by Tawny Weber
For the life of him, he couldn’t figure out why.
All he knew was he wouldn’t—couldn’t—walk away from Lara.
Not yet.
“I wouldn’t say your brother and I are on margarita terms,” he finally said with a shrug. “I figured Bad Ass, Genius and maybe Boy Scout if he’s around. I’d be happy to invite your brother if you want.”
Seeing the look on her face, knowing exactly what was going through her mind, Dominic added, “Or if you’re not up for a group thing, we can do dinner. Just you, me and Banks.”
As threats went, it was pretty good.
Lara wrinkled her nose and gave a delicate shudder before shaking her head. “I told you before, I don’t want to see Phillip. So margaritas are fine,” she stated. She made a show of glancing at the bedside clock. “And you’re going to be late if you don’t hurry.”
Shit.
Dominic headed for the shower.
He made it to the door when Lara called out, “You all have nicknames?”
“Yeah.” He glanced over his shoulder.
“Yours?”
“Auntie,” he said with a grin. He wasn’t ashamed. He was damned good at guiding and advising, and a lovable cuss to boot.
Lara’s laugh said she got it. Then her smile dimmed. “And my brother’s?”
“Sir.”
“Sir?” She frowned. “Because he’s your superior officer?”
“Nope. He’s been Sir since he joined the SEALs.”
He didn’t elaborate.
He didn’t have to.
She called him Prince Perfect.
The team called him Sir.
Same difference.
Dominic headed into the shower wondering what the hell he’d gotten himself into.
Reuniting Lara—who was hot, sexy and incredibly fascinating, but prickly as hell with a hard candy shell—with Sir, Yes, Sir, who had no interest in connections of any kind, as far as Dominic could tell, would be right next to impossible.
But another thing Auntie was good at besides fixing everything up just right?
Doing the impossible and making it look easy.
Something to remember.
11
Wow, Lara. You have the best luck with hot guys.
Sucks about getting fired, but hey, a couple weeks of hot sex is worth it.
Of course you’re welcome to crash at my place until you have a new apt and/or job.
See you next week—don’t do anything I wouldn’t do.
Christi
LARA REREAD THE email for the fifth time, tapping her finger on the laptop keys, but still didn’t respond.
Did she have the best luck?
Or the worst?
She definitely had a pattern: find hot guy, have a wild affair, turn her life upside down. Get screwed over and left alone.
Not that she figured Dominic was going to screw her over and leave. Just because every other guy she’d been involved with had, that didn’t mean he would, too. That wasn’t his style. Dominic was a great guy. She might have had bad taste in flings in the past. But she had to have faith that she wasn’t stupid enough to actually fall in love with a guy that wrong. Was she?
Lara glanced at the bed, images of their incredible sexy times flashing through her mind. That wasn’t all they had, though. They had fun together. They had a lot in common, from fitness habits to favorite food to taste in music.
And he accepted her. No judgment, no snarky comments about her being a dancer or her dream of being a security tech.
Shaking off the weird mood, Lara saved the email without replying.
Since she wasn’t sure when, exactly, she’d be back in Reno, she’d answer it after she talked to Dominic.
Not about their relationship, of course. At least, not out loud. She wasn’t that needy. Nope, she just needed to find out when he was tapping Phillip for the money he said he’d owe her so she could cover her trip home.
Shaking off the feeling that she’d just put a mental deadline on her time with Dominic, Lara tapped the keys to open the final project she’d turned in that morning, wishing she still had it to work on.
She looked around the room, needing a distraction.
Before she had to look very far, she heard the hotel room door shut and grinned.
Yay. Distraction was here.
She glanced down at her jeans and light sweater, wishing she was dressed a little sexier. But hey, she could be naked in ten seconds flat, and that was sexy enough.
“Hi,” she greeted when Dominic finally walked through the bedroom door. She frowned when he shut it behind him. What? He’d gone shy? “I thought you’d be tied up until evening.”
“I snagged some time,” he told her, grinning. “I’ve got a surprise for you.”
Delighted, Lara smiled. This was getting to be a habit. He never had gotten around to telling her what the surprise was yesterday. First she’d distracted him, then he’d distracted her. Then, thankfully, he’d been called on duty last night, so they’d had to postpone his little friendly get-together with his buddies.
Her smile faded a little. That meet and greet was supposed to be postponed to next week. It couldn’t be his surprise, could it?
“Does the surprise involve whipped cream or strawberry jelly licked off each other’s bodies?” she teased, figuring it never hurt to lay the groundwork in case she needed a little distraction.
Besides, she loved the image it invoked.
Maybe he didn’t, though.
Her brow creased when he gave a tiny wince.
“Not that kind of surprise.” He glanced at the sitting room door, then in a lower voice added, “But you can thank me with that later if you’re so inclined.”
Later?
Sooner was better, but she was too curious to push. Or in this case, pull him into bed.
“Thank you for what?” she asked.
“The surprise.” Before she could press for details on just what the surprise was that had him so giddy, he asked, “What’s that?”
She followed his glance to her laptop, with the file sent message still blinking on the screen.
