Danger and Desire: A Romantic Suspense Anthology

by Kimberly Kincaid

  Now she was the one being boastful, but he had no doubt she was a hundred percent correct.

  Chapter 9

  Jenna put the sticky note with microwave instructions on the glass bowl that contained her dad’s dinner. This was no different from how she prepped his meals on work nights, but she felt guilty because Monday night was usually when she made him something special and they watched a movie together. She should have made him something special anyways, instead of just giving him leftovers to reheat.

  “I can throw some chicken or salmon on the grill if you’d prefer.”

  “Stop fussing, Jenna. I’ll be fine,” her dad said. “You get ready for your date.”

  Much as she enjoyed sneaking around and keeping whatever this was between her and Brad a secret, the one person she wouldn’t hide it from was her dad. If he had an issue in the night, he needed to be able to reach her. Cell coverage was dicey at best, and she didn’t know where Brad was taking her, but she did know that he had a Raptor cell phone that could use satellite signals, and with Brad’s permission, she’d given her father his number in case of emergency.

  Of course, this meant Brad now had to present himself like a real date and shake her father’s hand before he whisked her off to wherever he was taking her to have wild sex for twelve hours.

  For her father’s part, he agreed to keep the date a secret. Jenna had explained that if the Raptor employees and loggers who came through the roadhouse knew she was seeing someone, her tips would take a hit. This was actually true and not just a convenient excuse, as she knew from her eight years of waiting tables.

  Her dad stepped up beside her at the sink. He stood just a few inches taller than her, his posture a bit stooped. He’d turned seventy-five last winter, and with his health issues worsening these last few years, he looked every minute of it, his skin loose with age and weight loss. He’d been bald but for a crown of hair since before she was born, but now the crown was pure white. “This Brad fellow is going to be disappointed if you aren’t ready when he gets here.”

  “It won’t take me long to get ready. This isn’t prom. I’ll finish the dishes, then get changed.”

  “I can clean up. I’m not an invalid.”

  “I know. But—”

  “So I put the ladle in the wrong place. The world will survive.”

  She and her dad had been having a battle over ladle and other utensil placement for far too long. She believed, as the person who did the majority of the cooking, she should get to choose where the utensils went. He didn’t like the jar cluttering the counter and always put them in the drawer under the counter on the opposite side of the room.

  “You know, I’ve been thinking it’s time you get a place of your own. I hear the apartment above the roadhouse is opening up. You know Charlie will rent it to you cheap.”

  “You don’t want me here?” This startled her. He usually told her how much he appreciated her help, even if he didn’t like counters cluttered with spatulas and tongs.

  “I love having you around, but it’s past time you have a life of your own. You need privacy. And so do I.”

  “But you need me here, Dad.”

  “I’m not saying you couldn’t come by and cook every day. I’m not a fool.”

  She smiled. “I’m fine here.”

  “I’m just thinking that if things progress with Bradley, you’re going to get very tired of hanging out with your old man all the time or having to take off to the woods to spend time alone together. It’s not like going out to dinner in the only restaurant in town would feel like a night off or even like a real date.”

  She could hardly tell her father this was a one-night-only kind of thing, so she simply said, “I’ll think about it. But we can’t really afford rent on an extra place.”

  “Nonsense. You’re selling more photos all the time, and Charlie would appreciate having you there to watch over the place.”

  He wasn’t wrong on either point, but still, it was hard to imagine Charlie could lower the rent enough to make it doable. Like many small towns in Alaska, Tamarack had a housing shortage.

  “It’s sweet of you to think of it, Dad, but I doubt it would work.”

  “Ask Charlie what the rent is.”

  “Fine.” She had no intention of doing any such thing but her dad didn’t need to know that.

  She went to her bedroom and dressed for her date. She put on her sexiest underwear, but covered them with lightweight hiking pants and a moisture-wicking top, with added layers of flannel and fleece. She didn’t know how long or how strenuous the hike would be and needed to be prepared for both sweat and a chill wind.

