When Lightning Strikes (The Storm Inside Book 3)

by Alexis Anne

  My favorite was always the pictures, and Eve had some amazing ones. Pictures of her dad, Papa Joe Daniels, as both a player and then a coach. Pictures of her and her sisters growing up on Sanibel. Pictures of her and Jake in college and then at their wedding.

  Holy crap she’d been a beautiful bride. The smile alone made her look amazing. Not to mention the new husband with his matching smile. Jake was a good looking man, but he was straight up gorgeous in these photos.

  I finished wandering into the library. Natalie was staring up at the bookcases with her mouth open.

  “They’re mostly organized by genre. The ones I love are at eye level, the ones I want to read are above, and the ones I didn’t really like are below.” Eve made a face as she said the last part.

  Natalie nodded furiously. “I like your system. It totally makes sense and it means I’ll get to know you better.”

  “Exactly,” Eve nodded. “Books say a lot about the reader and the writer.”

  I could tell Natalie wanted to attack the shelves. She was just barely containing her excitement by biting her lower lip and wringing her fingers. “Can she touch them?” I asked since Natalie wasn’t ever going to get up the nerve.

  “Go nuts. I’m stealing your mom now.”

  “Have fun,” Natalie said with a wave. She didn’t even bother looking at us.

  “So,” Eve grabbed my hand. “You, me, alcohol, and gossip.”

  “Sounds good to me.”

  “Good. Jake is finishing up some work upstairs and then he’s going to make lunch. His business partner is stopping by to eat too. I hope you don’t mind.”

  “Why would I mind?”

  Eve shrugged and looked away. “Just want to make sure my guest is happy. I finally got you over here and I don’t want to scare you away!”

  Something about this felt off, but I wasn’t sure what. Unless this was a setup, but even that would be fine. I mean, sure it’s weird that Eve would do that without asking—especially when we’d worked so hard to get time together—but weirder things had happened. Sometimes happily married people wanted all their single friends to be as happy as they are and they forgot we don’t need to be set up at every possible opportunity.

  I decided it wasn’t worth worrying about and focused on helping Eve pour our mojitos.

  “I have chips and guacamole, too. You know, so we don’t get shit-faced,” she said.

  “Smart girl.”

  We settled into a cushy set of lounge chairs on the back porch. It was warm, but the ceiling fans moved enough air to keep it comfortable. The cold mojitos helped, too.

  “How’s work?” she asked first.

  “Busy but good. You?”

  “Busy but good. I’m just happy to have a Saturday off. I don’t get as many as I’d like in the summer.” Being Director of Fan Experience meant that Eve oversaw anything that involved the Rays fans, including games.

  “At least baseball season isn’t year round.”

  “Cheers to that.” She raised her glass and took another sip. “So spill the beans. Were the rumors about Bobby true?”

  That’s right. Eve wanted gossip. She’d asked about Bobby when I saw her at the stadium. “Yes and no. He did have too much fun in Cancun. He did get drunk and punch the bell hop. And he did pay a hooker while he was there.” All of this and more had been front page news for weeks. Bobby Jones was not going to be living down his Cancun vacation for a very, very long time.

  “But? There’s a but. I know there’s a but.”

  “Oh there’s a but,” I assured her. A great big huge one.

  “Well, what is it?” She sat up and turned to face me.

  “Are you sure you can handle this? It’s big. And crazy. And weird.” I shook my head and shivered trying to picture exactly what had happened to Bobby.

  Eve glared at me. “Of course I can handle it. And you know I’m not telling anyone.”

  “While he was drunk he passed out.”

  Eve leaned closer, practically eating out of my hands as I spoon-fed her the story.

  “And the bell hop he punched happened to be the brother of a local plastic surgeon.”

  Her eyes widened and her jaw went slack. “What did they do to him?”

  It would be so inappropriate to giggle, but damn did I want to. “They gave him breast implants.”

  Eve clamped her hand over her mouth and held in the fit of laughter.

