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Trace chewed on the idea. “You’re what? An hour or so from where I live?”
“’Bout that.” Close enough to appease Trace, but far enough away that he’d have plenty of alone time with Alani. It’d just be the two of them, sunshine, water, nature…a perfect setup for romance.
Alani shook her head again. “No.”
“It’s isolated enough,” Dare said. “You have a boat?”
Jackson put a hand to the small of Alani’s back. He wanted her aware of the necessities, but he also wanted her to trust him to take care of everything. “One obvious, one hidden.”
“I’m not going.” Alani crossed her arms.
Figuring he’d get her there one way or another, Jackson hugged her—while also guarding against another blow. So far she’d waffled between treating him like an invalid and inflicting pain upon his body. “Everything will be fine, honey, you’ll see. This is just a preventative measure, so don’t get worked up about it, okay?”
“I am not worked up.”
“Great. Just give me another minute here, and then I’ll help you get packed.” He addressed Trace again. “No one can get on the property without me knowing. We can hang out while you two do a little digging.”
“I’m not—”
“I already have the basics on Tobin,” Trace mused aloud, speaking over Alani’s attempted protests. “Should be easy enough to see what he’s been up to lately. If he had anything to do with drugging you, I’ll know it by the end of the week.”
Alani gasped. “You were spying on him?”
Jackson gave her a “duh” look. “You thought Trace wouldn’t?” She thought he wouldn’t?
Slowly but surely, her ire gathered. “Have you spied on every guy I’ve dated?”
Trace and Jackson said together, almost as one, “Who else is there?”
She glared at them both, then deflated. “No one.”
Redirecting everyone’s attention again, Dare said, “I’ll go by your apartment to see if I can unearth anything. I know you said you did that, but it can’t hurt to have fresh eyes.”
“Especially since my brains were numbed,” Jackson agreed. Beneath the hand he had at Alani’s waist, her muscles tensed. He liked the feel of her, the supple strength, the dip of her waist and the slight flair of her hip, the warmth of her sweet little body.
The sight of her naked would be forever emblazoned on his brain, but he wanted to see her again. He wanted to visually explore her to his heart’s content.
“Need us to grab anything for you while we’re there?” Trace asked.
“I’ll text you a list if I think of anything.” He didn’t want to drag out their visit any longer than necessary. By the second, Alani got more rigid. That wasn’t what any of them wanted, so the sooner he got rid of the guys, the quicker they could settle down and she could relax. “Molly’s more reasonable than Priss, so maybe Dare could talk to the single women in the apartment complex and see if any of them know anything.”
“Any single women in particular?”
Jackson shrugged. “Any that are good looking, I reckon. You could start with the description Alani gave, but don’t limit it to that. Maybe check in with Brigit next door. She’s single, has her girlfriends over on occasion.”
Dare said, “Got it,” while Alani slowly turned her head to stare at him.
“And maybe Carly. She’s offered to help me around the place. She got in the door once, so she knows the layout of the place. And maybe—”
Alani shoved Jackson. Hard.
Rather than drag her off balance with him, he released her before stumbling back a step. Her shove had been hard enough that she had probably hoped to knock him on his ass.
Silly woman.
At the continued show of violence, all three of them stared at her.
Jackson spoke first. “What the hell was that for?”
“Language,” Trace reminded him again.
Alani’s stance gave away her frustration. “You’re all three being impossible. Listen up—I am not going anywhere tonight!”
“Just calm down,” Dare said.
“No, you calm down.” She glared at Dare until he held up his hands in surrender. “Look, I get it that you guys want to protect me. Great. Thanks. Appreciate it.”
“Then what’s the problem?” Jackson asked her.
She turned to shove him again. He caught her hands and yanked her close so that she tumbled against his chest. Looking straight into her eyes, he said, “Settle down before you hurt yourself.”
Staying against him, she stated, “I will not be steam-rolled. I will not be treated like an idiot.”
Again, they all went mute.
Jackson wanted her to be his responsibility, not anyone else’s, so he was the first to speak. “No one thinks you’re an idiot. That’s just dumb.”
Her expression turned incredulous.
“God help us,” Trace muttered.
Hoping to smooth things over, Jackson asked, “You can’t get the time off work?”
“It has nothing to do with work.”
“So you are free?”
She gave him a killing frown. “I’m not currently involved with any redesigns. I cleared my calendar to work on your house, as you requested.”
Huh. “That’s why you came to see me yesterday?” Satisfaction sank into his bones.
“Maybe.” She glanced at Trace and Dare, and pushed away from Jackson. “In part.”
So maybe the other part had been intimate interest? Hell, yeah. “Then this is perfect. I think you’ll like my house.”
