Читать книгу Men of Honour: Ready, Set, Jett / When You Dare / Trace of Fever / Savor the Danger / A Perfect Storm / What Chris Wants / Bare It All - Lori Foster - Страница 37

UNABLE TO SLEEP, Dare grew antsy. Taking care not to disturb Molly, he slipped out of the bed. Before he went into the bathroom he lifted the tangled covers over her. He’d left her crossways in the bed, her feet hanging over the side, but that didn’t seem to interfere with her tiredness.

Seeing her like that, so peaceful, made his heart clutch anew. He noticed that her now-swollen lips were tipped up in a slight smile. God knew the woman didn’t have much to smile about lately. Her innocence and optimism charmed him, burned him, brought out all his protective instincts and other less comfortable emotions that he barely recognized.

Turning away from the bed, Dare picked up his jeans and went into her bathroom. The space was small, but it didn’t feel cramped. He disposed of the condom, washed up and pulled on his jeans. Curiosity got to him, and he opened her medicine cabinet. A few routine over-the-counter drugs sat with a prescription for birth-control pills. She’d missed two weeks’ worth, of course, so condoms remained necessary. But the idea of being inside her without barriers …

He closed the cabinet and took a moment to clear his head. Inside a vanity drawer he found a few makeup items, a variety of hair brushes and combs, typical feminine hair adornments. The idea of Molly with a clip in her hair teased his senses and left him grinning for no reason at all.

Turning to the tub, he lifted the pastel-colored soap and breathed in the scent of hyacinth. He could imagine Molly soaking in that old-fashioned tub, covered in fragrant bubbles. But nothing smelled as good as her bare skin, her soft hair—and her excitement.

Damn it, he’d just taken her. She’d opened herself to him completely.

But it wasn’t enough.

All he could think now was that he wanted more. A lot more. More hot sex, the full-body contact of her cuddling afterward, more talking and laughing and learning together …

Now what was he supposed to do?

MOLLY AWOKE TO AN empty bed. She reached out for Dare but felt nothing. Sitting up, she realized that the room was now dark with only a sliver of light coming from beneath the bedroom door.

She started to slide out from under the covers—and she heard it again. The noise that had awakened her: a key in the front door. Again.

Suddenly the light in the other room disappeared, leaving her in utter darkness.

What was Dare doing?

Heart in her throat, Molly slipped out of the bed and pulled a blanket around her. Padding barefoot, she went to the bedroom door, slowly turned the knob and opened it oh-so-quietly.

Her gaze scanned the dim living room. Enough moonlight filtered in the windows for her to see that Dare had been working. He was such a neat freak that the mess of her apartment must have made it impossible for him to sleep.

Or maybe, his lust appeased, he just hadn’t been interested in staying that close to her.

That thought hurt, so she pushed it aside and instead concentrated on seeing the room. She noted that the overturned table had been righted and her mail neatly stacked.

She didn’t see Dare.

Before she could worry too much about that, the front doorknob turned. As the door opened, it screeched in that familiar way.

Hushed voices came from the outer hallway, right outside the door, whispering, maybe even teasing.

Around niggling fear, Molly frowned in vague recognition. One voice almost sounded like—

The door swung open and there was a sudden rush. Her sister squealed, and a loud thump sounded, followed by a curse.

Hurrying out of the bedroom, Molly shouted, “Natalie!” She flipped on a light—and froze.

Sure enough, she’d recognized her sister’s voice, even in a whisper. As if tossed there, Natalie sprawled in an easy chair, unhurt but stunned.

In the middle of the floor, Dare pinned down a man almost as big as him. He kept his gun barrel pressed hard against the stranger’s jaw.

With the lights on, Natalie saw the gun and screamed. “Oh, my God! What are you doing? Who are you?”

Dare didn’t take his gaze off his captive. With a nod of his head toward Molly, he said, “I’m with her.”

As her sister and the man glanced at her, Molly gave a loose finger wave.

Dare nudged the man. “Who are you?”

His mouth flattened. Nodding his head toward Natalie, he said, “I’m with her.”

Dare frowned.

Natalie scrambled from the chair in what Molly recognized as “attack mode.”

“Wait.” Molly had no idea what was going on, or who the man on the floor might be, but she wouldn’t allow her sister to jump Dare.

She didn’t want her sister to get hurt.

“Everyone, just chill a second, please.”

“Easier said than done,” the man beneath Dare quipped.

The stranger kept his palms, at either side of his head, open and nonthreatening. But something about the way he stared back at Dare made Molly uneasy.

