To Protect the Heart of a Brazen Woman [Brazen Sisters 6] (Siren Publishing Classic) (17 page)

He had never enjoyed the paperwork part of his job, but he knew the reports needed to be filed. Right now he just wanted to get the hell out of his office. Alone. Since the agents were undercover and were there because of him, Jake had insisted they stay at his house until they got everything settled. So between spending their days in the office and the nights at his house, Jake had barely had a minute to himself. Jake hadn’t had a chance to go shopping, so they’d been eating a lot of takeout.

Jake’s guys knew him well enough to sense he was irritated and give him what space they could. He figured they all had their own assumptions for his pissy mood, but they’d all be wrong. The real reason for Jake’s bad mood was Bobbie. On one hand, it was probably a good thing he hadn’t been able to go see her. Yet on the other hand, staying away wasn’t going to make facing her or her sisters any easier. Actually, he’d expected any one of the Brazen sisters to storm his office long before now, which led him to believe Bobbie hadn’t told them how far things between them had gone.

If her sisters knew they’d had sex, there’d be no escaping their wrath. Jessie and her husband, Victor, had to know something from the condition they’d found them in, but unless Bobbie confirmed it neither of them would say anything to him. Oh, he had no doubt that they told the rest of the family. They were all probably waiting for the permission to pounce.

Fred knocked on the door. “Sir, Cameron Elwood is here to see you.”

Jake practically jumped to his feet. He ignored the other guy’s chuckles as he walked out into the main office. Cameron stood by the door to Jake’s office. He didn’t look happy, though he did flash him an awkward grin as Jake approached him. Jake got the feeling this wasn’t a social call.

“Got time for a chat?”

“Sure.” They went into Jake’s office and he closed the door, giving them the privacy he figured they might need. “What’s up?”

Cameron didn’t waste any time. “Listen. I know you’ve got your hands full right now, but you should give Bobbie a call.”

“Is something wrong?”

“Other than the fact that she was almost killed while being used as a pawn by a crazy broad looking to get revenge for something you did?” Jake knew Cameron wasn’t blaming him, but he could help blame himself.

Jake ran his hand across his chin. “Yeah, other than that, is everything okay?”

“No. She hasn’t been sleeping or eating much. The whole family is starting to get worried.” Cameron dropped into the chair across from Jake’s desk. “She perked up a little after Beau called and invited her to join him and Charlie for the rest of their vacation. Now she’s back to moping around.”

“He did what?” The sting of jealousy he felt was totally irrational, but he felt it all the same.

Maybe because Beau hadn’t mentioned that he talked to Bobbie. He sure as hell didn’t tell Jake he was thinking about inviting her out of town. Jake didn’t want her going anywhere until they had a chance to talk. If he had time, he’d give Beau a call and make sure he knew it, but that was unlikely.

He caught Cameron’s smile and wondered if he sensed his jealousy. “Bobbie said Charlie is running Beau ragged and he thought Bobbie might enjoy the time away after everything that’s happened. She told him she had to focus on school, but I think she wished she’d gone.”

Would she have said good-bye to him? Jake wasn’t going to let her walk out on him like she did before. “Well, she can’t go anywhere right now so Beau will just have to manage without her.”

“Huh?”

“We might need to ask her some questions, so she needs to stay in town.” Jake didn’t think Cameron bought his excuse, but it was too late to take it back now. “I’ll call her as soon as I can.”

“Um…” Cameron hemmed a little before saying, “they’re having a big family dinner tonight. If I were you I’d wait until tomorrow.”

Jake understood Cameron’s hesitation in telling him. He usually received an invitation—he had to admit that sometimes it felt more like a command—to attend every Brazen event no matter how small. Hell, they’d all been pissed at him for the Kerri situation, yet they still invited him to Bobbie’s welcome home party. So whatever was happening tonight, he wasn’t part of it and that worried him, almost as much as Bobbie thinking about leaving town however briefly.

Somehow Jake had made it through the night without caving in on his urges and going to see Bobbie. Tom and Bill had helped by insisting they all watch the baseball game on TV. It just so happened that they were rooting for opposite teams. Jake had to step in a few times to calm things down, but in the end it was all good fun. When the guys turned in he was still too amped up, so he went down in the basement where his gym was to work out.

Each time he hit the heavy bag he imagined his brother’s smiling face. Damn, he wished he was there to spar with him right now. The last time Beau had taken a few cheap shots and got away with it because Jake had been thinking about Bobbie instead of anticipating Beau’s next move. He hadn’t kicked Jake’s ass as Bobbie had teased, but he’d come too fucking close.

Even after working out until the wee hours of the morning, Jake had still slept like shit. He tossed and turned, glancing at the clock every half hour. At four thirty, he gave up and decided to go for a run. He probably would have ended up at Bobbie’s, but Tom and Bill had gotten up and joined him. Now here he was stuck back in his office waiting for them to get the word that the case was processed and that they could move on.

At least until the court date. Then the guys would have to come back for that, but they would be reassigned in the meantime. Jake hoped the word would come today, but he knew it could take longer. Weeks even.

Tom leaned back in his chair and pinned him with a curious look. “Go see your girl.”

“I will when this is over.” Jake didn’t bother to deny she was on his mind.

“Dude, what the fuck?” Bill chuckled and shook his head. “We can sit at your place and watch TV. One of your guys can take the message and call us.”

Jake knew better than to think it would be that easy. “Then it’ll be a game of phone tag and messages. I want this over as soon as possible.”

Clint came in carrying a big white box. He put it on the table and flipped the lid open. Jake held back while Tom and Bill each reached for one of the huge cinnamon rolls inside.

“You went to the lodge?” Jake hadn’t meant for it to sound like an accusation, but it did.

