by Lori Foster
She sounded so sure about that, Joe grunted. “You don’t understand.”
“I understand that she’s got you scrambling. That makes her okay in my book.”
“I’m hanging up now.” Of course, he wouldn’t.
“Coward.” She knew he wouldn’t.
“Knock it off, Alyx. I’m not marriage material and you damn well know it.”
“Who says so?”
Luna does. But he didn’t want to admit that, not to his sister, not even to himself. “Everyone knows it,” he grumbled. Hell, he’d spent his whole adult life making sure everyone knew where he stood on the issue of matrimony.
“Well, they obviously don’t know you the way I do. Deep down, you’re a big softie. Granted, you have to dig pretty deep …” When Joe growled, she laughed, then said quickly, “Okay, wait. Don’t hang up yet. Talking about marriage reminds me, Mom wants to know what she should tell your other women who keep calling looking for you.”
“What other women?”
“Oh, my, you do have it bad if you can’t even remember them.”
“Alyx …”
She said on a long sigh, “Mostly Amelia.”
Well, hell. He thought Luna had run her off. “Amelia doesn’t believe I’m married?”
Alyx snorted. “She’s a leech, Joe, not an idiot. Besides, she claims you told her you’d never marry.”
“Yeah, I did.” Hell, he told almost every woman that. “But she was okay with it.”
“You believed her? Sheesh. And here I thought you were smart.” Alyx made an irritating tsking sound of disapproval. “I bet she thought she’d eventually wear you down.”
“Well, now she knows different.” Joe would have felt like a real heel, except he’d been straight with Amelia. Not once had he ever lied to her, and not for a second did he think she really loved him.
“Mom told her you left town. She wants to know where you went.”
Joe stilled. God, all he needed was for another woman to show up …
“Don’t worry. Mom didn’t tell her—not that she knows exactly where you are anyway. But Amelia says she’s worried about you because you were so beat up.”
“She was with me the night it happened,” Joe explained, but his mind was churning.
“Don’t worry about it, Joe. I can handle her.”
Joe blew out a breath. The idea of his sister playing defender was an awesome and terrifying thought. “Don’t tangle with her, Alyx. Just tell her I’m married and leave it at that.”
“Do you think if you keep saying it, everyone will eventually believe it, and then you won’t even have to ask Luna? You could just go on pretending—”
“I really am hanging up this time, brat.”
“No, wait. I want to know how you feel. Zane said you were pulverized.”
“I’m feeling better. Much better.” Joe realized it was true. Hell, he’d barely winced at all this morning, except for when he’d gotten caught making his move on Luna.
The memory of that nearly brought him to a blush. Kids showed up at the damnedest times; that meant he’d have to be extra cautious. Getting Luna in his bed would be even harder than he’d first considered, because he not only had to convince her, he had to find the right time. And good timing would be scarce with two kids running around.
Alyx drew him out of that disheartening revelation. “All joking aside, I’m relieved to hear that, Joe. I don’t like knowing you’re hurt.” Her voice hardened and became mean with conviction in an oh-too-familiar way. “It really ticks me off that anyone would dare sneak up on you like that. If I ever get my hands on the guy who did it, you can bet I’ll—”
Joe had been hearing that particular tone from Alyx since she was five years old. At thirteen, he’d been unable to scuffle with the other boys when she was around, or she’d jump into the middle of it and try to defend him, never mind that they were only playing.
It had scared him then, worrying that she might get hurt. It scared him even more now. The thought of Bruno Caldwell touching his family—his baby sister—filled him with rage. It would never happen. He wouldn’t let it happen.
Interrupting Alyx’s awesome and unlikely threats, Joe said, “You got everything at my apartment taken care of?”
Distracted, she switched gears, taking offense that he’d even ask. “Of course I did. Why do you think I’m still in bed? Zane and I were there till late. All your important stuff has been moved in with me.”
“Thanks, hon.”
“You owe me. Anything else?”
“Yeah.” Joe grinned, considered her reaction, then said, “I love you.”
