Bones Of Contention: The McKinnon Legends - The American Men Book 3

by James, Ranay

  Chapter 14

  Jeeze, he’s trying to kill me, Jamie thought for the tenth time as she lay flat on her back on the mat.

  She and Josh were now totally tied up in a double human pretzel. Square on her back with Josh’s body wrapped around her, she could see where his complete and unflappable control was totally necessary. One uncharted move and he could snap her neck, or break her back, or leg. She trusted him. What she was wondering was how he could trust her? Her control was anything except mastered.

  “I’ll have you know I’m letting you win. I don’t want to bruise your tender ego,” she whispered, teasingly. It was all the air she could get past the submission hold. Josh’s muscled thighs squeezing her torso and right bicep linked around her throat made it nearly impossible to breathe.

  Josh released her with a hearty laugh. Springing to his feet, he extended a hand to help her up. The weeks had been full of arguments, laughter, and meteoric progress. He had yelled at her for failing to follow his instructions. She had railed at him for what she swore was his attempt to kill her. He put her on the mat once or twice more forcefully than he probably should have for breaking her concentration. That resulted in her kicking him hard between the legs. She swore it was an accident. However, the look on her face gave her away. Good thing he had on an athletic cup.

  “Had enough for the day?” he asked marveling at how well she was holding up under his relentless training. He was merciless, yet she seemed to understand the necessity.

  They had been going at it several hours every day for the last three weeks. She was progressing beautifully. However, that progress was coming at a price for both of them. He was beginning to fall deeply in love with her and she was covered in bruises. Some of those wounds were inflicted from the training. Those, unfortunately, were an unavoidable byproduct of the training and intense physical contact. He longed to kiss each and every one. The older more yellow and green ones were reminders of her attack the night in the parking lot.

  The first time he saw her in daylight he was beside himself, grateful he had not seen the damage to her body until Derek was out of his reach. The scratches from being dragged into the bushes were nothing compared to the marks Derek left on her creamy, tender skin.

  He was pushing her for the sole purpose of seeing how far she could go before hitting the breaking point. She was intense, focused, and by all accounts committed, and they had trained hard for the last four hours. Both were covered in sweat.

  “Yeah, stick a fork in me. I’m done.” She was beat, but in a good way. The physical exercise was doing wonders for her. “I have plans tonight and I’m running behind,” she said while rubbing the white towel across her face and neck.

  “You mean we have plans,” he corrected. It was the first time he knew of her plans for the weekend and guessed the first time his agreement would be challenged. “Trey knows if you go, I go. Remember, Jamie, twenty-four-hour security. That was the deal.”

  “I’m not going with Trey tonight.”

  Then it sunk in what he said.

  “You went to Trey? You went to a man I have been out with only a single time and told him that in this instance three would never be a crowd?”

  For some reason this just felt like Josh was stepping over some invisible boundary. He felt it too once she placed it into words.

  “Yes. Where you go, I go.”

  “You have some nerve, Josh. Minding my safety is one thing, and I am grateful. However, going behind my back to Trey is stepping over the line. You should have asked me first. You should have told me that was what you were doing, or let me tell him. This is just too much,” she said, tossing up her hands.

  She was tired of feeling helpless. She was frustrated with feeling her every move was watched, dissected, and critiqued. She was a very private person whose life was now under a microscope and full of individuals who were there at every turn.

  Finally she understood why Trey had called several times, but had not asked her out again. It looked like she had Josh to thank for that one. “Stay out of my personal life, Josh. It is none of your business.”

  He stepped into her personal space catching her arm before she could turn and walk away. “Your life, personal or otherwise, is my business, Jamie. It should not come as a surprise that I would speak to Trey or any other male for that matter, who I think you might accidentally spend time around. In my mind everyone, except my team and me, is a potential killer. Just let me do my job.”

  “Fine.” She tossed the towel over her shoulder before walking off to the showers.

  Josh followed suit going to the men’s locker room for a quick shower and to change into his street clothes.

  When he finished, he noticed her SUV gone from the parking space where she had parked right next to him. It was the first time she had bolted. He was actually surprised it took this long.

  “Damn it!” he said tossing his gear into the seat of his truck. She was without any protection. Fortunately, her house was just a couple of blocks away leaving her exposed for a relatively short period of time. However, he was not foolish enough to think even five minutes was not enough time if someone were watching and ready to take advantage of the golden opportunity she had just handed to them on a platter. He had to make her see all it takes is the blink of an eye.

  Pulling up in front of her house he noticed a car he had never seen before. His pulse raced and heart slammed in his chest wondering who and what was going on behind those doors. Running up to the front door, Josh knocked rather persistently until she finally answered.

  Jamie was really angry, not really with him but more with her situation, as she opened the door. She dared not to say a word for fear she would vent on him simply because he was close. She just stood there. Josh looked behind her in time to see the taller figure pass in the hallway heading in the direction of her bedroom. Jealousy bubbled up inside him. His better judgment was not in control.

