Southern Exposure (Southern Desires Series Book 2)

by Jeannette Winters

  Stepping back slightly, she turned, forcing a smile. She knew her cheeks were burning and not only from embarrassment, but from the passion waiting to be released. Holy shit that man can kiss. I want more. . . Deep breath, Hannah. Your company has arrived.

  “How about some introductions?” Bailey asked.

  Hannah pointed to Mark and said, “He’s um . . .”

  “Mark,” he stated.

  She looked up at him. If you only knew how many times I call your name out in my sleep. She shook her head as though the memory of his kisses could be erased so easily.

  Then Hannah turned to her friend. “This is . . .” She was so flustered that she became tongue-tied.

  “I’m Bailey Tasca. Hannah’s best friend; the same friend she asked to come and stay here because she was lonely.” Bailey laughed. “Maybe autocorrect changed your text from horny to lonely? Because lonely is not how I’d describe you right now.”

  I’m so going to kill you when we’re alone, Bailey.

  “I should probably get back to work,” Mark said as he released her.

  Instantly she was lonely for his arms on her again. Yet she also wanted to see Bailey so much. Timing really sucked.

  “Work?” Bailey looked at Mark then back to Hannah.

  “Yes, he’s here working on the place.”

  “Oh. Work. Yeah. I could so tell.” Bailey laughed softly again.

  Hannah gave her a warning look before turning to Mark. “Sorry, but it looks like you’ll need to bunk with Don for a few days while Bailey is here.”

  “Don?” Bailey asked.

  “A friend working here as well,” Mark answered her.

  “Does he look anything like you?” Bailey winked at Mark.

  “They are here to work,” Hannah said firmly.

  “Thanks for the invite, Hannah. I think I’m going to enjoy this visit even more than I first thought.”

  Hannah was still rolling her eyes as Mark headed toward the guest room.

  “Will you stop it already? You’re embarrassing him,” Hannah said to Bailey in the sternest voice she could muster.

  “Mark doesn’t seem fazed at all. Or should I say not embarrassed at all.” She was grinning and looking in the direction Mark had walked.

  Oh, please save me from all this. Why couldn’t it have been Don who caught us? Or better yet, why did we have to get caught at all? Is one night of sweet hot passionate sex too much to ask for? Looking at her friend, she knew the answer. At least I know we’ll have a good laugh over this once we are alone.

  Mark came back down the hall a minute later, carrying his bag. “I had actually come by to let you know you can’t enter the vacant apartments until we give you the go ahead. It’s full of mold and asbestos. Both are hazardous, and I don’t want you getting sick.” Then he turned back to Bailey. “That goes for you as well. You both are confined to this apartment or the grounds outside.”

  “Excuse me? Are you telling me where I can go in my own house?” Hannah seemed indignant at his outrageous request and faced him with her hands on her hips.

  He looked her squarely in the eyes and said, “Absolutely.”

  She was still huffing at the audacity of him speaking to her like that. When he was gone she turned to Bailey and said, “I can’t believe that, can you?”

  “I know, right? That man is hotter than hell, and he likes you too. How did you get so lucky?”

  Lucky? I don’t feel lucky. I feel as if too many things are against me. But thinking about who had just been pressed against her, she could admit Bailey was also right. That. Man. Is. Hot.

  Mark carried his duffle back into the apartment across from Hannah’s. Don came down from the apartment he was working on upstairs at the same time.

  “Where the hell have you been? I thought you were supposed to get us something cold to drink and get back to work?”

  He turned and looked at Don. “Something came up.” And damn it, I need a cold shower more than I need work. I also need to scrub from my mind how amazing Hannah felt in my arms. How she pressed herself into my arms as if it was the most natural thing in the world. And then she forget her best friend’s name. That was priceless. And that’s just with a kiss. Imagine if we weren’t interrupted. Fuck. It would’ve been mined blowing.