“That would be my final project. Done and gone this morning.” Too excited to contain it, she jumped to her feet, wrapped her arms around him and squeezed. “I’m done, done, done.”
“Hey, that’s great.” His smile shone with pride, sending a shaft of happiness through Lara. She’d never had anyone happy for her accomplishments before. A part of her felt self-conscious, but mostly she wanted to do a victory dance around the room. Then she wanted to strip him naked and do a victory dance on his body.
“So what happens next?” he asked.
Since she didn’t figure he meant naked dancing, Lara puffed out a breath and considered.
“The final projects are all due by the end of the week, and the course ends the next Friday. Luckily, since I’m finished with all of my work, I don’t need to attend any classes, so I won’t get dinged for that. The instructors will assess the projects, then post the winners of the internship the next Monday.”
Dominic frowned at the closed door that led to the sitting room, then dropped to the chair Lara had just vacated.
“So you get the internship, what then?”
She smiled, pleasure flooding her at his faith.
“I suppose it depends on which of the firms I win the internship with, but from what I understand, most would want me to start by the first of the month.”
She tucked her hands into the pockets of the long duster-style sweater she wore over her jeans and tee, pacing the room as she thought aloud.
“I can crash with Christi for a while, but I’ll need to get a new apartment, obviously. And a side job since none of the internships pay as much as I need if I’m going to put enough aside for later.”
“Later?”
“Yeah, after the internship is done, I’d like enough to go out on my own. That takes money.”
“You figure on taking a part-time job plus this security
gig? What’re you going to do?”
“Well, I’d planned on dancing, but I’m not sure how that’s going to work out. Flo and Roberto will give me a good reference, but Rudy knows a lot of people, and he’s big on trash talk.” Lara shrugged, trying to shake off the little voice chiding her for once again letting a guy mess with her life. This wasn’t a mess, she mentally argued. She’d just taken a little vacation in sexual nirvana, fallen in love and had a great time. The things she’d lost were no biggie. She’d always planned on leaving that job, that apartment, eventually.
“Huh. Well, I’d planned to wait, tell you this later, but it looks like this is the time.”
“Tell me what?” Nerves jumped into Lara’s stomach so fast they sent all her happy-dancing urges flying away.
“You need a job, I’ve got you covered.”
“You got me a job?” The nerves tightened. It was one thing to chalk up losing her spot on the chorus line and her apartment as results of keeping her safe. He’d been doing that for her own good. But she had a job lined up. One she’d worked damned hard for.
“I tugged a few different lines so you could have some options.” He smiled expectantly.
Lara tried to smile back, but her lips didn’t want to move.
“I know you want to do security stuff, and I’ve talked to Lucas. He’s getting me some names of companies down here that you can apply with.” He paused as if waiting for her to gush her gratitude. Lara crossed her arms over her chest, waiting to hear the rest. Finally, he shrugged.
“There are other options, too. I figure with your skills, you could come on as civilian personnel. You know, work on the base. I’ve got the paperwork for you, everything you need.”
Blindsided—but not knowing why since this was what guys always did—Lara pressed her fingers to her temple. She tried to curb her automatic reaction, which was pure anger. He was just doing it because he wanted them to be together. It was guy sweet—a nice gesture with not a lot of clear thinking behind it.
Maybe once she reminded him that she’d already put in two years to earn a top internship and that inputting data as a Navy secretary wasn’t in her plans, they could get to the whipped cream.
But first...
“That’s the surprise? Job connections?” She knew it sounded paranoid, but she couldn’t help it.
“Nope. That’s just something I figured I should tell you. Especially since the opening on base is only taking interviews tomorrow. I pulled strings to get you an appointment in the afternoon. I figured you might want to go shopping for interview clothes or something earlier.”
“Interview clothes?” she echoed faintly, looking down at her favorite jeans.
“Yeah. Something girlier than jeans, but not quite as girly as your feathers.” He grinned.
Lara wasn’t sure if that was a commentary on the way she dressed or if he was just worried about what his peers thought of her. All of a sudden a little voice whispered in her mind, wondering if duty had canceled their outing the previous night or if he’d decided to fix her up first. She mentally rolled her eyes at the paranoid voice. Seriously, was she that insecure?
“Dominic, I really appreciate it. But...” She frowned. “If that’s not the surprise, what is?”
“You ready?” he asked, looking almost as pleased with himself as he’d been the night of eight orgasms.
“I don’t know,” she said slowly.
“Sure you are.” He wrapped one huge hand around hers and pulled her to the door. “C’mon.”
Since digging her heels into the carpet smacked of immaturity, Lara let him pull her along. Slowly.
“What...” Her question trailed off as they stepped into the sitting room.
He had to be kidding.
Little black dots danced in front of her eyes and a buzzing filled her ears. Lara’s feet did dig in now, as much in anger as to keep herself from falling.
Without realizing it, she shook off Dominic’s hand so she could cross her arms over her chest.
“Hello, Lara.”
Heart pounding, she lifted her chin in a nod of sorts.
He looked so different.
But so much the same.