  “He’s mortified. They’ve been removed, obviously, but he’s had to have corrective surgeries.”

  Eve keeled over on the lounge chair, still silently laughing. A tear rolled out of the corner of her eye. I took her drink and set it on the table.

  “Thank you,” she gasped between fits.

  “You’re welcome.”

  I slowly drank my mojito while Eve went from one fit of giggles to another. When she finally sat up, she shook her hands and took several breaths. “Oh man. That was not what I was expecting. I’d feel bad for him, but that dude is a jerk. He gets mean when he’s drunk and he’s drunk pretty much any time he’s not on the court.”

  I shrugged. “I hear ya. He doesn’t care about any of the headlines as long as that one doesn’t leak. It’s been an interesting circus dealing with this one. It’s made work less boring.”

  Things got weirdly quiet after that. Eve sucked down most of her drink and I finished off mine. The guacamole was fantastic and the salty chips were a nice compliment to the sugar in our drinks.

  “You want another?” Eve asked as she stood up, empty glass in hand.

  “Sure, why not. We still have a bit, right?”

  “Jake’s not even downstairs yet.”

  Things were fun, but not quite relaxed. I couldn’t really put my finger on it, but Eve seemed keyed up. It was keeping us from being totally comfortable together because, quite frankly, I had my defenses up—just in case.

  She came back a minute later with two full glasses. “So, I heard a little rumor about you.”

  “What?” Rumors about me were never a good thing. Not in my line of work, and certainly not with my boss. Edward ran a tight ship at Bancroft Sports and his daughter was held to the highest standards. If there was a rumor about me, I wanted to know what it was.

  Eve waved me off. “Don’t get you panties in a bunch. It was about last weekend. I heard you met someone.”

  “Where did you hear that?” Seriously, where did she hear that?

  “Never mind where I heard it, tell me about the guy. I need to live vicariously through you.”

  So maybe Jake’s business partner wasn’t a setup after all. Not the way Eve was digging into my fling the weekend before. “Where are you getting this?”

  “A friend of mine saw you. Said you were with a hot guy and it looked intense. Tell me!”

  “A friend, huh?” I guess that was as good an explanation as any. “He was nice, we had fun. That’s it.”

  “He was nice? How nice? How hot?”

  I felt like I was back in college giving bad date details to my roommate.

  “Not that nice. He swears like a sailor and really isn’t very nice to anyone. He was nice to me, though. And he was definitely not nice in bed.” I frowned. “That came out all wrong. He was very nice in bed, but…” I buried my face in my hands. The alcohol was making me sound crazy.

  “He took care of you sexually, and in doing so was not polite about it. Meaning he gave it to you good?”

  I looked between my fingers. “Yes.”

  “Nice.”

  I rolled my eyes. I was never using the word “nice” again. “He was very hot. Super sexy. Strong. He had two tattoos. I don’t think I’ve ever had sex with a man who had tattoos before.”

  And now I was babbling.

  Eve grinned. “I don’t think I have either. Jake doesn’t have tattoos.”

  “He had the dirtiest mouth, Eve. I mean, he swears in every sentence, but in bed? Holy cow. He just keeps talking.”

  A weird look came over Eve and she pu
t up her hand. “Okay, okay. That’s enough.”

  “Sorry.” Her reaction was strange…she wanted details and yet, didn’t.

  “No.” Then she made a face like she didn’t know what to say. “So, have I ever told you about Jake’s business partner before? The one who’s coming over?”

  So it was a setup. “No I don’t think you have. Why?”

  “Well, he’s more than a business partner. He’s our best friend. Jake’s and mine.” Her words were fast and choppy as they spilled out of her. “He practically lives here with us sometimes. He’s family.”

  “That sounds nice.” Why was she telling me this?

  “I just want you to know that before he gets here.”

  “Why?” I had a sinking feeling in my stomach. This was really weird.

  “Because you might have other thoughts about him.”

  “Why would I have any thoughts about him?” My Weirdo-Meter was officially off the charts now.

