by Lexi Blake
Adam shook his head, breaking up their little argument. “Now we’ve done it. We’re going to end up in one of her books. Tell me something, sweetheart, how does your heroine pick which man she ends up with in your books?”
Jake suddenly felt better. He knew something Adam didn’t know. Adam hadn’t read one of her books yet. Adam thought she wrote a whole lot of sex and then ended her stories in a conventional fashion. But Jake was starting to learn there wasn’t a lot that was conventional about Serena Brooks.
Serena turned to Adam. Her brows came together in consternation. “What do you mean?”
Adam shrugged as though the answer didn’t really mean anything. “I mean how does she choose between the men? I read some of the blurbs to your books this morning. I thought it was interesting. I’ve never seen a book like that. I just wondered how your heroines ultimately decide on who to marry. Do they tend to go with the meathead alpha male or the utterly reasonable, slightly metro hunk?”
Asshole. Now Jake did what came naturally. He slapped his best friend upside the head. “I’m not a meathead. But you are a metro douche bag. And Serena writes romance, idiot.”
While Adam had holed up in her bedroom, Jake had used her computer. He’d read her website, checked out her reviews, Googled her. Amber Rose was known for happily ever afters. For everyone.
“What is that supposed to mean?” Adam asked. The tense set of his jaw told Jake that he knew he was in the doghouse.
Serena’s whole frame stiffened as though she was just waiting for someone to kick her. “I write erotic romance. It’s about love, not sex. Though there is a whole lot of sex. I write permanent ménages. I would never have my heroine choose. It would upset my readers.”
The elevator doors opened, and Serena strode out, not bothering to look back.
“Dude, how was I supposed to know?” Adam’s hands went up.
Jake felt a smug smile cross his face. Score one for the meathead alpha male. “Guess I’m just smarter than you.”
They walked out. Jake could see that Grace had already caught Serena and was speaking animatedly. Sean’s wife was practically vibrating. Jake was happy to see her. She would build Serena’s confidence back up. According to Grace, Amber Rose was the greatest thing since sliced bread.
Adam stopped him before they opened the office door. “Are you seriously telling me that this woman writes about the type of life we want to live?”
It was almost too good to be true. A little of his good mood disappeared. Things that seemed to be too good to be true usually were. She could write it all she wanted to, but unless she’d lived the lifestyle, she didn’t know a real thing about it. “Yes. I’ve only read the one. It was really nice.”
He’d been surprised at how much he liked it. He’d expected to laugh and toss it aside, but he’d kind of gotten into it. The story of a woman returning to her small town after years of running had been compelling.
“Well, I’ll just have to read two then, won’t I?” Adam said before walking away.
Jake followed, his eyes never leaving Serena. Grace gave her a huge hug, and when her face turned up, Serena was smiling again.
Fuck. He was already in too deep.
* * * *
Adam had to hand it to Jake. When his partner decided to do something, he usually did it with the tenacity of a dog after a particularly juicy bone. If they had been battling it out for Serena’s affections, round two would have gone to Jake.
Luckily, this was a tag team match, and the only opposition was a pretty brunette who had no idea how hot those damn glasses of hers were making him. She thought she could cover up with a shapeless blouse, but he’d seen her breasts. He’d watched the way they jiggled. He’d just known how nicely they would fit in the palm of his hand. He wanted to get her in a tight sweater. A V neck would show off her breasts and give him good access when they were alone. “We should take her shopping.”
Jake sighed. “Sometimes I think you’ve played gay too long.”
They had played a gay couple before when undercover. It was a surprisingly good way to end up scoring a woman. “She should be wearing something that shows off her body.”
A fierce scowl crossed Jake’s face. “No. She’s fine just the way she is. Don’t try to change her.”
It took everything Adam had not to fist pump. “You don’t want her showing off. You don’t want other men looking at her.”
Jake was notoriously jealous when his heart got engaged. It was why Adam should have known it wouldn’t work with Grace. Well, besides the fact that Sean would have killed him if he’d tried harder. But Jake had never connected to Grace the way he had with Serena. Adam hadn’t missed the way he’d backed her up in the elevator. It had allowed Jake to play the good cop for once.
