Freaky by Nature (15 page)

Obv iously v ery focused, his walls were down. If only she had

the ability to crawl into his m ind and inv estigate. Instead, she

concentrated on what she could see. Ribbons of deep red m ixed

with red orange flowed around him in abundance. Determ ined,

surv iv al-oriented, strong willed. She lifted an ey ebrow. Loads of

sexual stam ina.

A tingle of excitem ent clim bed her spine as she scanned the

surface of his m uscled abs then skipped ahead to the bulge nestled

between his legs. No doubt he could m ake her scream all night

long.

Holly reeled in her lustful appreciation and re-focused. As

usual, ray s of soft blue also wrapped him . Com passionate, cool,

calm , collected.

Finally , she stepped toward him . “Lifting awful heav y today ,

aren’t y ou?”

Brett racked the bar and sat up to straddle the weight bench.

“Nah. Just burning off som e steam .”

Holly sum m oned am azing self discipline to keep her focus on

his ey es rather than on his body . “I need a break.”

He gav e her his usual cocky grin. “Okay , need m e to teach

y our sensual dance class?”

“You wish. No, I usually hang out with Rachel and Cam eron

once a week. I planned to go today .”

“Giv e m e a couple m inutes and I’ll take y ou.”

She folded her arm s across her chest and licked her lips. “I’d

like to go alone.”

“No.”

“Brett, it’s not far, and y ou know I’ll be safe there.”

His silence surprised her.

“Please,” she pressed, “I need to do this.”

Brett laid back down on the bench. “On one condition.”

Holly paused at this agreem ent. That was entirely too easy .

And then she knew exactly what he expected.

“Fine,” she relented, “You can watch sensual dance this

afternoon, but
behind
the glass.”

Brett gav e her another sm ile before he lifted the bar. “Deal.”

A warm feeling of belonging env eloped Holly as she

approached the iron gate that surrounded Hawke and Rachel’s

m assiv e, ornate estate just up the driv e. No one would ev er

understand how m uch she v alued these girl talks with Cam eron

and Rachel. Thank goodness Brett didn’t put up too m uch of a fight

at her request to com e here alone.

She leaned out the window and entered her v isitor’s code into

the key pad. A fam iliar buzz sounded as soon as the security

cam era recognized her car and the gates swung open. She released

a soft laugh, drov e up the winding driv eway , and parked near the

garage door. Brett didn’t hav e any thing to worry about. This place

was a fortress.

Holly took a calm ing breath to clear her m ind before she

exited the car. Rachel stood in the open front door entry way with

her daughter, Harm ony , in her arm s. “Holly ! I’m so glad y ou

cam e!”

Bright bands of m etallic silv er wrapped Rachel’s figure. Holly

took a second to consider the color, pleased when the answer cam e

easily . Wealth. Nurturer. “I was thankful for the break.” She

tweaked Harm ony ’s button nose and followed Rachel to the

kitchen. “Where’s Cam eron?”

Rachel giggled. “In the bathroom .”

“I spend a lot of tim e there,” Cam eron answered as she entered

the kitchen. She looked ov er Holly ’s shoulder. “Did y ou driv e?”

“Yes, why ?”

“I didn’t get to driv e.” Harm ony squealed and raised her

chubby arm s toward Cam eron. “I had m y own personal escort.”

Cam eron untangled the baby from Rachel and boosted herself onto

the nearest bar stool.

Holly sat on the next stool ov er. “I’m sure som eone followed

m e.” And she was doubly sure. She just couldn’t explain how.

She’d picked up Brett’s v ibes within seconds of leav ing the gy m .

Cam eron shifted the wiggling baby across her swollen

stom ach. “Rachel, this baby needs shoes.”

Rachel groaned. “She can’t ev en walk, Cam eron.”

Cam eron lifted each tiny foot and m easured the size with her

fingers while Harm ony cooed and sm iled. “Som ething girly .”

Rachel nodded and handed Holly a m ug. “Your fav orite,

cham om ile.”

“Thanks, Rachel.” Holly gav e Cam eron a grin. “She won’t be

able to wear y our flav or for awhile.”

Cam eron lifted her left foot, neatly wrapped in the leather of

her two inch Louis Vuitton pum p.

“I don’t know how y ou walk in those things norm ally , let alone

pregnant,” Holly teased.

“Practice,” Cam eron bragged. “She’ll learn. The sooner the

better.”

