Craving Heat

by Adrienne Giordano

  There was no pain, but that didn’t mean anything. Sometimes, it took a few minutes. Right now? No pain. Just a rush of adrenaline—nature’s gift to the human body—firing his system.

  He hit the floor with Eli under him, serving as his cushion.

  A beam of light shined down from right above him. How could that be? Unless…

  Son of a bitch. Dying. On his way to whatever form of heaven awaited. If he was lucky.

  Leave it to him to get shot by his former boss in this broken-down shed where he would die in front of Maggie. Where he’d leave Sam to deal with Drunk Marlene on her own. This was not the way he figured his death to go.

  “Ohhhhh.”

  The groan came from under him. Who the hell was groaning while he was dying on a dirty fucking floor?

  He stared up at the beam of light, hoping to see Saint Peter at those pearly gates, waving him forward, welcoming him to paradise.

  All he saw was light. Bright, blinding, annoying light.

  Through a hole in the ceiling.

  No Saint Peter. No gates. WTF?

  “Jay, where’s the gun?”

  Maggie’s voice. The all-business one. He lifted his hand and she grabbed it, squeezing tight. He angled his head toward her, away from the light and there she was, her sweet face, the brown eyes that mesmerized him. She snapped her fingers in front of his nose. No declarations of love or gentle support.

  How rude was that when he was dying?

  She snapped again. “Are you hit? Where’s the gun?”

  Behind Maggie’s head, Reid’s mug appeared. If this was heaven, it sucked. The woman he loved being pushy and Reid, his tormentor, grinning that shit-eating grin Jay wanted to pummel off him.

  And then the groan again. And something moving under him.

  Eli. Gun.

  Not dead. At least, he was pretty sure he wasn’t dead.

  Where’s the gun?

  Maggie’s question floated in his mind and—wait. The gun. They didn’t have the gun. Shit. A zapping current blasted him from his heels to his head, locking his mind into the situation. He rolled, popping to his feet. Eli lay sprawled on the floor, blood oozing from the side of his head, and Jay’s stomach heaved.

  “Got it,” Reid said, carefully nudging the gun with his foot, putting it out of reach of Eli.

  “Did he…” Jay swallowed, fought the rising bile in his throat. “The shot?”

  But Maggie was focused on Eli as she dropped to her knees. His woman. Look at her go. Cool and calm under fire. Literally.

  “Hold him, Reid,” she said.

  Reid gripped Eli’s wrists at his waist, while Maggie shined her flashlight on his head. “It’s his ear. The idiot clipped his ear with the bullet.”

  Reid peered up at the ceiling. “It went through the roof.” He shook his head and brought his gaze back to a still groaning Eli. “You can’t even shoot yourself right. Plus, you shot up my shed.”

  19

  At nine o’clock, Jayson broke away from the Steele-Kingston family dinner taking place in the Tupelo Hill dining room and made his way out to the porch. These people were gatherers. In crisis, they came together, something Jay wasn’t accustomed to. It had always just been he and Sam, who now sat next to Miss Joan being force-fed enough protein to sustain her for three days. After hearing the day’s events, his sister still wore the pale, blown-out look of someone in shock.

  Who could blame her?

  He was suffering from some weird version of it himself by floating through the day, his ears ringing with the sound of gunshots.

  And now he wanted Maggie.

  She’d left him in Miss Joan’s hands and followed the ambulance carrying Eli to the hospital. He hadn’t seen or heard from her since. Getting answers was more important than coddling him.

  He opened the kitchen door, felt the blast of cool mountain air, and sucked it all in. Cold night by North Carolina standards. For a football player, it might as well be spring.

  “Hey, mister.”

  Maggie stood at the base of the porch, one foot on the bottom step and God, his heart damn near exploded.

  By the time he reached the top step, she was already there, rushing toward him. Thank you, Jesus. He caught her in his arms and wrapped her up tight and hung on. Maybe he did need that coddling. Or at least the stability that came with a hot sheriff.