  Today had been hot—over seventy degrees—but the night would be cooler even though they’d have twenty and a half hours of daylight. How did women dress for dates in the Lower 48? She couldn’t even begin to guess.

  She stepped into the bathroom and pulled out her makeup bag from the drawer. If she got sweaty on the hike, her eye makeup could run. Better not bother. She put on a light lip gloss and then focused on her hair. She couldn’t stand hair on her neck when she was hiking, so she’d just have to put it up in a clip for the start of the date. At least it was long enough to look nice if she took the clip out whenever they got to where they were going.

  She studied her reflection. Not exactly the alluring look she’d been hoping for, but it would have to do. It wasn’t like Brad hadn’t seen her at her sweaty worst as she juggled a dozen tables in the busy taproom.

  There was a knock on the door just as she remembered Brad’s one request. She quickly rummaged in her jewelry box and found the owl pendant. She slipped it on, tucking it under her button-down flannel shirt, then stepped out to see her dad had opened the door for Brad.

  Her heart squeezed at the sight of him. Like her, he was dressed for a hike, but he was also fresh shaved and held a small bouquet of wildflowers. He smiled at the sight of her, his eyes crinkling at the corners, his gaze warm and appreciative.

  Between her dad greeting him like a suitor and the flowers, it suddenly hit her that this was a real, honest-to-goodness date. With Brad Fraser.

  She had to remind herself that, much as this looked like a traditional sort of date, this was a one-time-only thing. As before, this was the end, not the beginning.

  She would finally get to have him, but she wouldn’t get to keep him.

  Her excitement faltered. Not that she didn’t want this with all her heart, but she suddenly felt a heart-squeezing fear of the pain that would swamp her when it was over.

  Chapter 10

  Jenna was quiet as Brad drove out of town. He’d seen the spark in her eyes flare out in an instant as he chatted with her father, and wondered why. He’d braced for her to cancel, but she’d put the flowers in a vase before kissing her dad on the cheek and following him out the door.

  “If you’ve changed your mind, we don’t have to do this,” he said softly. “We can go see the owls, or just skip it altogether and I can turn around and take you home.”

  “Don’t you dare back out on me now, Fraser.”

  Relief rushed through him with the force of a fifty-foot waterfall. He could almost drown in it. “Not me, kitten. I would never. It’s you I’m concerned about. You seem…sad.”

  She gave a nonchalant shrug. “Just worried about my dad, I guess.”

  He wasn’t sure he believed her, but he didn’t doubt she’d have canceled if she didn’t want to be with him tonight. “He’s got my number, and we’ll have cell coverage and a radio to the compound where we’re going.”

  “Where are we going?”

  “To the prove-up cabin on Raptor land.”

  “Really? You’re allowed to take me there?”

  He nodded. “We don’t use it for trainings. It’s there for refuge in bad weather or other emergencies. It needs to remain available during training sessions, but operatives are allowed to reserve it for recreational use when it’s not needed. I can bring a guest, as long as they’ve been cleared
for entry onto Raptor land—which I already did to get you permission to see the owls.”

  She grinned. “So we still get to keep this a secret? Just between us?”

  “If that’s what you want, yes.” Part of him didn’t want this thing between them to be covert, but he understood why it mattered to her. He was the one who was leaving. She’d have to deal with the aftermath alone.

  He turned off the main highway to the road that skirted the perimeter of the fenced part of the compound. The prove-up cabin—so named because it was built a hundred years before by a settler who needed a cabin to prove he would live on the property for a length of time to make his claim—was deep in the forest, well beyond the concertina-wire-topped fenced area near the edge of the thirty-thousand-acre Raptor compound.

  “Usually, we take ATVs from the fenced area to the prove-up, but there’s a road that goes within two miles of the cabin. I figured it would be easiest to park there and hike the rest of the way.”

  “I’ve always wanted to see that old cabin. I’ve heard Raptor fixed it up quite a bit.”

