by Jenny Penn
“It’s always nice to be welcomed.” Collin didn’t sound the least bit sympathetic as he asked, “Can I go by Mr. ‘Screws better than you because he’s got a bigger boner’? ’Cause I got to tell you something, it’s been a long time since I had any fun, and your five-foot-two librarian looked crazy enough to make the ride entertaining.”
“Why you?” Not in the mood to share in the joke, Jack ignored Collin’s smile and shifted forward, leaning into the table as he confronted his friend with his real concern. “Amos didn’t pick you out of thin air. So how did you become his number-one man?”
“I volunteered.” Collin shrugged as if offering his services to a private security company often suspected of being mercenaries in disguise was nothing. “I missed you, man.”
“Collin—”
“And it’s not like you don’t need it from the size of that dent in the back of your truck.”
“You don’t really think I’m just going to confess all the confidential details because we used to be friends, do you?” Jack lifted a brow, turning Collin’s smug look back on him before going for the low blow. “Because you were never that dumb before you got married.”
“I didn’t get stupider, just more eager to be alive,” Collin corrected. “You know where I’ve been, Jack? I’ve been stuck behind a desk for the last three years, spending my Saturdays mowing the lawn and my Sundays watching FoodTV. Every weeknight I’m in bed by ten.”
“That’s the life you chose,” Jack reminded him, feeling no sympathy for Collin’s plight. “What did you think marriage was going to be like? Fun?”
“Well…yeah.” Collin sounded almost as mystified by his own answer as Jack was. “I mean, I know it’s work and that most of the time it’s ho-hum boredom, but there should be moments, you know? It’s just like this job, man. We spend years training, months planning, all for a moment.”
“You’re nuts.” Jack shook his head, wondering if Collin would ever outgrow the need to find deeper meaning. Thankfully Collin’s “intellectual” side couldn’t compete against his more cavalier nature and the thoughtful gleam faded from his eyes as his lips kicked back up in Collin’s customary grin.
“Or maybe just one night with a five-foot-two librarian who can outdrink me and wreck my truck. Sex, danger, and glory—Humble looks to be offering the next great adventure.”
“Trust me, Collin, you’re not up to handling a five-foot-two librarian,” Jack warned him before giving in to an urge to tack on a more direct threat. “And Kathy belongs to me.”
“And since when did you stop sharing?”
“I didn’t say I wouldn’t share her,” Jack retorted, refusing to recognize the deeper meaning in Collin’s question. “But she belongs to me first.”
He knew he sounded possessive. Worse than that, Jack felt possessive. That didn’t mean he had to recognize the emotion. Instead, he chose to bury it beneath the heat of his own lust-fueled agitation.
“The woman owes me.” That sounded like a reasonable justification to Jack. “I’m the one she played, as you so elegantly put it. So I’m going to be the one that masters that pussy, but I can’t do it without pants!”
“That’s why you need an assistant.” Collin smirked, clearly unimpressed by Jack’s warning.
“Don’t push me, Collin.”
“You fucked my wife.”
“Yes, and she liked it.” On that Jack had no doubt. Cecelia may have hated his guts, but she loved his dick.
That contradiction in sentiment had led to a twisted relationship, one where Cecelia had tried to provoke Jack’s darkest, harshest needs. While giving in had been a temptation too sweet to deny, Jack walked away feeling nothing but empty.
“No, she liked it when we fucked her together.” Heaving a deep sigh, Collin plunked his elbows on the table. “After you left all she ever wanted to do was try to find another third.”
“And how that work out for you?” Jack already knew the answer. It seemed obvious considering he was sitting across from a divorced man.
“It didn’t.” Collin paused to flash Jack a smile he normally used on the ladies. The flirtatious grin matched the outrageous flap of Collin’s eyelashes as he batted them at Jack. “There’s only one man I enjoy screwing women with…Hey, there, stud. You miss me, too?”
“You know, I could just beat you up and take your pants.” Jack was out of his seat in an instant. It didn’t matter that he knew for an absolute fact that Collin wasn’t gay. Jack still got twitchy when Collin teased him. “Actually that sounds like a plan.”
