Secret Vows (Hideaway (Kimani)) (20 page)

“Why do you think they went away?”

“I believe buying this place was the cure. I used to curse whenever my dad took me with him when he had to make house repairs for his neighbors, but it paid off when I didn’t have to put out for rewiring this place or replacing the plumbing. Now I’m too old and weigh too much to get up on a scaffold and repair the roof.”

Greer gazed lovingly at her uncle. “Uncle Bobby, have you ever thought about getting married again?”

He ran a hand over his shaved pate. “No.”

“What about a girlfriend?”

“What about one?”

“Do you want one?” Greer asked as a slight smile played at the corners of her mouth.

“Who’s to say I don’t have one?”

Greer was grateful to be seated or else her legs wouldn’t have been able to support her. Her uncle wanting to go into semiretirement now made sense. “When am I going to meet her?”

Pushing back his chair, Bobby came to his feet. “You’ll meet her when we come to your wedding.”

Greer stood. “You’re kidding!”

“No, I’m not, honey bunny.”

“Is she good to you?”

Bobby angled his head. “She’s good
for
me, Greer. She’s not my Stella because no woman can replace her. What she does is fill up the lonely hours.”

She kissed his cheek. “Then I’m happy for you. And I can’t wait to meet her.”

* * *

Greer tapped the remote device on the visor of the pickup and the garage door slid up smoothly, quickly. Jason had given her two remote devices, one for activating the gate to the private road for residents and another for his garage. She maneuvered into the space beside the Range Rover and cut off the engine. She smiled. Was that like what it was going to be once she married Jason? She would come home from the restaurant and look forward to spending the rest of the evening with him?

Opening the door leading from the garage to the mudroom, she left her shoes on a mat. The lingering scent of lemon and pine told her the cleaning crew had been there. Jason had dimmed the lights on the first floor and her bare feet were silent on the carpeted stairs as she climbed the staircase to the second floor. Then, she saw them. White flower petals shimmered on the cherrywood hallway in the diffused light coming from a table lamp. Like Gretel, Greer followed the petals through the anteroom, the bedroom, where she stored her tote in the walk-in closet Jason had given her, and into the bathroom where dozens of votive candle twinkled like stars.

Her gaze shifted to Jason as he poured a handful of bath crystals into the tub filling with water. Her breath caught in her throat. He wore only a pair of white drawstring pajama pants. Then without warning he turned and looked at her. There was enough illumination to see the passion replace the shock in his eyes.

“I thought you wouldn’t be here for another five minutes.”

Reaching for the hem of her sweater, Greer pulled it over her head. “I exceeded the speed limit because I wanted to get home to my baby.”

Jason approached her, helping her out of her bra, jeans and panties. He slipped the chain with her ring over her neck, placing it on the vanity. Sweeping her up in his arms, he stood her in the tub. Wrapping both arms around her waist, he kissed her gently. “You can’t do that, sweetheart. The road is too narrow and winding to speed. I don’t want you to end up in the lake.”

Greer kissed him back. “No one has ever drowned in that lake.”

“And I don’t want you to become the first one.” He pressed a kiss to the column of her neck. “Sit down and relax. After I bathe you, I’m going to give you a deep-muscle massage. Then we’ll share a cup of
café con
leche
before we go to sleep.” Picking up a padded stool, he placed it next to the bathtub.

Greer sank into the Jacuzzi, letting out an audible sigh. Resting her head on a bath pillow, she closed her eyes. “Can you please cover my hair with the shower cap?”

Jason covered her head with a plastic-lined bouffant cap, sat down and picked up a bath sponge. “Tired?”

Greer opened her eyes. “A little. Is this what I can look forward to when I come home from work?”

“You bet.”

She smiled. “How was your day?”

“Relaxing,” Jason admitted. “Once the cleaning service left, I spent the entire day listening to music.”

Greer blew him an air kiss. “Good for you. You’re learning how to relax. Did you eat dinner?”

Lifting her leg, Jason kissed her ankle. “Yes,
Mama.
I had grilled salmon with steamed asparagus and wild rice.” He ran his fingers over her leg. “You need a shave.”