Alyx went silent. “You sure you’re okay?” Usually it was Alyx who came to Joe for advice or help, and he enjoyed doing what he could for her. But this time it felt nice to get her input. His baby sister had a pretty good head on her shoulders—when she wasn’t playing his protector. “Yeah, I’m fine.”
“Well, all right, then.” She didn’t sound entirely convinced. “Is that it?”
He started to hang up, but hesitated. “One more thing.”
She gave an exaggerated sigh of impatience. “Yeah?”
Joe swallowed hard. Introspection was a real bitch. “Don’t date any guys like me, okay?”
Alyx’s husky, teasing laughter sounded in his ear. “I can promise you that, big brother.” Then, very sweetly, “Luckily for womankind, there are no other guys like you.”
She hung up, leaving Joe chagrined, but with an ear-to-ear grin on his face.
His conversation with Alyx had lasted him right through to the outskirts of the small town. He reached the sharp bend in the road, going upward and to the right this time. A little way ahead, he saw the sign for Visitation. From this side, it said, Be Sure To Visit Visitation Again.
He was almost to the spot where he’d first met Jamie Creed. Joe no sooner thought of the mysterious man than he saw him lounging there on the side of the road, his arms crossed over his chest, one shoulder propped against a tall boulder. Jamie looked as though he’d been waiting on Joe, which didn’t make any sense at all. But nonetheless, Joe pulled the truck up beside him and stopped.
Joe was rolling down his window to speak when he realized Jamie had circled the truck to the passenger door. He opened it and slid in.
Jamie’s jeans were so worn they were threadbare in the knees. His gray T-shirt hung loose but couldn’t disguise a lean, hard musculature probably achieved through hard work, not a gym. His dark hair had been pulled back into a ponytail, making his beard more prominent. A shave wouldn’t hurt him at all.
One brow raised, Joe stared at him. “Excuse me?”
In idle interest, Jamie gazed around the interior of the truck. “I’ll ride with you. I need some more stuff from the security warehouse myself. Some tapes and special batteries and a new lens that an animal must have broken.” He slipped on his seat belt and then waited.
Indignation rose. “Who says I’m going to a security warehouse?”
Jamie glanced up. “Deputy Royal.”
“Oh.” So he hadn’t just divined it? Joe shook his head at himself. He didn’t believe in that nonsense anyway. “Why don’t you drive yourself?”
“Don’t have a car.”
Don’t have a … “Why the hell not?”
“Can’t get it up the mountain.”
Joe considered that—and came to the conclusion that Jamie Creed was certifiably weird. What grown man didn’t have transportation? What grown man lived alone on a mountain? “You could order your stuff on-line.”
Enigmatic black eyes surveyed him. “Then I’d be deprived of your company. And we should do some talking, don’t you think?”
Knuckles flexing on the steering wheel, Joe said, “Oh, yeah, I think we should talk.” He had a few prime things to say to the man, particularly where Luna was concerned.
Jamie slowly nodded. “It’s a puzzle.”
Giving up, Joe put the truck into drive and pulled away. “What’s a puzz
le?”
“All of it.” He lifted the fold-down center armrest that Joe used as a business console. While peering at Joe’s stored laptop and a few CDs, Jamie said, “You have women troubles.”
Joe scowled. Damned snoopy bastard. He snapped the console shut and growled, “The hell I do.” Things between him and Luna weren’t perfect, but he’d work them out. Somehow, he’d get Luna in his bed, and the experience would be nothing but pleasure, not heartache. He had to believe that or he’d go nuts. If Jamie thought he could sneak in and try to usurp his relationship, he’d …
“No, not Luna. But there’s danger, and it’s all mixed up, hard to decipher.” He started tinkering with the finger-touch reading lamps, turning them on and off, as if fascinated. “Unclear.”
Joe drew a deep breath that didn’t help worth a damn. “I may just beat the hell out of you, Jamie.”
“No, you won’t.”
That had Joe’s brow cocking and his masculinity bristling with challenge. “You don’t think I can?”
Unaffected by Joe’s snarling tone, Jamie shrugged. “Maybe.” Then with a slanted, black-eyed perusal, “Though I’m not a slouch myself, so don’t presume it’d be easy. It’s just that you wouldn’t hit me without a reason, and no reason exists. Ergo, no beating.”