  As Mark put his bag on the floor, Don laughed. “I can’t believe you’re actually going to give me the guest room and you take my cot.”

  “Don’t believe it because it’s not happening.”

  He looked at Mark then said, “You and Hannah have a fight, and she kicked you out?”

  “Let me say this again. There is nothing between Hannah and me. And no she didn’t kick me out. She has company, and they need privacy. That’s all.” If she knew she had a friend coming, why did she put me in her spare room for the first few nights? Did she want me close? Was she hoping for more than just a renovation on the house? Because if that was the case . . . He shook off that thought. It didn’t matter what she wanted, because the way she looked at him was only going to come with entanglements he wasn’t interested in.

  “What’s her company’s name?”

  “Bailey.”

  Don shook his head. “Are you going to let some guy come in and snag the sweetest thing you’ve ever laid your eyes on? That is not the Mark I know. He never walks away from something he wants. Like having my ass sweating upstairs when it could be on a beach somewhere.”

  He was right. Mark never walked away from anything once his mind was set. But all he promised himself he’d do was save this family homestead. He was going to uphold that. But that was as far as his connection was going. He’d never intended to kiss her, but she was a little spitfire and the way she challenged him with her eyes drove him crazy. One minute he wanted to know why she was so angry at him for helping her and the next she was offering herself to him. If her friend hadn’t interrupted, he would’ve tasted every sweet inch of her. But instead, he was stuck bunking with Don.

  “Bailey is a woman.”

  Don arched a brow. “Tell me more.”

  “Sure. Let’s talk about it upstairs where work is waiting for us.”

  Don didn’t move. “Wait one minute. You want me to go back upstairs where it feels like we’re working in a sauna when there might be a beautiful woman waiting to meet someone with my charm just across the hall?”

  “This is not a vacation, Don.”

  “It was when you called me.”

  Don knew that wasn’t going to be the case right from the beginning. Mark didn’t take vacations. He never relaxed. The best he hoped for was to stop thinking of the last mission long enough to find some peace. That wasn’t something Don would understand. It didn’t mean he didn’t try, but his way of showing support was asking him to a bar or club. Mark didn’t want crowds or noise. He truthfully was seeking solitude. He was getting neither here.

  “I told her neither of them could go anywhere but her apartment and outside. This should ensure we have no unexpected guests.”

  “Don’t pretend you weren’t enjoying her little visit. Hell, you got to play hero and even better, doctor.”

  “You can be a real ass sometimes.”

  “No extra charge.”

  “If you’re done let’s get back—”

  Mark didn’t finish as something caught his attention. A voice he’d not heard before but yelling briefly in a dialect, unfortunately, he understood. It stopped as quickly as it’d started. Damn. I need to know who is living up there. Who the fuck is he? And why the fuck is he here? At Hannah’s house? No one comes and lives out here so far away from everything for no reason, and I’m going to figure out his.

  This is not only about Hannah any longer.

  Don hadn’t questioned him. He’d known him long enough to know when he was dead serious, and this was one of those times. Once it was silent up above again, he updated Don with what he could.

  “I need you to go and take care of getting the bathroom framed.”

  �
��I know that look, Mark. What’s going on? What did you hear?”

  He didn’t want to speak too quickly. Currently, it was only his gut talking, nothing more. For Mark, that was enough, but for anyone else it wouldn’t be.

  “I’m not sure, Don. But I need to do some research. Just finish up the framing, and I’ll be up shortly to help drop the tub into place.”

  “Great. That means by the end of the day we should be ready to paint and tomorrow put in the linoleum and set the toilet and vanities.”

  “We should be able to get it all done before we go to bed.”

  Don shook his head. “Great, another night of no sleep.”

