by Lori Foster
Fascinated, Alani took in the signs of his discomfort. Why would all of this bother him so much, and if it did bother him, then why had he done it? “Exclusive schools like that cost a fortune.”
He snorted. “Don’t I know it.”
But then, if it was so expensive… It occurred to her that she really knew little about Jackson’s finances. “You can afford it?”
“It’s absurd what I make working with Dare and Trace. I thought I had a good job in construction, but this?” He shook his head. “I have a house, land, decent transportation. What else am I going to spend it on?”
Alani couldn’t take it in. Absently, buying herself a little time to think, she reached back again to stroke the cat. “So, you rescued this young lady, and then…what? You felt obligated to help her get her life together? I can understand that.” Sort of. But financing college stretched the definition of generous, especially a costly, exclusive college, no matter how lucrative his work with her brother.
But beyond the monetary consideration, such generosity suggested a more involved association with Arizona.
“She’s a good kid,” Jackson said, but he looked wary.
“Mmm-hmm.” Something didn’t add up. “So you’re paying for her to have a specialized education, with the end goal being…?”
“You don’t have to make it sound so messed up.”
“Did I?” Eyebrows lifting at his abrupt tone, she pondered his mood. Just how much did Arizona mean to him, and in what way? “Is she pretty?”
“Very.” He paused, shook his head. “No, that doesn’t cover it. Arizona is more than pretty. She’s drop-dead gorgeous. An exotic bombshell. Beautiful face and built like a…” He shifted, took a breath and amended, “She’s built nice.”
Back stiffening, Alani stared at him. Even though she felt for Arizona, she couldn’t help being peeved by his description. “Do tell.”
“Now don’t sound like that. She’s a kid.”
“You said she’s twenty.”
Cautious, he stole a quick look at her. “Right.”
Her stare didn’t change. “I’m twenty-four.”
“I know how old you are, darlin’.” He flexed his fingers as if trying to ease tension. “It might only be four years, but believe me, there’s plenty of difference in Arizona at twenty, and you at twenty-four.”
Something kept him on edge. “Really?”
“A world of difference.”
If he wasn’t concerned with discussing Arizona’s physical appeal, then why did he still look so…suspicious? “What kind of differences?”
“You’re sophisticated. And mature.” Something dark, something wolfish, filled his gaze. “And you make me insane with lust.”
And Arizona…didn’t? Biting her lip, Alani thought about it, knew she shouldn’t press, but she couldn’t hold back. “So you and Arizona never…?”
“No!” He steered down the long drive to Dare’s property. “God, no. Nothing like that.”
Did he have to make the idea sound so far-fetched? “If she’s that attractive—”
“You have to understand, honey. When I first met Arizona, she was so injured, in so many ways, that no way in hell could I think things like that. She didn’t want to trust me, but she didn’t have—doesn’t have—anyone else.”
Hearing him say it broke Alani’s heart. From what Jackson had told her, Arizona had been held captive a lot longer than she had. And after Dare rescued her, she’d been cocooned in love, surrounded by understanding. Dare and Trace had seen to that.
But Arizona had no one. “That’s indescribably sad.”
Jolted, he glanced at her and nodded. “Yeah.”
Did he expect her to react badly? To make broad assumptions despite what he’d just told her?
Or was he just that uncertain about doing such a wonderful thing for someone in need?
At her continued contemplation, Jackson chewed the side of his mouth. “The same people who kidnapped Arizona also killed her folks. But even before that, she’d had a shit life.”
Guilt had Alani sinking a little in her seat. She’d spent very little time with traffickers, and still she had nightmares.
How must it be for Arizona? “I’m glad she has you then.” And maybe, if things worked out, she’d get to meet Arizona, too. She would love the opportunity to talk with her.
Jackson didn’t seem to hear her. “She was so damned terrified and aggressive and suspicious, even after I told her the bastards were gone. She didn’t want to share her name, or any part of her past.”