  The doorbell rang and Eve stood straight up like a spring had been secretly lodged in her ass. “He’s here. Come meet him.” She grabbed my hand and yanked, spilling some of my drink as I tried to keep up with her.

  “Eve?”

  She ignored me.

  “Eve?”

  Jake beat her to the door and the two of them exchanged a look. What the hell was this? Was I being pulled into some sort of secret cult? Dragged off by the police? Used as human sacrifice?

  “Just open the door,” Eve hissed at Jake.

  She still had my hand in a death grip and all I could do was stand there and wait for whoever was on the other side of that door.

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN

  “What. The. Fuck.” I kept driving. I didn’t stop. I passed Jake and Eve’s house four times, staring at the car parked in the driveway before I pulled over a few houses down and called Jake.

  The bastard didn’t answer. Now I knew why Eve always called him a bastard—that’s exactly what the fucker was. “Jake. Who is at your house? There is a car in the driveway. Answer your fucking phone.”

  I waited five seconds before texting him.

  And then I called him again and left a very similar message with a few more swear words.

  I stared at the car. It was Marie’s car. I knew it. Sure there were a lot of black Audi sedans in the world, but it was definitely hers. It wasn’t the color or even the little sticker on the rear windshield. I just knew it was hers. If I walked up to the dark windows and looked in, there would be books on the floorboard.

  But what the fuck was she doing here?

  She told me to stay away. What would she do if I walked in? Kick me out? Leave? Was there a protocol for this kind of thing?

  Obviously we knew more of the same people than either of us ever realized, which meant even if I tried my damnedest to avoid her, we would still run into each other from time to time. I was going to have to move if I wanted to stay away from her, and I definitely didn’t want to move.

  Damn it all.

  What I did want was to walk into that house, look into her eyes, and make her talk to me. I had no idea what I was going to say or if it was even going to matter, but I knew I had to. I’d developed a new ache since the night Marie left my condo. It was different than the dull one I felt every day for Jenn. This one was sharp and kind of made me feel like I was dying. Like if I didn’t actively get off my ass and do something to stop it, it would kill me.

  So my ass was going inside.

  I pulled my car up to the curb and parked. My Marie was inside my best friend’s house. The universe was definitely trying to tell me something.

  I stood on the stoop and checked my phone again. Jake was still ignoring me, which was a pretty damn good sign he’d done this on purpose. I knocked loudly.

  The door opened and I seriously considered punching Jake right in the face for lying to me, but then I saw her just over his shoulder, standing beside Eve.

  Even though I was absolutely positive I would see Marie when I walked inside, it still knocked me on my ass to actually see her.

  I was like a kid with a crush. My palms got all sweaty and my heart started pumping like crazy. Hell, even my cock twitched in my pants. Everything was screaming at me to be with her. Touch her. Breathe her in.

  “What the fuck is this?” I asked as Jake closed the door.

  Eve scowled at me. “What?” she asked. “Am I not allowed to have friends over?”

  I gave her a “cut the shit” look. “Can we drop the act? Obviously this is a setup.”

  Marie’s just stared at me. She didn’t move or say anything. I’d had time to process this outside, but she looked totally blindsided.

  Jake cleared his throat. “Greg, this is Marie Bancroft, a good friend of Eve’s. Marie,” he waved his hand at me. “This is my business partner, Greg Hamilton.”

  I batted his hand away from me. “No shit Sherlock. What’s with the secret meeting?”

  He and Eve traded another look—which was getting really old, really fast. “I knew Eve had already invited Marie over, so I made sure you’d both be here at the same time. That’s everything.” Then he frowned. “Well, almost everything.”

  Bancroft. “Bancroft Sports?” I asked out loud, and to myself. The pieces started falling together. Eve knew Marie through work. “You run quite a company.”

  Marie kept staring at me. “Business partner?” she squeaked out.

  I felt bad. I was the one that seduced her with my sexy smooth talk. I was the one who convinced her there was no harm in a second night together. I was the one with the shitty best friends who set us both up. The poor girl just wanted to be rid of me, and yet, here she was stuck with me all over again.