Jake’s jaw firmed stubbornly. “I don’t think we should walk into the woman’s life and start trying to change her, that’s all. She looks nice in her own clothes.”
She’d looked even nicer in that tank top and her undies. Serena Brooks had a nice round ass he’d love to get his hands on. She needed a good snug fitting pair of jeans. Adam didn’t mind if other men looked at her. As long as they didn’t touch, he wouldn’t kill them.
Ian strode into the reception area. “You two. My office. Now.”
“Crap. He’s stopped using verbs. We’re in deep shit.” Jake scrubbed a hand through his hair. “I’m too tired to deal with a Big Tag fit.”
Big Tag fits could range from a few words that were so cold they could freeze a dick off, all the way to the man actually putting a fist through a face. Adam had been the recipient of both. The bad news was Tag hit hard. The good news was he expected to be hit back.
Adam looked at Serena. She was standing there alone now that Grace had a phone call to deal with. She looked vulnerable, her eyes down. Damn. He actually didn’t want to leave her there.
“Seriously? After one night?” Eve shook her head as she walked up. She was dressed to the nines in a perfectly tailored black business suit that made a stunning contrast to her chicly cut blonde hair. She gave him a wink and lowered her voice. “I know that look. It’s the ‘protective male’ look.”
“Well, we are supposed to be keeping her alive,” Jake pointed out.
“Yeah, that’s all it is.” Eve sighed. “I read one of her books last night. Wow. If she’s for real, I don’t know how you’re going to keep your collective hands off her. Ménage is her fantasy.”
“I don’t intend to keep my hands off her.” Adam didn’t. He would take it slow, but he liked Serena. Jake was attracted to her. Serena obviously was an open-minded girl. He wasn’t going to let the opportunity go. How could they find the one they were searching for if they never took a chance?
“Yeah, well, ménage is our reality. A lot of women have the fantasy. They tend to run once real life sets in.” Jake stalked off toward Ian’s office.
“He’s not going down easy,” Eve said with a shake of her head. “How are his parents?”
Adam watched him go. “Still on the road, living like gypsies. The last time they came through town, he got the lecture on how killing people for a living brought shame to them all. His family is a wreck in the precise opposite way mine is. We run the whole spectrum.”
“If I could get that man on a shrink’s couch, I would.”
“It wouldn’t do any good. He’s not going to forgive himself. He jokes about Jennifer sometimes, but he still feels the shame of getting kicked out. And then his mom tries to shame him for joining up in the first place. But nothing quite compares with being discharged the way he was. I should know.” That single act had cost him his family.
“Adam, hundreds of soldiers have affairs every day. It’s ridiculous that they discharged you.”
“That’s what happens to the unconventional.” Maybe he should cut Jake a little slack. Maybe he should slow this whole thing down. Jake had his reasons to be wary.
“Adam?”
He turned and saw Serena standi
ng next to him, gazing up with those green eyes that punched him in the gut every time he looked in them. Nope. He probably wasn’t going to slow down. It was his fatal flaw, but he had never learned to slow down. Every time he got kicked to the fucking curb, he just bounced back. Maybe he was the masochist. “What is it, sweetheart?”
“Where should I wait?” She had a pen and small notebook in her hand. The minute she wasn’t directly engaged with someone, she would sink back into her writing. Her secret world.
That wasn’t happening right now.
Eve smiled. “You’re with me, Ms. Brooks. I’m Dr. Eve St. James. It is so nice to meet you.”
“I have to see a doctor?”
Adam felt a deep sense of satisfaction that she looked to him. The question hadn’t been directed at Eve. She’d instinctively looked to him for protection. Perfect.
He used his calmest tone on her, taking her hand in his. “Eve isn’t a medical doctor. She’s our profiler. She wants to ask you some questions that will help us figure out who this man is. We won’t know a name, but we will have a type.”
