Jess’s eyes widened and darkened as his erection pressed into the V of her thighs. She swallowed hard. “Sean? What…what are…?” she asked breathlessly.
His gaze locked on hers. Without his permission, his hips pumped. Once. Twice. He waited for the rage he was sure would follow.
But it didn’t.
Instead, Jess’s lips opened in a gasp of pleasure. Eyes still held by his, she rubbed herself against his hardness.
He almost lost it.
His breathing accelerated but not as much as his heart rate. Separating her legs with his knee, he settled between them. I must be dreaming. Still watching her dark chocolate eyes for any sign of rejection, he lowered his head. When his lips touched hers, he couldn’t keep his eyes open. They closed as the feeling of their lips touching swept him away. God, he’d missed her. More than he’d ever admitted to himself or anyone else.
Her lips opened and invited him inside. He leaped at the opportunity to rediscover her warm, wet, sensual mouth. He groaned. Jess tasted the same, felt the same.
His hips moved again, and he couldn’t stop them, didn’t want to stop them. Jess’s hips joined the rhythm. Faster. Harder. They moved together, seeking…
“What the hell? Is this how you behave around our daughter?”
Sean launched himself off Jess and into a battle-ready stance.
She screamed and clutched the towel tighter around her body while scrambling to her feet. “Get out of my house, Drake,” she yelled. “And don’t ever come here again.”
“Your house? That’s a joke.” He glanced back toward the living room with a disgusted sneer. “Of course, why anyone would want to live in this place is beyond me.”
“Get out,” Sean said, his tone threatening.
Lazily, Drake’s gaze swung back. “And who are you? Jessie’s latest sugar daddy?”
Sean’s hands clenched into fists, and he took a step toward the other man. “The lady told you to get out, asshole.”
Drake’s right hand disappeared into his sport coat pocket. “Lady? A moment ago she looked like a bitch in heat.”
Sean took another step.
Jess grabbed his arm. “He’s not worth it. I’ll call…Deputy Johnson.”
Sean’s jaw tightened when jealousy bit him in the ass again. Didn’t she think he could handle the situation?
“No need. I just came by to see my daughter. Callie?” Drake called.
“She’s not here. She wouldn’t want to see you anyway. Now leave,” Jess said.
“Well, then, maybe you’ll at least tell me if Molly’s been found.”
When had her ex, who was supposed to be in Chicago, joined the search? Sean shot a sideways glance at Jess. Her expression told him she was just as surprised that Drake knew about Molly’s disappearance.
“M-my mother is none of your b-business.”
“I think a judge would disagree. Vanishing grandmothers don’t lend stability to a child’s life. Your mother is my business because she affects my daughter’s well-being.”
Jess gasped. The jerk was doing a damn good job of intentionally scaring her.
Sean wrapped his arm around her shoulders and pulled her against his side. “Did you have something to do with Molly’s disappearance?”
“No, country boy. I heard about it at the coffee shop. Don’t you just love little towns?”
“Actually, I do. Small towns are great; big cities suck. Now get your ass back to yours”—Sean’s gaze dropped to the man’s pocket and then rose slowly to glare into icy blue eyes—“before you do something you’ll regret.”
Drake stared back, his expression cold and calculating. His eyes shifted from Sean to Jess and narrowed as if he was evaluating his options. The bulge in his sport coat pocket moved.
Sean tensed. His grip on Jess tightened, preparing to push her behind him.
With a frustrated sigh, Drake pulled his hand from his pocket and shook his index finger at them. “You haven’t seen the last of me. I’m not going home without my daughter.”
* * *
Drake stormed down the hallway and through the living room. The back door slammed a few moments later.
Jess slumped against Sean. “Oh God, what am I going to do?”
“You can start by explaining why you didn’t tell me Drake was here,” Sean said, his tone accusatory and stern.
She jerked away from him. Their behavior on the floor flashed through her mind. I’m such an idiot. She should never have let it happen. But he felt so good, and it had been so long.