Greer lifted her left leg. “I’ll shave before the weekend.”

Jason released her foot. “I’ll shave your legs.” Plunging his hand into the swirling waters, he cupped her mound. “Do you want to shave your bikini area, too?”

She sat up straight. “No!”

“Embarrassed, sweetheart? I promise not to cut you.”

The pinpoints of heat that began in her face crept downward to Greer’s chest. “That’s a little too intimate, Jason.”

He laughed, the sardonic sound filling the bathroom. “More intimate than me putting my face between your thighs? You’re going to have to get used to me taking care of all of your needs and that includes your
personal
needs. Like buying your tampons.”

“How do you know I use tampons?”

“Lucky guess,” he crooned, grinning broadly. “I’m willing to bet after a while we’ll know everything there is to know about the other. Likes, dislikes, allergies, phobias, etc., etc., etc.”

Greer pulled her lip between her teeth. She knew trust was the cornerstone of any meaningful relationship. It was even more important than love. Couples fell in and out of love every minute. She loved Jason, she trusted him not to hurt her, yet she couldn’t trust him enough to tell him she was a federal agent.
The only thing I’m going to say is to be ready for the fallout when he does find out.
Chase’s warning came back in vivid clarity, and she felt confident she would be able to handle whatever fallout that would ensue.

She beckoned to Jason. “What I’d like is for you to join me.”

“Nah, babe. Tonight’s your night.”

“I think I’m going to like tonight. I love the flowers, candles and, most of all, I love you, Jason Cole.”

He leaned down, brushing a light kiss over her mouth. “And I love you, too, Greer Evans.” He kissed her again, this time harder, longer. “Just sit back and enjoy your night of pampering.”

Greer took Jason’s advice, closing her eyes and giving in to the sensual feel of his hands when he lathered and shaved her legs. However, she couldn’t control the shivering when he shaved her bikini area.

Once he had shaved her underarms, Jason couldn’t help smiling as he viewed his tonsorial handiwork. “I think I missed my calling. I should’ve become a barber.”

“You’re doing exactly what you were destined to do, Jason.”

“Falling in love with you?”

She sobered, searching his expression for a hint of guile. Greer was still attempting to process what had occurred between them. She hadn’t been able to ignore her interest in the talented musician the moment he had walked into Stella’s. She’d found herself, like so many others in the restaurant, transfixed by his playing but also by his ability to make Doug’s band take their musical prowess to the next level.

“Had you planned to fall in love?” she asked, answering his question with her own.

“Of course not.” Lines of confusion creased Jason’s forehead. “Why would you ask me that?”

“I don’t know.”

“Yes, you do, Greer. You never say anything arbitrarily.”

“You’re right,” she admitted. “I thought maybe, since your twin is married, you feel it’s time you do the same.”

Jason didn’t want to believe what he’d heard. Why now? Why after accepting his proposal of marriage was Greer questioning his love for her? Who had she spoken to that attributed to her doubt and/or indecision?

“Did your brother marry because you had?” he asked, successfully tamping down his rising anger.

“He’d contemplated it, but the girl he’d been dating at the time turned him down because he told her he was going into law enforcement. Unfortunately her father had been killed in the line of duty, and she didn’t wanted to relive that if she lost her husband.”

“Is he married now?”

“No. He’s still single.”

“I suppose that shoots your theory that twins do everything together to hell.”

Greer studied his face. “I just don’t want you to go into something you might later regret.”

Reaching down and anchoring his hands under Greer’s shoulders, Jason pulled her out of the tub and set her on her feet. “I don’t want you to do anything that you’re not ready for. I gave you a ring because I want you to know that not only do I love you, but I’m also committed to sharing your life. I can understand your reluctance because of what you went through in your first marriage. I have flaws, babe, probably more than I know or am willing to acknowledge, but if you decide this isn’t what you want, then I won’t try and stop you from leaving. But I want you to remember one thing.”

Greer couldn’t still her trembling lip or slow down her runaway heartbeat. “What’s that?”

