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Her heart rate shot up to warp speed. Don’t pass out, you silly cow. This is no time to panic. Twisting, Jessie kicked out with her bare foot and connected with his shin.
‘Ow! Stop that, you little…’ he yelled, yanking her towards him and wrapping his arms around her.
‘Let me go. You—you trespasser.’ With her face pressed against the soft, curling hair on his chest, the demand came out on a muffled squeak. The smell of fresh, wet male was overpowering. She lifted her knee, intending to stamp on his foot, but before she could make contact he tensed and shot backwards.
‘Watch out!’
His hands let go. Jessie turned, poised to bolt for freedom, but he grabbed her from behind. Strong arms banded under her breasts, he lifted her off the ground as if she weighed nothing at all. She kicked, frantically, but he was holding her so close, so tight, she couldn’t get any leverage.
Okay, now was the perfect time to panic.
‘My sister’s in the house with a shotgun,’ she squealed.
‘Yeah, right.’ His arms tightened, cutting off more of her air supply. ‘You’re a danger to society, you know that?’
The buzzing in Jessie’s ears became deafening. She was going to faint. His whole body was wrapped around her. His size, his strength, overwhelmed her. Why hadn’t she listened to Ali? How the hell did she always get into these situations? And how was she going to get out of this one?
The whisper of his breathing against her ear made her shudder.
What would Bruce do now? Think, woman, think. ‘I’m warning you,’ she said, through gritted teeth. ‘If you don’t let me go, I’ll hurt you, a lot.’
Monroe’s lips twitched. Having gotten over the humiliation of falling for his captive’s harebrained stunt, he had to admire her gall. The threat was ridiculous. She was close to a foot shorter than him and slender, too, despite the impressive curves he could feel pressed against his forearms. ‘You’re a real firecracker, aren’t you?’
She must have heard the admiration in his voice, because she went very still. He loosened his arms a little. He should probably let her go and get the hell out of here, but she felt good in his arms, round and soft in all the right places. He wasn’t going to hurt her, but he figured she deserved a little payback. After all, she’d scared the hell out of him.
‘So how exactly are you going to hurt me?’ He purred the words in her ear.
‘You don’t frighten me, you complete sod.’
‘Sod, huh?’ He grinned; her clipped, precise accent made her sound like the lady of the manor addressing one of her peasants. It made him think of all those summers he’d spent in London as a kid with his English grandmother. It was one of the very few good memories from his childhood. He grinned. ‘You are English, I’d know that accent anywhere. Hell, I’m half English myself. Kind of.’
‘Isn’t that flipping lovely for you?’
Funny, but she didn’t remind him of prim and proper Granny Lacey one bit.
‘Tut-tut.’ He inhaled the heady scent from her wildly curling hair. ‘And my sweet little granny always used to say English manners were the best in the world.’
‘I’ll give you manners,’ she snarled, wriggling some more.
He laughed, really starting to enjoy himself. She was rigid in his arms, but he could feel her chest heaving with fury. He could imagine that pretty face of hers, glowing with temper. High cheekbones, smooth peach-toned skin, the sprinkle of freckles across her pert little nose, and those large, expressive sea-green eyes. He’d only glimpsed her face for a moment, but it had made a hell of an impression. She struggled again, and the firm swell of her butt pressed against his naked belly through the clingy little dress she had on.
The strong surge of arousal surprised him. He tightened his arms. She smelled good, too. ‘You know, you’re cute.’ He smiled, nuzzling her hair. ‘When you’re not trying to kill me.’
‘You are so going to die,’ she snapped back.
‘Get your hands off her!’
Monroe’s head jerked up.
A man with a savage scowl on his face marched across the patio towards them. The little girl skipping along beside him didn’t make him look any less threatening. Monroe registered the heavily pregnant woman behind them, but kept his gaze focused on the big guy.
The situation didn’t seem quite so funny any more.
‘Damn it.’ Monroe let go of Miss Firecracker. She turned, glared at him, her green eyes sparking with fury, and then dashed over to the pregnant lady.
‘Who are you and what the hell are you doing on my property?’ the man bellowed.
Monroe held up his hands and tried to think fast. The guy was maybe an inch over his own six feet two and well built, but the tailored pants and pricey designer polo shirt he wore made him look rich and cultured. Monroe figured he could take him. But he couldn’t swing at the guy when he had a kid beside him. And he didn’t want to add assault to a trespassing charge if the cops arrived. Which left diplomacy as his only option.
‘I just took a swim in your pool. I thought the place was empty.’