  He didn’t put up any argument. Don was a man who would go the extra mile with Mark, and he knew it. No matter what it took, Don was going to see this through. That’s why I called him. It was surprising in some respects. In the Navy, his men knew to comply with his demands because that was their job, and he had earned their respect. Don was his own man, with his own typically selfish agendas and lifestyle that he happily enjoyed. Yet he came. And he won’t leave until we are both done. How I earned such a good friend is beyond me, but right now I’m thankful as fuck for the crazy idiot he is. I better make sure the next vacation I invite him to has more of a view than four walls and power tools.

  “Just remember who’s doing all the work up there while you do whatever it is you need to do.”

  “Appreciate it, Don.”

  Mark was already digging through his duffle bag as Don left the room. He’d hidden his weapon deep inside to go unnoticed. There might not be any reason for it now, but better safe than sorry. He stuck the M1911 inside the back of his jeans. Then he pulled out a T-shirt and put it on. I know you’d be disappointed, Hannah, but right now I need to conceal something, and it’s not my body.

  He knew she was enjoying the view. He’d caught her so many times checking him out. It wasn’t that he hadn’t done his share of the same to her, but he was better at concealing it. She had one sweet-looking ass, and when she leaned over the car door his cock had sprung to attention. He hadn’t lost control over physical reactions since he was a teenager. But when he was around Hannah, something snapped and a want like he’d never experienced before took over. Most people would love it, but Mark hated it. Anything he couldn’t control was an issue. Especially with what he had just heard. “Transactions processed non-traceable. Awaiting further instructions.”

  Mark couldn’t act on that. He needed to know exactly who and what he was dealing with. It’s not like he could go to Hannah and say, “Kick your tenant out because I have suspicions.” And if something was going on, he didn’t want the guy catching wind that someone was onto him. If he took off, he’d only set up shop someplace else, and who knows if anyone would get so damn lucky as to stumble across him again. Nope, this was on him for now. Once he had anything solid, he would reach out to Lionel Johnson to rally the team, but he still had them hanging close to Casey and Derrick without their knowledge, just in case things went sour there. I might need to think about expanding my team if I’m pulling all this off-duty security work. Then again, the people we are protecting have no clue we’re even doing it. And it’s better that way.

  He sat on the floor, closed his eyes, quieted his breathing, and listened closely. He needed to concentrate on every sound. Then slowly eliminate them. First to go were the sounds of Don and his tools, then the sound of Hannah’s sweet laughter that echoed through him. It’s a sound he would never grow tired of hearing. But it was a distraction now. Focus. Think of what could be at stake. Think of your country.

  Within seconds everything was drowned out except the voice he wanted to hear. It was faint and only speaking periodically, but what he said wasn’t anything significant. It was more of a one-way conversation, and the guy upstairs was doing all the listening.

  That’s not going to give me any information. I need to see this guy. Talk to him. He stood and headed to Don. I need to get in that apartment.

  When Mark entered the apartment, Don was doing the finishing touches on the framing. “Mark, you’re just in time. The final nail is going in, and then we’re ready to set the tub and shower.” Don finished hammering it in. “I think I am going to take a long soak in this tub tonight. I know you’re not tired from all the research, but someone’s been busting his ass up here in the hundred-degree temperatures.”

  Mark stood staring at the wall. Don did great work and accomplished more than anyone else could have.

  “Go ahead. Tell me it looks great. I think there is more room in my ego.”

  “Looks sturdy.”

  “Well, of course it is. Nothing is taking this thing down. I have reinforced the studs. The whole house might fall, but this wall isn’t going anywhere.”

  That was exactly what he’d expected from Don. Anything less would’ve been disappointing. But he didn’t care about the wall or the tub. All he cared about was getting into the apartment next door. Hannah had said he never lets anyone inside and never comes out. So many red flags jumped out at him, like how does he get cash to pay the rent each month and how does he get his food if he’s not leaving. What am I missing? He knew there was something, but he couldn’t figure it out. He needed a visual inside. How am I going to get in without getting approval from Hannah? She’ll need to give him forty-eight hours notice. If there is anything to see, it’ll be long gone. I need a reason to get in.