“I will always love you.”

“And I you,” she whispered. Greer did love Jason. More than she could’ve imagined loving a man. There weren’t too many things that frightened her. The exception was marriage.

Jason wrapped a towel around her body, tucking it between her breasts. “Then why are we standing here talking smack when I promised to give you a massage and a beverage that will make you sleep like a baby?”

Going on tiptoe, Greer bit down on Jason’s lower lip, pulling it gently between her teeth. “And I have my own special sleep aid that’s certain to put you under in one point two seconds.”

“Should I be afraid?”

“Yes, my darling,” she crooned, her voice lowering seductively. “You should be very, very afraid.”

It was Jason’s turn to capture her lip as he worried it between his teeth. “Bring it,” he challenged.

“Take it.”

Those were the last words they exchanged as Greer and Jason rolled around the large bed, mouths joined and struggling to get closer. Jason held her head firmly, not permitting her to escape his marauding mouth. Silvered light from the full moon coming in through the skylights bathed them in a passionate glow.

In an attempt to catch her breath, she opened her mouth wider but that permitted Jason more access as his tongue simulated making love to her. In and out, around and around, the erotic sensations shimmying down her body to her core. Greer sandwiched her hands between their writhing bodies. She searched and found his erection, holding it in her fist as she rubbed Jason until he was forced to release her head.

“No!” he bellowed.

“Yes,” she replied, her hand moved faster and faster.

It was only Jason’s superior strength that allowed him to escape spilling his passions on the sheets instead of inside Greer’s body. He didn’t remember slipping on a condom or how he lay on his back with Greer straddling him.

Both sighed in unison when he penetrated her, her hands anchored on his chest. Jason was helpless to look away or close his eyes when Greer moved up and down, around and around his hardened sex. Her firm breasts bounced above her rib cage, her stomach muscles undulated and the pulse in her throat beat a staccato rhythm as she continued to ride him as if something or someone was chasing her. He was caught up in a spell where he’d surrendered all he was to her. Swallowing back the groans, he prayed not to ejaculate. Not yet. Not when he was experiencing the most pleasurable lovemaking he’d ever had.

Without warning, she pulled up and slid down the length of his body and took his latex-covered penis in her mouth. Jason bellowed again and again. Her mouth was as hot as a branding iron, her tongue and teeth on a mission to drive him insane.

Greer gloried in the power she yielded over Jason as he groaned and pleaded for her to stop. But there was no stopping. Not until she demonstrated wordlessly how much she did love him. Even if they were to part, he would always know that she loved him.

* * *

Jason knew he had to end the erotic torture or he would come in her mouth, and that was something he didn’t want. Anchoring his hands in her hair, he managed to extricate her mouth. Flipping her over, he entered her in one smooth thrust. Her legs went around his waist, and it was his turn to ride her as if the hounds of hell were chasing him. It ended when they climaxed together, their moans and groans mingling in a sweet harmonious duet of completion. Jason collapsed heavily on her body, feeling her rapidly beating heart keeping tempo with his.

“What did you do to me?” he asked once he’d regained his breath.

Greer welcomed the weight pressing her down. “I wanted to show you how much I love you,” she said breathlessly.

Somehow Jason found the strength to pull out and roll off her body. He removed the condom, dropping it in the waste basket beside the bed. His breathing was still labored when he reached down and pulled the sheet and blankets up and over their damp bodies.

Gathering Greer to his chest, he kissed her hair. “Thank you.” He closed his eyes and drifted off to sleep.

* * *

Sleep didn’t come as easily for Greer. It was the first time she’d used her mouth to make love to a man, and, much to her surprise, she liked it. There was something about Jason that made her feel reckless, uninhibited, free and confident with a man. He was good for her in and out of bed.

Chapter 17

G
reer lay dozing on the seat that had reclined into a bed on the private jet, while Jason snored lightly in a bed across the aisle. They’d boarded the plane at the Portland airstrip where eight weeks before she’d deplaned with her brother and the team of FBI agents. Jason had left his vehicle in a restricted lot and walked the short distance to a flight attendant who waited to take their garment bags and carry-on luggage. It was after 8:00 p.m. Pacific time, and when they touched down in Virginia, it would be after midnight.