Leave it to Jackson to show so much patience, to win her over. “I’m glad you were able to talk her around.”
He snorted. “Not likely. We decided she needed a new name anyway. You know, for a new life. And since I found her in Arizona…” He shrugged.
Dear God. Her thoughts swam. “You named her?”
“Got her false IDs, the whole shebang. To the world, she’s officially Arizona Storm.”
Because he’d found her in a storm? That would border on laughable if not for the tragic circumstances. “She lives by an alias?”
“Yeah. The school thought we were siblings.” He smiled at some memory. “Not that anyone would ever think we’re related.”
“You gave them a different alias for yourself?”
“Course.”
Curiosity gnawed on her. “Do you have a photo of Arizona?”
He shook his head. “Too dangerous. If anything ever happened to me, I didn’t want anyone to be able to track her. She and I came up with a backup plan. If she’s in trouble, then I hope like hell she remembers it.”
Head reeling, Alani said, “Okay, let’s go back a step. The women’s college?”
“With just a little help, she got her GED. I knew she wanted to continue her education, but she didn’t want me spending my own money, and she had none of her own. I insisted on her taking a car, and a gun—”
“Dear God.”
“—but when it came to the school, she said she was so socially inept that she’d stand out like a turkey among hens, or something dumb like that. She’s usually…” He glanced at her again, cleared his throat. “She’s ballsy. But I know she’s also insecure about some things. Stuff most would take for granted. Like eating in a restaurant, even one that’s not fancy.”
Alani tried to imagine a young girl so wounded, and how she might have felt in Jackson’s shadow. She’d been raised with Trace and had known Dare forever, and still their take-charge confidence could intimidate her.
“Thanks to working with your brother and Dare, more than one influential person owed me, so I pulled some strings and arranged for her to attend the exclusive school. It’s this upscale little college on the East coast. For the right price, they go out of their way to make her feel like a queen. And being there kept her secure, occupied and, I thought, for a little while anyway, that she was finally happy.”
No matter how well intentioned, that sort of atmosphere would be daunting to anyone. “I take it she wasn’t?”
“I dunno.” He pulled up to the security monitor at Dare’s home. He sat there a moment. Finally he took off his sunglasses and looked at Alani. “Thing is, I didn’t know what else to do with her. It wasn’t safe for her to be on her own, but keeping her in the same house with me wasn’t…right.”
It hit her like a tsunami. “She wanted more with you, didn’t she?”
As if expecting recriminations, he dropped his head back. “I’ve never talked with anyone about this.”
Alani scooted closer. “Why not?”
“It’s…personal. For her, I mean. Well, me, too.” He eyed her. “Not many people would understand.”
Oh, she understood all right. It was unfair that one man could be so incredibly gorgeous, so sexy and so bighearted, too. She sympathized with Arizona because, really, who could possibly resist him?
She couldn’t.
“I’m glad that you’re telling me.” She wanted his trust as much as he
demanded hers. “You know that I understand her feelings. You were more than kind, and you’re not exactly an ogre.” He’d stolen her heart so easily. “It’s not your fault Arizona looked for more.”
Pinching the bridge of his nose, Jackson said, “God, it was awkward.” He swiveled his head to face her. “No one had ever really done anything for her, so she mistook my motives. Or maybe she wanted to do something to repay me.” He scrubbed his hands over his face, and his voice dropped low. “Arizona’s not always easy to understand.”
He said that as if it were a great understatement, making her wonder.
“She broke my heart. I wanted to protect her and make her happy, you know? But that idea was so foreign to her that she couldn’t accept it at face value.”
Alani couldn’t imagine a man more sexual than Jackson. And by his own admission, Arizona was a beauty. Yet he hadn’t taken advantage of her. It sounded as if he hadn’t even been tempted.
She realized something very important then: Jackson didn’t pity her. He didn’t see her strictly as a victim because if he had, he’d treat her the same way he treated Arizona.