“You know,” Rachel said easily , “y ou could probably design

som e y ourself.”

“Yeah,” Holly agreed, “designer baby shoes.” She blinked

twice when sev eral flashes of bright, white light torm ented her

ey es and then fed her thoughts. Holly concentrated hard to keep

her breathing steady . How on Earth would she explain som ething

like this to Rachel and Cam eron? Then som e sort of inv isible force

pulled her focus to Cam eron’s stom ach.
Oh, wow
.

“Or ev en a couple pair of designer com bat boots.” Holly

regretted the words alm ost as she spoke them . Now the

conv ersation would definitely get interesting.

Cam eron lifted her ey es from the squirm ing baby and Holly

prepared to knock them both ov er with her confession. Instead,

Cam eron kissed the top of Harm ony ’s head. “May be I can. Godzilla

won’t let m e do m uch, any way .”

“Max m eans well, Cam eron,” Rachel soothed. “He’s just

nerv ous.”

“Especially since the concert is just day s away and now I’v e

thrown a m ajor curv e ball at him ,” Holly added, im m ensely

reliev ed the conv ersation hadn’t taken a turn.

“Regardless of the circum stances, I told him I was gonna m ake

him hav e the next baby if he didn’t stop being so ov erprotectiv e.”

Holly laughed, partly because she was reliev ed she didn’t

draw attention after all and m ostly because she knew full well if it

were ev en rem otely possible for Max to giv e birth, Cam eron would

m ake it happen.

“Speaking of ov erprotectiv e, Holly .” Cam eron sat Harm ony on

the floor in the m iddle of a pile of toy s. “What’s with Magnum PI?”

Holly ’s brow furrowed and suddenly v iolet polka dots bounced

around Cam eron’s face.
Uh-oh
. Mischiev ous Cam eron was up to

som ething. “Brett?”

“Yeah, Brett,” Cam eron drawled.

“What about him ?”

“It’s no use, Holly ,” Rachel chided. “She’ll m ake y ou talk. She’s

m arried to Max.”

Holly grinned at the two wom en she’d becom e so close to,

com forted by the pink beam s of affection that now radiated back at

her. “A lady nev er tells.”

“Oh puhleese!” Cam eron huffed. “The way y ou two were

carry ing on in the backy ard m akes that excuse totally m oot!”

Holly ’s cheeks burnt. “You saw us?”

“Wait!” Rachel shrieked. “I’m lost. Som ebody fill m e in.”

“Sherlock Holm es was searching Holly for clues under her

coconut oil,” Cam eron said.

Rachel clucked her tongue. “Ooohh, Holly , y ou’v e got som e

explaining to do.”

Holly sucked in a quick breath and placed her cup on the

center island.
How do I explain this?
She dism issed them with a

wav e of her hand. “It’s really nothing.”

“Nuh-huh, Holly ,” Cam eron scolded, “the way y ou two were

going at it, he m ust hav e had his tongue so far down y our throat

y ou choked!”

“Cam eron!” Rachel gasped.

“Well he did! Max and I—”

”Oh, God!” Holly threw her head into her hands. “Max was

there?”

Cam eron took a breath, her ey es wide. “Yes.”

Rachel tilted her head to one side. “Did y ou guy s know a

French kiss m ov es thirty m uscles in the face?”

Holly lifted her head and bit her lip. “You don’t say .”

Rachel bobbed her head. “It’s true. And, a French kiss

accelerates the pulse from sev enty to one hundred and fifty beats

per m inute.”

Holly couldn’t hide a sm all sm ile. Her heartbeat had definitely

sky rocketed when Brett kissed her.

Rachel patted Holly on the shoulder. “No big deal. Max won’t

say any thing.”

“That’s not the point,” Holly m um bled.

“The point is,” Cam eron said, “did y ou enjoy y ourself?”

Holly ’s sm ile grew. “Yeah, it was Heav en.”

Cam eron arched both ey ebrows and glanced at Rachel.

“Heav en.”

“Heav en,” Rachel repeated ov er a giggle.

“He knows his way around a wom an, that’s for sure,” Holly

adm itted, “but don’t read too m uch into it.”

Rachel frowned. “Why ?”

“Nothing will ev er dev elop between us. I’m not in the m arket

for a m an. Especially Brett Steele.”

“That’s what I said about Max,” Cam eron rem inded her.