Once airborne, they were served a sumptuous dinner of poached salmon with a dill sauce, steamed kale and baked acorn squash. She’d drunk one glass of wine to Jason’s two, and both had passed on dessert.

Before leaving Oregon, Greer had checked in with her supervisor to let him know she was going to be away for a few days and would check in again when she returned. Although she hadn’t had to go through airport security, she’d left her handgun and badge in her uncle’s safe.

It felt good not to be constantly
on the job,
wondering if this was what she had to look forward to once she identified the unsub. She was going to a wedding where she would meet her fiancé’s family, and she wondered what their reaction would be once they saw her with Jason and wearing an engagement ring. Had he told his parents he was engaged or had he elected to wait until he saw them? She knew if she didn’t stop thinking so much she would never get to sleep. Sighing, Greer closed her eyes in the darkened cabin, and minutes later she welcomed the comforting arms of Morpheus.

* * *

“Greer, baby, wake up. We’re here.”

She sat up, looking around her. They were on the ground and the flight attendants had opened the cabin door. Extending her hand, Greer let Jason pull her to standing. He led her along the aisle and preceded her down the stairs to the tarmac, the attendants following with their luggage. It was a warm fall night in Virginia with a star-littered sky. She noticed a man leaning against the bumper of a SUV, long legs crossed at the ankles. He stood up straight with their approach.

Greer watched Jason hug a man she knew with a single glance was a Cole. They kissed each other on both cheeks, surprising her with the gesture before she remembered they still held on to their Latin customs.

Jason extended his hand and Greer took it, smiling. “Greer, this is Nicholas. He’s our host and the groom. Nicholas, Greer Evans, my fiancée.”

She studied the man who looked enough like Jason for them to have been brothers, instead of cousins. She extended her hand. “It’s a pleasure to meet you. And congratulations on your upcoming nuptials.”

Nicholas stared at the tall slender woman Jason had introduced as his fiancée. Ignoring her hand, his hands circled her waist, picking her up, while kissing both her cheeks. “Welcome to the family.” He set her down, then turned to Jason. “Damn,
primo,
why didn’t you say something before?”

Jason picked up their luggage where the flight crew had left them, storing them in the cargo area of Nicholas’s SUV. “I wanted to surprise you.”

“Well, you did. Do your folks know?”

“Not yet. I’m certain they’ll hear about it after this weekend.”

“Ana’s here with Jacob, and she didn’t mention anything to me about you getting engaged.”

Jason closed the hatch. “That’s because I didn’t tell her.”

Nicholas opened the door to the second row of seats for Greer, his hand cupping her elbow to assist her getting into the truck. “I can’t believe you didn’t tell your shadow,” he teased.

“You’re the first to know.”

“All I can say is, we’re going to have quite a weekend,” Nicholas said, his drawling cadence identifying him as growing up in the South. He slipped in behind the wheel, waiting for Jason to shut the passenger door. He started the engine and maneuvered the vehicle off the airstrip as the jet’s engines shattered the quiet of the night as it prepared for liftoff.

“Who’s here?” Jason asked as Nicholas followed the signs leading west.

“Mom and Dad came in with Ana, Jacob and Diego. Celia and Gavin got here yesterday afternoon. Celia was beating her gums about leaving Isabella, so I told her to bring her. Blackstone Farms has a day-care center so there will be someone to look after her.”

Jason calculated quickly. “That makes at least nine Coles. That’s not a bad showing.”

Nicholas smiled. “It’s better than just having my mom and dad.”

“Are there that many Blackstones?” Jason asked.

“It’s not so much the name, but everyone living on the horse farm refers to themselves as a Blackstone. If you were to ask anyone where they’re from, they’d say ‘Blackstone.’”

“Is it the same at Cole-Thom Farms?”

A beat passed. “I think it’s getting there. You have to remember Blackstone Farms has been around for more than forty years, and I’m a newbie. Everyone is excited because when Peyton and I marry, it will be like merging the two farms.”

