Smoldering Heart_Fleming Brothers [Book 1]

by Jennifer Vester

  He squeezed my hip, and I nearly squealed. “Need me to take my shirt off again?”

  “I’m suddenly famished. Food. Good idea,” I nervously chattered and stepped away from him. I practically ran to grab my purse off the desk and exited the back door without looking behind me.

  The only thing I heard was a deep chuckle as I stepped outside. It sounded a lot more dirty than amused.

  Chapter Six

  ~Owen~

  Stepping into a local burger joint I looked around, searching for any threat. It was a habit, and one that I could never break. In my business, it was something that became necessary in a way. Locate and watch the threat or make the threat non-existent.

  I was rarely surprised by people. I read a lot of different stories about very bizarre things people did. I had seen some equally strange things. Awful things. But if I could prevent the awful things from happening, especially to the people around me or close to me, I would.

  With Darren on the loose, I wasn’t sure what to expect. He'd surprised me with his firearm which bothered me deeply. I hadn’t slept well the previous night thinking about every move, and countermove, that had occurred the previous day.

  Had I lost my edge in reading people? Was it just that I'd gotten too overly eager? It seemed like another reason why I needed out of the business I was in. I should've seen it coming, and I felt like that was an indication that I'd gotten complacent in my job. A definite sign that I needed to get out of the business.

  With Maddie at my side, I felt like it was necessary not only to protect myself, but to also look out for her. Like I was guarding something that meant a whole lot more in the long term than just the safety of my own ass.

  It was a weird feeling. Not something that was normal for me, and it bothered me too.

  I spent half the night staring at the ceiling of Bill’s guest room. It was furnished the way I expected a bachelor’s house would be. Older furniture with a no-nonsense décor theme. When I thought about it, it was a lot like my apartment back in Texas. He probably even had more things in his house than I did.

  The scene this morning in the flower shop had reminded me of what had actually happened. It was one thing to stare at a blank ceiling all night with a mental film playing in your head about the incident, and quite another to see the result of it.

  Okay, if I was honest, that wasn’t the only thing that had been on my mind. The woman walking in front of me with the sexy ass and curve to her hips had been starring in a few thoughts as well. Those lips wrapped around my cock. Licking several parts of her body until I made her scream.

  My dick twitched just thinking about it.

  Fuck what I told Noah about keeping my hands off. I liked Bill, and I had a certain level of respect for him so far. But his daughter was fair game at this point.

  Seeing those eyes of hers when I woke up briefly from being knocked out by her flower vase had done something to me. I wondered if she had hit some part of my brain that caused permanent injury, because there was some strange feeling in me about her.

  I couldn’t define it. It was like wanting to protect and claim her, but also kill anyone that got near her. Even the old man sitting in the corner booth at the back of the burger joint was at risk of getting a face full of knuckle.

  I shook my head trying to clear my thoughts. Fuck, I had to stop thinking like that.

  When we reached the counter, she rattled off a few things to a girl who kept giving me the eye. I looked around and noted four men in uniform of some sort sitting at a table, and two other patrons near the front. The old man at the back looked like he was reading the paper.

  “Whatever he wants too,” Maddie said.

  “Uhm, cheeseburger, drink, cheese fries, but only if they’re fresh, and don’t include a lot of pointy ones. And it’s on me.”

  The girl stared at me for a moment, and I felt Maddie nudge me.

  When I looked down at her, she was frowning at me. “I’ll get it.”

  I dug my wallet out of my back pocket and flicked the card onto the counter in front of the staring girl.

  “No, sweetheart, I pay. If we’re ever out doing something I always pay. Especially on a date.”

  Maddie hissed at me and looked around. “We’re not out on a date. It’s just lunch.”

  I chuckled, then gave the girl behind the counter a look that meant business.

  “My card. Run it.”

  She gulped, gave Maddie a look of apology, and smiled as she ran it.

  I turned and saw the four men at the table behind us watching us in what I thought might be curiosity.

  They were focused on Maddie more than anything, though, and it was irritating me. I was about to say something rude, when one of them glanced up with a goofy ass grin on his face and gave the thumbs up.

  What the fuck?

  I tried giving him a glare that probably came across as a weird look on top of a frown. I was going to amend my previous thoughts on people not surprising me. Apparently, everyone in this city was bent on trying to throw my internal nutcase radar off balance.

  Maddie finally noticed them. She gave them a small wave and a smile that they returned.

  I had a twinge of jealousy that struck me. I wondered what it would take to have her smile and wave at me.

  “Hey, Maddie. You okay?” one of them asked. “Heard about what happened.”

  She raised her eyes to me before replying. “Yeah, I’m good. Back to business as usual soon.”

  “If you need some help cleaning up, let us know,” he said.

  “Taken care of,” I said back to him, before she could respond.

  He nodded. “Good to hear. If you need anything, just come by station eight. We work with Bill.”

  Maddie wandered over to a table looking at her phone.

  “Good luck, man,” said another guy at the table. He nodded in Maddie’s direction. “We’ll be around if you need help with that, too.”