Her eyes lit up, and now she turned to Eve. “Seriously, you’re a profiler. A real profiler?”
Adam stifled a laugh. He knew how to get Serena’s motor running. All he had to do was introduce her to anyone who could answer a few questions.
“Absolutely. I used to work for the FBI, but Big Tag pays way better.” Eve had a smile on her face, but there was a hitch to her words. Tag might pay better, but that wasn’t the reason Eve had left the FBI. It wasn’t the reason Alex had brought her on the team, hoping and praying that work could fix his ex-wife.
“That is incredibly cool. I write romantic suspense. I have a lot of law enforcement characters.” Serena started to follow Eve down the hall toward her office. He’d been forgotten in the mad search for information.
“Adam!”
He rolled his eyes at Ian’s bark. The boss was in a shitty mood. He strode down the opposite hall and entered Ian’s domain. A stunning view of the Dallas skyline dominated the huge office. A heavenly smell permeated the air, reminding Adam that his only breakfast had been a granola bar. He was going to have to stock Serena’s fridge. A man needed meat.
“God, that smells good.” Adam eyed the container on Ian’s desk.
“Don’t you even fucking look at it.” Ian sank into his chair, pulling the bowl toward him like a prisoner who only got one meal a day and would shank anyone who threatened to take it. “It’s Sean’s mac and cheese. I don’t know what he does to it. It’s like the best thing I ever ate.”
“Sean is feeding you again?” Jake asked. As far as Adam and Jake knew, Sean still wasn’t talking to his brother with anything but rude hand gestures and four-letter words.
Ian’s face turned down. “No. Grace takes pity on me, though. If I have a relationship with my brother after this, it will be my sister-in-law’s doing. I know I disapproved of the relationship, but, damn, I love that woman. Sean couldn’t have done better. One day.”
Adam knew what that meant. One day Sean would forgive him for that terrible night when Ian had been forced to choose between Grace’s life and Sean’s. He’d chosen his brother, and Grace had nearly died. Of course, it was the same night Adam had nearly died, too.
He’d gone through surgery, and when he’d woken up, he’d been surer than ever that he wanted to settle down. He’d wanted his life to start. He’d wanted a family.
“Would you do it again?” Jake asked.
Adam nearly did a double take. Jake never pried. Jake never asked questions. He kept to himself. Always.
Ian was quiet for long enough that Adam thought he would ignore the question entirely.
“No,” Ian said, his voice a harsh whisper. “I would save Grace because that’s what my brother would want. I get it. He loves her. That trumps what I need. I would do my damndest to save them both, but Grace would come first.” He took a bite of the mac and cheese. “But, god, the world would be worse without Sean. I don’t even know what truffle oil is, but I love it.”
“I wouldn’t know,” Adam said, wanting to try a bit. It looked amazing.
“Talk to Sean. Maybe he’ll make you some.” Ian continued to eat, not offering anyone a bite. He looked up as the door opened. “Took you long enough.”
“You’re in a piss mood,” Liam said as he walked into the room carrying his laptop. The Irishman looked past tired. As far as Adam knew he’d been working around the clock. His accent was thicker and deeper than usual, a sure sign that he needed rest.
“Just tell them what you found out.” Ian went back to his meal.
Liam sighed heavily and turned the laptop around. There was a grainy video paused on the screen. Serena sat at a long table with several other women, her hair in its bun and a different set of glasses on her nose. The timestamp date was for a year ago.
“This is your girl at something called ‘Romance Fest’ in Denver.” Liam shuddered. “God, don’t make me go to one of those things. There’s enough estrogen in that room to make a man’s balls shrivel up and fall off.”
“You can cut the opinion portion of this lecture and get to the good stuff.” Ian sat back, his eyes on the screen.
“What is this? Some sort of writer’s retreat?” Jake asked, leaning over for a better view.
Liam shook his dark head and bit off a yawn. “I think they call it a reader convention. From what I can tell, a couple hundred sex-starved women get together with a lot of alcohol and chocolate and authors sell them books about more sex-starved women as sad-sack, obviously gay men walk around in very little clothing. No straight man would dress up in chaps when he isn’t working on a ranch. Really, it’s disturbing.”
