Emotionally Compromised (Emotionally Compromised Series) (17 page)

Awkward Greetings

JEREMY HUNT

As the chauffeur begins the journey down the private road to my dad's
ranch, I realize my head is anywhere but in the game for this one.

Alex is all sorts of distracting
, and I have never been so happy to be distracted.

I couldn't keep my hands
off her the whole drive here. Her bashful laugh is what pulls me in. That's when I want more. That soft caramel center oozes adorable girl, rather than the hard exterior. I like both versions, but she seems to reserve the sweet side for me. It drives me crazy. It shocks me to feel these sort of things, but I want to see where this yellow brick road leads me
.

When the car
slows, I steal a rushed kiss, knowing I have a short time left alone with her.

She giggles
. "Jeremy, we are about to see your dad." The smile does not once leave her lips. Her smile makes me want to smile.
Strange.

I let my hands
drag down her tight, toned body, and I begin my assault, trying my luck.
Maybe she is ticklish. While my lips try to coerce hers into giving me more, she yelps and tries to squirm away. She can't manage her girlish giggles. "Jeremy, what"—
giggle
—"are you doing!"
Giggle
. "Stop it!"
Giggle
. "I mean it!"

She grabs for my wrists, lightning quick, and with a surprisingly tight grip. Like a spark, her sexy grin catches my eyes, and she manages the strength to pin my hands down. It's the most seductive thing a girl has ever pulled on me.

The more I learn about Alex, the more confident I realize she is. The girl I first met was a spitfire to be sure, but she held a lot of doubt behind those long lashes. Now, with nothing to hide, she is more fierce and sexy than I realized. I don't want her seducing anyone. She would be too good at it.

I smile wolfishly, feigning an apology
. "What? I'm sorry. I didn't realize you were ticklish. Who would have known?"

As if she knows exactly what effect it has on me, she licks her bottom lip and leans in close. My heart rate rises with her proximity, and her hot, humid breath
caresses my lips.

"Jeremy
—"

The
passenger door swings open, revealing the Arizona sunshine. I guess we arrived.

I exhale, realizing that I had been holding my breath in anticipation of her words. She is better at this than I am
. How embarrassing.
Get a hold of yourself/

She smiles from
ear to ear, and her seductive shell cracks. She releases a laugh that causes my gut to flutter adoringly, basking it its surprising innocent ring, and it is music to my ears. I don't need to ask to hear those deadly assassin stories when I have a sound like that.

Drawing me out of my reverie with a kiss, she says, "Time to see your dad."

She climbs over my lap, grabs my hand, and pulls me out of the car. I look up at my dad's one-story ranch house. The front door is open, and I'm waiting for his silhouette to appear to greet us.

How long has it been since I've seen my dad? Maybe a year
or a little less.

I hear loud barking and realize it's my dog
, running, leaping out the door. My grin widens. My golden retriever, Auggie (short for Augustina,
don't ask
) comes barreling down grass too green for this desert. I bend down, resting my hands on my knees, to greet my old best friend.

My dog runs right past me, swings a loop of excitement around us
, and runs right up to Alex.

Alex's already happy face explodes into joy as she reaches for my
dog and says in a high-pitched chirp, "Auggie-doggie, I missed you. How are you Auggie-doggie?" She ruffles and rubs her ears. I can't help but find her adorable as she does it, and it bothers me.

That is
my
dog, how would she know my dog?
My smile slips away as I watch my pet and my girlfriend interact as if they are old pals.

Another shocker arrives. I didn't notice my dad stroll up until Alex stops petting Auggie and stands up straight, squaring her shoulders and holding her arms tight at her sides. "Afternoon, sir
," she says.

Huh?
Before my dad even notices my existence, I hear him say warmly, "Miss Turner, what a pleasant surprise. At ease. I didn't realize you were coming down. Where's Agent Matthews?"

She relaxes her pose and my father stops his greeting to look at me. He still doesn't say hello as he process
es why we arrived together. Still without acknowledging me, he turns back to Alex with a comical but almost fatherly eyebrow raised. "Agent Turner, are you here on business or pleasure?"

When am I
allowed to lose my cool?

"A little bit of both, sir
," she answers quietly, but gives him authoritative respect.

My father turns back to me, and chuckl
es. "Well, I'll be damned."

My face contorts as he laughs about the situation, but I find the whole thing entirely frustrating, angering,
baffling, and an all-round topsy-turvy mess. Obviously, they know each other and I can guess why.

Why didn't she mention this to me? She should have told me that she already knew him.

My dad extends his hand to me to shake. "Hello, Jere, it's nice to see you, son. And with a
nice
date for once." He is trying to be that kind, caring father that I know he can be with a jokey jab at my love life—and he approves, it seems—but I can't process this right now. Good or bad. I want to smile, I really do, but for some reason, I find it hard to control my anger. Even in my personal life, the bastard seems to be a step ahead of me. I should have seen this coming.

I can't even introduce her to my
dad like in a normal relationship.

I shake my head as my face hardens. I look at Alex, who looks somewhat crestfallen. She must know why I am upset right now. She's a smart girl.

I look back at my dad, feeling all sorts of vulnerable. I grab his hand, and shake it firmly, desperately trying to figure out how to approach this.

I am overwhelmed in a way I didn't see coming
—yet again! Why is my world twisting and contorting in ways I couldn't have imagined?

