Mallory’s head popped up and her eyes widened. “You’re missing a step in the explanation.”
“We were all over each other.” Ten more seconds at her house and the diner scene never would have happened, because she would have had Declan naked and spread out on her family room floor. At that point she’d have let him do anything, even knowing the investigation paperwork was strewn all over the next room. “I put a halt to it and we went out for dinner. Are you happy?”
“Are you? Because that sounds kind of messed up.”
It was well beyond that, as far as Leah was concerned. Only a complete nutcase would want to drag the pants off the guy she’d been convinced for years was a swindler. “I couldn’t exactly walk him into my bedroom.”
The customer cleared her voice. Leah thought she heard a tsk-tsk sound.
“Because of the whiteboard?”
“Yes.”
“What are you going to do?” Mallory shot Leah a smile bright enough to power a small city. “Other than him, I mean.”
“I don’t know. It’s all so screwed up. I was so sure he was a con man just like Charlie, but now I can’t see it. He seems so different.” Smarter and real. Honest and sexy.
“Maybe he is. Maybe not.”
For the hundredth time since she’d met Declan in person, Leah wondered if this was how the con worked. All those other women, including her mother, had been lured in by Charlie’s smile and quick wit. To a few he’d sold them with stories about a dead wife, something he didn’t have, and the need to find a woman who understood him. He’d charm them right out of their panties as he had them sign over their bank accounts and safe combinations then be gone while they planned a non-existent wedding.
Being with Declan, having all that power and intensity focused on her, had Leah ready to drop everything. He touched her and she wanted to rip her shirt off. Maybe those lure-a-female skills passed through the males in the Hanover clan, or maybe Declan had learned them on his own. She’d been so sure of the answer once and now she didn’t know, and that scared the hell out of her.
“Then there’s my dad and the town. All the money that was stolen and Shadow Hill.” The weight of all that responsibility settled on Leah’s shoulders, crushing her until she couldn’t breathe.
“Wow, dating is really complicated these days.”
Like that, the serious mood lifted. Leave it to Mallory to find a way to joke about something so exhausting. They both laughed and the customer shook her head and shifted to the far side of the store.
“Shut up.” Leah pinched the edge of the paper and pulled the mangled remains of the sandwich closer to her. “This looks gross.”
Mallory pulled it back. “Stay focused on your hottie. The first thing we need to do is break down that whiteboard and—”
“No.” Despite everything Leah wanted to believe, she knew that was the right answer. Until she understood who Declan was and what Callen planned, she had to be prepared. Then there was the problem of controlling her father’s crazy expectations and wrecking whatever contingency he’d come up with in case she failed to carry out his eye rolling orders.
“Leah, you’ve been through it all. You know the articles and files by heart, and still all of your assumptions might be wrong. Doesn’t that tell you anything?”
“That I need to dig deeper.”
Mallory’s shoulders fell on a sigh. “That is exactly the wrong answer.”
“There is one thing I need to check first. After that, I’ll think about everything you’ve said.”
“Uh-huh.”
“Kristin Accord.”
Mallory frowned. “Who or what is that? Declan’s old girlfriend or something?”
Wrong brother. Leah remembered the challenge in Callen’s eyes as he held out his hand in introduction. “I don’t exactly know, but I plan on finding out.”
***
Leah pulled into her driveway that night after work and her hands clenched the steering wheel. She turned off the car and slowly opened the door to get out. She watched as Declan stood up from her front porch step and brushed off his jeans. A second later he came to meet her at the car door.
She leaned against the side of the car and glanced around, but no one walked down the street. Nothing but a stray car at the stop sign up at the end of the block. “What are you doing here?”
“Dinner.”
She didn’t like where this conversation headed. Actually, she did like it, which was the problem. “You’re eating it on my porch?”
“I’m inviting you to join me.” He leaned a hand against her closed driver’s door and dipped in closer to her.
Being this close, smelling the soap on his skin touched off a memory of those kisses and had her heart flipping around. The stupid, traitorous thing. “I don’t see a pizza on you. Is there a sandwich hiding around here somewhere?”
He shot her that panty-dropping smile. “There’s an Italian place about fifteen minutes from here.”
“How would you know that?” He’d been in town about a week and already had the food scene down. Men and their meals.
“There is this amazing new invention called the internet.”
Since he was standing there looking all adorable and offering food, she ignored the sarcasm. “Which restaurant?”
“Does your answer on coming with me depend on my choice of venue?”
Sad thing was he could probably suggest fast food and she’d jump at it. Her control had deflated that far. “Maybe.”
“Castellano’s.”
The man had taste. “Good choice.”
A car drove by and honked. Without thinking she waved. So did he.
“So is that a yes?” he asked.
It should be a no. A definite no. The last two times they were close they’d climbed all over each other. “You know this is a terrible idea, right? We should negotiate on a price for the house—”
“I’m not ready to talk sale, it could be days or weeks or never. I don’t know and I’m not making a decision.”
