Forever Thrown: Forever Bluegrass #16

by Kathleen Brooks

  Porter gave Willa time to respond, but she just stared dumbfounded at Marcy. “That’s top secret corporate information. How do you know that?”

  Grandma Marcy rolled her eyes. “I raised a son and grandson who are spies, dear. I have my resources.”

  “The president told you in exchange for an apple pie, didn’t he?” Gemma asked her mother-in-law. Grandma Marcy just smiled sweetly in response.

  “I’m in a coma, right?” Willa asked Porter as she poked his chest. “Are you real? Are they real? This can’t be real.” She poked him again and again.

  “It’s real. It’s just my family. Now, do you want to answer or do you want me to?” Porter asked her. “Half of them have probably figured it out already so it’s not a big deal.”

  “How?” Willa asked them all.

  “I’m on a special team with the FBI and I was just asked to upgrade my phone,” Greer said.

  “Us too,” Porter’s cousin, Dylan said as his wife, Abby, nodded her head in agreement.

  “You’re FBI, too?” Willa asked the dangerous looking couple.

  Abby smirked. “Not exactly.”

  “Which agency?”

  Abby just smiled again.

  “I have top secret clearance,” Willa said. “As you all know.”

  “Everyone in this room has top secret clearance, dear,” Marcy said with a kindly smile. “Now, what’s this key thingy?”

  “My father is Brian Aldridge. He developed and owns Anancites. It’s a privately held technology company. I am president of the new mobile encryption division, which just won a government contract to encrypt all government phones. Someone wants the key to the encryption so they can gain access to every government phone,” Willa told them. No one looked surprised.

  “The Panther,” Porter said and Willa gasped.

  “He’s the one who is after it? How do you know that?” she asked.

  “You mean, DeAndre? He’s my panther,” Aniyah said with a little growl. Then she paused. “Come to think about it, so is Jackson.”

  “You’ve called Kale your panther, too,” Riley reminded her. “And Colton, and Landon, and I’m pretty sure Parker and Porter as well.”

  “I’m crushed. I thought I was your panther and I find out I’m just one of many,” Ahmed said dryly.

  “Don’t you worry. You’re my tiger, roar!” she yelled, rolling her Rs and using her nails to mimic scratching him.

  Ahmed might have smiled, but then it was gone.

  “The Panther is a cyber criminal. He steals valuable information and auctions it off to the highest bidder,” Willa explained. “How do you know it’s him?”

  “Ahmed’s son, Kale, is a computer genius. He told me,” Porter told her. “How do you know about him?”

  “We’ve been invited to bid on stolen property from our competitors before. We’ve declined each time.” Willa paused and went white as a ghost. “The man you spooned to death . . .”

  “Was his employee. He was to deliver the key to The Panther,” Porter explained.

  “So now it’s going to be open season on you two,” Cy said matter-of-factly.

  Ahmed nodded. “Could be fun.”

  “Hell yeah, it will be,” Cy answered. “Honey, it’s time for me to pull out my big gun. Maybe a grenade or two. Did we put them in the hall closet?”

  There was a squeal from the back of the waiting room. “I just got a military grade front attachment for my Humvee. I’ll mow bad guys down with it.”

  “I got a new gun. Look at this sexy girl,” Aniyah said, pulling out a new hot pink cheetah print gun.

  “My sniper rifle is out in the car,” Greer said with a smile. “Want me to get it?”

  “Who are you people?” Willa cried out in alarm, and Porter figured it was a good time to get her to a private room.

  “They’re looking out for us. This isn’t our first rodeo. You’re safer with us than anywhere else in the world. You notice we lost your bodyguards but Grandma Marcy beat us here,” Porter said as he dropped his voice to calm her down.

  “Yes, but my guards have guns to protect us!” Willa said, nearing panic level.

  “I don’t mean to frighten you,” Gemma said in her most motherly voice, “but everyone here has a weapon of some sort.”

  “There’s a whole cup of plastic spoons sitting by the coffee. Do you know how many ways I could kill someone with those?” Uncle Miles asked as everyone in the room groaned.

