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Nauti Seductress
  • Текст добавлен: 9 октября 2016, 15:18

Текст книги "Nauti Seductress"


Автор книги: Lora Leigh



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Текущая страница: 3 (всего у книги 19 страниц)

“The other side of Louisville,” he sighed. “Do me a favor, though?”

She handed him the hair ties and turned her back on him, indicating he should go to work braiding the mass of curls.

They were silent for long minutes while he worked. She knew not to distract him while he pulled together the French braid weave that kept her hair tamed from her forehead to her nape.

“So what’s the favor?” Once he started plaiting the hair from her nape to her shoulders, he was safe to speak to.

“When Doogan comes on to you—and he will come on to you, I’m afraid—just remember, he’s the same rat who asked Eve out to dinner even when he knew Brogan was crazy about her,” he said.

“What does that have to do with anything?” she asked as he worked quickly, efficiently, making the months and months it took him to learn how to do it all worth it.

“Well, it proves he’s a rat, and that information might keep me in the running for the opportunity to cheat on that lottery,” he snickered, securing the hair tie at the end of the braid.

Zoey dropped her head, shaking it and holding back her laughter. “You’re a nut, Eli.”

He patted her back consolingly. “You love me, Zoey. You know you do.”

He was her best friend and as much a confidant as her sisters.

“Come on, Eli, let’s go meet your boss’s boss. Why are we riding to the other side of Louisville to do this anyway? Doesn’t he know where Graham lives?” she asked in interest.

“Oh, he knows, and Graham’s invited him in several times. He just says he’s too busy. That’s the same excuse he gave this time. So he’s meeting us at a private airfield instead. The plane’s landing just long enough for him to take care of some business and then he’s leaving again.”

Sounded a little too complicated to her. No wonder the government was short on money. They spent too much playing spy games in far too complicated ways.

Zoey led the way to the back of the apartment and the stairwell that led to the small garage she kept hidden from her family at the back of the converted warehouse.

The extra-wide metal door provided plenty of clearance for the Harley she stored there. Twelve feet deep but over a hundred feet wide, the full width of the warehouse. The garage provided plenty of room for her Harley and Eli’s as well as her racing dirt bike, tool cabinets, parts, and a long workbench. The rest of the area she used to store both paintings as well as empty canvases.

Wrapping the tail of her braid around her head and securing it with a bobby pin, Zoey pulled on the full-head helmet and activated the radio in it.

“Test,” she murmured into the link that connected to Eli’s.

“Loud and clear,” he answered, his voice low. “Ready to ride, girly-girl?”

“If you stop calling me those ignorant names. Really, Eli?” He was like a brother. An easygoing younger brother.

“Really, Zoey,” he chuckled as she hit the remote on the bike to slide the door open and started the powerful motor.

Within seconds they were pulling out from the garage, the wide door closing behind them, security automatically activating and locking the entire building down while she was gone.

With the wind whipping around her, she pushed the nightmares behind her and let herself just enjoy the ride and the sense of freedom she found in it. A freedom she knew would be too short-lived and not nearly the adventure she would have wished.



TWO

The other side of Louisville turned out to be the Indiana side.

Not that she cared, but hell, he could have told her they were leaving the state. Sometimes, Eli had an odd habit usually attributed to Mackays.

Sneaky machinations.

She just didn’t know yet what or who Eli was machinating against. Or for. But she had no doubt she’d figure it out. She’d gotten good at figuring out male games over the past years.

“We need to discuss your communication skills, Eli,” she informed him drolly as they moved into traffic from the exit. “They’re leaving a bit to be desired.”

And how she would love to see his expression right now.

“I said the other side of Louisville.” And didn’t he sound so confused?

God love his heart, she was going to shoot him one of these days. He was becoming rather too good at the male confusion thing, too. She knew him, though, and she knew better. Eli was anything but confused.

He didn’t appear in the least confused either. Relaxed and enjoying the ride himself, he all but lounged back on the bike, the dark face shield of the helmet hiding his expression. And no doubt hiding the lack of confusion in his expression.

Confused? Not Eli. She could just imagine the smug grin on his face. The one that quirked his lips when he knew he’d pulled something off that he hadn’t been so certain he could accomplish.

“This was needed information, you know.” She tried to sound stern, but it wasn’t easy. She didn’t really care, she was just nosy about intended destinations when she was riding along. “What if I have something planned for tonight?”

“You have a date or something?” Eli chuckled knowingly. “I thought all your potential suitors were still cowering behind their mommies’ skirts in fear of Dawg. You notice I’m not cowering.”