Ergo no beating, Joe mimicked in his mind. “I want you to stay away from Luna.”
That appeared to amuse Jamie, though he sure as hell didn’t smile. It was just something in his eyes, something condescending and indulgent. “I’m not competition.”
“Damn right, you’re not.”
“The big question,” he murmured, ignoring Joe’s ire while deep in thought, “is who’s following you?”
Joe’s gaze automatically hit the rearview mirror, the side mirror. He didn’t see another single soul on the long, empty road. “No one is, damn it.” Joe was certain he’d lost the tail before entering Visitation.
Stroking his beard, Jamie stared out the windshield without appearing to see anything. “Things are muddled in my mind.”
“Yeah, no kidding.” Muddled minds were the trademark of every lunatic wandering loose.
Joe’s sarcasm went unnoticed. “There’s someone watching you. But …” He shook his head. “One person, two, a damn dozen. I don’t know. There are angles involved, slanted perceptions …”
Despite his skepticism, Joe heard himself ask, “Bruno Caldwell?”
“I don’t know names. One minute it’s black and sinister, toward you, toward Luna, sometimes even toward the kids.” His eyes squeezed shut, showing Joe that he did, in fact, care about the kids. “I don’t know. I don’t like it.”
In the face of so much mumbo jumbo, Joe’s brain throbbed. “Just who the hell are you, Jamie Creed?”
Jamie opened his eyes, but his gaze remained shuttered. He looked distant, alone, apart from Joe and everyone else. It gave Joe chills to see such a desolate look. “I’m no one. I don’t exist.”
Fed up, Joe’s temper snapped. “Just what the fuck is that supposed to mean?”
Jamie’s head bowed, his gaze narrowed on something internal that Joe couldn’t see. Voice very low and eerie, he said, “It means you’re forcing me to show myself, and that’s dangerous to me. But the kids … There’s a tangled web around you, Joe Winston. I’ve spent years disappearing, but I’ll help if I can.”
Joe clenched his teeth.
“But you’ll have to believe.” Jamie lifted his head to pierce Joe with that portentous gaze. “And you’ll have to listen.”
Though he hated to, Joe finally nodded. “Yeah, what the hell. Let’s hear it.”
Luna stood beneath Joe, steadying the ladder. “That’s all he said?”
“He said a lot of insane junk that made me want to smash my fist in his face. But damn it …” Joe tightened the last screw on the PIR camera. “Jamie sounded so positive, he spooked me. I don’t trust him at all, but I do trust my instincts, and they tell me something is going on. Maybe Jamie’s even in on it, and playing some deep game by tipping me off.”
The PIR, or passive infrared detector, hid a high-resolution black-and-white video camera. When it sensed motion, it would start a time-lapse VCR. It would be turned on at night, or whenever they were away from the house.
Luna assumed Joe had spent a great deal of money on all the equipment, though she didn’t know exactly what such things cost. When she’d mentioned it, wanting to pay him back, Joe had shrugged and said he could afford it.
“No, Jamie’s okay.”
Joe made a sound of disgust. “Luna knows all, sees all?”
“Don’t be snide. You have instincts and I have mine. My instincts say he’s okay.”
“Yeah, well, you’re the one who thought a woman was trying to kick my ass, if you’ll recall. I’d say your instincts are a bit skewed.”
Much as she was starting to adore him, Joe could be infuriating at times. “Why do you dislike him so much?”
“Jamie? I don’t know him well enough to dislike him, but I don’t trust him worth a damn.” Joe adjusted the camera to face the front of the house. It could tilt up to ninety degrees and had more than seventy degrees field of view—not enough, Joe had said, but better than nothing. “He said a lot of cryptic stuff to me, and judging by the high-tech equipment he bought, his mountain is a fortress. What the hell is he hiding up there anyway?”
“Did you ask him?”
Joe snorted. “Yeah, and I got more obscure comments. Something about the blackness inside us all.”
While Luna held it steady, Joe climbed down the ladder, then dusted off his hands. A sheen of sweat glistened on his face and bare shoulders and the sunshine showed blue-black depths to his hair. He swiped a powerful forearm over his eyes, then surveyed the camera with hands on hips.
