Training the SECRET (Corrigan & Co #6) (9 page)

* * *

Nate

I’m sitting by the
pool, drinking beer number…who the fuck knows…when I hear Aiden
walking over to me. I know it’s him, because the sound of the door
opening came from the pool house. And if it was Ellie, she’d be
yelling at me.

“You probably
shouldn’t be drowning your sorrows next to the pool. I mean, you
don’t want to get too shit-faced and actually drown, do you?”

“Maybe.”

“Bullshit.”

“She’s just like
the rest of them.”

“No she isn’t.
Yeah, they talked about our dicks, and said we have amazing bodies,
but they didn’t mean anything malicious when they did it. They
weren’t being pervy or mean. They’re just women who appreciate
what we’ve got. Since we’re with them, we should be taking
everything they say as a compliment.”

“It doesn’t feel
like one.”

“You don’t like
Jade’s body?”

“The fuck I don’t.”

“Have you made any
comments to her about it?”

“Of course. I want
her to know how sexy she is, and how hot she makes me.”

“But because of your
past, she can’t tell you the same thing?”

Shit. Of course I just
got all self-righteous and never thought about what I say to her. I
talked about her rack today and said other things that I never
thought twice about. And she didn’t accuse me of being a perverted
bastard.

“I screwed up.”

“Yeah you did. I
mean, I get it. With your past, it’s got to be hard. But she’s a
keeper, Nate. That’s why you tried to run from her.”

“She’s going to run
from me when she learns about everything.”

“You don’t know
that.” I look at him hard. “Okay, yeah, she’s going to be hurt
and pissed. Which is why you should probably tell her before she
finds out from someone else. Like her dad.”

“He won’t tell her
unless he has no choice, or I hurt her. He told me that.”

“There’s got to be
someone else out there who knows.”

“Maybe. Most of the
people involved are dead.”

“You’re willing to
take the chance that no one’s going to tell her.”

“I’m not ready to
lose her yet. I need some time with her.”

“And that’s why
you’re out here drinking instead of inside, making love to her.”

“Bastard. I hate it
when you’re right.”

“I usually am.”

“That’s why you’re
a bastard. Go make love to your own woman.”

“Oh, I plan to. I
just had to sort you out first.”

“Consider me sorted.
Thanks man.”

“I have a feeling
I’ll be needing your help one day soon, so don’t thank me, just
save mewhen I need it.”

“You know it.”

We bump fists, and then
I stand up as he practically runs back to Ellie. I walk a little more
slowly back into the main house. My girl isn’t going to be
welcoming me with open arms and kisses. In fact, I’ll be lucky to
not catch a bullet.

I stand outside her
bedroom door for too long. I need to knock, but I know I don’t
deserve to be let in. She’s right—I
am
a coward, in more ways than one. I lean my forehead against the door
and almost fall over when it opens suddenly.

“Are you planning on
just staying out here all night?”

“Maybe.”

She scrunches up her
nose. “How drunk are you?”

“Not enough to stop
me from realizing that I was wrong.”

“I love all of you,
Nate. Not just your body. I can’t pretend that I don’t love that,
too, but I’ll try and dial back my comments.”

“Don’t.”

“But if I make you
uncomfortable…”

“
You
don’t make me uncomfortable.
I
make me uncomfortable. I have some fucked-up issues from my past,
which has been stopping me from truly appreciating how lucky I am to
have you. If I still have you, I mean?”

“We need to talk,
Nate. I don’t want to walk around on eggshells all the time,
worried that I’ll set you off because I think you’re sexy.”

“I want to tell you,
Jade. Well, actually that’s a lie. I’d never tell you if that was
an option. I know it’s not. I-I just need some more time. Please.”

She takes my hands in
hers, and gives me a small smile. “I can do that. I can give you
time. Just promise me that if I say something that hurts you again,
you’ll talk to me instead of flipping out and pushing me away. Or
saying something mean.”

I pull her to me and
hold her tight. “I’m sorry I hurt you.”

“I wasn’t
objectifying you, you know? I just think my boyfriend is hot. Reina
said I should make sure you know you’re more than a body to me.”