“Oh, don’t even start smiling like that.” Collin settled back in his seat, stretched out his legs in a stance that made it clear he didn’t feel threatened. “I could kick your ass without breaking a sweat.”
“You’ve been sitting behind a desk for the last three years.” Jack smirked as he flexed his arms. “All the while these guns have been earning their keep.”
“And what about the big gun?” Collin taunted Jack with a memory that he’d like to forget. “All that rum make it misfire and leave you like you were on Molly Grainer’s couch? Passed out with your own splurge coating your stomach? No wonder the woman wrecked your truck.”
“Okay.” Jack beckoned Collin forward. “Let’s go, hayseed. It’s time to remind you who won the Civil War.”
Chapter 4
“Oh, Kathy, I just love that outfit. It does such wonders for your body.” Kathy dropped her imitation of Molly Karr’s high-pitched whine to mutter to herself as she came around the counter. “Bitch.”
Catching Sarah Anne’s small smile, she rolled her eyes. “Like I don’t know that statement ended with a silent ‘you pudgy little peanut.’”
“Pudgy little peanut?” Sarah Anne cocked a brow at that expression, casting Kathy a curious look as she stacked books onto the return cart. Kathy didn’t hesitate to start helping her friend sort the books being prepped to go back on the shelves. “That’s what she used to call me in elementary school.”
“She’s just jealous,” Sarah Anne whispered. “She’s been lusting after that Jack Daniels since he strutted into town, not that he’s in town much.”
Kathy had a sick feeling that trend was about to be broken. She’d spent the past two hours looking over her shoulder and casting worried glances out at the parking lot, wondering when he’d show. She’d never been good at waiting. It made her grumpy.
“So is Krystal Dennings,” Sarah Anne gleefully informed Kathy, appearing completely unaware of her friend’s dour mood. “You might want to duck.”
Kathy followed Sarah Anne’s nod toward the front door and groaned at the double Ds bouncing through it. It didn’t take but that one quick glance before Kathy took her coworker’s suggestion. While it might not be dignified to hide behind the counter like an errant child, Kathy would rather give up her pride than be cornered by Krystal.
Sure enough she came right to the counter to get her gossip, playing the whole “haven’t seen you in a while” routine with Sarah Anne. It didn’t take long for that small talk to bleed into Krystal casually mentioning how she’d heard Kathy had a new man in her life. Kathy almost snorted when the blonde played it dumb, claiming she’d heard it was one of the men from Amanda’s security detail. Krystal always had been as smooth as she was obvious, asking Sarah Anne what his name was again.
“I don’t really know, Krystal.” Sarah Anne nudged Kathy with her foot, as if she hadn’t heard every word. “But I gather he’s a real good-looker given all the women who’ve stopped by to ask just that question.”
“Yes.” Krystal drew that word out, clearly uncertain of how to handle that backhanded insult. “Well, if he is that good looking, he’ll be enjoying all the opportunities this town has to offer.”
Kathy could hear Krystal sweep off and dared to rise up to her knees and peek over the edge of the counter. Sure enough, Krystal strutted her stuff back toward the door. Not about to risk the woman looking back, Kathy stayed where she was, watching until Krystal
disappeared outside. Only then did she lift her gaze toward Sarah Anne, who offered her a smile.
“You’re welcome, and you can repay me by putting back the returns.”
“Sure.” Kathy glanced around the library, looking for any more unfriendlies before pinning Sarah Anne with a hard look. “But this never happened.”
“Sure thing,” Sarah Anne agreed, backing off toward her desk. “After all, I know the rule. You mess with the best, you go down like the rest.”
That brought a grin back to Kathy’s face and a welcomed lift of happiness at that age-old joke. In sixth grade, she’d started to develop attributes the other girls didn’t have. Liam Scott had tried to get a handle on some of Kathy’s more bountiful assets and found himself wearing a black eye instead. It had happened at recess. After laying him out with one punch, Kathy had stood above him and laid down a vow that all the boys heeded from that day forward.