Raising her chin, she crossed her arms over her middle. “I didn’t know he was in town until this morning. I was going to tell you on the phone, but then…then Dad interrupted.”
Sean grunted. “Where is…Hal?”
“In LA until tomorrow evening for a wedding gig.”
“And your daughter?”
“At…a friend’s.” Why didn’t I say Karla’s? Drake was the one she needed to hide Callie from, not Sean. But now was not the time to second-guess herself. “Are you through interrogating me, Detective Burke?”
He scowled. “Not even close. What the hell is your ex doing packing heat when he comes to see his daughter?”
“What?”
“Carrying a gun.”
She willed away the light-headedness threatening to swamp her. “I know what it means. I just didn’t see a weapon.”
“In his pocket. He had his hand on it.”
Jessie lost the battle with dizziness. She put her hand on the wall to steady herself. “Oh God.”
“You okay?”
He reached for her but she held her hand out to stop him. “I want to get dressed and then sit down to digest all this.”
Her Jell-O legs carried her into the bedroom. Her hand shook as she shut the door. Collapsing onto the bed, she closed her eyes against the tears. She couldn’t let Drake do this to her. And she couldn’t let Sean do what he’d done to her either. Catching her in a compromising position gave Drake fuel for his hateful fire. She couldn’t—wouldn’t—let it happen again.
A gun. Oh my God, he’d brought a gun to the house. What if she’d been alone or with Callie? She didn’t really have to play what-if. She knew exactly what Drake would’ve done. Callie would be on her way to the San Diego airport, taken at gunpoint by her father.
When she gave in to the sobs, she buried her face in a pillow. Could she protect Callie and look for her mother at the same time? Did she have the strength?
A knock on the bedroom door jerked her upright. “Jess, you okay?”
She gulped. “Sure. I’ll be out in a minute.” It actually took her ten.
When she walked into the kitchen, Sean sat at the table with two glasses of amber liquid.
“I don’t—”
“You need it,” he said, pushing one across the table to her. “The bottle was on the counter so I figured it wasn’t anyone’s extra-special stash.”
She sipped the whiskey and coughed. “You wouldn’t be trying to get me drunk to seduce me, would you?” She cringed inwardly. What a stupid thing to say.
He studied her for several beats and then raised the glass to his lips. “I don’t need booze,” he said before downing his drink in one gulp.
Her cheeks burned. “About that. I’m sorry.”
“I’m not.”
“It didn’t mean anything. It was just a natural reaction from not having sex for a very long time.”
He gave her a sexy smile. “I can fix that.”
She set the glass on the table with a loud clink. “Stop it. Our behavior was inappropriate. I won’t let it happen again.”
He poured himself another drink. “Whatever you say. Shame, though. Felt pretty damn good to me.”
Other parts of her body began to burn along with her cheeks. Another sip did nothing to extinguish the spreading flames.
Sean leaned back in the chair, all casual and sensual and hot.
She swallowed hard. Down, girl, down.
; “Why did Drake have a gun in his pocket? Didn’t sound like it was because he was glad to see you.”
“He wants to renegotiate the custody terms and take Callie back with him for six months. Over my dead body…”
“He might be okay with that.”
Her breath caught. “He has a temper, but…” Her voice trailed off because she wasn’t so certain of anything anymore.
“How’d he get along with Molly?”
“She never liked him, and after I filed for divorce, she hated him. The feeling was mutual.”
Sean nodded. “You and Callie can’t stay here tonight.”
She sighed. “Yeah, I know.”
“You should spend the night with me.”
Chapter 7
Not going to happen, Sean.”
Mentally, he prepared for battle. “Why? Even your boyfriend would agree.”
Jess rolled her eyes. “Luke isn’t—”
“You’re right. He isn’t going to like it. But hell, he’s a good guy even if I’m damn pissed at him. He’ll understand why Glenn’s apartment is the safest place for you to stay.”