Dare didn’t move—which meant he didn’t hurt the guy, but neither did he let him up.

Molly pulled the blanket tighter. “Dare, this is my sister, Natalie.”

“Don’t hurt him,” Natalie warned. And then to Molly, “What’s going on here?”

“Dare is, um, protecting me. Nothing to worry about. He’s one of the good guys.”

Disbelief flashed over Natalie’s white face before she gathered her gumption. “Well, then, tell him to get off of Jett.” She looked ready to launch herself at Dare if he made the wrong move, so Molly moved closer to her.

If she had to, she’d tackle her sister. But hopefully it wouldn’t come to that, not with her naked beneath the blanket.

“Dare,” Molly ventured. He looked to be in a killing mood. “Really, she is my sister, I promise.”

“Sister, got it.” Indecision plain, Dare eased back just a little but kept his gun on the man.

“Jett Sutter.” The stranger lay there, not really discomfited by the attack. “I know. Sounds like jet-setter. My folks are regular comedians.” He tilted his head to see Molly. Eyes so dark they looked black took her measure. His long, sinful lashes might have seemed effeminate on another man, but not on him. “I’m glad to see you’re okay, Molly.”

Molly blinked. “You know me?”

“Only from what Natalie has told me, which was all flattering but didn’t include associates with guns.”

His good humor left Molly gaping. He was a handsome man, and even flat on his back with a gun in his face he managed to appear competent.

“How do you know my sister?”

He looked Molly over in the blanket and cocked a brow. “Ask Natalie.”

Natalie turned three shades of red. “Oh, Molly, there’s so much we have to talk about.” And then, as if she forgot the men, she wailed, “I was so worried about you. Where the hell have you been?”

Molly almost lost her blanket when Natalie jerked her into a tight bear hug. She wanted to soothe her sister, she really did. But with the men on the floor … the timing was definitely off.

“I’m okay, Natalie. Really.” Over her sister’s shoulder, Molly saw Dare eyeing Jett.

He said low, “You might want to stop looking at her like that.”

The man actually grinned. “Right. Sorry. It’s not lascivious, I swear. I was just noting the similarities between the two of them.”

“Sure you were.” Dare leaned into him a little more. “What are you two doing here?”

Jett put one hand behind his head, rested the other on his chest and looked to be getting comfortable. “We just returned from a trip. I told Natalie that Molly was probably back by now. It’s the middle of the night, so she didn’t want to call, but she couldn’t stand waiting until the morning to check on her. So …” He shrugged as if to excuse Natalie’s misguided intention, and then, with caution, used the side of his hand to edge the gun away from his face. “She was going to peek in and make sure her sister was okay. That’s all.”

Dare didn’t like that one bit. “You’re shitting me. You two snuck in, and you were going to look at Molly in her bed—”

“I was only here to see to Natalie’s safety. She’d have done all the peeking on her own.”

With her hands on Molly’s bare shoulders, Natalie pushed her back the length of her arms. “Do you have any idea how damned scared I’ve been for you?”

Molly sighed and again adjusted her blanket. If she lost it, she’d die on the spot. “I called you earlier, but you didn’t answer.”

Aghast, Natalie blinked as if ready to cry. “When?”

Since she didn’t know what time it was, Molly couldn’t answer. “As soon as Dare and I got back to the apartment. I don’t know. Hours ago.”

“Oh, God, Molly. I’m sorry. I …” She looked at Jett. “We … He …”

“We hooked up,” Jett said with a smile. “Long past due. Anyway, your sister was focused on other things most recently, and she didn’t remember to keep her phone charged.” Now disregarding Dare’s gun, he sat up, propped his forearms on his jean-covered knees and acted as if he hadn’t just been assaulted. “The timing is off, but what the hell, right? We’re getting married.”

It was Molly’s turn to gape. “Married?”

Natalie bobbed her head, and tears swam in her eyes. “I love him.”

Jett smiled, too. “I hope you’ll forgive her for missing your call. She really has been worried nonstop.”

“Of course,” Molly said, still trying to process the idea of her very independent sister planning to wed a man that Molly had never met.

“Where were you?” Natalie demanded.

“Kidnapped,” Dare said, dropping that bombshell with great effect. “To Tijuana. By flesh smugglers.”

Molly couldn’t believe he’d just blurted it out like that.

Jett gave Dare a dirty look and pushed to his feet. Molly sensed that it wasn’t what Dare said as much as how he said it that Jett took exception to. He reached Natalie just as the tears started tracking down her face. “Oh, Molly … Tijuana?” Natalie covered her mouth, and then, with even more feeling, “Kidnapped?”