‘Well, it’s not.’ The big guy ground the words out, his ice-blue eyes blazing with temper. ‘Stay with Jessie, Emmy,’ he said as he pushed the little girl behind him.
Monroe spotted Miss Firecracker take hold of the child’s hand. The redhead was still glaring at him—and starting to look very self-satisfied.
The guy pushed the sleeves of his polo shirt up forearms that were ridged with muscle. ‘I’m going to teach this idiot a lesson.’
A sick feeling in his gut, Monroe realised he’d have to take the punch. He closed his eyes, braced for the pain.
Then the pregnant lady shouted, ‘Stop, Linc, stop!’
When nothing happened, Monroe risked opening one eye. The woman had a hold of the man’s arm but she was staring right at him. ‘Who are you?’ she asked softly.
‘Nobody, ma’am. All I took was a swim.’ If only he could just deck the guy and get out of here.
‘You’re Monroe.’ She said the words so quietly, Monroe wasn’t sure he’d heard her right.
‘What the hell is going on?’ Mr Furious shouted back, still busting to take a swing at him.
‘Linc, he’s your brother. Can’t you see the resemblance?’
Oh, hell. It hit Monroe just who these people were. He tried to swallow past the boulder in his throat, but his mouth had gone bone-dry. All he’d wanted was a quick swim and now look what he’d done.
‘Monroe?’ The big guy looked as if he’d taken a punch to the gut. Monroe knew how he felt.
He hadn’t seen that face since he was ten years old, but now that he looked at it properly, Monroe recognised it all right. The guy had the same clear blue eyes as he did. And that mouth, that chin—didn’t he see virtually the same ones in the mirror every time he remembered to shave?
‘I should split,’ Monroe mumbled.
Every one of them—his brother, the pregnant lady, who he figured must be his brother’s wife, even the little girl and the woman with the flaming hair—was staring at him as if he’d grown two heads.
‘I never thought I’d see you again.’ His brother’s voice was thready, his eyes shadowed.
‘It’s no big deal. It’s a mistake. I shouldn’t have used your pool.’ Boy, was that the truth.
‘I don’t give a damn about the pool,’ his brother said weakly.
‘I need to go.’ Monroe glanced at Miss Firecracker. She wasn’t looking smug any more. Her face had gone stoplight-red to match that rioting hair.
His brother’s wife stepped forward. ‘You can’t go, Monroe.’ Her deep green eyes were steady on his. ‘You and Linc have a lot of catching up to do. We want you to stay for a while. That’s why we invited you.’
She seemed as if she meant it. Monroe felt honour-bound to set her straight. He didn’t belong here; couldn’t she see that? ‘Look, ma’am, it’s nice of you to ask me—’ he huffed out a breath ‘—but I’m going to get on my way.’
He heard his brother curse, but his wife just shook her head, sadly. ‘You’re Linc’s brother. You’re family, Monroe. We want little Emily here to get to know you. You’re her uncle.’
Monroe’s gaze flicked to the little girl who was whispering furiously to Miss Firecracker and gazing at him in that penetrating way only kids could pull off.
He wasn’t her uncle. He wasn’t anyone’s family.
‘I’m Ali, by the way, Linc’s wife,’ the pregnant woman continued. ‘That’s our daughter Emmy and my sister Jessie.’
Monroe gave a stiff nod, the little girl waved back at him and said, ‘Hi,’ but the redhead just continued to stare at him. She didn’t look anywhere near as welcoming as her sister.
‘We’ve got five bedrooms in this place, Monroe,’ his sister-in-law said as her fingers settled on his arm. ‘Surely you can stay for a while and get to know us all.’ The determination on her face told him there was no way she was going to let him bolt. The sinking sensation in his stomach dipped lower.
‘I’m not staying in your home.’ On that, he was firm.
‘There’s an apartment above the garage that will give you privacy.’
Monroe wondered if his sister-in-law had been a steamroller in a former life.
‘Linc, why don’t you take your brother into the house? Get him a beer, and then you can show him where he’ll be staying.’
‘Sure. Grab your stuff, Roe.’
The nickname reverberated in Monroe’s mind, no one had called him that in close to twenty years.
‘I think we both deserve a beer,’ Linc said as he gave him a rueful smile. The crooked twist of his lips stabbed at Monroe’s memory again.
‘Hold on.’ He hadn’t agreed to anything, had he? But as he tried to form a protest, his sister-in-law picked up his T-shirt and shoved it on top of the boots in his arms.