  I’d feel worse if I wasn’t so fucking happy to see her again.

  I pointed at myself. “Hamilton,” then at Jake, “Spencer and Associates.”

  She shook her head and then her hands like she was trying to get blood back in circulation. “I get that now, Mister I run a company.”

  And that was when she knocked me on my ass all over again. I expected her to freak out and leave, but instead, there was a teasing quality to her voice—almost as if she was completely amused by the situation.

  “This coming from the woman who started it with,” I curled my fingers and did the whole air quote thing, “I run a company.”

  She actually smiled a little, which was nice to see.

  All of her was nice to see. She was wearing a cute pair of green shorts that accentuated her toned legs and a white t-shirt that reminded me how gorgeous the body underneath it was. She looked relaxed and maybe even a little younger and more carefree than she had on her weekend with me.

  It made me wonder how much I didn’t know about her, and how badly I wanted to know all those mysterious things.

  That’s what Siren’s did, wasn’t it? Draw in unsuspecting men, confuse them, and seduce them. I was so fucked.

  “It seems,” she sighed, looking back and forth between our benevolent captors, “that avoiding you is not going to happen.”

  Eve snorted and Jake looked up at the ceiling.

  “Now that these two are involved, I think we’re required to see this through to the bloody end,” I replied. I really, really liked the look in Marie’s eyes.

  “Might as well get it over with then, seeing as we can’t escape.”

  “Oh for fucks sake!” Eve wailed. “You two act like you don’t like each other and we’re holding you against your will.” Then she pouted.

  I gave her a little hug. “No, we just don’t like being manipulated, even by people we love.”

  She glared up at me. “Are you mad?”

  “No,” I shook my head, managing not to smile like I really wanted to.

  Eve glanced at Marie, who was watching the two of us with curiosity.

  That’s right, sweetheart, you don’t know everything about me.

  Yet.

  “No,” Marie agreed. “Not mad. A little pissed, but not mad.”

&n
bsp; “Drinks?” Jake asked, probably hoping to bring peace to the galaxy.

  We all moved to the kitchen. I watched the sway of Marie’s hips as she walked ahead of me and that sharp ache lessened a little.

  Jake punched me in the arm and gave me a thumbs up. Stupid idiot that I am, I grinned at him because, fuck, I was happy.

  I was still floored that Marie wasn’t yelling at me or driving away. Maybe she was in shock, or maybe having a week to think things over made her less freaked out. Either way, this felt like a final, beautiful opportunity to see where things could go.

  “How long have you known Jake and Eve?” Marie asked quietly.

  That was a loaded question. Not that she knew it was loaded. It was a simple enough thing to ask, but answering it told her a helluva lot about me. I took a long sip and glanced at Jake. “I’ve known this asshole for almost a decade. I worked for his uncle’s firm in the Middle East. At some point we got moved to the same contract and no matter how hard I try, I can’t seem to lose him.”

  Jake shook his head. “I think you have that backwards, my friend.”

  “You followed me to Tampa.”

  Marie’s eyes lit up and her mouth opened slightly. She had to know Jake and Eve’s story, and now she knew a little of mine, too.

  Jake missed the whole thing. “You practically dragged me here with your bare hands. Thank you, by the way. I don’t think I’ve said it this week.”

  I ignored him. “And I finally met Eve after I moved here. Him,” I stuck my thumb at Jake. “I can lose. But her? Never.” I threw my arm around Eve’s shoulders and she set her head on mine.

  “You’re stuck with both of us forever,” she said.

  I kissed the top of her head. “Wouldn’t have it any other way.” I let a few seconds pass before I looked back at Marie. She was studying us, but there was no emotion on her face. I couldn’t tell what she was thinking.

  “So how did you meet Eve?” I asked.

  Her eyes darted up to mine. “I think we’d met in passing a few times over the years, but it was about a year ago one of my clients—who was also one of Eve’s players—had a big problem. We ended up working together quite a bit and became friends from there.”