  “Uhm, I think I got this, fellas.”

  The first guy gave me a smile that suggested I didn’t have a chance.

  I walked over to the table and sat opposite of Maddie. What the hell was that about?

  She looked up from her phone. “Sorry I was just texting Rachel that the shop would probably be open tomorrow. I think she was hoping that we would be closed for the week because she wanted to stage some protest about land clearance or something.”

  “You and your sister are pretty close?” I asked.

  Her blue eyes regarded me for a moment. Possibly unsure of what to tell me. I felt like she was measuring me up. Deciding whether she wanted to start this or shut me down. We were strangers after all, but I planned on rectifying that as quickly as possible.

  I leaned back in the booth and tried not to gawk at those full lips of hers. The only thing I could think to look at were her ears. They were perfect too. Which just gave me thoughts of biting on one of them.

  My cock was trying to push against my jeans, so I readjusted in my seat uncomfortably.

  She lowered her eyes to the table and bit her lip. That didn’t help things.

  I tore my gaze away from her. She honestly didn’t know how incredibly sexy she was. She had fire too. It was there in the way she looked at me, and the small sassy comments she made. But she reined it in, as far as I could tell.

  I could see how much she was affected by me. Her face was like an open book when it came to expressing her emotions. Blushing, frowning. A lot of curiosity. It seemed like, for whatever reason, she'd chosen not to address half the things I could tell she was thinking.

  Lust and attraction were there too. But she shut it down every time I saw it slide over her features.

  Looking back at her, she still seemed to be debating on whether she wanted to jump into this or wave off. Waiting on things to happen was never my thing.

  “I have an older brother named Ian. He goes by Brock normally. And you’ve met my brother Noah. We’ve always been close. I’m not sure how my parents pu
t up with three boys in the house when we got out of hand.”

  She raised those clear blue eyes of hers to me again.

  After a moment she asked, “Where are you from originally?”

  “Boston. But we moved to Texas when we were younger so that was home. Brock lives in Lakefield, Noah and I live in Dallas.”

  She nodded. “When are you going back?”

  I narrowed my eyes at her slightly. “Trying to get rid of me?”

  She rolled her eyes. “Just wondering when I can walk into my store again without having unexpected guests lurking around. It’s one thing to find a bug or two, but larger pests are unwanted.”

  There was that sass.

  Smiling, I grabbed my chest in mock offense. “Lurking? Hey, this lurker was busy with a mop this morning. But I would suggest an alarm system. It’s a nice city, but if I can pick your lock, then someone else can.”

  I mentally made a note to talk to Bill about putting alarms on her doors.

  “This is one of the safest cities I know about. We have very few crimes normally. The ones that we do have, generally are petty theft and it almost always involves some tourist.”

  I smirked at her. “So, what you’re saying is that I’m the most exciting thing that’s happened to you. That’s sweet.”

  She snorted. “That’s not what I said. But thank you so much for bringing your criminal associates around for a visit. When you take them back with you, I’m sure that we’ll all go back to our crime-free existence.”

  I leaned forward and gave her a serious look. “First, sweetness, I didn’t bring them here. I was hunting them, and they just happen to pick your normal “crime-free” city to visit. Second, crime happens everywhere. No one is immune to the nasty things that can happen in the world.”

  “You’ve obviously never been here. We have some accidents, we have some things happen, but it’s not really a good comparison to where you’re from.”

  I leaned back in my chair and didn’t answer. As realistic as I thought she was, there was a sense of innocence about her. It was as if she had never considered that the world we lived in, and the violence that existed, would ever really touch her or this place.

  It was naïve. But in a way, it made me want to protect that little bubble she had built, and not let anything, or anyone, prove her wrong.

  “So, you’ve never had anything bad ever happen to you?”

  She tapped her finger on the wooden table and looked away. Her mouth moved, pursing, opening, then clamping shut. It was an interesting response, and I wondered what it was about.

  She ignored my question and said, “My sister and I are very close. We’re just very different. She likes to involve herself in causes that I think are a little silly, and I do the grown-up thing.”

  Change of subject. Also interesting. I wondered if I could get to the bottom of what she wasn’t saying by asking Bill.

  “Like what?”

  “Like strapping herself to trees to prevent construction on the new development around here. It’s absolutely ridiculous, but completely Rachel in a nutshell.”

  “Have you ever been strapped to anything?”

  Her face turned bright red, and she gave me a blistering look.

  “You’re shameless. No, I haven’t been strapped to anything.”

  I chuckled and leaned toward her over the table. “I was just talking about trees. What exactly were you talking about? I’m all ears.”

  She shook her head. “Asshole. You were talking about other things and you know it.”

  I gave her an innocent look. “Never. So, you said grown-up. As in manning the store, and taking care of your dad?”

  She gave me one last look of reproach which was totally deserved, and I wanted to laugh again. She was cute when she was irritated, and I wondered if she ever became a hellion when she was really mad.

  “Basically. We own the store, so it has to be managed. Rachel shows up when she isn’t being a crusader for everything, and I run things.”

