Love Under Two Navy Seals (29 page)

Bernice reached out and touched Dr. James’s arm. “Why don’t I take Mr. Alvarez back, Doctor, while you tend to these new patients?”

Julia had to bite back a giggle. Clearly that was
not
what Aunt Bernice’s husbands had in mind. But that was, indeed, the script they’d all agreed upon.

By now the phone extension in all three exam rooms would have buzzed twice, so everyone would be ready.

“There is no need. I do not wish to take you away from these men in need,” Ramos said. “Just point me in the right direction. I will go to the senorita’s side at once.”

Bernice looked at Doctor James who sighed, then nodded.

“She’s in room three,” Bernice said. “Just down that corridor. She’s the only patient we have here today.”

If Julia ever got it in mind to open a “little theater” here in Lusty, she knew that at least she’d have a wealth of talent from which to draw.

So far, everyone had played their role to perfection.

“
Gracias
.” Ramos bowed, and then made his way in the direction Bernice had pointed him.

Julia didn’t wait around to see to what degree her uncles were about to give her aunt and grandmother hell. She simply set her magazine aside, and very quickly, but very quietly, followed Ramos.

Their plan hadn’t been perfect, and one tiny detail none of them ever considered was that he might go into the exam room and close the door.

Susan’s quick thinking saved them all.

“Who are you? What are you doing here in my sister’s room?”

Because she’d spoken so loudly and with such attitude, Ramos gave up on closing the door and stepped further into the room, perhaps focusing on calming her.

Julia crept closer, followed by Tracy and her mother. They all listened intently, waiting for their cue.

“
Senorita,
por favor
. I am Ricardo Alvarez. Peter is my nephew. I am here to…to show my support at this difficult time.”

“I didn’t know Peter had an uncle.” Susan’s tone sounded considering.

“We are a very large family, yet not always as close as one would hope. Please, if you would give me a few moments alone with your sister. I would…I would like to pray over her.”

“No way. I don’t know you, and I am
not
leaving this room. You’ll just have to pray with me here.”

“That is most unfortunate.”

Julia heard Susan’s gasp, Ginny’s moan, and moved.

She stepped into the room, her S&W ready to fire, and brought the barrel to rest at the base of Ramos’s skull. The man might have made a move against her, but then he must have spotted Susan’s Glock, because he tensed and held still.

“I’ve never heard of a religion that prays with a gun, Señor
Ramos
,” Julia said.

Ginny sat up, tossed the single blanket off her, and swung her legs to hang over the side of the bed. Julia noted her trembling and figured her newest friend was pretty darn brave to have done what she had, despite being scared enough to tremble.

“I will kill you, all three of you, just as I killed Juan Pecos, just as I kill anyone who dares to challenge me.
Dios
. You’re nothing but weak-willed, pampered women. How dare you think even for a moment you can stop me!”

“And yet, we are the ones holding you at gunpoint. Now lower your weapon.” Julia prayed like she never had before that the man would comply.

In her peripheral vision she saw her mother and Tracy enter the room, their guns trained on Ramos.

“
Hay cuatro de nosotros con armas entrenados sobre usted, señor
,” her mother said.

Ramos only grunted in response to being told four of them had him at gunpoint. He began to lower his gun. But then, instead of following through, he brought his arm up again.

And cried out in pain when Ginny’s foot shot out, strong and fast and sure and kicked the weapon right out of his hand.

The door exploded open, and the air was suddenly ripe with testosterone.

“Down! On your knees, Ramos! Now!”

Julia intended to step completely out of the way so that Peter Alvarez could arrest the man who’d put a price on his head. But she found herself surrounded by strong male arms, picked up as if she weighed nothing, and carried right out of the room.

Dev set her down in a corner of the reception area and turned her around. Drew stood beside him, and she honestly didn’t know if they wanted to kiss her or throttle her.

He’d kept his hands on her shoulders, and she could feel him trembling.

“Honest to God, woman, I ought to turn you over my knee and paddle your ass till you can’t sit down for a week!”

“That makes two of us,” Drew said.

Julia had never seen such fierce warriors in all her life. She fought her smile and said, “You’d probably better disarm me, first, then.”

* * * *

Dev blinked, and for a moment was somehow unable to process exactly what it was Julia had just said. Then he looked down at the handgun she held.

“Don’t worry,” she said. “As soon as you lifted me, I put the safety back on.”

“Jesus Christ.” Dev took the pistol from her and looked at it.
Smith & Wesson M&P Compact, 9 millimeter, capacity 12 +1 rounds.
“Do you at least know how to use that thing?”

“I’m a Texan woman, I’ll remind you. Of course I know how to use it. I’m a hell of a shot, too.”

Dev looked from the gun to her, meeting her gaze. In her amazing hazel eyes he saw determination, pride, and love.

“You’re not even a little bit afraid of us, are you, baby doll?”

Julia looked from him to Drew, then back again. “Of course not. Why would I be afraid of you? You love me.”

Dev nodded. “Good. Then in a week or so, when you’ve recovered from your concussion and we take turns paddling your ass, you won’t be scared.”

Julia grinned at him. “Scared, no. Turned on…maybe.”

He shook his head, then pulled her into his arms.

“Holy hell, woman, you did
what
?” Adam’s voice carried over the entire assemblage, and Dev eased his hold on Julia so they could all turn their attention to Lusty’s sheriff and the woman who apparently had him tied in knots.