  “Is that your latest conquest, Dr. Gillman? Divining his bones or just jumping them?”

  She just rolled her eyes and closed the door.

  Barbara made him go home.

  Listening to her was the smartest thing he had done in the last fifteen minutes.

  Chapter 15

  He had forty-eight hours to feel badly about what he had said. Barbara set him straight in no uncertain terms, and did he ever feel like a jackass. The man he saw was a painter.

  He immediately called to apologize for all the good it did. She did not answer her phone. The tickets to the Genghis Khan exhibit in Dallas were a peace offering. That was almost three days ago. Her voicemail was full, so he stopped calling. He also came to the conclusion he was much too emotionally involved to remain objective, feeling it was the reason he was currently in this mess. He was stepping totally away and letting Barbara take charge of the detail, but not before he did one last thing.

  Hoping her machine was empty, he picked up the phone and dialed. It surprised him that she even answered. Hearing her voice for the first time in almost three days, he breathed a sigh of relief.

  “Jamie, I know you’re upset with me, and I totally understand, but I need your help.” Josh was desperate. “Jamie, please, don’t hang up. It’s not for me. It’s about Jesse, my daughter, and I need some female advice.”

  She listened to his plea for help. The tone of his voice and the fact the quandary was circling around his daughter made the difference.

  If the favor were just for his sake, she probably would continue to keep it professional between them. But his daughter was another matter entirely.

  Although she did wonder briefly why he had not asked Barbara for advice where his daughter was concerned, she figured it was a professional relationship he did not wish to cloud with personal issues even if she had found Barbara to be a great friend.

  “This had better be on the level, Josh,” she warned.

  “Trust me, it is.”

  “What does she need?” Jamie was glad he called. She was begin
ning to feel guilty about the way she was giving him the cold shoulder. Maybe this could be an icebreaker for them, her way of saying she was sorry, too.

  Her tone was completely different Josh was quick to note. Looking over his shoulder at the clock on the wall of his study, it would be a couple of hours before Jesse came home from school giving him time to make the round trip.

  “Can I come over? I really don’t want to talk about it over the phone.”

  She looked around at her house. It was a complete and total disaster. Having recently purchased the fixer-upper, boxes were still piled everywhere. The mess was controlled, but still chaos. She was painting a room at a time, and that was not happening very fast. The intense training was taking up most of her spare time. Fall classes were particularly heavy and as a result, after three months, her bedroom was all that was completed, and that had happened only because she hired it done. The painter and paperhanger had just left. Having a meeting in her bedroom was out of the question. Even if tying him down and giving him a slow and torturous death at one point over the last two days had its appeal, she needed to let that go.

  “No, I’ll come to you,” she agreed.

  Josh gave her his address and directions as well as his home phone and instructions to bring the bodyguard. Not many could find the ranch on the first try, so he was very surprised when less than two hours later she pulled her Explorer to a stop in the front circle driveway.

  He walked out to greet her noticing the guard was noticeably absent.

  She saw the look on his face.

  She smiled knowingly. “Before you get all bent out of shape, Davis followed me as far as your driveway. By now, he is probably halfway to the coffee house we passed a few miles back. I told him I’d call once I was ready to go.”

  “I would not put it past you to thumb your nose at my request. At least that is one less worry for me.” Josh was thinking the women in his life were going to be the death of him.

  She was coming along with her lessons, but still she was not proficient enough to suit him. She knew just enough to be cocky and not nearly enough to survive any attack serious in taking her life. He would keep at her until she was ready.

  “I’m sorry, Doc. Did I say hello?” he asked forgetting his manners. He was happy she had agreed to come.

  “Now you have and hey yourself,” she softened seeing the distinct mask of worry on his face. Something was really bothering him if he had swallowed his male pride and called for her assistance.

  They were again on speaking terms only because the investigation was still ongoing and her lessons in self-defense demanded it if she wished to continue with them. She did. She just needed a few days to cool off. Holding a grudge, she discovered, was hard work. Fortunately, for Josh and the rest of the world, she had not inherited that ability from her father’s side of the family. Their ability to hold a grudge was the stuff of legends.

  Josh was great company when he was not playing cop. He made her feel safe, he made her feel feminine, and she had to admit there were several times she thought he would kiss her as they lay flat together on the mat only inches separating their lips. She had to say she was disappointed he had not, that was, until the point he managed to plummet himself right into the cellar.

  “Thanks for coming, Doc.” He held her door open for her noticing, as he always did, the unusual pendant gracing the divot at the base of her throat. “Please, come inside where it is a little warmer.”

  It was late November now with cold winds blowing straight out of the north. Smoke whiffed from the top of the stone chimney bringing with it smells of hardwood burning. Her house had a fireplace for all the good it did her. The chimney was full of old birds’ nests. Until she could get a sweep out to clear it, a fire was decidedly out of the question.

