Feeling Hot (28 page)

Licking her lips, she dipped her head and licked a little circle around the head of his cock.

Cash groaned, his hands immediately moving to tangle in her hair. His hips thrust forward, the hard length of him seeking her mouth.

She swiftly pulled back. “Uh-uh, you don’t get any sexy time until you do one thing for me.”

His eyes narrowed. “What’s that?”

“Put the sweater back on.”

Sadie Becker’s first birthday party was in full swing when Cash and Jen arrived at the Becker house the next afternoon. Becker and Jane lived in a modest, two-story home in Coronado, and though the house itself was smaller than most in the area, the backyard made up for that. The large, perfectly manicured lawn was big enough to house a decent-sized swimming pool, a swing set, an enormous pine deck with a table that seated ten, and a stone patio littered with children’s toys.

Bright pink balloons hung from the tall wooden fence surrounding the yard, and tables laden with food had been set up on the patio. A few dozen people milled around the yard, most of whom Cash recognized. Stepping onto the deck, he and Jen dropped Sadie’s gift off with Jane’s sister, Elizabeth, a tall, slender blonde who looked nothing like her curvy, redheaded younger sister.

Speaking of the curvy redhead, Cash immediately spotted Jane holding court by the refreshment table, chatting with a few women Cash had never met. She had one-year-old Sadie propped on her hip, and now
there
was a clear resemblance. The baby had a head of shocking red hair and big blue eyes just like her mother, but the expression of intense consternation on the kid’s face was all Becker.

“Let’s go say hi to everyone,” Jen said, searching the crowd.

Cash longed to hold her hand, but he resisted the urge. They’d already agreed there’d be no PDA today, or anything that would reveal they’d been sleeping together for the past two weeks. The last thing he wanted to do was get into it with Carson, not in a backyard full of people they knew. Besides, keeping the fling on the down-low was probably for the best, seeing as how it was supposed to end in a week.

Supposed to
being the operative words.

Because no way was Cash letting this end. For the first time in his life, he’d found a woman he truly connected with. One he had no problem communicating with. One who captured his attention in
and
out of bed.

Jen was the quirkiest, funniest, most amazing woman he’d ever known. He loved the sound of her laughter. Her sunny smiles. The way she left those yellow sticky notes all over the apartment to remind herself to do things. And now she’d started leaving
him
notes—this morning he’d found a Post-it on the bathroom mirror, with Jen’s feminine scrawl saying, “Top of the morning to you, cowboy!”

So yeah, he wasn’t ready to let her go yet. Not by a long shot.

“Jen, Cash!” On the steps of the deck, Annabelle waved them over. Next to the brunette were Savannah Harte, Shelby Garrett and a woman Cash didn’t recognize.

“Cash, do you know Mackenzie?” Annabelle asked, gesturing to the woman at her side. “She’s married to Will.”

“It’s nice to meet you.” As he shook Mackenzie’s hand, he couldn’t help but notice what a knockout she was. Tall and willowy, with long black hair and blue eyes that sparkled when she smiled at him.

“Will told me about you,” Mackenzie said warmly. “He said you were one of the most determined men he’s ever met and that you kicked ass during BUD/S training.”

Cash hid his surprise. Will had actually said that? Receiving a compliment from the former SEAL, who was now an instructor on the base, occurred about as often as a solar eclipse. It surprised him that Lieutenant Will Charleston had mentioned Cash to his wife at all.

“I had no choice,” Cash replied ruefully. “He was too damn intimidating. Every time I got tempted to quit, I pictured myself ringing that bell while the LT stood there glaring at me and I knew I couldn’t live with that kind of embarrassment. Is he here today?”

Mackenzie pointed to the pool deck. “Over there.”

He followed her gaze, instantly spotting Will. The mirrored Aviators and unruly black hair were a giveaway, but the menacing air the man had exuded during Cash’s training was missing. Probably because Will held a wiggling dark-haired toddler in his arms: his son, Lucas.