If you mess with the best, you go down like the rest. The saying had come from her dad. She’d been seven and wanted to dress up like a pink commando for Halloween. They didn’t have a lot of money, so he’d spray-painted a hardhat pink for her along with a large plastic rifle and a set of boots.
With a black magic marker, he’d written a warning over a large pink T-shirt that had become her living motto. Kathy still had that shirt packed in her memento box along with the pictures from that Halloween. Her costume had drawn lots of notice, more bad than good.
Given Kathy’s tendency to draw attention to herself, she’d grown use to the look. Even in the quiet of the library, Kathy inevitably managed to find a way to stick out. Today it was the wheel of the cart that squeaked over the linoleum floor as she pushed it out into the main lobby. The piercing sound drew glances from the patrons she passed, but their gazes lingered with more than idle curiosity.
Kathy ignored them and steered her cart toward the towering rows of bookcases. What people thought of her didn’t matter, but figuring out this mess Amanda had gotten herself into did. Kathy had spent the whole night going over Jack’s confessions and had come to one conclusion. The man was seriously addled to even think Will McKinney stole twenty-five million dollars.
That didn’t shock Kathy in the slightest. Jack might be rough, tough, and better at foreplay than any man Kathy had ever known, but that didn’t change the fact that he wore a badge. Everybody knew the law had a way of seeing things the way they wanted to. By the very fact that Will was dead and Amanda forced into hiding, it was obvious Jack’s way of seeing things was the wrong way.
Of course, Kathy didn’t expect that he’d accept that or the need for a fresh set of eyes to go over the case. Actually he needed more than that. If Will was involved, then the answers Jack needed would be held by people no lawman could ever trust.
Kathy had been raised among those kinds of people. They’d talk to her. Maybe if Mr. DEA Agent played nice, she just might be willing to help him out. That thought brought a smile to Kathy’s lips as she considered how very difficult it would be to sell Jack on that idea. More than just being arrogant, the man was bossy. He was also late.
It dawned on her as she shifted through the reference section that if Jack showed up early, he’d be in a temper. While an angry Jack might not be a pleasant thing to endure, it would certainly be better than a plotting one. That’s what time would give him—a chance to come up with a retaliation that stung for more than a few minutes.
Kathy paused as her gaze caught on a neat stack of worn, old books piled politely into a hidden corner. Books that dusty and ancient looking could only have come from the dungeon. That’s what they called the small, dark corridor upstairs where they kept the town’s archived history. Kathy hated the narrow hall. It gave her the creeps. Thankfully, most people agreed with her and stayed the hell out of it.
Today, though, somebody had lugged down a whole stack of maps, making Kathy wonder when they’d had the time. She’d have noticed somebody carrying all those heavy tomes down if for no other reason than to stop them. What came down had to go back up, and that, unfortunately, was Kathy’s job.
Sighing, she hefted up the heavy pile and trudged off toward the stairs. Humble might have one of the coolest library buildings around given the building’s history as a brothel, but it didn’t come equipped with an elevator. Instead, Kathy had to tote the large stack up thirty-eight steps until she crested the top and found herself at the mouth of another endless row of bookcases.
Moving through the stacks, Kathy started to mentally prepare herself for being cloistered in the dungeon. With reminders that ghosts didn’t exist and everybody could hear her if she screamed, Kathy finally reached the shadowed door that led to the back hall they used to store the town’s oldest books.
Kathy stepped into a dark, cramped world feeling like she’d walked from day into night. The long, thin corridor looked just as endless thanks to the shadows consuming most of its length. Narrow barrels of florescent lights tried to beat the darkness back, but without the aid of a single window, it was a losing battle. The only natural light seeped in around Kathy’s shadow. Even as she moved down the tight corridor, the light didn’t brighten enough to illuminate much beyond the doorway.
The corridor was too narrow for more than one row of bookcases. It almost wasn’t wide enough for one. Kathy’s arm bumped into more than one rough spine as she hurried to return each book back to its proper place. She couldn’t get done fast enough and ended up nearly jogging toward the entrance after setting the last book on its shelf.