She had to laugh at the comment, because she was well aware Dawg actually laughed himself at the thought of her sleeping with Eli. He saw the younger man as no more than a watch puppy willing to give up information whenever he directed a Mackay frown at him.

“I have noticed Dawg giving me credit for having better taste,” she shot back. “He only lets you rent one of my spare rooms because he feels sorry for you. And because you’re such a little narc. Kind of like a little golden retriever pup, I think. All playful energy and no bite.”

“Golden retriever pup?” he exclaimed, outraged.

“A little Christmas puppy with a big ol’ bow on his neck,” she laughed. “Dawg’s personal little tattletale.”

He chuckled at that. “Never with the good stuff, though, and you know it, Zoey-cat. He’d kill me if he ever learned what I was holding back.”

She had to wince at that.

Yeah, Eli would be in serious trouble if her brother ever suspected all the choice, juicy details Eli was deliberately hiding from him. They’d known when they worked out the details of his occupation, though, that Dawg would see him as easy pickings when it came to keeping an eye on his baby sister.

“Naw, he’d just hurt you real bad,” she snickered. “Don’t worry, I promise to install the handicap lift you’ll need to get to your room. It’s the least I could do.”

“I appreciate your encouragement. Really. Just makes my little heart warm with affection, Zoey-girl.” He didn’t sound so affectionate, though. “We’re taking the next exit. The airfield is just about fifteen minutes away.”

The long stretch of interstate was basically deserted of businesses or even fast-food joints.

“Hell of a place to meet,” she stated as they took the exit. “Ever heard of e-mail? It’s great for all kinds of things. Pictures, videos, top-secret files. Phones are great too for oral reports. There’s even video chats now, Eli.”

Yep, it was no damned wonder the country was going bankrupt. All the clandestine, knotted routes their spies took no doubt cost a hell of a lot of money.

“And all are hackable, transferable, or otherwise vulnerable,” he reminded her. “The big boss isn’t the real trusting sort with top-secret stuff. He doesn’t appreciate anyone else who isn’t just as careful either.”

The real suspicious sort. Like Dawg and her cousins. The way he talked about the “big boss,” unlike the men in her family, he was more accepting of a woman fighting side by side with him. Eli once stated that the big boss was prone to even accept women on his security teams when he needed personal protection.

“The man’s a real pain in the ass,” Eli growled. “His family is even related to royalty somehow. I just never bothered to ask how. He’s irksome enough as the boss.”

“Well now, isn’t he just special,” she snorted in amusement. “Remind me to bow and be all ladylike if I have to meet him.”

His head turned toward her as he gave a surprised spurt of laughter.

“You’re wicked,” he accused her. “But as much as I’d love to see that, be good. I need my job.”

“No you don’t, he just gets you shot at, remember?” she retorted in amusement. “If he fires you I’ll pimp you out, hon. You should make enough to at least pay your rent.”

“You don’t charge me rent,” he reminded her suspiciously.

“Yeah,” Zoey drawled. “I didn’t forget that either.”

She laughed when he made the next turn without warning her. She was far enough behind that following him wasn’t a problem, though.

The narrow blacktop lane led deep into the rolling hills bordering Louisville. They were in no way mountains, just gentle upraised slopes sheltering shallow valleys. The private airfield was located in such a valley. Several large hangars sat just back from the paved landing strip, appearing deserted and completely unassuming.

“He’s in the first hangar.” Eli pointed the large metal building out. “He has his own private jet and makes full use of it. Family money and all that shit.”

“As I said, ain’t he just special,” she repeated, rolling her eyes. “Is this meeting going to take long?”

The boss’s boss actually sounded like he’d be fun as hell to torment for a minute. Did he have a sense of humor?

Well, Eli was still alive, so he had to have a sense of humor, she thought in amusement. Even she considered shooting him once a week. He could be just that infuriating.

“It shouldn’t take long. I just have to pass along some stuff Graham sent, find excuses not to accompany him on whatever harebrained op he’s decided he needs me for, and then we’ll be on our way.”

She didn’t believe him. It was that edge of resignation in his voice. The sound of a man who knows better than the explanation he was trying to force-feed her.

“Twenty minutes max,” he promised.

“Hmm. I’ll time you.” Following him to the entrance of the hangar, Zoey drew the cycle to a stop beside Eli’s and cut the engine.

Releasing her helmet, she removed it and hung it on the sissy bar behind her before shrugging the light leather jacket from her shoulders and laying it over the back of the seat.