John Garrett stood next to Will, also with his hands full; his two-year-old daughter Penny kept grabbing at the beer bottle in her father’s hand, which he kept moving out of her grasp.

Garrett’s wife, Shelby, giggled when she saw what her daughter was up to. “She’s got a fascination with bottles of all things,” the blonde revealed. “She tries jamming all her fingers into the bottle like she’s digging for treasure.”

Jen smiled, then searched the yard again. “Hey, are my brother and Holly here?”

“They were,” Annabelle replied. “I don’t know where they disappeared to.”

From the refreshment table, Jane suddenly caught Cash’s eye and flashed him a delighted smile.

“We should say hi to the birthday girl,” Cash said as he waved hello to Jane.

He and Jen drifted away from the women, passing several men Cash knew from the base. He said a few hellos, then caught sight of Dylan and Jackson near the swing set, holding paper plates and munching on appetizers. Ryan and Matt stood a few feet away, beers in their hands, heads bent in deep conversation. He looked around in search of Seth, but their resident badass was MIA. No surprise there—Seth’s dislike of kids was no secret. No doubt he’d already come by to drop off a gift, said a quick hello and hightailed it home.

“I’m so glad you could make it,” Jane said when they approached.

Baby Sadie made a delighted gurgling sound as her big blue eyes focused on the new arrivals.

“Hey there,” Jen crooned, leaning in to kiss Sadie’s forehead. “Happy birthday, cutie.”

“Gah!”

Jane grinned. “That means
thank-you
.” She shifted Sadie to her other hip and gestured to the food table behind her. “We decided not to barbeque—” she rolled her eyes, “—because Becker is scared the smoke from the grill will give our daughter cancer. But Holly prepared a whole bunch of yummy dishes—there’s like five different kinds of salad, mini sandwiches, appetizers and a bunch of other finger foods. So help yourself, okay?”

“Everything looks delicious,” Jen said, reaching for two plates. “Where is Holly, by the way?”

Jane wrinkled her brow. “I don’t know. I haven’t seen her since she set up the tables.”

Carson was noticeably absent too. Cash wasn’t sure if that was a good sign, or a bad one. As much as he didn’t want to imagine his lieutenant screwing around, he hoped Carson and Holly were inside getting it on somewhere. At least that would mean they were on their way to fixing the problems between them.

“I’m sure they’ll turn up soon,” Cash said, catching Jen’s frown. “Come on, let’s have something to eat.”

They spent the next twenty minutes chatting with Jane while they scarfed down some food. People drifted over to say hello, including Dylan and Jackson, the latter of whom Jen had yet to meet.

“So you’re the Texan,” she said, giving Jackson a thorough once-over.

Cash knew she liked what she saw. Women went wild for the smooth-talking Texan, with his wavy brown hair, whiskey-colored eyes and tall muscular frame. The guy lived in faded blue jeans, plaid shirts and combat boots, which made him appear laidback but at the same time tough.

Jackson winked. “And you are even more beautiful than everyone described, sugar.”

“What the hell, Texas?” Jane grumbled. “Why don’t you ever call
me
sugar?”

“Why don’t I call you sugar?” Jackson hooked a thumb behind her. “
That’s
why.”

Next thing Cash knew, Becker was barreling toward them, a surprising spring to his step. “There’s my little angel,” he said happily, in no way resembling the man who’d picked them up at the police station the other night. This Becker was relaxed and overjoyed, smiling broadly as he greeted his daughter.

Sadie wiggled in her mother’s arms and stuck out her chubby fists in Becker’s direction. “Gah!” she cried.

Becker gave everyone a brisk nod. “That means
dad
.” He promptly scooped Sadie out of Jane’s arms and tucked her against his powerful chest.

“It means everything,” Jane muttered under her breath. “It’s the only word she says.”

“Thanks for coming,” Becker told the men. He glanced at Jen. “You too, Jen. I’m sorry to hear about the troubles you’ve been having with your ex-boyfriend.”

She shrugged. “Thanks, but I think the trouble’s come to an end.”

Cash casually squeezed her arm before she could say more. He didn’t want her bringing up the fight at the bar and reigniting Becker’s anger.