Reaching the light, Kathy stumbled back out into the loft. There in the wide alley where all the rows of bookcases ended, Kathy finally managed to take a deep enough breath to begin calming her racing heart. It took a moment, but she ultimately managed to regain her sense of reason and sanity.
She used that time to pick up another book off the floor. Apparently the messy people had come out today along with the gossipers because the encyclopedia she lifted off the carpet belonged all the way at the other end of the loft. Trying to be positive, Kathy considered what size dessert she could have with lunch thanks to her elongated tour of the library that morning. All the walking had to be worth at least three hundred calories.
Consumed with her mental math, Kathy barely paid attention to the aisles she passed by and almost ran right over Sherri Dixon in her rush. Stumbling back, Kathy started to make her apologies before she even realized whom she’d bumped into. Sherri had never once been in the library. Kathy didn’t need more than one guess to figure out what had brought Humble’s horniest gossipy bimbo to the second floor of all places.
Hell, it wasn’t like some big secret that Sherri had already made loud claims on any man she wanted. Given the last man she’d rubbed her tits all over had been Jack, Kathy figured she was about to get a warning. Hoping to avoid such a scene, she stepped around Sherri with a big, fake smile and a quick dismissal.
Before the bubblehead could get a word out, Kathy fled down the aisle Sherri had popped out of. Headed now in the wrong direction, Kathy wouldn’t object to walking the extra distance. Kathy figured she’d just add it to her dessert tally as she rounded the front of the aisle and started racing back toward the rear of the loft. Given her day, she wanted the biggest and best dessert she could afford.
God must have been on her side, because Sherri had disappeared out of the back lane by the time Kathy rounded the endcap displaying a special section on world maps and atlases.
Not about to hesitate and give Sherri the chance to catch up, Kathy gave up the pretense and started running. The very last thing Kathy wanted to do was talk to Sherri about Jack Daniels. No, Kathy corrected herself a second later as she rounded the last aisle and came to a slamming stop against a brick wall, the very last thing she wanted to do was to talk to Jack Daniels.
Alarms sounded in Kathy’s head, filling her ears with shrill shrieks as her heart raced faster and faster with every inch her chin had to lift to meet the cool, hard gaze of one extremely pissed-off DEA agen
t. Jaw clenched, lips thinned, Jack looked ready to collect that strip of hide she owed him. Had she actually been stupid enough to wish for a quick and brutal showdown?
Right then, Kathy would have exchanged her fate for whatever revenge it would have taken Jack a few weeks to dream up. At least then, she would have had time to flee. That option had disappeared along with the sun, leaving her cold and alone in the deep recesses of Jack’s shadow. Despite all her planning, the only defense Kathy could come up with right then was to stumble over her own feet as she shuffled blindly backward in a vain search for escape.
Just as steadily, Jack paced forward, looking ready to strangle her where she stood. Somewhere deep inside, a silent voice screamed for her to run, but the fear that should have had her complying didn’t fuel the racing pound of her heart. The ever-quickening pulse only fanned the excited twist of need starting to tingle all through her, leaving Kathy starved for breath and flushed with desire.
And he wasn’t even touching her yet. The book she still held trembling in her grasp provided a hard buffer from the solid wall of muscles pressing forward as Jack forced her backward. With each step forward, his T-shirt caught against the edges of the rough cover, crinkling and bunching in soft waves over the edges that rolled and shifted with the thick muscles flexing beneath.
Kathy remembered what it felt like to rub against all those hard ridges, to feel them teasing every inch of her naked skin. The cotton of his shirt had softened under the heat, making every grinding pass a sensual thrill that even in memory had her nipples puckering with anticipation. She should have fucked him when she had the chance, because seeing him again only made the need worse.
Of course, sleeping with Jack probably wouldn’t have helped. Knowing how rough those fingers could be and how hot his breath felt against her skin made Kathy itch with the sudden need to be touched. No other thought could surface through the flood of memories igniting her body with a tense excitement.