He didn’t say the word ever but she thought she heard it. “It’s the best answer.”
“I’m not sure that’s true. Not for me.”
“Declan, we could—”
“Arguing with me is not going to change my mind. No real estate talk. Just dinner.”
She inhaled long and deep, hoping her brain would restart and the word no would form on her tongue. None of that happened. “Food. No kissing.”
He raised both hands in the air in what she guessed was his version of a vow. “I promise to keep my lips off you, but you can feel free to put your hands all over me whenever you want.”
If she did that they’d never get in the car.
“I accept that challenge.” She handed him her car keys. “My car is right here. You drive.”
“So you can duck and hide as we pass people.”
“Maybe.” Though she really wasn’t sure she wanted to hide her attraction to him anymore.
“Some people will recognize the car.”
“I’ll take the risk,” And use the car ride to shore up her common sense. When it came to him, she tended not to have any.
He slipped around the car and opened the passenger door for her. She’d just settled in and convinced herself she could handle this when he leaned in.
“You know this is a date, right?”
“It’s dinner.”
“Yeah, you just keep denying.”
But on the inside she wasn’t. This was a date and the kick of guilt she expected did not hit her. She knew what that meant.
Chapter Eleven
Declan stared across the kitchen table at his brothers. Papers had been shuffled and lay in piles in front of them. Cal hadn’t looked at even one line. He was too busy nursi
ng a bottle of water and doing nothing to hide his amusement as Beck laid out every argument, pointed to every expense they’d have to incur, and generally tried to quash any talk of keeping Shadow Hill.
Beck finally wound down. He flopped against the chair with his fingers wrapped around the arms. “So, after all that, do you want to keep this run-down piece of crap?”
It was an impressive presentation. Declan understood how his baby brother scored government and community services for people that no one else could get. Still, Declan’s answer hadn’t changed. If anything, he was entrenched in his position. “If you’re referring to the property, yes.”
“Wh . . .” Beck threw his hands in the air. “Why?”
“It’s a home.”
“They have those everywhere.” Beck glanced at Cal but got nothing. “Places that aren’t in this town.”
“Real estate is always a good investment.” Declan guessed that was true. He sure heard that piece of advice often enough as he got moved around with the Army and debated living off base. He also watched some people he served with get stuck trying to unload places when they deployed and that didn’t always work out so well.
Beck grabbed for the beer in front of him and started peeling off the label. “At least real estate is a better argument. Not convincing, but better.”
Cal moved then. Slightly and only to sit up straighter in his chair, but it was enough to get everyone’s attention. With those stealthy moves and the superior command over a room, Declan thought Cal would have done well in the military. Instead he stuck to odd jobs and constant relocations, which was why Declan had hoped Beck would be an easier sell on keeping the house and that, together, they could make a run at Cal.
“Then there’s how the house happens to be located in the same town of the woman you’re having sex with.” Cal flipped the water bottle top through his fingers as he stared Declan down.
Beck’s beer hit the table with a crack. “You finally had sex with Leah?”
This is exactly where Declan did not want the conversation to go, but . . . “Finally?”
“You seemed to be stumbling around in your attempts.”
Last thing Declan wanted or needed was a play-by-play on his sex life from his baby brother. “The answer is no and—”
“He means, not yet.” Cal kept flipping the top.
“— this conversation is over.”
“I’m guessing the thought of the two of you getting horizontal is clouding your judgment,” Cal said.
No way was Declan getting sucked into this conversation. Not when it was two against one and he had the most to lose. “I want a chance to fix Shadow Hill up. If we still want to sell on the back end, we’ll get even more money for it.”
“What about Leah’s offer?” Beck grabbed for a notepad and clicked his pen against it to bring the point up. “What is her purchase price? Let’s see if we can make it work.”
Cal smiled this time. “She offered to buy the place?”
There was just no way to separate Leah from the property. They were wrapped up together and Declan couldn’t figure out a way to break them apart. “Not really. Not for the kind of money she’d have to raise to afford it.”
Cal emptied the bottle then chucked it over his shoulder. The damn thing landed right in the sink without him taking aim. “Shutting down her real estate deal could put a wrench in your sex life.”
“I’ll worry about my sex life. Thanks.”
“Okay then.” Cal leaned over with his elbows balanced on the edge of the table. “Fine.”
Declan scoffed. Like he had any idea what that meant. “What?”
“The house. Let’s do it.”
Declan tried to think of something to say. He was too busy trying to figure out what angle Cal was working to celebrate the win.
From the open-mouthed stare, it looked like Beck didn’t get the change in position either. “You’re kidding.”
With a shrug, Cal reached behind him to grab another water bottle off the wood block. “I’ve got some skills and some money to invest. I’ll pay whatever needs to be paid to take it off the foreclosure block.”