  She slid her hands around his waist and propped her forehead against his chest. Even after her long day, he caught the clean, no-fuss scent of her shampoo.

  Maggie.

  She tipped her head up and the porch light illuminated the dark circles under her eyes. His girl was tired.

  “Are you okay?” she asked.

  “I’m great now that you’re here.”

  “I’m sorry I was gone so long.”

  He shrugged. “It’s your job and it’s important.”

  Her shoulders dipped and she leaned in, her body sagging against him. What the hell? Was she okay? An owl hooted, shattering the weird vibe suddenly filling the air.

  “Hey,” he tucked his fingers under her chin and lifted her head so he could look at her. “Were you actually worried I’d be mad you were gone so long?”

  “I didn’t have a chance to call. In the past it’s been a…” She shook her head.

  “Maggie, you were brilliant today. Amazing. You probably saved my life. What kind of man could be mad at you for that?”

  She smiled up at him, slapped her hand across the back of his neck and hit him with a lip lock that made him think, yes, they would finally use those handcuffs tonight. But first, he wanted to hear about Eli.

  He patted her ass and dragged himself from her lips. “How about we finish this later? In private?”

  She dropped another quick kiss on him to seal the deal. “That is a date.”

  “Can you tell me about Eli? Where is he?”

  “County lockup.”

  “Is he talking?”

  She smiled up at him. “He sure is. Gave the whole thing up. When Celebrate Hope notified the league of the embezzlement, they called Eli.”

  “Not surprised. They’d want to bounce it off him.”

  “He panicked because the league and Celebrate Hope had agreed to let Sam’s boss go without prosecuting. You were right about them not wanting the media to get a hold of it.”

  “I know how they operate. If people knew about the theft, they’d lose faith in the program. With all that money floating around, the league couldn’t have that.”

  Maggie stepped back—too bad—and sat on the edge of the porch rail. “Thanks to sales of all those limited edition Jayson Tucker jerseys, the Knights brought in the most revenue for the charity. The drama surrounding your release created chaos, which would only worsen if the embezzlement story went public. The perfect storm to tank stock prices.”

  “Which meant even more pissed-off shareholders.”

  “Yes. And then Sam discovered the embezzlement.”

  The owl hooted again and Maggie broke eye contact. Apparently in search of the owl. But in the blackness, she’d never find it and they both knew it.

  Stalling. Whatever else she had to say, she needed a minute to get her thoughts together.

  “Maggie? You can tell me anything. I hope you know that.”

  She faced him again. “I know. I just…” She raised a hand, let it drop. “I hate to break your heart, but you’re going to find out anyway and I want it to come from me.”

  What could this be now? Had to be something with Sam. That would be the only thing in this mess that would destroy him. He pushed his shoulders back, readied himself for the hit. “Tell me.”

  “It was Sam they were after, that day we were hiking. Remember that first bullet? It was closest to her.”

  Sam. He knew it. Somehow, twisted as it seemed, relief took hold and he bent over, propped his hands on his thighs and let out a strangled laugh.

  “Jay?” Maggie’s feet came into view and she set her hand on his back. “Are you
okay?”

  He nodded. “I thought you were going to tell me my sister was a crook. Somehow someone taking a shot at her is a relief. What’s wrong with me? Jesus, I’m a mess.”

  “It’s okay. You’ve been through a war this week.”

  But he’d also found Maggie. For that alone he was grateful. He straightened up, entwined his hand with Maggie’s, and led her back to the porch rail where they both sat. “Is Theo Eli’s brother?”

  “He is. The NYPD nabbed him an hour ago trying to board a plane at Kennedy. I pulled his DMV photo. I won’t know for sure until I see him in person, but he looks like our shooter. Plus, when I first saw Reid’s security video of the suspect, something looked familiar about him. I think I saw him in the Triple B that night we were all there. He was standing against the wall by our table. He probably overheard us talking about going to see the wolves. Add to it that he’s a sharpshooter.”

  “Seriously?”