‘Hell,’ Monroe grumbled as the brother he’d never intended to see again led him into his home.
Jessie gaped at her would-be trespasser as he padded past her, carrying his boots and T-shirt with a bewildered look on his face. If she could just get her jaw off the floor, she might be able to speak.
Linc had a brother? She’d had no idea.
‘Can you believe that?’ Ali’s face beamed. ‘I wrote that letter to his old probation officer over a year ago on an off chance. I can’t believe he’s finally here.’
‘His probation officer!’ Jessie choked out the words. ‘So he really is a criminal!’
‘Don’t sound so shocked. He was little more than a child when he went to jail. From what Jerry Myers told me, he’s been clean as a whistle for the last fourteen years.’
Jessie didn’t believe it. Did law-abiding citizens sneak into other people’s houses and use their pools? Did they manhandle women they didn’t even know? She didn’t think so.
‘By the way—’ Ali sent her a saucy smile ‘—you guys looked like you were having fun when we arrived.’
Jessie stiffened. ‘I thought he was a trespasser or worse. I wasn’t having fun. I was trying to get away from him.’
‘I see.’ Ali looked doubtful. ‘So that would explain why he was whispering sweet nothings in your ear, then, would it?’
Jessie’s cheeks flamed. ‘Actually, he was being rude and obnoxious.’ She glared at her sister. ‘He was having a ball trying to scare me to death.’
‘It serves you right for haring off to confront him in the first place.’
‘What?’
Ali waved away Jessie’s indignant shout. ‘Come on. We better get in there and make sure Linc doesn’t let him get away.’
‘I’m not going in there,’ Jessie snapped back. ‘I never want to see That Man again.’
‘Jess, you can’t avoid Monroe. If Linc and I have our way, he’ll be here for a while.’
What was wrong with her sister? Couldn’t she see the guy was trouble with a capital T? ‘I think you and Linc are insane for inviting him, Ali. You don’t even know him.’
The twinkle in Ali’s eyes dimmed. ‘I’m sorry I teased you. I shouldn’t have. What happened by the pool was probably a bit of a shock.’
‘I’ll say.’ At last, Ali was seeing sense.
‘But you’re going to have to apologise to Monroe about it.’
‘You can’t be serious.’ Was her sister insane? ‘I’m not apologising to him. He was trespassing.’
‘No, he wasn’t,’ Ali replied softly. ‘We invited him, remember?’
‘But that’s not the point.’
‘Look, Jess. I can’t explain this thing with Linc and Monroe to you properly. It’s complicated. It has to do with their childhood.’
‘Really?’ A kernel of curiosity pierced Jessie’s anger.
Jessie knew there was something wrong with Linc’s family—the only person he’d ever mentioned was his British grandmother who’d died years ago. From the little Jessie knew, he’d spent his summers with her as a child, but he never spoke about the American side of his family and neither did Ali. But still, having met That Man, she wasn’t convinced Linc needed to get to know him again. The guy had ‘deadbeat’ written all over him.
‘I can’t tell you about it, Jess. Linc wouldn’t want me to.’ Ali paused, seemed to struggle to find the right words. ‘Since we had Emmy, it’s been important to Linc to find his brother. He may not be able to have a relationship with Monroe. But the fact that he’s here is important. Linc needs to make sure he’s okay.’
Jessie looked at her sister and thought she understood.
Ali and Linc were such fantastic parents, they just naturally wanted to watch over everyone. It was the thing she admired most about them. Their devotion to Emmy and to each other had made her yearn for a home and a family of her own.
Jessie didn’t think for a minute that the man who had been taking a dip in their pool needed anyone to watch over him. She could see, though, she wasn’t going to be able to convince her sister of that. She heaved a sigh of frustration. ‘If it’s that important, I won’t get involved.’
‘Jess, you are involved. You’re here and so is he. Couldn’t you make peace with him? I don’t want him to feel uncomfortable. It’s taken us years to find him and get him here. I want Linc and him to have a chance.’
Put like that, what choice did Jessie have? Ali and Linc had done so much for her. They’d comforted her when she’d broken up with Toby. She was sure they’d only invited her to stay with them this summer because they’d been worried about her. She could never refuse them anything.
‘Oh, all right.’ But she’d be keeping her eye on Linc’s bad-boy brother. No one took advantage of her family.
‘Great.’ Ali’s eyes warmed. ‘Once Linc has helped Monroe settle into the garage apartment, why don’t you go over there with some clean sheets and towels? Show him there are no hard feelings, then you could invite him back to the house for dinner.’