  His wife, Morgan, rolled her eyes and pointed her finger at Porter in exasperation. “You just had to kill someone with a spoon. We’re never going to hear the end of this.”

  “It’s a very versatile and underestimated weapon,” Uncle Miles argued.

  “I agree with my dad,” his daughter Layne said with a shrug as she took a spoon and put it in her pocket. “Just in case.”

  “That’s my girl.” Uncle Miles smiled widely and slung his arm around his daughter.

  Willa looked around the room and Porter could tell her head was spinning. “Come on. Let’s take a stroll and have a talk. I bet there’s horrible coffee downstairs.”

  Porter angled Willa into the elevator, snagging some cookies as he went by the nurses’ station. Well, the cards were now on the table. Porter just wondered if he had a winning hand.

  14

  Willa stood in the elevator in stunned silence. Some old sweet grandmother in the middle of nowhere Kentucky knew about the key. Her entire career and life were at risk. Then the man she thought was so truthful and honest turned out to be a lying spy, sent to determine if she was a traitor.

  Willa spun and smacked Porter on the arm. “That’s why your dad asked me about my patriotism! You all thought I was a traitor!”

  Porter let her hit his upper arm over and over again. “My dad’s a human lie detector. Everyone knew you weren’t a traitor. I knew that a minute after I met you. He verified it.”

  “Oh my gosh,” Willa gasped again. “Falling into my lap was no accident. And here I thought it was so romantic.”

  Porter smiled and she felt like hitting him again. “It wasn’t an accident. I saw the threat, determined you weren’t a traitor and therefore in danger, then I flung myself over a bench and into your arms while kicking the bad guy in the face. C’mon, isn’t that romantic? Maybe I just think it is because, well, you’ve met my father.”

  Okay, it was totally heroic, but she wasn’t ready to tell him that. “Was everything between us an act to gather information on me?” Willa finally asked.

  Porter finally moved then. In a split second, he’d hit the elevator emergency button and they came to an abrupt stop. Porter had his hands around her waist and her back pressed up against the elevator wall and was standing so close she could feel every breath he took. “Everything was very real to me. I didn’t lie about a thing. I only left out the CIA bit. Every story, every conversation we had, every touch.” Porter lifted a hand and traced a finger over her lips, down her neck, and feathered them over her collarbone. “And every kiss was very real.”

  Willa’s heart rate kicked up and anger was quickly replaced with lust. Maybe the anger was still there, simmering under the surface and fueling the lust. Either way, when Willa looked up into Porter’s eyes as he traced his hand down her side, she felt on fire.

  “How’s this for real?” Porter asked a second before dipping his head and pressing his lips to hers.

  This time it wasn’t gentle. It wasn’t romantic. It wasn’t sweet. It was hot, heavy, and hard. His lips were strong and demanding against hers as he pressed her against the wall of the elevator. Willa let that fire she was feeling loose as it roared to life inside her. She kissed back, harder and deeper as she grabbed the back of his neck and angled him just how she wanted.

  Porter rocked his hips against hers and Willa exploded with need. She rocked back, lifting her leg to his hip. Porter’s hand automatically grabbed it and hooked it around his waist. He read every signal she gave and when he broke the kiss to trail his lips dow
n the side of her neck, Willa found herself pinned against the elevator wall with both legs wrapped around Porter’s waist, one of his hands on her ass holding her up, and the other up her shirt. His lips left little trails of fire down her skin as he kissed along her neck. If she were in a coma, she never wanted to wake up.

  Porter rocked forward again as he cupped her breast and nipped at her neck. Willa moaned as she angled her neck for him to kiss again. She’d never understood the appeal of hickeys, but she did now. Whatever he was doing to her left her a puddle of goo in his arms.

  Porter’s body was hard against hers as his mouth found its way back up to hers. “Is this real enough?” he asked, his lips a breath away from hers.

  “Not nearly,” Willa said before taking action. She closed the distance and kissed him. She let her hands explore the muscles of his shoulders as she pressed her breasts against his hard chest.

