away with telling her he needed something without getting his promise that he’d follow through on it. “Yes. I’ll call you.”

  “It’s more than that, Jay. I want you to be honest when things are rough. I can take it. I want to be there for you. The last thing I want is to see that broken-soul look I saw in Beck all those months he worked one undercover case after another and suffered so many tragedies. You can’t keep that all inside.”

  Jay didn’t face the kinds of things Beck had faced undercover, but he did see some pretty bad shit. There always came a point where you just couldn’t deal with any more of it. “I won’t keep things from you.”

  Though it might be better. She’d been angry that he’d gotten hurt on the job. That wasn’t what his father had done to his mother. He’d lost himself in work and the silence, isolating himself because he didn’t want to burden Jay’s mother with those terrible things. Maybe if his father had told her, not the gory details, but how his work affected him, they’d have grown closer. Maybe his mother would have felt needed instead of cast aside because of his father’s demons.

  Jay wanted to bring Alina into his world and give her a reason to stay.

  Alina set her purse on the table, dug through it, and pulled out her bottle of pain meds. She twisted off the top and dumped a pill into her hand.

  Concerned, he leaned forward on his arms and studied her. “I thought you were feeling better.”

  Alina stared across the table at him, her eyes going to the cut on his head, the bruises on his face, the stiffness he couldn’t hide in his shoulders. “You need this more than I do.”

  Jay shook his head. “I took a couple ibuprofen before I picked you up. I’m good.” Stiff, sore, but he didn’t need the heavy-duty pain meds clouding his mind. Not when he might have to go back to work.

  Alina dumped the pill back in the bottle and stuffed them into her purse. She leaned forward on her elbows, slid her fingers into her hair, and held her head as she stared at the table.

  “Alina? What is it?”

  “My ribs and shoulder are still sore, but nothing compared to what you must feel right now.”

  “Your accident was only a few days ago. You’re still healing.” He pointed out the obvious, not understanding the anger in her eyes.

  “I don’t need these meds.”

  “If you’re in pain—”

  “You’re in pain. I’ve got what amounts to a dull ache. But because the doctor prescribed the meds, I simply pulled them out to take them without any thought to whether or not I needed something this powerful.”

  Jay placed his hand over hers. “Alina, it’s okay. You’re working on that drug talk, you’re connected to the DEA, you see people come into the pharmacy in desperate need for these drugs. You’re oversensitive to the issue and putting undo pressure on yourself.”

  She turned her hand under his and held on. “All true, but that doesn’t discount the fact that just now I kind of felt an urge to take the pill before the last one truly wore off. Because I don’t want to feel the pain? Or because I want to feel the way the pill makes me feel? That’s different, Jay. That’s how people get hooked.”

  “Not you. You’re too smart for that.”

  “Drugs don’t care if you’re smart, or strong, or good, or bad. Nothing about who I am changes the fact I reached for a pill to make me feel better when I don’t really need it.”

  Jay asked the hard question. “Can you stop taking them?”

  She sighed and smiled at him. “Yes. Without a doubt. I just had a moment where it all became clear how some people can fall down that slippery slope without even thinking about it, or realizing it’s happening. That’s all. I don’t need them. I’m not taking any more.” She squeezed his hand, her eyes clear with inte
nt and the truth. She was okay.

  Mia delivered their thick burgers. “Are you two always this intense?”

  Jay laughed with Alina and it did them both good and helped them ease back into enjoying their time together. “We’re good together.”

  Alina nodded to reassure Mia.

  “Enjoy, guys.”

  Jay dredged a hot French fry through Alina’s ranch dressing and stuffed it in his mouth. She was right about the dressing. “I know you have to go back to work after this, but will you come to my place tonight?”

  “Want me to bring dinner?”

  He shook his head. “I’ll make you dinner.”

  “Even better.” Her eyes filled with excitement and anticipation that had more to do with him than the fried zucchini she devoured.

  “Will you stay over? I promise you’ll be up early enough to get to work on time.”

  “But will I get any sleep?” A spark of devilment shone in her eyes.

  He reached across the table and traced her arm, elbow to wrist, his fingers sliding over her soft, bare skin, making her shiver. “That, I can’t promise.”

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  Alina walked into the house later that night to the soft glow of candlelight in the dining room casting the rest of the house in shadows. Red roses filled a crystal bowl on the table. Their heady scent filled the air, intoxicating her. He’d set two places with white dishes, antique silverware he’d mentioned his grandmother left him, crystal wineglasses, and a platter with grilled pork chops and potatoes and onions. Next to it sat a big bowl of salad.

  “Jay, you did all this for me?”

  “I told you I can’t cook. But I can grill. I wanted to do something nice for you. And me,” he admitted.

  After they’d both been through traumatic ordeals, she understood his desire to indulge in something good. “It’s lovely.”

  He took her hand and led her to the table and held out her chair so she could sit. She did. He took his seat at the head of the table and served her first, filling her plate with the garlicky potatoes and onions, then plopped one of the thick chops down in the center of her plate. She served herself the salad and added some to his plate.

  He poured the wine and held up his glass to her. “Good food, better wine, and a beautiful woman by my side. The perfect night.”