“So the little princess is growing up,” Cash said, reaching out to touch one of Sadie’s tiny hands.

She immediately curled her whole fist around his index finger and squeezed. Man, the kid was strong. Then again, she was the offspring of Thomas Becker, so no surprise there.

“She sure is.” Becker planted an indulgent kiss on the tuft of red hair atop Sadie’s head. “And she’s smart as a whip. She—” He halted, his brown eyes narrowing as he gazed at something behind Cash. Then he made an annoyed sound and turned to glare at his wife. “Why the fu-
fudge
did you invite Steven?”

Jane was clearly braver than Cash and the others, because she didn’t cower under Becker’s hard stare. “It was the polite thing to do.”

“Polite? That lunatic nearly killed our child.”

Cash and Jen exchanged WTF looks, as did Dylan and Jackson.

“It was harmless fun, Beck!” Jane shot back.

“Who’s Steven?” Jen spoke up tentatively.

Becker jammed a finger across the backyard. Everyone followed his gaze, but the only person in their line of sight was a chubby blonde with a cherub-cheeked infant in her arms.

“Wait—Steven’s the baby?” Dylan said, looking confused.

“Spawn of Satan,” Becker corrected.

Jane sighed. “Beck tags along for my Mommy and Me program.” Which she sounded incredibly
un
thrilled about. “Last time we were there, Steven crawled over to Sadie and knocked her over. It was nothing. They both got giggly about it and wiggled around on the floor afterwards.”

Becker looked livid. “That baby had malevolence in his eyes, Jane. He knew exactly what he was doing when—”

“Who wants to help me refill the beer cooler?” Jane interrupted, completely turning away from her husband.

Cash spoke first. “I’ll do it.”

He resisted doing a victory dance as Dylan, Jackson and Jen all scowled at him in betrayal. Whatever. He didn’t feel the slightest bit remorse over saddling them with Becker. This entire conversation had begun to feel like an episode of
The
Twilight Zone
. Babies with malevolence in their eyes? Fatherhood had clearly turned the commander into a crazy person.

Besides, he’d been hoping to get Jane alone today, and now that the opportunity had presented itself, he pounced on it, trailing after the redhead as she headed for the house.

“We stored all the alcohol in the fridge in the basement,” she explained as she led him to a door in the hallway. Jane opened the door, pulled on a metal string and light illuminated a narrow staircase.

“I’m glad we have a moment alone,” Cash said as they trudged down to the basement. “There was something I wanted to talk to you about.”

Jane looked intrigued. “Okay.”

The Beckers’ basement was unfinished, featuring a large dusty room cluttered with boxes. Pink drywall covered walls that still needed to be insulated, and the exposed piping gave the room a creepy vibe. Jane walked over to the large freezer against the far wall and leaned in to grab a case of Bud Light, which Cash promptly took from her hands and set on the floor. “Let me do it. How many cases do you want to bring out?”

“Two or three should be fine.”

As he grabbed two more and added them to the pile, Jane leaned against the wall and said, “So what did you want to talk about?”

He hesitated, then reached into his back pocket for the USB memory stick he’d shoved there. Guilt pricked his gut as he pulled out the evidence of his subterfuge. He hated going behind Jen’s back, but he knew that if left to her own devices, she would keep stalling, the way she had for the past five days.

Despite her insistence that she was ready to seriously pursue photography, he’d noticed that she’d started second-guessing herself again, this time with the photos she wanted to include in her portfolio. Since no papers or magazines in the area had any open full-time positions, Jen’s best bet was to submit work to a variety of publications in hopes of landing a freelance gig, but the way she was agonizing over this portfolio, it would take years before she sent any submissions out.

That’s why he’d wanted to talk to Jane. Before marrying Becker, Jane had worked for a big-time magazine in L.A., and Cash had been considering the idea of getting Jane to put feelers out with her former editor. But he knew they’d need to see Jen’s work before extending any offers, and he also knew Jen wouldn’t dream of sending stuff to such a prestigious publication.