  He looked at his watch. 23:00 This was when the guy seemed to be the most active. Sneaking in was going to be difficult, most would say impossible. I’ve never allowed impossible in my vocabulary before, and I’m not going to now.

  He needed to think. There was a way, he’d just not seen it yet.

  “Serious, Mark. Feel this wall. I mean the guy on the other side won’t even hear the water running with this. It’s almost soundproof.”

  Exactly. He won’t hear anything.

  Mark stepped out of the bathroom, went to where all the tools were stored, and found the sledge hammer. Sorry, Don. There’s no other way.

  When he entered again, Don said, “Mark, trust me, it’s perfect. And any finishing work will require a much smaller tool.

  Mark walked past Don and stood in front of the wall. Some things are more important than the deadline.

  Gripping the sledge hammer tightly he swung it over his shoulder and with full force let it come crashing down on the first stud.

  “What the hell are you doing? Have you lost your fucking mind?”

  Mark swung again and heard the board snap. Then a third and fourth swing. The wall was not only giving, but he knew he was breaking through to the other side. He had no idea what the setup was like. Usually a house had all the plumbing adjacent to each other, but nothing had been normal in this house. They’d never heard running water as they were working in the bathroom, so he could eliminate it being a bathroom or kitchen. For all he knew he was knocking into a closet or bedroom. Either was fine with him as long it meant he was getting in that apartment.

  He didn’t want to make it too obvious, so when it was cracked just enough, Mark hit the new PVC piping which caused the water to start shooting out.

  “Mark, you’ve lost your mind.”

  Mark reached for the pipe and pointed it in the direction to blow water into the next apartment. Then he turned to Don and said, “When you hear me say pipe wrench, I want you to turn off the shut-off value. Don’t touch anything until you hear me say pipe wrench. Understood?”

  He started leaving the room, and Don started to follow. “Stay here. I don’t know who is in that apartment.”

  “Exactly, Mark. I’ve got your back.”

  “This isn’t a fight, Don. This is research.”

  “I wish you could’ve done it before I spent six hours creating perfection.”

  Mark bolted out of the apartment and banged on the tenant’s door. “Hey, we broke a pipe. I need to get in or your apartment is going to flood. Come on. Open up or your place is going to flood.�
�

  The door opened, and a young man in his mid-twenties asked, “Who are you?”

  Mark pushed past him. “The repairman. And right now it’s your place that needs fixing.”

  “I don’t want anyone in here.”

  “Come with me and you’ll see. Your apartment is going to flood.”

  Mark’s eyes scanned every inch of the apartment as he made his way to the side where he knew he’d broken through. The kid was right behind him and looked nervous as shit.

  “Look.” Mark pointed at the water coming through the hole in the wall.

  “What happened?”

  “My partner slipped with the hammer and smashed right through the wall.” Mark dropped to his knees and reached into the hole that he’d made only moments before.

  “You have no right to come into my house. You need to leave.”

  “One more minute and I’ll have it off. If only I had a pipe wrench, this would be so much easier.”

  The water slowed then stopped.

  “There. No more water.”

  “Now you leave.”

  “You don’t want me to stay and clean up the water and patch the wall from your side?”

  The guy shook his head. “I’ll do it. Now go. I need my rest.”

  Good try. I already know you don’t sleep at night. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to wake you. I’ll make sure he’s more careful in the future.”

  The guy followed closely, as they walked to the door. He said nothing as he closed the door tightly. Mark heard the door being bolted behind him.

  If I need to come back, that won’t stop me.

  He entered the apartment where Don was standing, looking not too happy. He couldn’t blame him. This was not anything he signed up for. Being my friend isn’t always easy.

  “Care to explain?”

  Mark said, “Downstairs.”

  Neither spoke until they were behind closed doors and Mark was comfortable no one could hear. Not the man upstairs or the lovely Hannah.

  “We have an issue here.”

  “I figured that when you decided to destroy the place. What exactly is the issue?”