Ghosting (PAVAD: FBI Romantic Suspense Book 10)

by Brookes, Calle J.

  His. He felt that way about her. Probably always would. Now they had to face her father. He stood back and watched appreciatively as she scurried into her clothes. It was a hell of a sight. Not quite as good as watching her get out of her clothes, though. “How fast you think we could shake him? Go back to bed?”

  The scandalized expression in her eyes was exactly what he had expected. He couldn't help himself, he laughed. Loud enough that her father most likely heard him. Even if Kelly's bedroom had windows, there was no way he'd be able to escape now.

  ***

  She really had no choice did she? Kelly ran her fingers through her hair, trying to straighten it a little bit. It was a losing battle. And her father was waiting. “Better get this over with.”

  Josh just smiled. This time the expression made her want to hit him. And he knew it. She had no doubt that he knew it. “After you. I'm going to hide behind you.”

  “Coward.”

  “At least I'm not a little turtle.”

  Kelly just rolled her eyes. She opened her bedroom door and stepped out into the living room. Her father was there, and by the expression on his face she knew he’d put one and one together and came up with… well...two. She wouldn’t let the embarrassment get to her. She wouldn't. “Good morning, dad.” Besides—he was the one that had missed fifteen years of her life. Not that it had been by his choice, but their situation was a little different. She'd been an adult when she came back into his life. And definitely not a virgin. Still, it was awkward…

  “Well, I came downstairs to see if Josh had everything he needed. Apparently he had more than I thought. I'll just go back upstairs and leave you two alone.” Her dad spun on his heel and walked out. But…had there been a look of almost approval in his green eyes? Does he think there was something more between her and Josh than actually was?

  Was there something more between them than what this looked like? How was she supposed to know? She looked at Josh. “Well, that was easier than I thought it would be.”

  He shrugged. “What exactly can he say? Not like you’re a teenager, Kel. I'm definitely not. He knows I would never willingly hurt you. What more could a father ask for his daughter? And I won't. I promise you that.”

  Of course she knew he wouldn't. But she didn't want to think about that right now. She was really good at hiding her head in the sand, and she wasn’t ready to face the changes. Enjoy them, yes. Face them—no. She’d just focus on what they should do next. Nothing more. “I have the next two days off.”

  “Strange coincidence. I have the next twenty-five. Something about an enforced vacation… So, what do you want—Vegas or Atlantic City?”

  “I think we just need to go upstairs and deal with…” Well, no, they didn't need to go upstairs.

  He was right. They were two consenting adults. If they wanted to go back to bed, they could. She would be mortified the next time she saw her father and Ally, but they could do it. Nothing was stopping them.

  Oh so tempting, wasn’t it?

  “And then what? Want to look a bit suspicious if we come right back down here, don't you think?” He was laughing at her—wasn't he?

  “Stop it, Josh. You have to know this is embarrassing. I mean… This is my father.”

  “Yeah, your father. The man who had a one-night-stand with your best friend and got her pregnant while he was at it. Your father's not exactly innocent. Ally, either, for that matter. But there are children upstairs, so we’d better be on our best behavior. For now. There’s always tomorrow.”

  “At least Emma and J.T. aren't there. Yet.”

  “J.T., would never let it drop, would he?”

  “No. Definitely, that he would not.” At the mention of her brother-in-law, some of the tension went away. She didn't know why, except the fact that it was normal.

  They’d shared jokes, laughed at J.T. before. Normal. Just Josh. They could still be friends, they could still be lovers.

  What happened tomorrow, happened tomorrow. They didn't need to have all the answers first thing this morning. All they needed to know was that they cared about each other. She would do her damnedest not to hurt him, and she knew he would do the same for her.

  Life didn't have to be all excitements and falling off a cliff, one night stands, unplanned pregnancies, and romantic dinners for two. It could be friendship. Things could build slowly. Take eighteen months, or even eighteen years—or in the case of her father and Ally, eighteen minutes. And if this went somewhere she’d deal with it one day at a time. She wasn't going to let fear stand in the way of what could be. Not anymore.

  What had hiding her head in the sand ever gotten her? Nothing. She had Ally; she had her father. She had Emma and J.T. and Gracie and all the other kids. She had her job. She had her band. She had her friends like Josh and Cody and Payton and Al and Carrie, all of them. She had people who loved her. People who cared about her.

  And she had a man; a gorgeous, wonderful, kind, caring, and loving man who wanted to be with her. For a moment, for a week—they didn't need to put any pressure on themselves. She held out her hand. “You probably have a few minutes to take a shower, at least. And then we can put in an appearance upstairs. If we don’t, Ally’s just going to tease even more. And J.T.’s off today—he and Emma tend to end up here early. But I know what you should be doing today. You've got a lot of cleaning up to do over there.”

  Chapter 40

  Yeah, that he did. But the thought of leaving her at that moment was just too much. He wasn't sure he ever would want to.

  And that thought absolutely terrified him, not because of what it meant, but because it did feel right. “And I think you should help me. Make the work go twice as fast. Besides, I am pretty sure the place is haunted, especially the attic. Do you want to help me prove that?”