“Calm down, Natalie.” Molly couldn’t think of anything else to say. “I’m okay.”

“So she says, often.” Dare didn’t look at all happy with this turn of events. He closed the apartment door and locked it again.

“Who the hell are you?” Jett asked him. “Her bodyguard?”

Dare shrugged. “I’m the guy who got her out of Mexico.”

Molly couldn’t help but note how Jett kept a comforting arm around Natalie and how, for once, Natalie refrained from smothering her and instead leaned on Jett.

“She got an email from you,” Jett said to Molly. “But she didn’t really believe you’d written it.”

“She hadn’t,” Dare told them.

“I knew it!” More tears came as Natalie understood the extent of the conspiracy.

Clasping her sister’s shoulder, Molly tried to reassure her. “It was awful, I admit it. But I’m fine now, I swear.”

“How can you say that?” Frowning, she touched Molly’s face. “I see bruises on you.” She turned a mean eye on Dare. “How did she get bruised?”

“Kidnappers are often careless that way.”

Not appreciating Dare’s sarcasm one bit, Molly scowled at him, but then forced a smile for Natalie. “Dare would never hurt me.”

“No, I wouldn’t.”

“There, you see?” Molly smoothed her sister’s wild hair. “He’s the one who rescued me, and he’s been keeping me safe since then.”

“And he was protecting her still when we came in,” Jett added. “That’s what that tackle was all about.” He glanced at Dare. “Right?”

“Of course,” Molly said when Dare didn’t.

Jett gave Natalie a small squeeze. “But even not knowing who we were, he didn’t hurt you. I’m guessing because you’re female, you got tossed into the soft chair instead of on the hard floor.”

“Exactly,” Molly said. “Dare doesn’t hurt women.”

“That’s not entirely true, honey. A lot depends on the woman involved.”

Damn him, did he have to antagonize them? Molly flashed him an evil look. “You’re not helping.”

Dare shrugged.

So he resented their intrusion—she got that. He didn’t understand the closeness that she and Natalie shared. But she wanted her sister to know him as well as she did.

She wanted Natalie to like Dare and to understand everything he’d done for her.

Jett watched Dare with that piercing black gaze. “To be able to distinguish Natalie and me apart so quickly, you’d have to have special training.”

“You could say that.” Dare continued his visual analysis of Jett. “What do you know of it?”

Jett stared right back. “Enough, obviously.”

The pissing contest was ludicrous. For heaven’s sake, it was the middle of the night and they were all rattled. Holding the blanket together one-handed, Molly shoved her hair away from her face and let out a huff.

“Dare. Be nice.”

Both Natalie and Jett looked at her like she was nuts for trying to dictate to him. Natalie whispered, “Is it wise to talk to a bodyguard that way?”

Molly rolled her eyes. “He’s not really a bodyguard. Well, he is, I guess. But he’s more than that, too.”

“More?” Natalie asked. Jett just raised a brow.

Giving up, Molly looked at Dare for help. “I have no idea how to explain all this.”

“I can see that.” Finally Dare gave up his dark and broody mood. “If you don’t want me to shoot either of them, then I guess we have a lot of talking to do.” He stowed the gun at the small of his back.

“M.O.B. holster?” Jett asked.

Molly didn’t understand until Dare explained to her. “Middle of the back.” And then to Jett: “My gun stays with me.”

If Natalie’s eyes got any wider, they’d fall out of her head.

Dare wasn’t wearing a shirt, so he couldn’t pull it over the gun to hide it. Not that he seemed bothered by that.

“It’s late, and Molly and I missed dinner.”

Hearing him say that, knowing why they’d missed dinner, made a flush of heat go over her. Luckily her sister didn’t notice; Dare held all her attention.

“After her ordeal, she’s still getting her strength back, so she needs to eat. But she doesn’t have a lot here in the way of groceries.” Casting accusation on Molly, he added, “This place has piss-poor security, especially with windows that don’t lock and that damned invitation they call a fire escape.”

Because Dare currently looked more like a hired assassin than a domesticated man, Molly said, “Dare’s really good in the kitchen.” Then, being truthful, she added, “Actually, he’s really good at everything.”

“Everything?” Natalie asked, and she sounded strangled.

Jett coughed.

Dare’s mouth lifted in the slightest of smiles. “Glad you think so.” No one could misunderstand his look of intimacy.

Natalie did a double take. As she took in Dare’s size and physique from head to toes, her lips parted.