He stood so tall and straight, strong and protective. In contrast, Luna felt very feminine beside him. Her heart gave a silly pitter-patter as she stared up at him.
God, she had it bad.
Because Joe had just noticed the way she watched him, she blurted, “I think Jamie has the sight.”
Joe sneered. “He’s got a case of lunacy, if you ask me.”
“But you bought the camera.”
“Yeah.” Irked, Joe began picking up packing boxes. “A camera for front and back, motion sensors, new locks, door and window alarms … As I said, he spooked me. Spending so much time in the truck with him was an experience, I can tell you that.”
Luna sighed. “I wish I’d gone along.”
Joe whipped around to blast her with a look as dark and turbulent as a thundercloud. “You,” he said with stark emphasis, “will stay the hell away from him.”
She rolled her eyes. “Don’t be a jealous ass, Joe. He’s interesting, that’s all.”
“A jealous ass?” Joe rocked back on his heels, and his eyes flared. “Is that what you think? That I’m jealous?”
Willow meandered up. “That’s probably what all of Visitation thinks with the way you’re yelling. I’m sure at least half of them have heard you.”
Joe rumbled a feral growl, and Luna wouldn’t have been surprised if his hair stood on end. “I want you and Austin to steer clear of Jamie Creed, too. The guy is certifiable.”
Willow walked up to Joe and hugged him. He looked stunned for a moment, his arms stiff at his sides, then he drew her close in a gentle embrace. Seeing his sturdy, darkly tanned arms gently enfolding Willow touched Luna’s heart.
“You see,” he boasted over Willow’s head to Luna, “she appreciates my concern.”
Willow leaned away to laugh. “No, I just wanted to thank you again for the VCR and tapes. Austin is in heaven.” She patted his chest in absent affection.
Luna thought Willow was the one in heaven. Her eyes had widened in undiluted glee when Joe unearthed the gifts earlier. Austin had jumped around in joy, but Willow considered herself too mature to gush, so she’d demurely thanked Joe while hugging a copy of The Mummy, with Brendan Frasier. She and Austin
had immediately set up the VCR and started a tape. Joe had also bought Dr. Doolittle with Eddie Murphy, and two Disney cartoons.
As naturally as if he’d been doing so for years, Joe kissed Willow’s forehead. “My pleasure, sweetie. I checked on the way home and there’s a rental place where we can get more movies. I wasn’t all that certain what you and Austin might like.”
“The ones you bought are perfect. Austin is all settled in for a marathon.”
Watching Joe interact with Willow left Luna all but speechless. He just kept doing wonderful, unexpected things that made it impossible not to love him. Willow felt it, too. She’d already warmed to him, and Austin had become his shadow—except that Joe couldn’t compete with The Mummy.
When she’d first asked Joe along, it was with the knowledge that sexually, he’d be a temptation. She hadn’t realized he’d tempt her heart as well, that being near him would fill her with such a jumbled mix of emotions she wouldn’t be able to withstand his appeal.
Pulling herself together, Luna shook her head. She was supposed to be supervising the kids, not mooning over Joe. “Austin can watch one a day, but that’s all. I don’t want him to become a couch potato.”
“Austin?” Joe snorted. “Not likely. He reminds me of my sister Alyx, constant explosive motion. Besides, I’ll keep him busy.”
For the rest of the day, that proved true. Joe had Austin help him install the new door and window locks; then they cut the grass and did some weeding. At first, Luna fretted that Joe was overdoing, but he claimed the physical labor felt good to his sore muscles, so she and Willow pitched in and it turned into a family affair.
Eventually they all ventured inside to work on the house. By the time they finished, everything was freshly cleaned and looking much better. The house desperately needed a new coat of paint and roof repairs, but those would have to wait awhile.
After a simple dinner of grilled steaks and potatoes, Willow and Luna decided to go through the closets in anticipation of their upcoming shopping spree. While the women went off to take more notes, Joe and Austin headed for the lake. They swam for hours before dragging back to the house exhausted.