  She gave him the look. The patented Kelly-thought-he-was-crazy-look. They had discussed the science of paranormal activity before. And they did not agree on it, but he knew her. She liked the thrill of the scare now and then. “Come on. I'll hold your hand.”

  “I told you, Josh, I don't believe in ghosts.”

  “Then you want to share a shower? It'll save on the water bill.”

  “I don't pay the water bill; my father does.”

  “Him, again. I'm starting to see a pattern here. So let's save your father a few dollars and double up.” Josh couldn't help himself—he really couldn't—to hell with Dan and everyone else waiting on them upstairs. There were more important things to do. He reached for her and lifted her straight off of her feet. He carried her over to her couch, then almost fell on top of her. “After. After…”

  ***

  It was a long time after. All Dan asked was whether they were hungry. They’d missed everyone else. Gracie and Ryan were at school. Ally had the day shift. That left her father with the twins and Aislin. Josh didn’t want to admit it, but he did feel a little awkward meeting Dan’s eyes for that first moment.

  Kelly immediately bent over and scooped her little brother up off the rug. She cuddled the little boy. Of all the kids in Dan's family D.J. favored Kelly the most. They were beautiful.

  Baby Meghan cooed, and Josh bent down and scooped her up. She was a bubblier baby than her brother, and she settled on his shoulder, gnawing on his T-shirt. Josh patted her little bottom and rocked.

  Until Dan, Georgia, Carrie and some of the others that he worked with had had children he hadn’t had any experience with babies. Didn't know if he liked them. But he’d learned he did. And if things worked out with a willing woman someday, he might just think about having a few of his own.

  It was the first time he'd ever considered having a family, seriously having one. He knew himself well enough to know that he would probably analyze that to death later. But in the meantime, he was starving. “I could eat something.”

  “Can I help, Dad?”

  Josh knew her well enough to know that she was most comfortable taking charge of the kitchen when there were other people around. A g
ood place for her to hide—and make herself feel useful.

  “Just deal with your brother and sisters.” Josh had always admired how Ally's two children from her first marriage were casually lumped in with all of Dan's. And vice versa—although it was a little more awkward for Ally to call Kelly and Emma her step-daughters, considering how old they all were. And he didn’t think it had been that way always. He knew it hadn’t been easy for Ryan, especially. Ally’s son had resented having a stepfather plus two new younger siblings to deal with—it had been an adjustment for all of them; still was, in some cases. The Reynolds family had been through some serious changes in the last year or so—most recently with J.T. and Emma's marriage. Emma had moved into J.T.’s house after they married a few weeks before Tennessee.

  He knew that had been the hardest for Kelly. She and Emma were so close. He looked at her, cuddling one baby while he held the other. She wasn't paying attention to the people around her. She held the baby against her chest and was rocking back and forth. Her red hair blended with the shock of red on the baby’s. Kelly’s hair was the darkest of Dan’s daughters, with only D.J.’s similar in color. Anyone looking at them at the moment would think the baby was hers, wouldn’t they?

  She looked perfect. They both did. She opened her eyes and looked straight at Josh. She smiled, a welcoming expression that told him that in that moment he was her whole world. Him, the baby he held and the one she snuggled. Just them in the world.

  In that moment… in that moment his entire world shifted on its axis again. And he knew exactly what it was he wanted from Kelly now.

  Chapter 41

  Josh hadn’t said anything since she’d caught him staring. That worried her. What was the man thinking? Had something happened to upset him? Had seeing her father reminded him of the real world just a little too much?

  Kelly couldn't help but feel nervous. Worried. That was the way she was hardwired; she was starting to accept that about herself. It was who she was, and anyone who didn't like that didn't have to accept it. And that meant they didn't have to be in her life, either. She busied herself feeding D.J. and helping Aislin—who’d wanted more pancakes—with her own plate.

  Josh sat at the table speaking with her father quietly about what had happened at his place the night before. There wasn't any more to go on than there had been. Her father's contacts at the local PD were keeping him updated on the progress of the case. But Kelly didn't expect there to be much this soon. It was just a random break-in, that was her most likely guess. Someone who got off on the thrill of breaking in and vandalizing was most likely all it was. Irritating, frightening, and completely random.

  It wasn't a PAVAD case though it would be noted in Josh’s personnel file. So many PAVAD agents had come close to dying, many because of events that occurred in their personal lives. She knew the directorate kept close tabs on their people. Safety mattered to Ed Dennis and his people.

  It was her father's day off, and though he offered to take the kids to the sitter and help Josh cleanup, Josh declined. She knew why, too. It was obvious her dad enjoyed his role as father too much for Josh to feel right about taking her father's rare day off with the three youngest for something like this. “I'm going over to help, Dad. He won't be alone.”

  “No, I'm sure he won't. I think I’ll just content myself with the idea that you’re over there mopping floors and nothing more. I won’t think of anything else a father doesn’t want to think about.”

  She wouldn’t let him embarrass her. Or Josh.