But Jackson wanted her. Often. He was so open about his sexuality that she knew, while he empathized with what she’d gone through, he truly accepted that she’d survived intact.
He trusted in her strength, and that made him almost too irresistible for words.
Opening her seat belt, Alani crawled over the center console to him. His brows shot up, but he hurriedly opened his belt, too.
When she went to straddle his lap, he helped but asked, “What are we doing here, babe?”
“You’re being wonderful, and I’m showing you how incredible you are.”
“Incredible?” He didn’t take the compliment well. “What the hell brought that on?”
Cupping his face, Alani smiled at him, then sighed. “You do so much.”
“No.” His brows scrunched down and his mouth flattened. “Hell, no.” He tried to lever her away, but she held on, and with the steering wheel and console in his way, he couldn’t pry her loose. “Damn it, Alani, don’t make me into a saint, for Christ’s sake. It wasn’t like that.”
“It was exactly like that.” Despite the terrible upbringing he’d had, or maybe because of it, Jackson showed such empathy to others. He put himself out there to help everyone—from abused women to the elderly to stray cats. More than his sex appeal, more than his alluring charm, that stole her heart and sealed her fate. “It’s still like that.”
“No, I just—”
To shut him up, she kissed him. A deep, thorough kiss that, if only he realized it, showed the love she felt for him. It was the first time she’d initiated things, and it made her feel powerful. She’d been wanting that kiss ever since they captured the cat.
Right now, with her heart full and her eyes misty, seemed like as good a time as any. It fed her soul and hopefully would help to ease Jackson’s tension.
He continued to resist her, until she licked over his bottom lip.
On a hungry groan, he dragged her closer and turned her a little so he could take over the kiss. One big hand sank into her hair to hold her head still, and the other went down to her bottom so he could snug her up tight against his body.
He ate at her mouth, consuming her, bruising her lips and raising her temperature…
Until someone tapped on the window.
So fast that Alani didn’t get a chance to protest, he had her in her seat and his gun drawn.
Outside the window, his arms in the air in comical surrender, Chris sneered at him. “If you shoot me, Dare won’t like it.”
Today Chris wore ragged khaki shorts with a faded T-shirt sporting a musical logo that looked as if they’d been worn swimming in the lake. And they probably had.
At six-two, lean and athletic, Chris was gorgeous in his own right. His feet were bare, his black hair disheveled by wind and water, his blue eyes as irreverent as always. Beside him, Dare’s dogs—Sargie and Tai—wagged their tails in excitement over company.
Hand to her heart, Alani groaned, but the sound turned into an embarrassed giggle. Good grief, poor Chris. Not only had he found them making out at the gate, but Jackson still had the gun pointed at him.
Unlike Dare, Chris didn’t cook, and he had no fashion sense beyond comfortably sloppy, but as Dare’s good friend, personal assistant, manager, computer whiz and housekeeper, Chris was used to guns and the edgy defense of Alpha men. In most cases, his sharp wit matched Dare’s overwhelming protectiveness.
When Chris leaned down to see her better, Alani mouthed, “Sorry,” to him and got a wink in return.
Ignoring the gun, he said, “There’s an empty room inside if you two would like to move this little lovefest from the driveway to the house.”
She waited for Jackson to give some retort, but he sat there, chagrined, bemused, comically hostile, as Chris moved away.
“I didn’t even hear the gate open.”
“It’s kept well oiled.” The priceless look that remained on his face had Alani choking back a laugh. “It’s all right, Jackson. I’ll tell Chris it was all my fault.”
“The hell you will.”
The cat came out of the box to stand with his front paws against Jackson’s seat back. His emerald gaze went back and forth between them, and, after one deep gravelly meow, he leaped up and over into Jackson’s lap.
A horn beeped, and Alani turned to see that Dare had pulled in behind them. Trace wouldn’t be far behind.