Lacking subtlety, she turned to Molly to mouth, Oh, my God.

Jett frowned at her, then hauled her into his side.

Dare didn’t miss any of it, but he chose not to say anything. “Maybe we can order up some pizza and colas to be delivered? That’d probably be easiest.”

“No delivery this time of night.” Jett gave it some thought. “There is a quickie-mart station around the corner that’s open twenty-four hours. They’ll throw a pizza in fresh for you.”

“I’ve had it.” Molly didn’t realize how hungry she was until they started talking about food. “It’s good.”

Testing the waters, Jett said to Dare, “Don’t worry. I’ll stay here with the women while you go.”

Dare did that strange thing where he looked bigger and stronger without really moving. “Not a chance.” The quietness of his reply made it all the more lethal.

Jett’s smile looked mean. “Still don’t trust me, huh?”

“Hell, no.”

Natalie shared a look with Molly. “He seriously doesn’t trust Jett?”

Dare answered for her. “How long have you known him?”

When Natalie clammed up, Jett hugged her. “That sort of depends on your definition of knowing.”

Through her teeth, Natalie said, “Don’t you dare, Jett. I mean it.”

Unsure what that was about, but sensing her sister’s embarrassment, Molly intervened. “Dare, relax. If Natalie says he’s fine, then he’s fine.”

Dare gave her a look. “When it comes to your safety, I say when it’s fine, remember?”

Molly bit her lip. She had promised to trust him on this.

Jett stood only a few inches shorter than Dare, which still put him over six feet tall. Broad-shouldered and lean, he had that same capable aura that Dare had, but maybe without Dare’s edge.

Insulted, he moved to stand right in front of Dare. “I’m not leaving Natalie here with you. Hell, for all I know, you could be the one who set up the kidnapping.”

Before Molly could react to that, Dare muttered, “Hell.” Resignation sharpened his expression, and he loosened his stance. “You’re a cop?”

Surprised by the question, Jett hedged a little. “I used to be. Why?”

Rolling his eyes, Dare said to Molly, “Told you I’d be the first suspect.”

“He did,” Molly agreed, backing him up and hoping that put an end to the hostilities. “We didn’t call the police immediately because Dare said he was the first one they’d look at, and their investigation might alert the real perpetrator.”

“Happens sometimes,” Jett agreed.

“You can trust me when I tell you that Dare is an amazing man. He’s the only reason I’m here now, maybe the only reason I’m alive.” Molly hoped to get things smoothed out quickly. Not only was she uncomfortable in her state of undress, but she hadn’t seen her sister in what felt like forever. “If he hadn’t already been in Mexico to—”

“Molly.”

She bit her lip at Dare’s quiet but firm interruption. Okay, so maybe he didn’t want her to blab his private business, or that of his friends.

She cleared her throat. Omitting details, she said, “He was there on other business and just sort of decided to rescue me while he was at it.”

That only whetted Jett’s curiosity. “What kind of business did you have in Tijuana?”

“The kind that doesn’t concern you.” Dare didn’t bother hiding his impatience. “So, if you’re not still a cop, what are you doing now?”

Not nearly as closemouthed as Dare, Jett said, “Security work—domestic investigation, mostly.”

“You’re a private eye?”

“That’s right.” Jett extended a hand. “Feel free to check my background. I know how it is to be cautious.”

“Yeah?” Still looking like he was made of stone, Dare ignored his proffered hand. “Why is that?”

“I’m ex-military, ex-FBI.” He shrugged. “But old habits die hard, and I’m still the cautious type, too.”

Dare didn’t budge.

Making a face, Jett patted his right thigh. “Gunshot injury keeps me a little more grounded than I like, otherwise you wouldn’t have taken me to the floor so easily.” He grinned after saying it. “Need me to drop my jeans and prove it?”

Molly wanted to smack Dare for his bad manners. “Natalie would not trust a man who wasn’t trustworthy.”

“Ditto,” Natalie agreed. She flapped a hand toward Dare. “If Molly says that he’s okay, despite appearances to the contrary, then I believe her. My sister is an astute woman. I’ll be safe with him.”

“Fine. Acquit me of any intentional insult.” Jett again held out his hand. “This has to start somewhere, so …?”

Dare eyed him up and down, and finally accepted Jett’s handshake. “About that pizza?”

“Right.” Jett glanced at his watch. “Assuming you aren’t going to leave Molly’s side—”

Dare’s look answered better than words.