  “We’re going over there to clean up spilled paint. Then head over to the store and pick up some more. It's probably a good thing this happened; did you see the color he picked out? For a dining room, Dad. It totally would not have worked.” Kelly had basically invited herself over. For some reason she didn't think he wanted to be away from her any more than she wanted to be away from him; pitiful, weren't they? Maybe things would go back to normal when they were both back at work? When she was tucked down in the basement office, and he was jetting around the country fighting bad guys. When they'd only see each other every three or four days when one or the other would be exhausted or stressed.

  That really wasn't something she wanted to think about, was it?

  Chapter 42

  He didn't know how she had done it, but somehow within the next hour Kelly had eight people standing on the steps of the house, waiting for his instructions. Everyone was ready and willing to help clean up and repair any damage done. It overwhelmed him, seeing them standing there. For him. When had he lost sight of the fact that he did have friends at PAVAD?

  He looked at the woman responsible. “Thank you.”

  “I figured having more hands would get this done a lot quicker.” She was never comfortable with gratitude; he’d known that for quite a while. So he hugged her instead. What he wanted to do was back her against the porch rail and kiss her.

  He refrained. They hadn’t discussed how public they were going to make their relationship yet.

  “Come on. Let’s get to this,” Paige said. “Before Al loses her lunch.”

  Josh looked at Al—short for Alessandra. She did look a little green. He’d heard the news of her pregnancy this past week. “Al and Seth, if you wouldn’t mind the outside stuff? There’s a lot of paint fumes inside.”

  “Understood. Keep Blondie out in the sunshine.” Josh didn’t know half the people surrounding him that well. Most were spouses of his friends. Al and Seth. Paige and Mick. Payton and Luc. Cody and Ken Chalmers were already hauling out bags of trash. And Carrie and Sebastian Lorcan pulled in while they were standing around. J.T. and Emma were a few seconds behind them. “Let’s get to this, then.”

  Before how he felt totally overwhelmed him.

  Chapter 43

  It turned into a party—like it usually did when Paige, Emma, and Al were involved. Josh didn’t mind. Something about having his friends helping him clean up the place made him feel a deepening emotional investment in the house. When he’d purchased it, he hadn’t seen it as anything more than a way to make a profit and to restore a small bit of St. Louis history. He’d felt no real attachment to it. Even though it was in a great neighborhood—he wouldn’t have seen it if he hadn’t spent so much time in Dan’s neighborhood to begin with. But, no—he hadn’t been emotionally connected.

  But after watching Kelly and her sister bicker over which shade of green to paint the now cleaned dining room, he could somehow actually picture people living in the place. Could see it more for what it could be than the bottom dollar profit.

  And would it really be right for his friends to help him finish the house, and then him not live in it for a while himself?

  Plus, the location was great and the house was near enough to Dan’s that he could walk over whenever he wanted. Or Kelly could walk to him…

  He slipped up behind Kelly and looked at the paint swatches she held. “That one. Right there.” It was an exact match for her eyes. Sappy, and he knew it, but it was what he wanted.

  “This one?” She held up the chip. “You don’t think it’ll be too grayish?”

  “Not if we did a chair rail here, and went with that lighter blue on top. I think they’d work well together.”

  “Do you plan to rent this one out, too?” Emma asked. “Those three houses across the street have been turned into townhouses, and they aren’t cheap. I checked them out on a whim a while ago.”

  “No, I think I’m going to live in this one for a while. It’s big enough that I’m thinking of just hanging on to it and making it my home base. There’s plenty of room for an office in the back bedroom on this floor.”

  “It’s an awesome house,” Emma said. “And you can walk over to Dad’s whenever you want. But I do think there are ghosts.”

  He looked at Kelly. Her cheeks pinked. “Yes, I can, can’t I?”

  Chapter 44

  They worked hard, but that didn’t surprise Kelly. When push came to shove, their friends would pull through ev
ery time. It had really taken her a long time to see that. When she’d had her first surgery to correct some scar tissue over her spine from the lab explosion, Al and Paige had pestered her nearly every day they had been in St. Louis. Being there when she needed something or just hanging out so she wouldn’t get bored.

  She could count on them, and the friends who’d moved with her from their previous field office in Indianapolis. She had been close to Cody and Payton then, but not like they were now.

  But maybe the change was more in her than in them? She knew finding her father had changed her. And she’d like to think it had been for the better. She didn’t just have Ally, Emma, and Gracie anymore. She had all of the friends she’d brought with her, she had her father and more siblings than she’d ever dreamed of, and she had the new friends she had made.

  And she had him.

  He had stripped down to his undershirt—a white tank that showed off just how muscled he was—like many of the other guys had. He didn’t have the thick football build like Ken or Mick; he was built more lean like Paige’s brother—and Payton’s husband—Luc. But all of the men—with the exception of her brother-in-law who was around Kelly’s height—were well above average in height.

  And hot. Very, very hot.

  She’d seen several of the neighbors—female neighbors—suddenly out in their yards doing some very late spring cleaning. Some were just sitting on their steps, openly ogling. And there had been a few cars to drive by and slow down, too.

  She didn’t know how she felt about Josh living in such an area. The idea that other women could see him and find him attractive was something new to her. She’d never been possessive over a man in her life.