  “Yeah. It’s still small, but it has electricity and hot and cold running water, just like you insisted.” He grinned, and she laughed in response. “The kitchen has modern appliances, and the furnishings were built to fit the tight space. Skylights were added to give it a lot of light, but there are automatic blinds for summer use. It’s really cozy.”

  Brad had spent the last few days imagining making love to her in front of the fire, or on the bed, under the skylight. In winter, sometimes the northern lights could be seen through the skylight, making him wish he’d brought her here in February.

  She leaned across the center console and kissed his cheek. “Thank you. It sounds perfect.”

  He grabbed her hand and brought it to his lips as he kept his eyes on the rutted road. Tonight was all he would get of her, so it would be as perfect as he could possibly make it.

  He reached the literal end of the road and parked his SUV. They both grabbed their packs and set out. It was an easy hike from here—not a lot of elevation changes, just a stroll through the woods. Halfway there, they came to a meadow where he’d set up a table and chairs. The table he’d covered with a green tablecloth that matched her eyes. In the center was a bottle of wine and two glasses.

  Jenna let out a gasp, and his heart surged at the light of emotion on her face. “Brad Fraser, I never would have suspected this of you.”

  He wrapped a hand around her waist and pulled her to him. “I need to make up for wasted time. Give you everything I should have given you years ago. You deserve it all, Jenna.”

  Her green eyes widened with surprise. “What are you saying?”

  But he couldn’t say it. So instead, he kissed her, and she molded against him, opening her mouth and letting him inside.

  She was everything he wanted. Everything he needed. His beautiful, vivacious Jenna. What did his job matter when leaving meant leaving her?

  She ended the kiss. “You worked so hard to set this up. Seems like we should enjoy a glass of wine.”

  He pressed his face to her neck and breathed her in before releasing her and taking her hand to lead her to the table. He poured their glasses and sat across from her at the table. She held up her glass and said, “To our sex pact.”

  He burst out laughing and clicked his glass with hers. “To finally having my way with you.” He sipped his wine.

  Jenna grinned and downed her entire glass and set it on the table. “Let’s go. We’ve only got twelve hours and a lot of ground to cover.” She rose from her seat and set off on the path.

  He wasn’t a fool, so he pounded his glass—a very good cabernet sauvignon he’d been gifted from the Raptor wine cellar when he was promoted to the head of Falcon team—and stuffed the cork in the bottle and dropped it in his pack before chasing after her.

  It took fifteen minutes to hike the last mile to the cabin, and there it was in a small meadow. On the outside, it was an old cabin made of rough-hewn logs. Inside, it was the perfect romantic getaway in the middle of a paramilitary compound.

  He typed his access code into the keypad, and the door unlocked. He opened it and ushered Jenna inside, turned and locked the door, then leaned against it to watch her reaction. A bed filled one end of the main room. He’d sprinkled red rose petals on the cover. The dining table on the other end of the room was set for a candlelit dinner, with a vase of wildflowers to the side. Between bed and table was the couch, which faced the fireplace, all set and ready for a romantic fire to light the room. The kitchen and bathroom were accessed through an archway to the side. Dinner was prepped and ready. It just needed to be placed in the oven.

  She turned to him, then dropped her pack to the floor and yanked her fleece pullover over her head. She tossed it to the floor, then began unbuttoning her flannel top. It joined the fleece on the floor, and she was down to a feminine-cut hiking top, which she yanked open—thank you snap closures—revealing a lacy purple bra that gave her small breasts a bit of cleavage, the owl pendant he’d made for her nestled right in the V.

  “This bra hurts like a bitch and was terrible for hiking in. So I’m going to give you five seconds to enjoy the cleavage, then it’s hitting the floor.”

  He stepped forward and reached behind her back. “If it’s hurting you, five seconds is too long.” He undid the hooks, and the tight elastic fell forward, baring her perfect breasts. He lowered his head and took one nipple into his mouth while he cupped her other breast, massaging to ease the ache evidenced by the red marks on her skin.