“I promise, I won’t be long.” Helmet removed, his own jacket slung over the back of his bike, Eli watched her with a hint of discomfort now.

He so was not looking forward to this. It was almost amusing the way the big boss could intimidate him far better than her brother, Dawg, could.

“Go,” she laughed, waving her fingers toward the jet parked in the hangar. “I’ll wait, no matter how long. You can buy me a greasy cheeseburger later for my trouble.”

He shook his head, a grin tugging at his lips, before striding to the steps leading into the private jet. “Those cheeseburgers will kill you, Zoe-Zoe.”

“Not before I kill you for calling me all those damned sissy names,” she warned him, though her gaze was on the jet.

Nice jet too, if she wasn’t mistaken.

Dismounting the bike, she stood staring around the valley, stretching her legs for a minute before sitting crossways on the comfortable seat and straightening the small chains and charms that dangled from the zipper tabs of her boots.

She hated waiting. She wasn’t the patient type unless she was hunting. She’d enjoyed that. Unfortunately Natches had ended the hunting lessons rather abruptly no more than a few months after they’d begun.

When he’d informed her they weren’t going hunting anymore, she arched her brow, anger pulsing through her. “Afraid I’ll get good at it?” she’d charged him.

Natches shook his head. “No, little sister,” he sighed. “Afraid you’ll get too good at it.”

Hell, that was years ago. What had made her think about that?

Waiting, probably, she thought with a snort.

As much as she thought of Elijah, when the twenty minutes passed, she could feel herself becoming frustrated. She could feel herself beginning to think of things better left alone. That was why she hated waiting. She’d only gotten worse in the past year.

“It was a nightmare, Zoey.”

“Always remember, you killed me, Zoey . . .”

“I’m Natches’s heir . . . Natches will kill you . . .”

Natches’s heir. Harley was a hunter; he talked about it all the time. Hunting and guns and Natches’s new best hunting buddy? Well, that made sense, didn’t it? As a former Marine sniper Natches would want an heir to teach what he knew, and his adopted son, Declan, had a tendency to laugh if someone suggested he go hunting with Natches.

Harley and Natches had been great hunting buddies, though.

“. . . I’m Natches’s heir . . .” the voice of a nightmare whispered through her head.

“. . . don’t forget you killed me, Zoey . . .” Harley demanded in those bloody images, demanding she remember.

Jumping from the seat of the motorcycle, she paced several feet from it, searching the area frantically for something to concentrate on, something besides a nightmare she just wanted to forget.

“Damn, Eli, is it going to take you all friggin’ evening?” she snapped into the silence of the valley. “Let’s hurry already.”

“You could have come in with him.”

Zoey swung around at the sound of the brooding tone, rife with amused mockery.

Her brows arched and she allowed a small smile to threaten the corners of her lips. Now, didn’t he just look rather fun?

“Zoey Mackay?” A single dark brow arched, interest gleaming in his dark, chocolate-brown eyes.

He stood almost lazily next to the front wheel of her cycle, hands tucked into his black slacks, the sleeves of his white shirt rolled several cuff widths up his tanned, light-haired forearms, his longish, dark brown hair framing aristocratic, damned imposing features.

“And you are?” she asked warily, though she had a good idea who he was. The boss’s boss. It was damned funny how even Eli refused to use his name. Like some kind of talisman that could hold him at bay.

He did look kind of dangerous, though, in a very aristocratic sort of way. In a very arrogant lord-of-all-he-surveyed way. And she had to admit, it was a damned arousing look.

She liked it.

A little too much perhaps.

Her eyes narrowed then. It had been years. Five years, to be precise. He was harder, his face sharper, his expression colder. But it was him.

She’d danced with him one sultry summer night, certain he’d kiss her once the dance was over. Instead, he stepped back, ran his finger from her temple to her jaw in a gentle curve, before turning and just walking away.

But did he know who she was? He didn’t appear to recognize her, and it had been five years after all. Perhaps she hadn’t made the same impression on him.

His lips quirked. “Who did Eli tell you he was meeting?”

Propping one hand on a leather-clad hip, she slid her gaze to the plane, then back to his amused features.

“His boss’s boss.” She wrinkled her nose with a hint of disdain. “Be careful of him, he tends to get his agents shot at, you know.”

Casually, ensuring that the move appeared natural, Zoey lifted her jacket from the seat of the cycle and pulled it on once again. “Hopefully he doesn’t get Eli shot at before we leave. I’m certain I have things to do tonight.”