Declan’s brain kicked into gear. He didn’t have much in the way of funds, not on the scale they would need for this renovation, but he would work his ass off. “We can keep track of who fronts what and take that off the top first on the back end.”
“If we sell.” Beck threw down the pen.
“There’s no need to go through all that extra paperwork on my account.” Cal turned to Beck. “I know you lawyer types like to make shit complicated but in my mind it’s easy. We own this together. Whatever goes in, regardless of who puts it in, doesn’t matter.”
“Are you sure?” Declan asked, even though he knew he should stay quiet and take the win.
“We all work, even you, lawyer boy, because I plan to show you how to use a hammer, and then we split any profit three ways coming out. If one of us wants to keep the place,” Cal shot Declan a knowing glance. “We figure out market value and set up a payment plan to buy the others out.”
“I’m in.” Declan rushed to say it before Beck could come up with an exception.
Beck did anyway. “Wait a second. You’re both forgetting the real problem.”
“Which is?” Cal stood up and went to the cabinets. He passed over crackers and a few cans. When he hit the bag of chips, he stopped.
“We can’t stay here.”
A rip tore through the room as Cal opened the bag and grabbed a handful of chips. “Why?”
“Charlie’s cons. The questions surrounding Grandmother’s acquisition of the house.” Beck held up fingers as if to emphasize his point. “Then there’s—”
Cal swallowed. “You sound like a lawyer.”
“There’s a good reason for that.”
“Ignoring his motivation, Declan wants to fix the place up.” Cal shrugged. “I’ve got nothing else going on, so why not.”
The idea of working with his brothers, building something with them, really appealed to Declan. Still, despite getting what he wanted, he had to throw out a disclaimer. If this thing went sideways he wanted to be spared his brothers’ wrath, though he doubted that would be possible since he launched this plan. “To be fair, the downsides are huge.”
Cal dumped the bag in the middle of the table. “It’s found money.”
Beck shook his head. “I’m not sure there is such a thing. Everyone and their mother—literally—will file a claim against the property. Everyone is coming after Dad and any property anywhere that he might have once touched. It’s insane, really.”
Not a big entry on the “con” list as far as Declan could tell. “Isn’t all of that happening anyway?”
“What’s the real problem, Beck?” Cal asked in a voice so deadly soft that the silence that followed the question thumped with tension.
After a few seconds, Beck dragged the chip bag to him by its corner. “I never thought you’d go along with this or that you’d want to stay in Sweetwater for more time than it took to sign your name to the sales contract.”
“You were wrong.” Cal rubbed his hands together. “So, that settles it.”
Declan still didn’t understand how he’d won this round. He went in at a deficit and now everything he wanted loomed right out in front of him. All he had to do was grab for it. “How exactly?”
“We all agreed.” Amusement filled Cal’s voice.
“I missed that part,” Beck mumbled over a mouthful of chips then turned the bag back to Cal.
He reached a hand in and came out with what looked like twenty chips. “Think of the time we’ll have to get to know each other again.”
“Is this really about brotherhood or about pissing off the town and enjoying the reaction?”
Cal pointed.
“No, baby brother. It’s about Declan.”
Here it was. The bottom line. The one that would somehow crush Declan before he could stop it. “Excuse me?”
“Someone has to save you from your dick and its bad decision making. If you want to climb all over Leah Baron, I plan on being there to make sure she doesn’t stab you in the back while you’re thrusting.”
Beck’s hand stopped halfway to his mouth. “That’s quite an image.”
The same one that had been bouncing around Declan’s head for two days, only without the stabbing part. But the thrusting and the riding? Yeah, that duo had been burned in his brain before Cal mentioned it. The combination had Declan bracing a hand against the wall of the shower last night while he jerked off with the other. It was like he was a horny kid again.
“I can tell you one thing. When I finally do get Leah in bed, and that is going to happen and soon, you are not going to be standing there watching.”
Cal barked out a laugh. “Then I guess I better find something else to do around here. Let’s do an inventory of that work shed.”
Beck sighed. “This is unbelievable.”
Cal snatched the bag away and rolled up the end. The contents crunched when he threw it on the butcher’s block. “You could always leave and go back to your lawyer job helping indigent folks.”
“Or I can continue my temporary leave and stay here handling the estate while I make sure you two don’t kill each other.” Beck gathered up his files, putting them in stacks in some sort of order only his legal brain understood.
“An even better plan.” Cal cuffed Beck on the back of the head. “See? This is going to work out fine.”
Declan would be happy with anything that didn’t amount to a bloodbath.
Chapter Twelve
Leah waited a full day before going to find Declan again. She tried to ignore the fact he had her racing through town looking for him. And the whole wanting-to-see-him thing, well that just ticked her off.
She’d never been the beholden-to-a-man type. This giggly, happy feeling that spun around in her belly when she thought about his hands and how good he was with that mouth surprised her. The anger she’d nurtured for all those years disappeared so quickly she’d lost her emotional footing. He had her mixed up and stumbling.
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