“And why is that?”
“Okay, I’ll tell you.” He stood up and paced through the kitchen. “You dated Drake while you attended San Diego State. I’m sure you brought him to Ramona to hang out with your friends. Therefore, he knows Luke, Karla, and several other people. Chances are he also met Nate and your uncle Chad. But me”—he tapped his chest—“he never met. Remember Drake asked who I was. Neither of us ever told him.”
“He heard me call you Sean.”
“Nope. You never said my name.”
She cocked her head. “Really?”
“Yeah. I notice stuff like that. Makes me a good detective.”
“You probably are, but this is different.”
“You mean it’s personal.”
“Right. Too personal. But I have the perfect solution. Callie and I will stay at the hotel on Main Street.” She gave him a self-satisfied smile.
Sean shook his head. “All Drake has to do is provide his out-of-state driver’s license and tell the clerk his wife and daughter, Jessica and Callie, checked in earlier, and he needs a room key. His ID with the same last name makes it believable.”
“I’ll tell the front desk not to give anyone else a key.”
“And you’d trust Callie’s safety to a teenybopper wearing her iPod earbuds and smacking gum to remember your instructions? And for sure, the info would get lost or forgotten by the graveyard shift when you’d be the most vulnerable.”
Jess pressed her fingers against her eyelids. “Staying at your place is so not a good idea. And you know why, Sean.”
“No, tell me.” Stuffing his hands in his pockets, he leaned against the cabinets. If he got any closer, he was afraid he’d touch her, shake some sense into her, kiss her, lay her on the table and…
“I know it’s been years, but I’m still hurt and angry about what happened.”
His jaw clenched. “You? What about me, Jess? Maybe we should talk about it.”
“What could you possibly be hurt and angry about?”
The jiggle of the doorknob startled both of them. Sean spun around and grabbed a butcher knife from the wooden holder on the counter behind him. He was armed and ready by the time the door opened.
A disheveled Nate Freeman stepped through the doorway. He snapped to attention when he saw Sean with the knife. “Fuck! What the hell’s going on?”
“Sorry. Thought you were Drake.” He chuckled and stuck the knife back in the holder.
Jess’s brother shook off the shock and assumed a more macho stance. “In case you haven’t heard, her other ex-asshole lives in Chicago.”
“Drake’s in town,” Jess said.
“What the hell for?”
Jess explained her ex-husband’s demands and described his visit, leaving out the specifics of where he found her and Sean. And what they were doing.
“That bastard,” Nate muttered. He glared at Sean. “And why is this bastard here—alone—with you?”
“I’ve offered to help look for your mom,” he said before Jess could answer. “You don’t know anything about her disappearance, do you?”
“Sean,” Jess snapped.
Nate bristled. “No. But if Drake’s here, I’d take a serious look at him.”
“Already on it,” Sean said.
The air crackled with tension and testosterone.
Jess looked ready to strangle both of them. “What do you want, Nate?”
His gaze swiveled back to his sister. “Mom always puts Dad’s gigs on the calendar, so I knew he was leaving today. I came to see if there was any news?”
“You’re lucky you caught me. I’ve been gone most of the afternoon, and I’m leaving again shortly.”
A hint of a smile twitched Nate’s lips, and then it was gone.
Sean’s eyes narrowed. “Maybe he hoped you’d be here alone.”
This time they both glared at him.
“What’s that supposed to mean? I thought no one was home until I saw the car and truck in the driveway.” Gulping, he stopped talking abruptly.
“If that’s what you thought, how did you expect to learn any news?” Sean asked.
Jess jumped up. “Stop it, both of you. I have enough real problems without the two of you going at each other’s throats.” She turned to her brother. “You need to help. I printed flyers to tape up all over town. You’re going to distribute some.” She stomped out of the kitchen.
The two men sized each other up.
“Don’t you dare hurt her again,” Nate warned.