* * *

Greer sat behind the cousins, listening to their conversation. If and when she married Jason, she would become part of a family with rituals and traditions passed down and continued with subsequent generations. Unlike family reunions that were usually held during the summer months, the Coles gathered for an entire week beginning Christmas Eve through New Year’s Day. And it was always held in West Palm Beach.

This past week had been one in which their lovemaking had become deeper, more intense. When they weren’t making love, Greer and Jason had talked—about everything. He had told her about the circumstances where his father had met his mother. As CEO of Cole-Diz, David Cole had traveled to Costa Rica to negotiate the sale of a banana plantation and had found himself hostage to a madman—who had intended to use David as leverage to get the American government to release his son who’d been held on drug trafficking charges. David, who’d been injured during the abduction, was nursed back to health by Serena Morris. During his captivity Serena and David had fallen in love, and when the Coles had employed their means of rescuing David, they were forced to bring Serena with them because she was pregnant with David’s child. They had named the baby Gabriel after Serena’s brother who hadn’t been a drug trafficker but an informant for the DEA.

Then her brother Gabriel went into the witness protection program, and the only communication Serena had had with him was a Christmas card with updated photos of his three children and six grandchildren.

Jason was forthcoming when he had told her about the contract against his sister’s life and how it had all ended when Basil had died unexpectedly from a heart attack. Greer couldn’t tell Jason that the threat hadn’t ended with Basil Irvine’s death, and that Chase had somehow uncovered that the danger had shifted from Ana to Jason. Greer hadn’t asked Chase how he knew this because he never would tell her. She’d met former elite operatives who were employed by the CIA, and they would forfeit their lives rather than compromise their missions. Flying to Virginia in a private jet and attending a wedding at a horse farm secured around-the-clock by armed guards ensured Jason’s safety.

For the next two days Greer planned to forget about Chase’s warning and her job—trying to identify who was stealing guns and selling them to criminals unable to pass a mandatory background check with licensed gun dealers. However that wouldn’t stop those from making straw man purchases at gun shows where background checks weren’t required. This weekend she wasn’t ATF Special Agent Evans, but just Greer.

Traffic lights disappeared as they entered horse country. They passed mile after mile of white fences and private roads and signs identifying the farms, the dates they were established and a few posted the names of winners of major horse races. She saw the sign indicating the number of miles to Blackstone Farms.

“Blackstone Farms is one of the largest horse farms in the region,” Nicholas said, not taking his eyes off the dark road. “They employ more than forty people.”

Greer leaned forward in her seat. “Do they all live on the farm?”

“Yes. Most farms have resident employees.”

“That must be costly,” she said.

Nicholas chuckled. “Running a horse farm is not for the faint of heart. It takes an incredible amount of money to take care of one horse, and when you’re talking about racing thoroughbreds or breeding Arabians, the cost increases exponentially.”

“How did you get into horse breeding?” she asked Nicholas.

“I’ve always liked horses, so when my military career ended, I indulged in what had been a boyhood fantasy.”

Jason shifted in his seat, smiling over his shoulder at Greer. “Nicholas broke with family tradition when he went to Annapolis instead of West Point.”

Nicholas grunted. “Only Uncle Josh had his nose out of joint because I didn’t follow him and Michael to West Point. I didn’t know if he was serious or joking when he called me a traitor.”

Jason nodded. “It’s hard to tell with Uncle Josh. Greer, you’ll get to meet my very scary uncle at Christmas.”

“How is he scary?”

“All he has to do is look at you and—”

“Stop trying to frighten her, Jason,” Nicholas interrupted. “We know he’s a pussycat.”

“Yeah, right,” Jason snorted. “You have to decide whether he’s a cheetah or a leopard. What you don’t want to do is get on his wrong side.”

Nicholas shook his head. “It’s Matt Sterling you don’t want to cross.” He took a quick glance in the rearview mirror. “Matt’s son married our cousin Emily. Matt’s a former mercenary and he’s one scary dude.”