“No, really . Brett just isn’t m y ty pe.”

“Hawke wasn’t m y ty pe either,” Rachel taunted.

“Look, y ou two.” Holly stood and placed her cup in the sink.

“There is nothing serious dev eloping between m e and Brett. The

whole sunlight seduction was just a one-tim e deal.”

Harm ony burst into a fit of bubbly baby giggles.

“See? Ev en Harm ony thinks y ou’re silly .” Cam eron folded her

arm s across her belly and tossed her curls. “Keep deny ing it, sister,

y ou’re only fooling y ourself.”

“I’v e got a pilates class.” Holly ignored Cam eron’s teasing and

lifted Harm ony for a slobbery kiss before she handed the baby to

Rachel. “I’ll see y ou guy s later.”

Rachel shot Cam eron a m ischiev ous grin. “I’ll bet y ou a pair of

Prada slingbacks she cav es before next week.”

Cam eron snorted. “You m ight as well let m e buy them now,

because it won’t be two hours before she cav es.”

Holly giggled as she left the house. She m ight as well hand

ov er the cash. Rachel lov ed new shoes alm ost as m uch as Cam eron.

***

Confident Holly was tucked safely back at the gy m , Brett

headed back to her house to grab a shower before he crashed

sensual dance class. He chuckled under his breath. Holly was

am azingly good-natured about his ogling half naked wom en, but

little did she know he didn’t watch her class. No, he watched
her
.

And he alway s cam e away hot and hard. Som etim es he wondered

why he put him self through the agony . He grinned. Sweet agony .

Brett slam m ed the door of his truck then palm ed the house

key , greeted by a fam iliar m eow. Right on cue, Maxwell had

wobbled ov er from next door to check out Holly ’s Koi pond.

“Hey , Maxwell.” Brett reached down to scratch Cam eron’s fat,

grey tabby cat behind the ears while he jiggled the key into the

lock. Maxwell wound him self in and out of Brett’s legs. “Be

patient,” he scolded, “The fish aren’t going any where.”

Brett gav e the door a shov e and Maxwell barreled inside. Brett

froze. The alarm sensors should hav e squealed from the cat’s

inv asion. He stepped inside and glanced at the panel on the wall.

The green
unarmed
light blinked in rapid succession. A quick

inv entory of the liv ing room assured him that ev ery thing

appeared norm al.

Unim pressed by Brett’s suspicion, Maxwell pranced through

the liv ing room toward the back door. Brett followed the finicky

feline, puzzled when he stopped and squatted in front of the kitchen

pantry . His tail whipped the air as he hissed and spit at the door. A

piercing, feral growl escaped the depths of his throat.

Brett chuckled. “No way , cat. Explicit instructions from

Cam eron. No food.”

Maxwell squinted his green-gold ey es while his tail twitched

and another persistent warning echoed off the walls.

Brett frowned at Maxwell’s belligerence. He reached down to

lift him , only to be greeted by a paw full of angry claws. He jerked

his hand from Maxwell’s determ ined swipe.

“Fine.” He stepped to the panty . “You win.”

Brett flung open the pantry door and stuck his head inside,

searching for the catnip Holly kept, when he froze suddenly at a

sinister sound in the dark, confined space. The hair on the back of

his neck stood and he eased open the door wider to allow the

sunlight through. There, on the bottom shelf, he cam e face to face

with an agitated diam ondback shaking his tail v iolently , his fangs

poised and ready to strike.

“Sonuv abitch!” Brett slam m ed the door closed.

Bracing him self against the refrigerator, he attem pted to

catch his breath as Maxwell’s tail kept tim e with his pounding

heart.

“Thanks, Buddy ,” he praised the angry cat, while dialing his

cell phone.

“Sterling,” he spat into the m outhpiece. “I’v e got trouble at

Holly ’s.”

Thirty seconds later, Max sprinted into the kitchen with his

weapon drawn.

“Are y ou hit?”

“I wish,” Brett m um bled.

Max squinted one ey e. “What the hell is going on, Steele? You

interrupted m y nap.”

“Screw y our nap. I wouldn’t hav e called if it wasn’t

im portant.”

“So?” Max stuffed the gun in his waistband.

“You m ight need that.”

“Spit it out, Steele!” Max ordered.

He squeezed his ey es closed. “There’s a snake in the pantry .”

“A snake?”