  “He’s not military or law enforcement. Just a gun enthusiast who likes to hunt. He’s spent years practicing and entering competitions. I guess he has financial trouble and owed some not so nice people money. He’d been begging Eli for help, but was cut off.”

  “Until Eli needed him.”

  Maggie nodded. “Yes. They made a deal. Eli would give him the money if he’d scare Sam off. Eli says they weren’t trying to kill her.”

  “You believe that?”

  “I don’t know. I want to. Eli is also the one who sent her the threatening e-mail. He set up a dummy account so we couldn’t trace it back to him.”

  He’d worked for this guy for years and had never seen the evil. Astounding. “How did we get to this place?”

  “I know. Greed does it to people.”

  The back door came open and Grif stuck his head out. “Everything okay?”

  Still holding Maggie’s hand, Jay met his agent’s eye. “Yeah. I needed air.”

  “And probably some quiet,” Maggie said. “Go inside, Grif. Keep the masses at bay while our quarterback gets his head about him.”

  “Will do. Let me know if you need anything.”

  He made a move to close the door. “Grif?”

  “Yeah, Jay?”

  “If you’re still looking for a way to sue the Knights, forget it. I want this over.”

  “You sure?”

  “Yeah. But thanks. For everything. Your family is amazing.”

  “They are that.” Grif smiled. “Most of the time, anyway.”

  The door closed and Jay waved Maggie to one of Miss Joan’s Adirondacks, where they’d hopefully sit in peace for the next hour. That’s all he wanted. Maggie, the hominess of Miss Joan’s porch, and quiet.

  Jay rested his head back. “Have you seen the news?”

  “Nope.” She smiled. “Been a little busy.”

  “After what went down with Eli today, Dirks and Rothstein went nuts. Totally off their rockers. They got on the phone with every network they could think of and broke ranks. Laid the whole thing out there about Webb setting me up.”

  “Even the spousal abuse?”

  “No. They left that part out. No sense in Webb’s wife and kids suffering any more than they’re going to, with this being revealed. They blamed the incident on professional jealousy and claimed Webb circulated the rumor about me sleeping with his wife to cover his own ass. He was trying to make me look bad and figured everyone would believe him.”

  “Webb didn’t count on your friends outing him.”

  In the distance, a wolf howled and Jay wondered if it could be one of Britt’s precious pack. Tomorrow, Jay would ask Britt to take him back there so he could see them without them getting spooked by gunfire.

  “I asked them not to,” Jay said. “That first night after I was released, they both came to me and said they’d start talking. I told them no. That it wasn’t worth blowing their careers over and that I’d handle it. They taught me something, didn’t they? I almost screwed the whole thing up.”

  “Nah. We’d have gotten there. That’s what friends do. We come together and find a way.”

  He reached over, cupped his hand on her cheek. “Thank you. I think you’re amazing.”

  “Hey!” The silhouette of a very large man stalked around the side of the house. “You two, what are you doing?”

  Why would Jay have even considered the possibility that Reid wouldn’t obliterate his few minutes of rest? Still, he had to smile. “So much for Grif keeping the masses at bay. The fucker snuck out the front door.”

  Maggie let out a laugh and looked over at him with warm, loving eyes that made him think of handcuffs.

  “Welcome to Steele Ridge, Superstar,” Maggie said.

  * * *

  At eight o’clock Sunday morning, Maggie parked her SUV in the training center lot under clear, blue skies and a bright sun that she was sure meant today would be the day. Today, she’d beat Reid’s obstacle course time and break the family record.

  Why else, after the forfeit of her vacation, would Mother Nature bless her with weather suited for paradise?

  Assuming the front door of the training center was locked, she walked around the building to the rear, where Reid barked at Jay as he flipped a five-hundred-pound tractor tire.

  He’d left her place at six for an early morning workout and then a meeting with Grif. On a Sunday.

  The man might be obsessed, but to his point, football players worked on Sundays.

  “Morning,” she called.

  Jay heaved the tire and smiled his wicked smile. “Good morning.”