  She tilted her torso forward, letting out a soft hum as he sucked and stroked one then the other.

  She grabbed at the buttons of his shirt and started opening them. “Get naked.”

  “I take it you don’t want dinner first?”

  “I’m only hungry for one thing right now.” She reached for his fly.

  He covered her hands with his. “Hey. We’ve got all night. We can savor this. I want to make love to you slowly.”

  She met his gaze. “I don’t want slow or sweet. I don’t want romance. It’s too late for that.”

  Her words were urgent. And angry.

  All at once, it clicked into place. Her mood shift when she spotted the flowers he’d brought to her house. How quickly she drank the wine. The way she stripped the moment she spotted the rose petals and candlelight table setting. He cupped her cheek. “Please, let me make love to you.”

  She shook her head. “No. This is a sex pact. No emotion.”

  “It’s too late for me there. And too late for you.”

  “Don’t you dare make me fall in love with you, Brad. Not when you’re leaving.” She stepped back, crossing her arms over her bare chest. “I’ll walk out of here right now if you insist on making this about anything other than sex.”

  “That’s the problem, Jenna. It’s always been about more than sex. You and I…we’ve had this chemistry that scared the hell out of me. Tamarack has always been nothing more than a stepping stone for me.” He shook his head as the past and the future both became clear in a way he’d resisted for three long years.

  He cleared his throat. “You should know, when I was first hired, Robert Beck promised he’d move me to the Virginia compound within a year. Then Rav took over, and he promised me the same thing, as long as I stayed on to help with the transition. But we kept losing operatives to Apex, and I kept getting promoted. But there’s nowhere else for me to go here. If Nicole is named CEO, she’ll make Godfrey compound director. And I’ve always known there is no way in hell I can ever work for Godfrey.

  “And if Nicole isn’t named CEO, she’ll stay on as director. I can’t go any higher. I’ve avoided you for three years because I knew I couldn’t get involved with you and leave without hurting you. I’ve always known I would leave, and you’ve always known you want to stay.”

  “So you never gave us a chance to find out if we’re a good fit. You made all the decisions for both of us.”


  She looked more angry than hurt. And he supposed, when he thought about her words, she had good reason.

  “I was protecting you.”

  “Liar. You were protecting yourself.”

  “I was protecting me too. Yes.”

  She turned her back to him, her arms still crossed over her chest. Her body completely closed to him. She faced the rose-petal-covered bed. She, of all people, knew exactly how hard it was to get fresh-cut roses up here. She had to know he’d spent hours setting up both this and the table in the forest, just for her.

  He didn’t do it because he wanted credit for time spent. He did it because he wanted her to know. To feel the depth of his… He shut down that line of thought at the source. He just wanted to make her happy. Like owls made her happy.

  On Jenna O’Donnell’s happiness continuum, he wanted to land somewhere between puppy dogs and owls, but he had a feeling he was closer to the Ted Godfrey end of the line.

  “It’s beautiful. What you did here. But I don’t want it. I want sex. Heat. Chemistry. Not this.”

  “I think you do want this, Jenna. As much as I do.”

  “Dammit! After three years of avoiding me, you are not going to make love to me, then leave.”

  And of course, she was right. He’d probably known it all along. He’d neatly backed himself into this corner. There was only one possible way out. “Then I won’t leave.”

  Chapter 11

  Jenna thought her knees might give out. She whirled to face him, no longer feeling self-conscious about her topless state. “What?”

  “I won’t leave.” He pulled his phone out of his pocket. “I’ll email Barstow right now and tell him I’m not taking the job.” He tilted the screen so she could see it, and he did, indeed, open an email from someone named Simon Barstow and hit the Reply button.

  “You can’t do that. Not right now.”

  “Why not? If it will convince you I’m serious about staying, I need to do it.” He typed on the touch screen, showed her the message in which he declined a job offer, then hit Send. The whoosh sound played, and he tucked the phone back in his pocket. “There. Done.”