  “It’s okay now. I’m a fireman and I’m here to get you out.”

  Willa gave a little squeak as she used Porter to hide as she tugged her shirt back down at the appearance of a face above them.

  “Oh, Willa,” she heard Greer’s voice sigh. “You just lost me a ten-dollar bet with my grandmother. I thought you’d hold out to forgive him until you reached the car.”

  “What’s going on here?” another male voice said. “Hey, is that Porter?”

  “You good?” Porter whispered to her. He didn’t move until she nodded. “Willa Aldridge, meet my cousin Colton. He’s the fireman. He’s also Landon’s older brother. The man behind him is my cousin, Wyatt. He’s a veterinarian. Then next to him is his wife, Camila. She trains racehorses. Y’all, this is my girlfriend, Willa Aldridge.”

  Girlfriend? Did they discuss that? Willa discretely shifted her bra back into place. Yeah, she guessed they did discuss it. The anger she felt finding out he was with the CIA fizzled out. She’d been keeping secrets from him, too. She was actually relieved everything was out in the open. Willa wasn’t so sure her father would like it, but she’d soon find out because if The Panther was after them, he needed to know.

  “Your case,” Colton said with a nod. “We know. Nice to meet you, Willa.”

  Willa stood blinking at them all. “How many cousins do you have again? They seem never-ending.”

  “I know, right?!” Camila said as she tossed her hands up. “I still get some of them mixed up and I’m married to a Davies.”

  Willa grinned up at the woman with the Irish accent. She liked her. She liked Greer, too, but she felt Camila understood the overwhelming feeling Willa was experiencing right now with the tidal wave of Davies cousins.

  “So, if you could just push that little red button there, the Lexington Fire Department won’t show up,” Colton told them.

  Porter pushed it as Colton leaned back from where he was looking down at them. The door slid closed as the elevator continued its way down. “Sorry about that.” Porter looked a little sheepish and it just made Willa know her instincts had been right. Porter Davies was a good guy.

  “How long have you been in the CIA?”

  “Couple of days. My handler blackmailed me to do this. He needed someone legit to enter the horse world and I was that guy. If I didn’t do it, then he’d have my brother fired from the US marshals.”

  That further dampened any lingering anger Willa had. “That’s horrible.”

  “I know. So I charged him a lot for this one-time deal.”

  “Then you really do own a horse farm?” Willa asked.

  “I do. I’m looking to expand it, too. I never wanted to lie to you and I never intended to fall for you. But I did,” Porter told her as he reached out and took her hand in his.

  “I did, too,” Willa admitted. “If The Panther is after me, I’m putting everyone here at risk. What do we do now?”

  “We find The Panther.”

  Porter stood off to the side of the waiting room while friends and family brought Willa into the fold. The protectiveness he felt for a woman he’d just met was insane. It was hard not to touch her constantly to make sure she was safe. Well, that and other reasons.

  “You need any help?”

  Porter turned to look at Greer who had come to join him on the outskirts of the waiting room. “I don’t know what the hell I’m doing. Last time I was in a shootout I almost shot someone with an acid bomb of death.”

  “You did all right the other night when a man had a gun to your head,” Greer pointed out.

  “All I could think about was Uncle Miles talking about how a spoon to the throat was just one of the many ways a spoon could kill someone.”

  Greer smothered her laugh but turned serious. “Family dinner has trained you better than the FBI trained me. Why do you think there’s such a waitlist for the uncles’ training facility? You and I had that training for free every week. Get some of Piper’s jackets so y’all are protected. Talk to Sophie. She’ll get you some weapons. Ones that don’t shoot acid,” Greer said of their cousin Sophie Dagher, who was married to Nash, the second-in-charge of the Rahmi royal family living in Keeneston. “Then, let me tag along. You know I can ride and you know I know horses. I can be your groom. Or her groom. People regularly ignore the help, especially when they’re women. It’s worked to my advantage many times.”

  “Don’t you need to get back to your team in New York City?” Porter asked. Greer was the leader of the FBI Hostage Rescue Team there.