I probably should save this for a more private setting, but the words slip from my lips in a more childish tone than I’d like
as I release my dad’s hand. “I didn’t realize you two had met.”

I notice Alex’s gulp at hearing my words.

My dad sensing the rising awkwardness steps in like he would in one of his board meetings and it has my temper rising.
Not now, Dad.

“We’ve met a few times, Jere
.” Though his stance is his typical domineering one, his warm tone causes my brows to shoot up curiously, wondering when in the hell did he become so
nice.

I nod my head, hinting that this is not a conversation I want to have with him. I suspect my father might have just rolled his eyes at me, but I haven’t taken my
stare off my fidgeting girlfriend.

My dad sensing what my silence means speaks knowingly, and I worry he is laughing at me.
“I’ll meet you two inside. Don’t be so hard on her, Jere.” With that my dad calls for the dog and makes his way back to the house.

I am tempted to retaliate to his assumption, but I bite my tongue, knowing this whole reaction is teetering on toddler
level, but I can’t help it.

Beating me to the punch line once my dad is out of earshot, Alex breathes out a soft, “I’m sorry.”

Unsettling

ALEX TURNER

I am about to throw my self in
to a full fledged apology but my phone in my jeans erupts with vibration. I pull it out and briefly scan the text message, even though I know I am currently on the receiving end of a Jeremy glare:

Turner, I hope you brought your laptop. I need you to call me and connect to the server ASAP.

I sigh, thinking,
Now is not the time, Derek
, but with Jeremy, there is never an appropriate time to handle work.

Jeremy waits for me to slip the phone back into my pocket before speaking.

"Why didn't you tell me you knew my father?"

I chew the inside of my cheek
, feeling like an idiot. "It slipped my mind."

He whips his head to look at me, and
his obvious anger is unlike the previous time. His eyes are icy, and they bore into me with intensity.

"It slipped your mind?" he retorts with disdain
, but then he is quick to stop the potential onslaught as he takes a moment to heave in a deep, leveling breath. I can see his inner struggle, and I feel helpless, and entirely stupid. “Actually, I don’t want to argue about this. I should have known, I guess. I just wish things were different, ya know? I want to be mad at you, and I even want to be mad at my dad, but I know that won’t do me any good at this point.”

Though his tone is warmer than I would have anticipated, his
glacier stare doesn’t meet his eyes, and he still can’t seem to remove his childlike pout. It has me petrified to the spot, wondering which direction I should take with this. Lucky for me, with Jeremy’s natural ability to lead, he grabs for my chin and lifts my head to look directly at him. His eyes are searching mine for answers that I worry I don't have.

“I’m sorry Jeremy. I should have thought about it more.”

He shakes his head, and the smirk that reveals itself looks to be one of disbelief. "No, I'm sorry. I just get a little overwhelmed sometimes. I wanted to show you off to my dad. Instead, he may know more about you than I do—and that is typical of him. I want you, all of you ... whatever that includes. I'm exhausted with surprises. But I know now I should have seen this coming." He exhales as if he really is tired with
everything
.

“Are we okay?”

He abruptly pulls my face to his, crashing his lips to mine. His possession picks up fervor as it collides with what feels like sincere passion, and lustful desperation. I am lost in his kiss, but it’s far too brief as he pulls away, flashing that secret smile as he does it.

“What do you think?”
he goads.

A giggle I didn’t feel coming escapes me at his mercurial change of mood, but I revel in it,
thinking that after this slip up we just might be able to conquer others.

Feeling accomplished, Jeremy does not hesitate grabbing for my hand and pulling me back toward the house, but my smile wilts as I tug him backward, knowing that after one struggle, comes another.

"Jeremy, don’t be mad OK?"

I bite my lip nervously, and paw the floor with my feet, hoping this won’t ruin his recovered mood. “I need to call Derek, do you mind if I work a bit?”

Bad timing, I know.

H
is eyes empty of warmth, and his words are crisp. “Sure.”

I know he’d rather protest, but the fact he submits to
it means he knows he cannot control the situation, though he’d like to. It has me realizing that Jeremy might be leaps and bounds ahead of me in the maturity department.

He is about to let go of my hand, and I feel the need to salvage the afternoon. I yank him back
, hard, causing him to bungee into my arms.

“Alex, what
is it?”

I can tell he is trying to
stifle his chuckle, but his smile still does not meet his eyes.

“Don’t be mad.”
I whisper. His lean body flush against mine has me restraining a sigh.

His audible grunt is enough
to confirm my assumption. “I’m not mad.”

I lean in, standing on my
tiptoes to brush my nose against his. “You are, but it’s OK. I’m sorry about your dad too. I am going to find a way for you to trust me."

He sighs
this time, running his hands softly down my torso, obviously not understanding my intentions. "I do trust you."

I kiss him chastely.
"It's not enough, but I'll find a way. Now, go see your dad. He’s waiting for you."

His eyebrows furrow in confusion as he tries to understand, and I think maybe he does
. "OK." And thank the heavens, because his full toothy grin is yet another reaction I didn’t see coming. “Don’t take too long.”

We both offer each other a smirk in response, and
I love that kind caring Jeremy still swiftly comes with a reflexive demand.

With that he turns his delectable body around and struts his way to the house, which funnily enough has William Hunt standing in
its doorway, watching from afar.

Once I feel Jeremy is a safe distance away I let out an
exasperated breath while trying to manage my dumbfounded smirk.

Relationships are more stressful than saving the world.