“—then I suppose I might as well run out for the eats. I should only be half an hour, tops. But save some of the story for me. I admit I’m curious as hell about all this.”

Before he could go, Molly said, “Jett?”

Those dark eyes focused on her. “Hmm?”

“It’s very nice to meet you.”

Jett flashed the brightest smile she’d seen in quite some time. It worked wonders to counterbalance the ominous look of those dark eyes.

“You, too, Molly. I’m damned glad that you’re back home, safe and sound.” Then he went to Natalie, tucked her long, curly hair behind her ear, kissed her and said, “I won’t be long.”

“Be careful.”

With another glance at Dare, he said, “For once I don’t have to say the same to you. I have a feeling you’re as safe as you can be right now.”

The second he left, Natalie wrapped her arms around Molly in a tight, nearly choking embrace. “Thank God you’re finally home.”

Molly could feel her sister shaking. “I’m sorry you were worried.” Over Natalie’s shoulder, she met Dare’s gaze. He watched her with heightened familiarity. She shivered.

In her ear, Natalie whispered, “I can’t believe you’re with him. What are you thinking?”

Insulted on Dare’s behalf, Molly levered her back. “Why?”

“Look at him! He’s …” When she caught Molly’s frown, she let out a breath and tempered her wording. “Well, he’s intimidating.”

Proving he had great hearing, Dare said, “Not to Molly.”

Natalie’s eyes went round again.

Molly bit back a grin.

Dare smiled at her. Standing there like that, he was intimidating—to anyone who wanted to hurt her. He was also incredibly sexy.

Molly sighed. She wanted more. A lot more.

But now, at the most inauspicious time, her sister had shown up. Never before had she been sorry to see Natalie, but this time … Well, she would have preferred that she had the rest of the night alone with Dare to explore the new dimension to their relationship.

“Relax, Natalie.” In a grand understatement, Molly said, “He’s been very good to me.”

“Are you two really …?” She glanced back at Dare, who made no pretense of watching them intently, and spun back around. In a hushed undertone, she said, “Good grief, Molly. He doesn’t scare you?”

“Of course not.”

“But he’s …”

“He’s sweet,” Molly insisted.

Dare snorted. “He’s still listening.”

Aggrieved, Natalie closed her eyes.

Molly hooked her sister’s arm and dragged her farther across the room. “I’m so sorry that I couldn’t call you, Nat.” This was going to be difficult to explain. “The thing is, I don’t know who had me kidnapped, or why.”

“What do you mean?” Understanding dawned. “You think it wasn’t a random thing? You were a specific target!”

“I’m afraid so.” Unlike Molly’s thick, heavy hair, Natalie’s lighter hair grew in fluffy, corkscrew curls. Molly smoothed down a wild, wayward spiral. “You know how much I trust you.”

“I should hope so.”

Her sister never failed to back her up when necessary. “Well, as much as I trust you, I also know how you’ll react in almost any situation. If I had told you that someone had set me up to be taken, that someone had deliberately wanted me gone, you’d have gone ballistic.”

“Well, of course I would have. You’re my sister!” She chewed over what Molly had told her, trying to sort it out. “Who? Who would do this to you?”

She wished she had a better answer. “I still have no idea, and that’s what scares me the most.”

Fear narrowed Natalie’s eyes. “Until you know who did it, you can’t keep it from happening again.”

“That’s about it.”

Obliterating any pretense about their conversation remaining private, Dare came over to them. “Molly feared that you’d go on a rampage trying to find out who wanted her hurt.”

Whipping around to confront him, Natalie found him close and had to look way up. She stumbled back a step. “I can be reasonable.”

“Can you?”

She opened her mouth, then closed it. After a few seconds, she sighed. “Well, maybe not. But you can’t expect me to just … just accept this without getting angry.”

Dare reached for Molly and tucked her into his side. “You can be as pissed off as you want. That’s understandable. But I need you to stay out of it, and to trust me to find the one responsible.”

Natalie frowned at him, at Molly, then back again. “Maybe it’d help if you told me what makes you so qualified for the job.”

Dare searched her face. “All you need to know is that I’m not going to let anyone hurt your sister.”

Confused, Natalie put her hands on her hips. “Why are you involved? Because you two are …” She waved a hand between them. “What? Dating?”

She made it sound like the most absurd idea ever. Trying to go for the easiest explanation, Molly said, “Dare’s protecting me because I’m paying him for his assistance.”

There was a heavy pause, and then Dare lifted her chin so that she had to look at him. With quiet authority, he stated, “No, honey, you’re not.”