  Our order arrived, and I watched her pick through her meal.

  “When our mom died, my dad was trying to manage it while taking care of us. It kept him busy while he was grieving I suppose. He had a lot of help from friends, and luckily had an older woman that was a friend of the family willing to help out for several years. She passed, but by that time he had Rachel and me to help.”

  The shop was important to her, and I felt her sense of pride in taking care of it. I had a feeling that she was the type of person that defined herself through personal achievements in that way. Unlike her sister, who seemed to define herself through notoriety from what Madison was describing.

  “You ask a lot of questions. What about you? Why get into bounty hunting?”

  I sighed. “A few reasons, but I like the rush of catching the guy I’m chasing. The people I deal with aren’t good guys, and they need to be off the streets. If they skip on their bail it’s likely they intend to commit other crimes, or they just don’t want to face the consequences of their crimes.”

  “So, you’re an adrenaline junkie, and a crusader yourself.”

  “I wouldn’t say that. I just like catching bad guys that do bad things to other people. Some days anyway.”

  “Why?” she asked, taking a bite of her burger.

  I hesitated for a minute. The reasons were very personal in a way, but it was a fair question given the amount of details I was asking her to share.

  I took a bite of my fries, trying to think of an answer that wouldn’t say too much. She gave me those curious blue eyes of hers.

  “My sister went missing a long time ago when I was a kid. Just disappeared, and we never found her. So, I guess it was just built in me at some point to prevent ugly things like that from happening. Bounty hunting has just been another part of that.”

  “Oh, my God,” she whispered. “I’m so sorry. I can’t even imagine.”

  I shrugged, trying not to reveal how much that single event had changed everything for me. This beautiful woman didn’t need to hear how I still felt about it. Maybe someday, but not today.

  There was a long moment before she spoke again. “Why not work for the police or FBI?”

  “That was an option at some point I guess. I just liked being my own boss. I’m a little stubborn like that.”

  She gave me look that said she already got that.

  I smirked at her. “Which reminds me that I have to go up to the police station today and figure out what I’m doing with my other skip. Whether they want to release him to me or not.”

  Her eyes got wide. “There was another one? Another whatever you call it. A skip?”

  “A skip. Yeah. They skip bail, and they’re called a skip. Darren’s cousin, Russell. He was in the back of the car when I went after Darren. Hopefully he’s sober by now, and that black eye he was sporting has gone down a little. I may have to stay here a while trying to figure out what to do with him, and hunt for Darren.”

  “Eager to get back to Texas?”

  “Only to get paid, sweetheart. Otherwise, I’m okay with staying here for a while. I don’t have anyone I’m going back to, if that’s what you’re asking. I think that’s twice you’ve wanted to know.”

  “I wasn’t asking that,” she said, while chewing. “I was just wondering if you were homesick. Seems like with your job you would be away a lot.”

  “I think you like me, and you want to know if I’m single.”

  She set her burger down on the plate. “I don’t care either way if you’re single or not.”

  I winked at her. “Sure, sweetheart, keep telling yourself that. I saw you looking.”

  She coughed in the middle of taking a drink of her water.

  “I was not looking! Do you ever stop?”

  I gave her a huge smile. “Never. If you want to see me with my shirt off again, all you have to do is ask. I’m not going to judge.”

  She looked around and leaned over the table toward me. “Not going to happen, pr
etty boy. I told you I don’t date.”

  Chuckling I pointed at my chest. “Again, with that good-looking thing. Fantasy guy right here.”

  She pointed at herself. “Not dating.”

  “We don’t have to date. You can just look, and I can just look. But eventually we’re going to be together, one way or another.”

  Her cheeks turned red again. Fuck, I loved the way she blushed.

  She sighed. “Okay, I’ll make a deal with you.”

  “Shoot.”

  “If you get my dad to repaint his house, and replace at least two pieces of furniture, I’ll go out on a date with you. One date. Food, a movie, and that’s it. No taking your shirt off. No dirty talk. Nothing.”

  “Seems like I win more than you do on that deal. Should be easy enough.”

  “He’s stubborn and won’t let us touch anything. It’s like bachelor pad threw up all over the place, and he hasn’t repainted in years.”

  “Outside or inside?” I asked. “It doesn’t look that bad to me.”

  “If you can perform miracles, both. It’s not bad, but we need to keep up with the house. He’s not moving anytime soon, so Rachel and I want to make sure he’s set when he retires.”

  “And no dirty talk on the date?”

  “No,” she said. Her mouth was set in a straight line.

  I threw my head back and laughed. This woman was something else.

  I wouldn’t call her sheltered, because she obviously knew what I'd been talking about. But I wondered if she'd ever had a man in her life that had actually done half the dirty things I wanted to do to her.

  The thought irritated me to no end. My gut physically clenched. I had to prevent myself from telling her that I would beat whoever it was that had touched her if that was the case.

  “Dirty talk? You think I’ve been talking dirty to you?”

  She gave me an irritated look. “Yes, and you know you have.”