“Reina?” I ask,
pulling back and trying to ignore the dread I feel all the way to my
toes. “What did she tell you?”

“Just that people
have always wanted you for your body. I tried to get her to explain,
but she said you need to be the one to tell me your secrets.”

“I
will
tell you. I promise. Just not yet.”

“I believe you, and I
already said I could wait.”

“Do I still have to
sleep in the guest room?”

“You’re welcome to
sleep
in here. But
that’s all it’s going to be tonight.”

“That’s enough for
me.”

She raises an eyebrow
at me. “Really?”

“What? I’m not a
completely sex-crazed pervert. I can sleep with a woman without
having sex.”

“Uh-huh. And how many
times have you done that in the past?”

“None,” I tell her
with a grin. “The few times I actually slept over with a woman was
after we had some fun.”

“But you’ll do it
with me?”

“I’d do anything
with you.”

“Anything?”

“Shit. I’m going to
regret that, aren’t I?”

“Maybe. But in the
meantime, I really am tired.”

“Then we should get
you all tucked in, and…” I can’t finish that sentence as I sway
a little on my feet while trying to walk into the room.

“Looks like I’ll be
the one doing the tucking. Just lean on me, tough guy.”

She guides me over to
the bed and takes my shoes and socks off. She starts to undo the
buttons on my shirt when I flop over, unable to hold myself up any
longer. The last thing I remember before passing out is Jade rolling
me over onto my side as she laughs. And the last thing I think is
that I’m the biggest bastard on the planet, but I really do love
her.

Jade

I’m working at the
kitchen island again when Nate walks in. He looks deliciously
rumpled, but not hung over. Of course he isn’t. He’s a big, bad
tough guy. Who passed out with his clothes on last night. I can’t
keep the smile off my face.

“Are you laughing at
me?”

“Yes.”

“I look that bad?”

“Not at all. You
look…”

“No censor.”

“Positively
scrumptious.”

“Why thank you.
You’re looking mighty edible this morning as well. Back to business
for the moment, though. If I don’t look bad, why were you laughing
at me?”

“I was thinking about
how you passed out before I could get your clothes off last night.
Big, bad military guy indeed.”

“That’s just plain
mean of you to remind me…but, you can take my clothes off now if
you want,” he says as he walks over to me, leaning over with his
forearms on the counter.

“Hi,” I say,
because having him so close while he’s being adorable and sexy is
rendering me a little stupid.

His mouth quirks into a
knowing smile. “Don’t feel bad, Angel. My combination of brains
and hot bod has made many a woman speechless.”

“Jackass.”

“Sexy jackass though,
right?”

I turn away from him,
but we both know I’m just pretending to be offended that he caught
on to me. And I’m
really
glad that he’s joking with me about his body. Even though he said
he’s okay with me telling him how hot I find it, I don’t want to
do anything that will make him run from me again. It is fun to mess
with him, though.

“Meh.”

He lifts me on the
island before I can protest—which honestly, I wouldn’t have—and
steps in between my legs. My face is in his big hands, and I
automatically reach for his biceps as he slants his mouth over mine.
This kiss isn’t sweet and it isn’t demanding. It’s somewhere in
between, destined to drive me insane as I taste the mint of his
toothpaste. I let out a sound of protest when his mouth leaves mine a
few minutes later. He’s smiling at me like the cat who caught the
canary.

“You were saying
something about ‘meh’?”

“That was pretty
good.”

“What…you…you’re
evil,” he sputters as his eyes go wide.

“Backing down from a
challenge, Soldier? You don’t want to try again?”

A knowing look takes
over his eyes then. “Not this time. A soldier knows when a battle’s
unable to be won, and he should just retreat.”

It’s my turn to
sputter as he walks over to the refrigerator and opens the door.
“You…you get your mouth back over here, Nate Anderson.”

“Huh? Oh sorry,” he
says, biting into a baby carrot as he turns back to me, “my mouth
is kind of busy right now.”

“Nate,” I say
biting my bottom lip as I bat my eyes at him. Yes, I’m batting my
eyes, and I am
so
not
that girl. But desperate times call for desperate measures. “My
lips feel so lonely, and unwanted.”