“No. They were delivered, with this.” Clint held out a white envelope with
Jake
scrawled across the front.

Jake snatched it out of his hand. Damn, it wasn’t from Bobbie. It was Samantha’s writing, which made sense since it came with food. He tore it open, greedily hoping there was some word about Bobbie inside.

Hey, Stranger,

Know you couldn’t be there last night, but I wanted you to know before word gets out. We’re having twins.

Hope we see you soon,

Sam

Jake stared at the note. Sam and Trent were having twins. A smile curved his lips, but once the “holy shit” moment passed it turned into a frown. He latched onto the anger and pushed away the hurt that came with it. How the hell did they know he couldn’t make it to dinner? No one had even asked him.

Sure, they all knew he was dealing with the fallout from Patrice and still doing his job, but still, they could have asked. Jake wondered if his not being included had been some form of punishment. Were they trying to keep him from seeing Bobbie? Come to think of it, she was usually the one to issue his invitations. Had it been her decision not to invite him? Did she think he would’ve turned her down? Maybe he could’ve snuck away for a little while. Damn it. He groaned. If that was true why hadn’t he gone to see her already?

“Problems?” Clint took a seat at the table and reached for a pastry, but his eyes were on Jake.

He shook his head. “Samantha is expecting twins.”

“Ex-girlfriend?” Bill asked.

Tom slugged him in the shoulder. “No, stupid, Sam is one of the older Brazen sisters.”

“Hey, then that should be good news. Why do you look so pissed?” Bill’s smile grated on Jake’s nerves.

Fred, who had just entered the room with a tray of coffees, laughed. Jake gave him a look that instantly shut him up. He wasn’t about to tell them why he was angry.

“Does this have anything to do with the celebration up at the lodge last night?” Clint was too damn astute.

As for Clint being there, it all made perfect sense to Jake, since he had a thing for one of the girls who worked up at the lodge.

“I heard it got pretty loud,” Fred volunteered as he slipped out of the room.

Clint nodded. “He’s right. I stopped up there for dinner last night. The whole family was there and the guys were congratulating Sam. Trent was boasting a bit.”

Jake just bet he was. Fuck! He should have been there. This was a big moment in his friends’ lives and he’d missed it. Jake would bet everything he had that Bobbie had already known before they announced it. His little vixen always knew everyone’s secrets. She kept them, too, never letting on to anyone that she knew. Except for with him, she used to tell him everything.

“So you’re mad because you missed the party, huh?” Bill hit the nail on the head.

“No.” He grabbed onto the next thought that popped into his head and blurted it out. “I was just thinking their house was going to be real crowded soon. It’s a big place, but Sam and Trent have Bobbie, Georgie, and Stephanie living with them. Add two babies to the mix and that’s a lot of people.”

“Maybe Georgie will get married before the babies come, and she and Stephanie will move in with Tyler?” Clint was right. That was not only possible, but probable, too.

What he really wanted was for Bobbie to move in with him. It wasn’t like the decision hadn’t hit him until that very moment. He’d been considering it and a lot of other changes he was ready to make when it came to him and Bobbie. After living with her short term it only made him realize how much he wanted to make it a permanent arrangement. Of course, he knew it wasn’t going to happen anytime soon. There were a lot of things they needed to work out first.

* * * *

Bobbie had already taken all the classes she wanted. Now she was finishing up what was required to get her degree. Web Design and Statistics had been easy compared to what she was doing now. She forced everything from her mind and tried to listen to the professor. This course had been recommended by a few of her friends. The professor was a pill, but she needed two more English credits, and his were the only classes available this term. So she’d chosen Composition and Creative Writing.

The professor droned on about the syllabus and how they’d be learning about the importance in the author’s use of prose. Then he started on what he expected from each of them. Bobbie wondered if anyone else thought this was all a load of crap.

Bobbie loved to read. In fact, she’d already read all the required books for this class, some more than once. The love of reading was something their parents had managed to instill in all of the Brazen girls from a very young age. The thing was, Bobbie didn’t think she was going to enjoy ripping apart someone’s work and looking for hidden meanings in every other word. The way she looked at it, a person either understood and liked the book, or they didn’t.

If an author found it necessary to use obscure metaphors, he or she must have wanted to make the reader think, but that’s where Bobbie came to the crux. Much like beauty lay in the eye of the beholder, Bobbie chose to believe authors wanted readers to come to their own conclusions, not have those ideas dictated to them.

Still, this class was filled with her friends, and she was willing to put aside her preconceived notions and give it a chance. If nothing else, she’d get to reread some of her favorite books, and just maybe she could gain a new perspective.

The light
buzz
noise barely reached her ears, but she felt the slight vibration against her leg. Under normal circumstances, she would’ve obeyed the “no cell phone” rule, but Jessie was still a little freaked out so she’d promised to keep it on. She eased it out of her pocket and looked at the display. The words
Private Caller
lit up the screen

The professor cleared his throat and she looked up. “Ms. Brazen, either put it away, or step out into the hall.”

Bobbie knew from his reputation he expected her to put it away and give him her undivided attention. She probably should have done it, too. Instead, she picked up her bag and books, got to her feet, and walked out. She knew she was taking a chance on alienating him and having to work twice as hard to get good grades, but right now she truthfully didn’t care.

She pressed the little green Connect button. “Hello.”

“Bobbie, thank God. This is Frank.” She’d spent the summer working for him at the B&B, so she would have known it was him by the sound of his voice without him telling her.

There was something in his tone she didn’t like. It wasn’t panic, but it was damn close. The entire six weeks she’d spent in New Hampshire, Frank had never sounded anything but calm. Not even when one of the guests forgot to open the flue and filled their room with smoke, setting off the fire detectors. He’d handled it with amazing composure, never once raising his voice. There was no doubt something was going on.