  He invited her into the house. Opening the front porch door, he stomped the snow off his boots and noticed the way her jeans fit, showing just enough curve from under her black leather jacket. He quickly reminded himself why she was here, and it was not for his viewing pleasure.

  Inviting her to have a seat and offering her a drink, she asked for anything decaffeinated and waited for him to return from the kitchen. She made herself at home. It was easy to do.

  His home was comfortable, she noted, as she looked around in unashamed curiosity taking in the décor, or lack there of was more like it. It was neat, but lacking a woman’s touch even though she knew he had a housekeeper. The chocolate colored leather sofas were nice and comfortable, but they could have used some pillows to soften the lines.

  There was little in the way of decorations. A Thomas Kinkaid hung on the wall, a Remington bronze sat atop a pillar in the far corner, but it was the tapestry that fascinated her. It was a very fine example of ancient textiles, and she wondered where he had acquired such a fine, museum-quality piece. She made a note to ask. There was a beautiful christening gown preserved behind glass, a reminder of a cherished memory. A baby rattle, silver spoon, and some other childhood memorabilia hung behind a shadow box, too. The morning’s paper was still on the coffee table turned to the business section. That surprised her. Sports would have been her first guess. She noticed his body armor casually tossed over the back of the loveseat as if he had pulled it off right there before going up the stairs. It was a stark reminder of the line of work he had chosen.

  To protect and to serve. He had dedicated his life to the well-being of others. That can’t make him all bad, she supposed. He had dedicated a lot of his time and energies to her well-being, too. Her life was not the only one to have suffered a break in the routine.

  He came up a rung on the ladder.

  The fire was inviting, and so she walked casually to the hearth. Standing there, hands stretched out to the warmth, she studied the family photos covering the massive mantle. It definitely said a lot about the man behind the shield. Family was obviously very important to him.

  He just moved up another notch on her scale, but he was still in the cellar.

  She knew the moment he came back into the room even with her back turned. There was just something about him she found fascinating. There was chemistry between them.

  “Your daughter?” she asked picking up a photo of a lovely girl who was the feminine version of her father. Long dark hair framed a lovely oval face. Her smile was bright, and her eyes of cobalt blue were full of intelligence and mischief.

  “Yes, and she can be a real handful. Guess she takes after me in that regard, but she is my heart and my soul,” he said grinning and handing Jamie's drink to her.

  He came up two rungs on that one, she thought.

  Josh watched as she surveyed his home. He knew it was no showcase. He was a bachelor. Otherwise, he would not have made the call. Even though she had never allowed him into her home, she did not strike him as the kind to have a showcase either.

  She was a single woman, a scientist, and according to the daily reports, her bodyguards submitted she was spending way more hours at the university than she should. Work might be important, but the house probably wasn’t.

  “I hope you realize how much I appreciate you coming,” he broke the silence. “We have not exactly been on the same page the last few days professionally or personally.”

  “No. I guess we haven’t,” she agreed.

  “I’d very much like to change that and call a truce. I was out of line,” he offered sincerely. She could hear it in his voice.

  She put the photo back in its place of honor and turning around, she watched as he came around the end of the sofa. Somehow, even in this large space he filled it. There was a presence to this lawman that was larger than life. It was a quality she could not quite pin down or place her finger on.

  “Please, have a seat,” he gestured to the sofa that sat adjacent to his chair.

  She was comfortable with him regardless of the fact she had felt closed in by his hovering. She concluded she should never have let her frustrations in having all his men around get to the boiling point. N
ow that she was here, she realized she had missed being with him the last few days. He helped to fill a hole she had not realized was even there.

  “Ok, Lawman, so what is so important that you would risk my wrath?” she asked half teasing.

  “She is,” he said referring to Jesse. He sighed heavily, collecting his thoughts. “I’m a man, Jamie, and as much as I love her, there are things I just don’t get no matter how hard I try to get in touch with my feminine side.”

  “You have one of those?” she teased.

  He laughed ironically. “Apparently not,” he replied staring at the top of the soda can as if he were somehow embarrassed for having such a perceived flaw.

  “Alright, I see we need to do some serious triage here. I can't help you unless I know the problem. I read bones, not minds.”

  She watched as he slowly looked up to meet her gaze. There was deep worry reflected in those eyes of sapphire blue and lines of dread on his handsome face which would have swept her off her feet had they met under different circumstances.

  He spoke one dreaded word.

  “Prom.”

  His sigh of relief was audible, finally having it out in the open as if it had been some awful secret he had been harboring. She kept her demeanor serious when in reality she wanted to laugh. Here he was larger than life, could probably take on half the Dallas Cowboy offensive line, had undoubtedly been in many life or death situations, but he was scared of a fifteen-year-old in need of a prom dress. Somehow, he just became human in her eyes.

  “Ahh, her first dance is coming up and you don’t know the first thing about buying a dress. Right?” she queried already knowing his answer.