Still breathing hard, Jackson stowed the gun while giving her a glowering look that promised retribution. As if he handled a longtime favorite pet, he pulled the cat up to his chest and, ignoring Chris, drove through the gate.
The silence lasted for a few seconds more before he said, “I hope you plan to finish what you started.”
“Absolutely.” She could hardly wait. Now that she’d made up her mind on what she wanted, she intended to go after it full force.
“Sex,” he stated. “Without all that mushy bullshit thrown in.”
“Mushy bullshit?”
“Yeah.” He scowled at her. “That nonsense about me being wonderful.”
Their first night together, Jackson had claimed to love her. She knew now that it had likely been the drugs talking, the same drugs that muddled his senses so much he hadn’t thought to use protection. The reality was that she could be pregnant. If that was the case, she wanted Jackson to return her love before she told him.
She wanted Jackson. Now, always. If he didn’t feel the same, then pregnancy wouldn’t change that. But he was honorable enough that he’d probably want to marry her.
She didn’t want him trapped. She wanted him willing.
She wanted to hear him make another declaration of love but this time, without the influence of drugs.
Careful not to block the entrance Dare would use, he parked outside the garage. She knew he’d been stewing, waiting for her to argue with him, but she had no intention of doing so.
“It’ll have to be a quickie.”
“Okay.” Alani smiled toward him.
He scowled some more. “Not that I don’t want to make it last, but I’ll be heading back out soon as possible.”
He’d be leaving—but she wouldn’t? “Heading back out where?”
“When I return,” he told her, “I promise to be more thorough.” He left the car without answering her question.
Not giving him a chance to open her door, Alani hurried to follow him. She wanted Jackson to know that she understood the work he did and was strong enough to deal with it.
She wouldn’t get in his way, but she would share it with him.
If he didn’t accept that, they couldn’t share a future together. What he did was too much a part of him for him to cut her out of it.
“You’re going after Arizona, aren’t you?”
He gave one abrupt nod while petting the cat on his way through the garage. “Too much has happened, and now she’s not answering
the phone. I have to know that she’s okay.”
“I understand.” The others would join them soon, so she didn’t waste time. “It’ll be dangerous?”
“I don’t think so. If she remembers the backup plan—and she’s spontaneous but not dumb, so she should—then I could be back by tomorrow in time for dinner.” He turned heated green eyes on her. “This is something I have to do.”
To settle her suddenly fluttering stomach, Alani drew a deep breath. “Of course it is.” And for the sake of their future, she’d do what she had to do, too.
AN HOUR LATER, everyone had gathered at Dare’s. Alani hadn’t yet had a chance to “finish what she’d started” with Jackson because she’d barely seen him once they were all in the house.
She wondered at his lack of attention. With getting Marc settled elsewhere and being unable to reach Arizona, he had his hands full, she understood that. But he always had his hands full, and still he’d chased her and been so amazingly attentive…that she felt spoiled.
The last thing Jackson needed right now was a clinging woman. She would be supportive of him, and when time permitted, they’d talk privately.
The men hung out for a long time in the kitchen. “Boy talk,” Priss explained with an air of indulgence. She and Molly, kind as always, visited with Alani while she set up the guest room and got refreshed. They were very curious about her new relationship with Jackson.
As much as she could, without giving away her own insecurities, Alani shared what had transpired.
“If he’s anything like your brother,” Priss said, “I’m amazed he let you out of the bed.”
That made her blush and Molly laugh.
“Sometimes,” Molly confided, “Dare doesn’t. Let me out of the bed, I mean. Luckily Chris makes himself scarce on those days, or I’d be forced to embarrassment.” They laughed.
The women were very different and loads of fun. Alani liked them a lot.
“Before Jackson,” Alani admitted, “I wasn’t all that interested. Now…well, thanks to him, I have a hard time thinking of anything else.”
Molly grinned at her. “Morning, noon and night, I know.”
Priss agreed. “And the guys are so macho, they’re sometimes up for three times a day.”