He was taller. Broader. Handsome, naturally, but with a harder edge than he’d had at twenty. Maybe it was the way the white uniform set off his dark hair and gold-kissed skin.
His gaze was guarded, green eyes so like her own cool and assessing.
“Phillip,” she finally said, furious when her voice broke.
This wasn’t sentiment pounding through her, she assured herself.
She didn’t want to cry because her brother was standing in front of her, a reminder of so many painful memories. She didn’t feel horror seeing the healing bruises on his face.
Nope, all of this was righteous fury.
She tore her gaze off Phillip, aiming her glare at the other man in the room.
She’d made it clear that she didn’t want a family reunion.
But apparently Dominic thought he knew better than she did what was good for her.
Lara felt light-headed, which was a good distraction from the nausea churning in her stomach.
Holy crap.
Here she was again.
Life must have a permanent parking spot labeled Lara’s Screwup just waiting for her to settle in again.
A hot guy, great sex and some crazy promise of a better life and what did she do?
Run, not walk, away from every damned thing she’d worked for. And this one had not only turned her life upside down and relocated her—hello, déjà vu—but he had the unbelievable audacity to parade her long unlost brother in front of her?
Lara pressed her lips tight as she looked from one man to the other. It took all of her hard-learned control to keep the tears in the back of her throat and not pouring down her face.
Why did betrayal always surprise her?
“So?” Castillo gave a pleased nod. “What d’ya say? You want me to leave you two alone for a while?”
Deep breath.
It didn’t do squat to calm her down, but Lara wasn’t looking for calm.
“Lara?” Castillo’s smile dimmed a little, a frown creasing his brow as he glanced from her to her brother.
Phillip, on the other hand, hadn’t changed his expression—bland—or his stance—poker straight—since she’d walked in. He just stood there like a perfectly polished statue, his uniform crisp and his eyes distant.
She frowned at the bruise on his face. It wasn’t fresh, more like a week or so old.
“When did you know he was free?” Her eyes didn’t leave her brother’s damaged face as she asked Castillo the question.
When he didn’t answer, she arched her brow at Phillip.
“The team pulled me out two weeks ago,” he said quietly.
“Two weeks.” She swung her gaze to her lying lover. “You knew. Before we came here, you knew he was safe? That I wasn’t in danger?”
“The mission was classified,” Castillo said uncomfortably.
Out of the corner of her eye, Lara saw her brother’s slight frown.
Classified, her ass.
“Okay, one of you say something,” Castillo demanded. When they both only stared, he threw his hands in the air. “What is your problem? You’re brother and sister. So talk. Yell. Hell, throw things around the room. Whatever it takes to be family again.”
Lara’s laugh was bitter. “Now, see, that’s where you screwed up.” She walked back into the bedroom to snag her laptop, then slung her purse over her shoulder before returning to stop in front of Castillo. “We were never family.”
“Now, sweetheart, you’re just being stubborn. Right, Banks?”
Lara followed his gaze to her brother. For a second something flashed in those eyes. Humor, regret. Hurt so deep Lara didn’t understand it. Then in a blink, he went all stoic again, offering only a shrug.
Looked like agreement to her.
Lara turned to leave.
“Where
are you going?” Castillo grabbed her arm, halting Lara’s move toward the door.
“Away.” She glanced at his hand, then gave him a chilly look. “So let go.”
“You’re being—” Not being a total idiot, he bit off the rest of his comment before he said something really stupid.
But Lara didn’t need to hear the actual word to know where he was going. He thought she was stubborn, stupid, crazy. Since he clearly didn’t think she was smart enough to make her own choices or lead her own life, she shouldn’t be shocked.
Yet she was.
“Phillip?” she asked, not taking her eyes off Castillo. “Can you hold this?”
Her eyes still locked on her ex-lover’s face, she held out her laptop. It was wordlessly taken.
“In the future, you might want to give a girl a little credit for knowing her own mind,” she advised Castillo quietly. She clenched her fists together, one wrapped over the other. Then with another deep breath, she swung sideways with all her might to slam Castillo in the gut. Damn the man, he didn’t budge. He didn’t even gasp. No matter. It was the gesture that counted. “Not our future, of course. We’re through.”
Lara wanted to shake her fingers to release the stinging pain, but wasn’t about to give him the satisfaction of knowing he’d hurt her. In any way.
She held out her numb hand, glad her fingers were working enough to wrap around the laptop when Phillip handed it back.
She met her brother’s eyes. There was no mistaking the laughter in his gaze this time.
“Bye.”
“I take it we’re through here?” she heard Phillip say as the door swung closed.
“Not by a long shot,” Castillo muttered.
“Sorry. My money’s on her.”
For the first time since she’d walked in and seen betrayal standing in her sitting room, Lara smiled.
Sure, it was salty from tears and wobbly at the corners.
But it was still a smile.
Uptight and righteous though he might be, her brother definitely knew a smart bet when he saw one.
* * *
DOMINIC’S SHOCKED STARE rocketed between the man standing unfazed in the sitting room and the door that Lara had just stormed through.
The door looked friendlier.
What was with this family?