“Really?” The interest deepened in his eyes now. “Perhaps you can give him a few more minutes while you explain how you know so much about his boss?”

Lifting one arm, she checked her nails for a moment before lowering it once again and directing her attention back to him.

“I’m a Mackay, we tend to know these things. Instinct perhaps.” She shrugged as though no more interested in the conversation than she was in the grass growing in the fields surrounding the airfield. “Think the boss’s boss will be done with him soon?”

He turned and gave the plane a long look before turning back to her. “I don’t quite think he’s finished yet. You could come up with him if you like.”

Uh-oh. That did not sound promising. For Eli at least.

“What’s he doing?”

“A hundred push-ups for bringing a civilian along,” he answered far too seriously. “And if I don’t get back, he’ll cheat on the count. There’s cold drinks in the plane if you decide to join us.”

“I assume you’re the boss’s boss, then?” she queried, knowing he was. “A name would be nice. Even my sister won’t provide the name of the man who dared to invite her out to dinner while my brother-in-law was still trying to seduce her. I believe they consider saying your name bad luck. Rather like Rumpelstiltskin perhaps?”

She wondered if she should just tell him she knew who he was and how much she appreciated him taking her sister out. That was enough to piss her off.

That little twitch at the corner of his lips hinted at a smile of sincere amusement.

“Come along.” As he angled his head to the aircraft, his gaze turned mocking again. “Eli can introduce us properly since he convinced you to come along with him.”

“I just followed him,” she retorted, grinning at his back now. “He does live with me, you know. And I was bored tonight.”

“Get bored often, do you?”

Damn, she wished she could see his face when he asked that question.

“Only on Fridays,” she assured him, wondering if the odd look he gave her was an indication that for her, every day was Friday these days.

“Today’s only Thursday.” Still, he didn’t deign to let her see his expression.

“Oh well. I guess I started a day early, then. My bad.”

She had a feeling she could have fun with this man. It might have had something to do with the little glimpse she caught of a grin he was trying to hide when she nearly caught up with him. Or the fact that he had a helluva backside.

“You’re bad? Sweetheart, with the name Mackay, there wasn’t even a doubt.” He stopped at the steps leading up to the interior of the jet.

She took the first step, then paused and faced him. With the three-inch boot heels and the height of the step, she could stare him in the eye, and she liked that.

It put her close enough to catch the scent of his cologne, a bit of sandalwood, she thought. A very masculine, very intriguing scent that made her want to get closer.

A whole lot closer.

“Well then, at least you’ve been warned,” she pointed out, lowering her voice and giving him a sultry look. “I, on the other hand, am still in the dark. Should I be warned as well?”

His hand lifted just enough to allow his index finger to insert itself under the sleeve of her jacket, where it then stroked over her wrist. A rasp of a callused fingertip against the sensitive flesh had the blood pounding harder through her veins.

“Oh God, Zoey, don’t flirt with him.” Eli barked the demand from the open door of the plane, horrified astonishment filling his voice. “I warned you what he was like. Do you really want to become a notch on his belt?”

“How very chauvinistic of you, Eli,” she accused him lightly. “Maybe I’m thinking about making him a notch in my belt?”

Surprise gleamed in his brown eyes as well as a glimmer of laughter.

“You’re crazy. Get away from him,” Eli all but begged her. “He’s like a damned plague where women are concerned. You never recover.”

The boss’s lips thinned, but she could see the grin he wanted to let free. Zoey leaned forward just a few inches and let a smile curve her own lips. “Why fight it? You know you want to.”

His eyes flicked to her lips then back to meet her gaze.

“Oh, Miss Mackay, there are many things I’d love to do, but exactly to what are you referring?” Carnal, white-hot lust gleamed in his eyes now.

“The smile you’re fighting.” Stepping back, she gave a toss of her head and moved up the steps. “I bet you look really nice when you smile.”

“He looks like an ogre when he smiles. All cracked, broken teeth and evil breath.” Eli was waiting, arms crossed over his chest, his expression forbidding. “You never listen to me, do you?”

She couldn’t help but laugh as she neared him.

“Only when you say something I want to hear.” She reached up and patted his cheek fondly as she passed him. “So stop fussing. I’m just playing a little bit.”

“With an alligator,” he snapped. “Or a shark. You should know better.”

“You’re fired, Eli.” The boss stepped in behind her obviously, his tone rich and deep, without a hint of amusement. He wasn’t serious, though. She knew he wasn’t serious.