Ian grinned. “I’m sending him in as a cover model to the convention Serena is scheduled to appear at next month. God, I hope this case is still going by then.”
“I’ll die first,” Liam vowed.
“Could you two just tell us what’s going on?” Adam was getting a little sick of the banter. He wanted to see that tape.
“Fine. I think I’d rather just show you.” Liam started the video. A voice off camera began speaking.
“My question is for Amber Rose. I was wondering how you manage to write your beautiful love stories when your personal life isn’t what anyone would call a fairy tale? Please don’t be offended. I’m asking because I’m going through a divorce, and I just get so depressed. How did you manage it?”
Serena’s face had flushed at the original question, but she softened and leaned forward. “I’m so sorry to hear that. Divorce can be rough. I wrote several of my books before my divorce. I didn’t actually get published until after my husband left me. Honestly, sending that first Texas Sweethearts book to a publisher was both for me and to show him, you know? My husband told me I was a talentless hack. He told me I was a pervert for writing about one woman with two men. I won’t even go into what he said about BDSM. But I had to write. I had to write because this is who I am. He’d already taken years from me. I couldn’t let him take this, too.”
The woman next to her, a pretty woman about Serena’s age with jet black hair, leaned over and spoke into Serena’s microphone. “And now her pencil-dick ex, who can’t give away his crappy ass books, can live his vanilla life without his pervert wife’s nice money.”
The room erupted in laughter. Serena smiled and winked at the dark-haired woman. “Yeah, that’s a nice bit of revenge. I got those first couple of checks, and that really helped my healing process.”
“He must have been pissed!” Someone from the audience shouted.
Serena shrugged. “Yeah, well, he can be pissed. He’s not getting my ‘porn book’ money, as he put it. I will make sure bad things happen before he lays a finger on it. And trust me, I’m a writer. I can come up with some crazy revenge stuff. We plot character deaths over lunch once a week. We could add my ex to the list of jerks we’re going to kill off.”
Liam shut the laptop.
Ad
am shook his head. “That doesn’t mean a damn thing. We’ve all talked like that.”
“Yeah, well, he did come after her money,” Liam pointed out. “At least she hasn’t killed the fucker yet. Tell her my services are for hire if she decides to off the asshole. I don’t like anyone telling a sweet little sub that she’s a pervert. He sounds like an asshole who doesn’t want the responsibility of caring for a real woman.”
“She isn’t going to kill her ex.” Adam was sure of it. She might talk big in a room full of supportive women. She might even kill his ass off in one of her books, but Serena Brooks was incapable of actually swatting a fly. Her dumb choice of guard dogs proved her soft heart.
“She doesn’t have to kill him,” Jake said. “She just has to make him look really bad. Maybe get him sent to jail. Then he couldn’t come after her money.”
Ian pointed his spoon Jake’s way. “What he said. Dean, I always thought you were the muscle. You’re the brains, too. What’s Adam here for?”
“Fuck you, Tag.” He turned to Jake, but there was no point in arguing in front of an audience. The morning with Serena had softened Jake up, and now all that work was gone with a five-minute video from a year before. It was time to turn to the case at hand. “Do you have anything beyond a couple of careless words caught on tape?”
“Touchy.” Liam brought up a new document on his laptop. “Nothing special. Eve’s got the duty of reading the books. I know she’s paying special attention to the book where Amber Rose’s heroine is stalked by her ex-husband.”
Fuck. None of it sounded good. “How are her financials?”
“Healthy. But everything is connected to her books. She has deposits from her publisher and her agent. Almost all of her money is from those electronic books everyone loves these days. She sells almost everything online. She’s a prolific little girl. In the two years since she started, she’s put out almost fifteen books. Which explains the fact that she doesn’t seem to date. She never leaves her computer.”
“Being that isolated can do odd things to a person.” Ian finished up his lunch. “She’s obviously obsessed with her work.”