“I think I’m going to need a playbill like they give out at theaters. Then, I’ll be able to identify the cast of characters as heroes or villains,” Greer said jokingly.

Jason winked at Greer. “The men in the family believe they’re bully badasses until they have to deal with their wives. The women always say they rule while their men are there to serve them.”

“Is it true?” she asked.

“Hell, yeah!” Jason and Nicholas chorused.

Greer thought about the Cole men serving. Jason made it a point to get up early and prepare breakfast for her. It was the only meal they shared because she ate lunch and dinner at Stella’s. She would’ve preferred sitting down to dinner with him. It was what she considered the family meal. It’d been that way with the Evanses after her father was transferred from the field to supervisor at the Baltimore-D.C. field office. Gregory Evans loved presiding over the dinner meal wherein he used his wife and children as his captive audience in his attempt to practice jokes. It took her father many years before he acknowledged he was a frustrated stand-up comedian.

Most times Greer laughed, not because her father was funny but so ridiculous, while her mother rolled her eyes in supplication. Esther didn’t have the heart to tell her husband that he wasn’t funny because she’d spent too many nights staring at his empty chair during prolonged periods when he’d gone undercover.

Greer knew how her mother felt about undercover work; Greer would call Esther to let her know she was working, yet could not tell her where she was working or what she was involved in. Tracking illegal gun sales hadn’t been her only objective. She’d been assigned to track a group of men purchasing cigarettes in Alabama, changing the stamps from Alabama to counterfeit New York stamps and reselling them to owners of bodegas and corner stores in New York City to avoid paying the cigarette tax.

Her musings were interrupted when Nicholas turned off the local road and onto one leading to Cole-Thom Farms. Motion sensors lit up the landscape, giving her a glimpse of the gleaming white fences surrounding the horse farm. She gasped, the sound echoing inside the truck when she saw the warning sign Trespassers Will Be Shot on Sight and if Still Alive, Then Prosecuted.

Nicholas glanced up into the rearview mirror again. “This is private property and we police it ourselves.”

“So I see,” Greer said under her breath.

Nicholas slowed when he reached a manned gatehouse. He waved to the man inside the spacious structure and the electronic gate opened. Greer stared through the windshield at the trio of chimneys atop the three-story antebellum great house at the end of the allée of live oak trees as Nicholas maneuvered up an incline. A full-height columned porch wrapping around the front and sides of the spectacular Greek Revival mansion came into view, and she felt as if she’d stepped back in time.

Nicholas parked in front of the house, and as soon as he cut off the engine, Jason was out of the truck, opening the door for Greer, helping her down. She waited as he and Nicholas retrieved their luggage. She followed them up the porch, and after wiping her feet on a mat inside the entry hall, she walked into the living room. She stared up at the massive crystal chandelier suspended from the ceiling rising more than twenty feet above a parquet floor bordered by an intricate rosewood-inlaid pattern. Her gaze lingered on the twin curving staircases leading to the second story.

Nicholas climbed the staircase with their garment bags. “I put you in the west wing. It’s the last place when the sun comes in, so that will give you a chance to sleep in a little late. Don’t worry about getting up for breakfast. There will a buffet breakfast in the dining room until noon. I don’t know what you plan to wear, but the wedding’s going to be business-casual. Ties are optional.” He opened the door to a bedroom at the end of the hallway. “Sweet dreams.”

Greer noticed an elusive dimple in Nicholas’s left cheek. “Thank you for your hospitality.”

He winked at her. “There’s no need to thank me. You’re family.”

Jason closed the door to the bedroom while she surveyed the space where they would sleep for the two nights they were in Virginia. A four-poster mahogany bed draped in sheer mosquito netting, a matching decoratively carved armoire, two chintz-covered armchairs with matching footstools, a padded window seat spanning the width of three tall, narrow windows all were from a bygone era. Greer didn’t know if the furnishing were antiques or exquisite reproductions.

“This house is magnificent,” she said reverently.

Jason placed their bags on luggage racks. “Nicholas has invested a lot of money in this house, land and horseflesh.”