Turning, she caught Eli’s disapproving look as he glared at the other man. “Bullshit. Dammit, Doogan, stop firing my ass. You know our dads will just make you hire me back anyway, so why bother?”

“Because you irritate me.” Doogan shrugged, turning to Zoey now. “He thinks because our fathers are best friends that I can’t fire him. He’s wrong.”

“Suits me fine. Zoey already has a job lined up for me anyway,” he shot back, his look daring her to reveal the nature of that job. “I won’t have to worry about you getting me shot at.”

“What kind of job might that be? Mackay jester?” Doogan snorted, though the barest hint of a wink as he passed her belied the seriousness of his tone.

“I really don’t like you, Doogan.” Eli was almost serious.

That was too funny. Eli didn’t actually dislike anyone, but he obviously had a few issues with Doogan. She had a feeling that complications likely filled their relationship.

“He’s annoyed with me right now.” Doogan sat in the executive-style chair positioned behind a work area and facing the front of the plane. “He’ll like me better once he doesn’t get shot at this time before he gets back.”

Now, that one gave her pause.

Zoey gave Eli a frown. “Before he gets back?” She turned the same frown on Doogan. “That’s not going to work. I have to get back to Somerset before Dawg realizes I’ve disappeared.”

Doogan lowered his head, his gaze on the open laptop, though she doubted his attention was there. He seemed to be choosing his words instead.

“You know the way back, I presume?” Doogan inquired then, his head lifting, his gaze locking with hers. “I didn’t ask Eli if he cared to do it, I ordered him to do it.”

“Go back by myself?” she asked, as though amazed he would make such a suggestion. “But I’m a Mackay. I’ll end up in trouble before I’m halfway there and God forbid I should get a bruise and tell Dawg you sent me home alone.” Her eyes widened, a pretense of sudden, fearful knowledge filling her expression. “I’d hate to see what happened then. He’d come looking for you, though.”

Doogan’s eyes locked on hers. “Then I guess you better stay right here until Eli gets back. It would be terrible if you caused your brother to end up . . . hurting himself. . . .” That wicked smile he flashed her was completely misbegotten. He didn’t care in the least to stir up a little trouble, now did he?

Eli groaned, a defeated, painful sound.

“Eli. Go.” Doogan’s voice changed. It wasn’t holding that playful little undercurrent any longer. He was dead serious.

Eli groaned again. “There goes my chance,” he sighed.

“Your chance at what?” Doogan’s tone deepened at the grin Zoey couldn’t hold back.

Her gaze slid to Eli’s, daring him.

“Living,” Eli grunted.

A second later he left the plane, stomping down the steps like a two-year-old in temper. Though, admittedly, Zoey wondered if perhaps she should be a little worried herself.

“Sending him away really wasn’t nice,” she sighed. “He’s terrified of your little side projects.”

“Which is why he brought you. I’m no fool, Ms. Mackay,” he told her with a softness that belied the steel beneath it. “Eli likes to think he can fool me sometimes. He doesn’t.”

There was more than a handsome playboy that existed beneath that implacable expression, she guessed. And far more than just the boss’s boss.

“And I needed to know this why?” Crossing her arms over her breasts, she glared down at him, though she had a feeling if push came to shove, this man could steamroll right over her if she gave him half a chance.

The look he gave her was one of knowing exasperation.

“Have a seat, sweetheart.” He indicated the chair in front of his desk. “Eli will be a few hours at least. You may as well make yourself comfortable.”

She rolled her eyes at that. “I know my way home. I’m sure I can stay out of trouble that long.”

Hooking her thumbs into the pockets of her jeans, Zoey tried to tell herself she could walk out anytime she wanted to and just ride home. No big deal. So why was she standing there? Why was she letting him hold her gaze, capture her senses?

“I’m certain you do, Zoey,” he stated softly. “And I see the suspicion in your eyes. You can trust me, you know.”

Uh-huh. Trust wasn’t something she gave easily. It was even harder to attain with her than friendship was.

Turning away from him, Zoey stepped to the long couch behind the chair he’d motioned her to sit in and plopped onto the exquisitely comfortable leather seat.

“Trust you, can I?” she sighed. “And what would make me think I could? A single dance six years ago?”

Something shadowed his eyes then. Something dark, something hungry. It caused her heart to beat faster, a heat she’d only felt once before, to begin building inside her.

“We could start with that,” he murmured.

It was about a year too late, she told herself morosely. If he’d shown up a year ago with that suggestion she might have had the option of considering it. She couldn’t take that chance now.