  “I’m on leave for the next two weeks. They called it a vacation. I call it punishment because DC is recruiting me over my boss.” Greer let out a frustrated sigh. “It’s crap like this that makes me want to leave the FBI. Can you imagine me being the director and playing this political BS game everyday?”

  Porter saw the stress lines around Greer’s mouth. Being a female director in the FBI would be a huge honor, but Greer didn’t look like she felt honored. She looked annoyed and stressed. “Don’t do it.”

  Greer turned her gray-green eyes toward him in surprise. Almost all the Davies kids and grandkids had Grandpa Jake’s hazel eyes, but Greer got a mix of her mother’s hazel eyes and her father’s silver ones. “What?”

  “Don’t do it. You look miserable when you talk about it. So, don’t become director.”

  “But everyone says I have to—”

  “Since when do you listen to anyone?” Porter asked, cutting Greer off. “I need to talk to my dad. I’ll have Willa talk to you about helping out this week. I’m all for it. You’re a hell of an agent. I’m just a Davies cowboy living in a CIA world.” Greer grinned at him and Porter left to give his cousin a minute to think about what he said.

  Willa saw him coming and smiled up at him. “You have the most fascinating family.”

  “I know. Speaking of family, Greer wants to talk to you about helping us this week. Can you go talk to her while I talk to my dad?”

  Willa glanced to see where Greer was and her smile faltered. “What’s wrong with her? Greer looks sad and I know I’ve only just met her, but she doesn’t strike me as the sad sort.”

  “She’s having a career crisis.”

  Willa nodded. “I get it. It’s hard being a woman in what’s considered a man’s field.”

  Willa left Porter without looking back. It was clear she was concerned for Greer and damned if that didn’t squeeze Porter’s heart.

  “You know,” his cousin Jace said as Colton, Landon, Parker, and Ariana joined him. This was his crew. The younger generation, although right now he didn’t feel so young. “I really like her for you. I was afraid you’d end up with some buckle bunny.”

  “I didn’t,” Ari said, coming to his defense. “I always knew you had good taste. After all, we’re your best friends. I think she’s perfect. She’s made you more serious and you’re going to make her relax a little. You’ve only been together a couple of days and I can see you make a good team.”

  “Aw, just like you and Jameson,” Colton said, pretending to be a smitten teenager.

  Ari punched him and Port
er laughed. Yup, these were his friends.

  “I need to talk to my dad. I’ll be right back.”

  Porter found his dad with his brothers and brother-in-law. Porter’s cousin Dylan and cousin-in-law Walker were with them.

  “Porter, good. You’re here,” his father said as the circle expanded and made room for him.

  “Don’t start this without me,” Matt Walz, Porter’s brother-in-law and sheriff of Keeneston, said as he joined them. “Okay, go ahead, Pop Pop.”

  “I’ll smother you in your sleep if you call me that again,” Cy growled at his son-in-law, who just grinned at him.

  “Pappy Cy it is.”

  “Do you have a death wish?” Walker asked Matt, who just grinned in response.

  “It’s not bad until knives are thrown at your balls,” Dylan said with a shrug. “What will little Carolina call Uncle Miles?” Dylan asked Walker about his newborn daughter.

  “Sir,” Walker said quickly.

  Uncle Miles rolled his eyes. “I’m going to be Papa Miles. I’m already teaching her everything I know,” Miles said proudly of his infant granddaughter.

  “He gave her a toy spoon,” Walker said as he pinched his lips together so he wouldn’t laugh.

  “And a grenade rattle,” Miles said with a smile.

  “Oh, send me a link to that,” Porter’s father said before turning to him. “Now, let’s get Porter squared away and maybe I can get a granddaughter. What’s the game plan?”

  15

  “Greer?” Willa asked as she approached Porter’s cousin. The woman was staring out of the window deep, in thought. “Are you okay?”

  Greer turned and smiled, but it wasn’t a real one. It was the one women gave when everyone expected a smile even though it was the last thing they felt. “Of course. Did Porter tell you about my idea of being your groom?”