So that’s why Adam sounded like he was losing it when he contacted us.

“Well, boy howdy, what was I supposed to do?” Ginny asked, her hands on her hips. “I’d been watching his eyes and I saw that he decided it didn’t matter there were four guns trained on him, he was going to shoot
somebody
. My foot reacted before I even had a chance to think!”

Adam ran both hands over his face, an act of frustration Dev could identify with.

“Do you have any idea how many men—and women—that bastard has murdered, brutally?” Adam asked her.

“Now see, that’s what I don’t get. Why do y’all—lawmen that is—say ‘brutally’ murdered? I mean, murdered is murdered, isn’t it? Would the opposite to ‘brutally murdered’ be ‘gently’ murdered?”

Dev heard Julia’s snicker and shot her a hard glare. In turn, she mimicked a kiss, aimed right at him.

“I got the whole thing on film,” Tamara announced. She walked right up to Adam and gave him her camcorder. “You can watch it again and again, if you like. Ginny was amazing. We all were.”

As soon as Adam took the device, Tamara took Ginny’s hand and began to lead her away.

“We’re not done, Ginny Rose,” Adam called after her.

The young woman looked over her shoulder and gave Adam a solemn look. “I sincerely hope not, Sheriff Kendall.”

Dev looked back at Julia. Her gaze had followed the unfolding tableau. He noted the smile on her face, and wondered what she thought about her cousin the sheriff and the pretty little single mom.

“Let’s see who we have to see,” he said. He looked over at Drew and knew his best friend was as eager to be alone with their woman as he was.

“Who do we have to see?” Julia frowned, and looked around the room. “Adam and Peter and that other Fed seem to have the situation under control.”

“You’ll have to give a statement,” Drew said.

“So let’s get that done so we can go home.” Dev ran his hand up and down Julia’s back. She leaned into his caress. She had to be exhausted. He sincerely hoped she wasn’t
too
exhausted.

“Yeah.” Her sigh made him think she could almost read his mind. “I want to go home. I’ve been imagining us together in that hot tub since early this morning when I awoke on the ground.”

“You weren’t on the ground for long,” Drew said. “Mostly, you were on me.”

“Yeah.” And this time her sigh sounded downright feline.

Dev led her over to Adam, who directed her to Matthew. Her cousin duly recorded her statement, at times goggle-eyed.

Finally, unable to help himself, he set the deputy sheriff within him aside and asked, “Grandma Kate went along with this?
And
Mom?
And
Aunt Abby?”

“Actually, it was Grandma Kate who urged us to figure things out and then do something.” Julia patted his shoulder. “Once we thought the situation over, we knew that Ramos wouldn’t go to the house—his man had taken the wrong woman, remember, and none of us imagined that he knew Peter and Tracy lived at Jordan’s house.”

“Why in hell didn’t you call us and tell us that?”

Julia scowled at him. “Would you have listened to our logic?”

Dev gave Matt credit. He figured the deputy’s first impulse was to answer in the affirmative. Instead, Matt closed his mouth and looked at him and Drew.

Dev decided, then, to give his woman her due. “Honest answer? We’d have thanked you for what we would have all considered to be useless information, and stayed right where we were.”

Julia grinned, then stretched up and gave him a light kiss. Then she turned to her cousin. “Are we done, now? Because I seriously need to go home and get naked with my men.”

Matt didn’t stammer or swear. He simply closed his notebook and treated them all to a wave toward the door. “Tomorrow, my office. Be there, or be square.”

“Thanks.” She gave her cousin a quick kiss on the cheek then turned and looked at first Dev, then Drew.

“Let’s go home.”

Personally, Dev didn’t think he’d ever heard a better suggestion in his entire life. “That’s one hell of a good idea, baby doll. Let’s go home.”

Chapter 21

Dev carried her into the master bathroom, angling toward the shower instead of the spa.

“I wanted to soak in the hot tub.” Julia made certain she used a pout to frame those words. It was a good pout, too, because when she’d been just a bit younger she’d practiced it in front of the mirror until she’d gotten it just right.

“Spa after, kitten,” Drew said. “Just before we go to sleep.”

“You stood out in the rain last night and showered, and I wanted to be able to give you warmer water then,” Dev said.

She heard the regret in his voice, and hated that he felt he’d let her down in any way. “I wasn’t that cold.” The protest came naturally even as she felt her heart melt, just a little.

“Liar,” Dev whispered against her lips. He kissed her lightly, and then set her down on her own two feet. “Your lips had turned blue and your teeth were chattering by the time I carried you into that barn.”

“I don’t remember. I only remember that you both were there for me and kept me close between you all night.”

“We’ll always be there for you, Julia,” Drew said. “
Always
.”

Her heart bumped, and she tilted her head to the side. Did he know what he’d just said? “Always, huh?”

“Damn straight,” Dev said.

“You know that kind of sounds like a commitment, don’t you?”

“Baby doll, what you don’t seem to realize is that we have been committed to you since our first night together. If anyone has commitment issues in this relationship, it’s you.”

Julia sighed. Dev spoke nothing but the truth. The real reason she’d left New York in the first place wasn’t because she thought these two Navy SEALs wouldn’t be back, but because she
knew
beyond a doubt that they would be back.