  He’d already greeted the day with her in exquisite fashion.

  “Hey, cuz,” Reid said. “Get warmed up.”

  “Okay. But I want to run the course before we work out.”

  Reid shrugged. “Sure. Superstar, focus here. You’re slowing down.”

  “My fault,” Maggie said. “I distracted him.”

  And if that gave her a little sick satisfaction, she’d be the only one to know because, yes, the football star couldn’t concentrate on his workout when she entered his orbit.

  Oh, she could definitely love him.

  Maggie started in on her inchworms, watching Jay move, his solid legs squatting, the flex of his biceps and back muscles as he lifted. The man’s body was proportioned perfection that she craved the minute he left her. And lucky her, today was her day off and after Jay’s meeting, he’d be free.

  On a beautiful morning like this, she’d steal him away for a hike.

  And other things that would get their heart rates up.

  Heh, heh, heh.

  “You’re done,” Reid said. “Run a lap to cool down and then stretch. Good work today.”

  “Next victim!” Jay called.

  Ha, ha. Funny man.

  Reid took his spot on the picnic table, swinging the stopwatch around his fingers while she warmed up. She hopped to her feet, did some butt kicks, and then a series of karaokes while Jay did his lap around the perimeter of the obstacle course. She knew he’d run the course himself a few times, but he hadn’t shared his time. A clear indication that he must have broken Reid’s record but didn’t want to tell her.

  Which was fine. As he was a professional athlete, she’d expect him to do well. Her? The spirit of competition with her cousin kept her going.

  Simply put, she needed to break that record and shut Reid up.

  Jay cruised to a stop in front of her, barely breathing heavily after his quick run. He waved a hand at the course. “You ready?”

  “I guess we’ll see.”

  He cocked his head. “I’ll ask again. Are you ready?”

  Ah, more of his mental psyching her up. It had worked last time, so she’d play. She looked out over the course, took in the various obstacles, and pictured herself shredding them. Even the high wall. Her gaze wandered to Reid messing with his phone. Could she do it? Beat his time?

  She thought so. She nodded. “I’m ready.”

  “Good. What are you?”

  “
I’m a beast,” she whispered.

  “You know,” he said, “you sound about as excited for this as a dead man walking. Now what are you?”

  “I’m a beast!”

  Reid’s head snapped up. “Damn straight, girlfriend.”

  Aw. That was sweet. “Thank you, cuz.”

  Jay rolled his eyes and waved her forward, heading to the start.

  “I could use a good cardio push. I’ll run it with you.”

  Maggie gawked at him. Here she was, all ready to do this and he wanted to mess with her head by running alongside her? She’d never beat him. Ever. How would that help her? “Wha…uh, why?”

  Reid looked up from his phone again. “What’s happening?”

  “I’m gonna run it with Maggie.”

  Her cousin snorted. “This’ll be fun.”

  For him maybe. Not for her. She’d be sucking in Jay’s dust. She grabbed his arm. “I don’t understand what you’re doing.”

  He faced her and folded his arms across his amazing chest. “God,” she said, “I can’t wait to get you naked again.”

  “Ditto. But if you want to break his record today, you need to get your mind right. I can tell already you’re not dialed in.”

  “And you think running this course against a professional athlete will do that?”

  “You’re competitive. Highly motivated by a challenge.”

  True that.

  “I didn’t want to tell you this,” he said, “but I’ve run this course. Three times. I beat Reid’s time on each.”

  She knew it! “When you wouldn’t tell me your time, I figured. I’m okay with that. It’s the family record I want.”

  “Good. Because we’re gonna run this bitch together. You’re going to focus on each element and me running it next to you. When you start to think about your time, you’ll know I’ve beaten Reid and if you’re keeping up with me, it’s a good time.”

  “A nice thought, but I can’t keep up with you.”

  “Not with that attitude you can’t.”

  Now he wanted to motivate with insults? Not going there, fella. “Look, hotshot, I’m not being negative. You’re a professional athlete.”