“Nice plane.” She grappled for a change of subject. “Yours or your agency’s?” she asked, running her hand over the supple leather.

“Mine.” The laptop closed and he relaxed his chest, regarding her with open, sexual interest.

“Hmm. Should I bow?”

His lips quirked. “It might be rather hard in that leather, but you can try.”

“You’d be surprised what I can do in leather,” she murmured, the wordplay more exciting than she’d ever known it to be.

Zoey liked to flirt; she liked pitting her wits against the so-called charmers who thought they could talk their way into her bed. This was more than just flirting, though. It was more than pitting her wits against a man she had no intentions of taking to her bed. This was a man she just might have considered giving her heart to at another time.

Maybe.

She crossed one leg over the other and relaxed into the giving cushions behind her. “I could have gone with Eli.”

“You could have,” he agreed with a short inclination of his head. “If I were certain of your ability to convince a bar full of bikers that you’ve seduced their favorite female lone wolf.”

She grinned at that, reached up and removed the bobby pin from the tail of her braid, and let it fall over her shoulder. “I could totally do that,” she assured him with a little wrinkle of her nose. “I have mad seduction skills, you know? All from watching Sam Bryce in action.”

Sam was the shit when it came to seducing women. She could make a totally straight chick sit up and take notice. And give her more than a second thought.

His dark chocolate eyes gleamed with humor now. “Admittedly, Sam would be a capable teacher,” he admitted. “I rather assumed it wasn’t females you were into, though, considering the fact that she hadn’t managed to seduce you yet.”

There was the slightest hint of a question in his voice.

She gave a slow lift of her brows, playing with the braid hanging over her shoulder for a second before letting her gaze meet his again.

That knowing exasperation filled his expression again when it became apparent she wasn’t answering his question. Before he could say anything, though, the ringing of his cell phone drew his attention.

Checking the number, he glanced back at her. “If you’ll excuse me a moment,” he said, rising from his chair, “I need to take this.”

He disappeared through the door behind him without once ordering her to stay put.

She could just walk out and ride away if that was what she wanted to do. So why didn’t she?

Instead, she removed her jacket, laid it across the back of the couch close to her, and waited instead. She who hated waiting was waiting for a man who her instincts warned her was far more dangerous than he appeared.

She wasn’t certain how long he was gone, but it was long enough that Zoey ended up returning to the bike to pull a sketch pad free before returning to the plane. The need to draw wasn’t as imperative as it had been a year ago, but she had a sudden need to sketch Doogan. To catch the subtle expressions on his face before she forgot them. To catch the hint of humor in his eyes and the steely determination in his savage features.

Time passed quickly then. Too quickly.

Lost in the world she became immersed in while drawing, she wasn’t aware of the passing of time until the door opened and he returned.

“Sorry it took so long.” His expression was harder, his gaze chilly. “That had to be taken care of.”

Closing the sketch pad, she blinked up at him, taking a moment to process what he’d said.

“Did you get Eli shot at?” she asked, almost expecting an affirmative answer.

“Not hardly.” The chill in his eyes warmed.

“That’s good.” She laid the pad and pencil on the small table beside her before turning back to him. “I’ve become rather fond of him.”

The statement was actually true. Eli was like a younger Mackay, still fun-loving, not yet hardened or as stubborn as her brother and cousins.

“You’re not exactly what I expected,” he told her, making his way to the couch, where he took a seat with more than ample space between them. “Even six years ago. I have to admit, I wouldn’t have thought you’d be quite so adventurous.”

“And what did you expect?” Her heart was racing; warmth flushed through her, unbidden memories of the fantasy lover she’d created years ago flitting through her mind.

“I’ve met Eve and Piper,” he stated. “Your elder sister is actually very quiet, very introspective.”

“She’s a writer,” Zoey pointed out. “And I don’t think I appreciate your efforts to seduce her the night Brogan broke up that little date with her.”

He chuckled at that. “Had I wanted to seduce her, I wouldn’t have taken her to the Mackay restaurant, sweetie. I merely wanted to push Brogan’s possessiveness buttons.”

She shrugged at that. “I’m not revising my statement.”

“Piper’s rather quiet as well,” he stated then, as though the subject had never changed. “Though Lyrica is a bit more social, still.” His gaze flicked over her, the lust in his gaze becoming more apparent. “My reports say none of them are leather-wearing, Harley-riding hellions.”

“I’m a hellion?” She was rather pleased with the description. “Eli said I hadn’t yet been promoted from troublemaker. I’m glad to see he was wrong.”


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