“Fuck, woman. You’re
going to be my undoing, but at least I’ll go down happy.”

“I’m always happy
when you go down,”

I twirl a lock of hair
around my finger, and bite my bottom lip again. Hey, if it ain’t
broke, don’t fix it. That’s my motto, for the moment at least.
And it works. Nate swallows the last of his carrot and stalks towards
me.

“That makes two of
us,” he tells me as he pushes my legs open, and reaches under the
long shirt I’m wearing for my panties.

“Hey party people,”
Aiden yells as he walks into the kitchen with Ellie.

Nate pulls his hands
out from under my shirt and turns to him with a glare on his face.
Ellie mouths an apology to me, while her man just smirks. I have to
hold onto Nate as he starts to lunge for him.

“You ever heard of
knocking? Or just staying the fuck away unless you’re invited in?”

“We’re guests.
Isn’t ‘tu casa mi casa’ and all that?”

“No. No it’s not.
You have your own little house out back. Stay there unless you’re
invited over.”

“Emily Post is
probably rolling over in her grave right now.”

“Listen you
cock-blocking son of a bitch, I don’t know this Post chick, but I
do
know that the next
time you barge in here while I’m with my woman, I’m going to
shoot your sorry ass.”

“You don’t know who
Emily Post is? Neanderthal.”

“You want to go
there, Aiden? Comparing our backgrounds?”

“Fine. We’ll knock
next time.”

“I thought so.”

“Now that all the
He-Man shit is finished, can we get down to business?” Ellie asks.

“Yes, please. I want
to get everything worked out as soon as possible. I still need to
talk to my dad, but if we can get a good manager, I’m pretty sure
he’ll let me take him to Vegas for his medical care. If I know he’s
taken care of, and safe, I can get back to my life—our life.”

“Your dad’s safe,
J. No one would touch him.”

“I’d like to
believe that, Nate, but you’ve seen how desperate some of these
kids are. They’re just seeing dollar signs, and that makes them
dangerous. I don’t want my dad put in the crosshairs of someone
who’s too desperate to have a conscience. Again.”

“What do you mean
again?” Ellie asks, coming over to stand in front of me.

“Something happened
when I was little. I don’t know all the details. We can talk about
it some other time, though. We really need to focus on now.”

“Yeah, let’s get to
work. Aiden and I will start calling some of the guys I looked up,”
Nate says.

“Okay. We’ll go and
talk to my dad.”

“No. You’re not
going out without me.”

Here we go. “Ellie
and I are perfectly capable of taking care of ourselves.”

“I’ve had to
diffuse three situations already.”

“I took care of
myself at the deli.”

“Fine, then two.
Which is two more times than I’m comfortable with.”

“I got her, Nate. No
one’s touching either of us.”

He looks like he wants
to argue, but comes to his senses and nods. “Fine. But call me once
you get safely inside, please.”

“That, I can do.” I
wrap my arms around his neck and kiss him lightly on the mouth.
“Thank you for worrying about me.”

“Always, Angel.
Always.”

We kiss again, but I
break away after less than a minute. I know Aiden’s liable to say
something, and neither one of them will be much help if they beat the
crap out of each other. I grab Ellie and pull her upstairs with me
while I get dressed, and then we head out.

* * *

Nate

“Glad to see you made
up with Jade.”

“Fuck you.”

“Aww, did someone not
get any before I came over?”

“What part of
‘cock-blocking son of a bitch’ wasn’t clear?”

“Oh yeah. Sorry. My
minds just a little fuzzy from the mind blowing sex
I
had this morning.”

“I hate you right
now.”

He lets out a sharp
laugh. “I know. But you gotta remember that it was me out by the
pool last night, imparting all of my wisdom, and making you apologize
to Jade.”

“I remember.”

“Now that this is all
settled, show me who you’re thinking of for the gym.”

I pull up the short
list on my computer and turn it to face him. He clicks on all the
links and moves his head back and forth a little. I know what he’s
thinking because I feel the same way.