“Never have, never will.” Why did everyone, including Jess, keep making him out to be the bad guy?
“Bullshit.” Nate scrutinized his face. “You get in a fight or something?”
His hand went automatically to the bandage on his temple. “Or something.”
Nate snorted. “Guess the other dude won.”
“Jess won.”
Her brother’s eyes widened. “Damn, she’s good. I knew she was pissed, but I didn’t know she was capable of…of that.” He waved his hand at Sean’s injuries.
“Help me out here. Tell me why she’s so pissed, and I’ll forget why you were really coming to the house when you thought no one was home.”
Nate’s lips curled into a sneer. “You think you’re so smart now that you’re a big-city cop. But you don’t know shit about this family. Deception should’ve been our last name.”
“I know you need money.”
“Go fu—”
“I told you boys to stop it,” Jess said, marching into the room and straight to Nate. “You hit Main Street above Tenth, and I’ll do the rest. Cover the residential neighborhoods at that end of town as well. I want to see these plastered everywhere.” She shoved a large stack of flyers into his hands. When he didn’t move, she leaned in close. “Go. Mom needs us to find her.”
* * *
After Nate’s rusty Taurus rumbled off, Jessie turned to Sean. “Why do you have to be so hard on him? He already suffers a lot with his problems.” Her shoulders slumped. Fatigue was settling in, but she had to keep going.
“One of his problems is lack of money.” Sean rubbed the back of his neck. “Listen, Jess, I know you don’t want to hear this, but your brother was coming to look for cash or something he could pawn.”
“Did you borrow the earrings that were lying on Molly’s dresser?” Her dad’s question hummed in her head. No, it couldn’t be true. Nate hadn’t resorted to stealing from their parents. “Did you know Nate’s been arrested several times?” Sean’s question joined the first one. Confusion swirled like a dust devil in her mind. Her mother was missing or having a temper tantrum. Her stepdad had changed his name to a friggin’ weird name she’d never heard before. And her brother had an arrest record and might be stealing from their parents. She grimaced. Surely she’d wake up from this nightmare soon.
“I’m sorry, Jess. I know it�
�s a lot to take in.”
She glared at him. “Yes, it is, and you’re not helping.”
“Telling you the truth isn’t helping?”
“You’re confusing me. It’s like I don’t know these people anymore. Who are they? While I was gone, everyone changed.”
“I haven’t changed, Jess.”
“You changed sooner, before I left. Your change was the reason I left.”
He looked at her so oddly that she almost laughed, except there wasn’t anything humorous about the situation.
“You have to leave. I need to post these flyers.”
He sighed. “Fine. We’ll talk later. Let’s go.” He started toward the back door.
“You’re not going with me.” She couldn’t handle having him with her. Her emotions were already so overloaded she might explode if he stayed close.
“Like hell I’m not. You can’t go anywhere alone until Drake is back in Chicago.”
Well, damn, he has a point. She gazed up into the face of the man who used to make her feel safe and loved. Until he deceived her. Until he broke her heart. Now she couldn’t trust him. But that didn’t mean she couldn’t use him to protect Callie and her from her ex-husband. Unfortunately, the idea added another question to her confusion: Who was going to protect her from Sean?
She sighed. Ex-boyfriend versus ex-husband. It held a certain poetic justice. They’d both deceived and hurt her, so she shouldn’t care if they hurt each other this time. But she did. And she didn’t dare wonder why.
* * *
Sean watched Jess’s changing expressions as she carried on an internal debate. Would she reach the right decision, the one he needed her to make?
“Okay, fine. Make yourself useful, then. Go find the duct tape in Dad’s workshop,” she finally said.
He narrowed his eyes. “Give me your keys.”
She pulled back. “What?”
He held out his hand. “Keys…please.”
She pulled them from her purse and dropped them in his palm. “Why?”
“You wouldn’t send me on a fool’s errand so you could drive away without me, would you? Besides, Hal always kept the workshop locked.”
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