“Yes, well…” Going all prim and proper, she smoothed the skirt of her dress. “I’m guessing it has to be better than your apartment. But that’s not the—”
“You don’t like my apartment?”
Her gaze slanted his way, extreme dislike in her eyes. “There are naked women everywhere.”
Imagining her reaction to his decor, Jackson smiled. “Yeah.” He added with a shrug, “Women’s bodies are beautiful.”
She again looked at Dare and Trace. “Have you two seen—”
“It’s entertaining,” Dare told her.
Trace smiled.
“Well, I think it’s absurd! Every picture, every knick-knack, even a few statues, they’re all naked women.”
“I’m a connoisseur,” Jackson told her.
“You’re a…” She drew up short, probably remembering that she’d been intimate with him last night, all night from her telling, and that everyone in the room knew it.
Mulish, she crossed her arms. “If I decorate for you, there’ll be none of that.”
“You’re the designer.” Considering it settled, he turned back to Trace and Dare. “So we’re all set?”
Trace nodded. “You can be out of here before dinnertime?”
“No problem on my end.” Trying to be a gentleman, he asked Alani, “You need more time than that to get ready?”
“No.” She smiled. “Because I’m not going anywhere tonight.”
Stubborn. But he’d win her over. “Both Dare and Trace just finished up jobs.”
“Oh?” She didn’t hide her confusion.
Jackson nodded. “No matter how small the threat might be, do you really want them distracted with their concerns for you, instead of enjoying their downtime?”
The confusion morphed into resentment. “Dirty pool, Jackson.”
He shrugged. Whenever necessary, he fought dirty. “We’re the experts, right?”
“Yes.”
“And we’d prefer that you not be alone until we get a handle on what’s going on—so make a choice.”
“What choice?”
“Me.” He nodded toward Dare and Trace. “Or them.”
Her narrowed eyes made her look really mean. Finally she muttered, “Then I guess it’s…you.”
Such a grudging concession. Pleased with her, Jackson smoothed his thumb over her cheek. “I promise not to make it a hardship.” He couldn’t touch her without the sharpening of awareness, both carnal and emotional.
As they stared at each other, Alani’s anger melted away, replaced with breathless understanding.
Dare gave a theatrical cough.
Trace said, “For God’s sake, pump the brakes on that, will you, Jackson? We need to make some decisions here.”
Jackson smiled at her and bent and kissed her before she could turn away. With his arm slung around her shoulders, he turned to both men.
That Dare and Trace had so far stayed out of convincing her, leaving it up to him, suited Jackson. Unless they were waiting for him to fail so they could take over. He frowned at that possibility.
“I’d just like to point out—” Alani encompassed them all in her sweeping gaze “—none of you are thinking clearly.”
Instead of taking offense, Jackson said, “Everything is fine.” He punctuated that with a comforting hug.
“Oh, please. Only an idiot wouldn’t be worried at this point.” Her pointed look at Jackson drove home that barb.
“So now I’m not only a wimp, but an idiot, too?”
“I never said you were a wimp.”
“You think I need someone hovering over me, like I can’t take care of myself.”
“Well, forgive me for caring.”
Jackson went on the alert. “You care?” What did she mean by that? Did he want her caring for him? Well, beyond the sexual, because he definitely wanted her to care about getting sexual with him again. Over and over—
“Oh, for the love of…” Unaware of his mental fumbling, Alani propped her hands on her hips. “You’re the one who was drugged, so if anyone has reason to come unglued, it’d be you.”
Trace whistled low.
Dare looked up at the ceiling.
Alani glared at them both. “Oh, stop it. If he can dish it out, he can take it, too.”
Jackson clenched his molars. “I have never come unglued.”
She waved a hand, dismissing his outrage as negligible. “If I wasn’t involved, if I wasn’t part of the equation, what would the three of you be planning?”
“I don’t know, because you are a part of it.” Jackson would remember that, even if she didn’t. Losing all sense of discretion, he tipped up her chin. “And I’m telling you right now, one way or another, you’ll be removed from even the most remote possibility of danger.”
Her outraged gasp nearly choked her. “You’re threatening me?”
“To protect you?” He gave one sharp nod. “Damn right, darlin’. Whatever it takes. And don’t bother pouring that long wounded look on your brother, because he feels the same.”
Trace shrugged. “Told you it wouldn’t be easy.”
Damn it! He’d already known that Trace would try to talk her away from him, but now he had proof. “It’ll be easy enough if you don’t fight me.”
Alani took a step back, but not in fear. It looked more as if she braced to attack. “You’re all being…idiotic!”
Jackson eyed her militant stance, crossed his arms and sighed. “I guess I had to see your not-so-sweet side sooner or later, huh?”
