Rescuing A Runaway Bride (6 page)

“Does it really matter who talked, Ramsey? I know the truth and you’re a big liar.”

Well hell, it was just a preview of what was to come. “Shut up.”

“Make me.”

He took a deep breath knowing one of them had to hold it together. “Let’s just settle down. There’s no need to get into a fight. You’d never win, brat, and you know it.” He knew he’d miscalculated badly when Samantha bristled at his condescending tone.

“Don’t be so damned patronizing, Ramsey. I’m not some dumb teenager you can order around anymore.”

Jake waited a moment, and then let out a heavy sigh. Hell, he knew she was a woman, a desirable woman and she was driving him mad.
Time to pull the plug on this half-assed romance and make her see him as he really was.
“Look, I know this is a rough way to find out. I’m here to haul your baby brother’s ass out of trouble. You might say his life depends on me. And, if you don’t want things to get complicated real fast, you’d better settle down.”

Chapter 7

Samantha thought she was going to faint when Jake’s words hit her.
I’m here to haul your baby brother’s ass out of trouble. You might say his life depends on me.
Only sheer force of will kept her standing on her feet as Jake cast a rueful look over her. She realized he was regretting the admission. He thought she’d known, and he was cursing himself for revealing the truth as he saw it, she could read it all in his eyes before he went granite on her again. What might it take to make him forget how to shut her out?
Probably a hell of a lot more than she had but she was feeling reckless.

Jake’s bit back a curse as he watched her.

She stared back at him knowing she needed to come up with a game plan fast. Planning was what she
did,
she could do this and save both of the men she loved. It hit her like a brick as she stared Jake down that she loved the stubborn guy, probably always had if she was honest with herself. That didn’t mean he was going to love her back but that was okay. First she had to establish the facts. “Just what do you think you have on Tad? And what kind of trouble was he allegedly in?”

“You didn’t know,” he said, sourly adding under his breath, “I shot my fucking mouth off, complicating things to no end, and you didn’t know.”

She placed her hands on his chest whether to push him away or hold him fast she didn’t know. All she knew was she needed to connect with him. When her hands flattened on his
pecs
, she felt the burn all the way inside her. But there wasn’t any lovelorn look on his hard face, only grim determination. He wasn’t just worried about
Tad,
maybe he was concerned about her. Maybe he cared a little. She let her hands drop to her sides breaking the connection so she could think straight and demanded, “Just what kind of trouble is Tad supposed to be in?”

He frowned. “There’s been a loss of technology from Logan Industries. We traced the loss down to a handful of people.”

“A handful of suspects,” she said, a faint smile curving her lips. He was jumping to conclusions as usual. “Doesn’t that show you it’s probably somebody else?”

He continued on implacably, “I intercepted an interoffice email from your brother about a drop at the boathouse.”

She had to admit, at least to herself, that did look bad, but there had to be a logical explanation. Tad was the golden child in her
family,
her dad’s favorite, and deeply loyal. There was no way he’d steal from the company he’d someday take over. “It could be someone else trying to frame him.”

Jake shook his head. “Who else would know about the old family vacation spot? No one in the family has used this place in years.”

“Lots of people probably know about it,” she said, bluffing her way out. There had to be some distant friends and family who knew. Even though her words were defiant she could see Jake sensed her own doubt.
Shit this doesn’t look good.
“So what do you plan to do?”

“I’m going to catch him in the act and read him the riot act
¼
”

Thank heavens.
Samantha let out a sigh of relief. If Tad did show up, and she didn’t think he would, she could reason with him.

“Then I’m going to turn him over to the FBI and wash my hands of the case.”

Samantha gasped as the words rolled off his lips. He couldn’t mean that. But a look at the determination on his face told her otherwise. “You can’t do that, Jake. If you’re right and Tad is involved, there has to be a logical explanation. He’s probably trying to find out who’s responsible for these thefts.”

Jake rolled his eyes. “Your kid brother is too busy having a social life to do anything that serious. The kid’s only six months out of college and still in frat-boy party mode for god’s sake.”

It was true but Tad would settle down and do his duty to the firm. “I know he’s still young but he’ll settle down and do his duty to the family. At least one of the kids should make my father proud. That’s why this is so ludicrous.”

“You’re grasping at straws, and you know it,” Jake said then added with a frown, “And you do too make your father proud. You’re both just too damned alike to see eye-to-eye on things.”

Samantha was warmed by Jake’s praise but knew better. She and her father had never gotten along and now with her botched nuptials, they never would. She also knew a diversionary technique when she heard one. Jake wasn’t going to sidetrack her that easily. “You don’t have to act like my brother’s innocence is such a farfetched idea.” Samantha raised her chin a notch. “I have absolute faith in my brother’s integrity.”

Jake gazed at the obstinate set of her chin. “You haven’t even been around for years. How do you know he’s so noble?”

“I just do.” Her militant expression softened. “Did you ask Tad what was going on?”

“And tip my hand?” He shook his head. “Now you see why I tried to get you to leave. You shouldn’t be here when this goes down, Samantha.
Especially now that somebody tried to run you off the road.”

His concerned tone got through to her like nothing else could. He was expecting trouble, maybe a shoot out. She already knew he was armed and dangerous. She knew he wouldn’t be met by Tad because there was no way she’d believe her brother guilty. No, there was some other nefarious character behind this. And Jake was here like a sitting duck. The man didn’t even have back-up according to Kathy. Fear for him outshone everything else.
“Oh my God.”
Her eyes widened. “You’re afraid of trouble, aren’t you?”

“I didn’t say that.”

Damn, but she could read him like a book. He was lying to her and doing a piss poor job of it.
Does he have a death wish?
Well there was no way she was letting him risk his neck. “You didn’t have to say it.”

He shrugged. “It’s a distinct possibility. That’s why I want you to leave and keep your mouth shut, brat,” he said, leaning into her.

He was back to calling her brat again, a sure sign he wanted to paddle her ass. Said ass was burning in anticipation but she wouldn’t be diverted by sex or the fact he was trying to scare her away.
“No way.
I’m not leaving,” she said, giving him a determined smile of her own. “I’m going to stay and look after my brother’s interests.”

His eyes flickered and he leaned in closer. “Samantha, I’m perfectly capable of looking after your brother.”

Umm, she loved the way he said her name, all rough and commanding but she wasn’t leaving. She rubbed against him seeing the pulse race in his throat, and a flicker of something dark and dangerous in his eyes. Oh yeah, she would get her way. “I know you can look after him but that’s not the point. I have a lot riding on this,” she said, feeling the rapid beat of his pulse against her sex.
Like maybe my whole future.

“I’m not the heartless bastard you take me for,” he said gruffly.

Hell, of course he was misinterpreting her resistance. It was par for the course in their relationship but this was too important for her to worry about his bruised male ego. “I never said you were.” Then he reached out to brush a wisp of hair off her flushed face and she melted. He had to care about her a little.

“A little time in the slammer just might straighten your brother out.”

His words burst the romantic bubble she was feeling making her try to push him away. The problem was he wouldn’t budge.

Jake frowned at the telling action and let his hand drop to his side. “However, I doubt if it would go that far. Your father wouldn’t want his son locked up.”

“No, he’d simply cut him off from the family and the business. Tad’s always been the apple of our father’s eye. He couldn’t stand the isolation. You can’t just throw him to the wolves. If you’re right and he is involved, there have to be some mitigating circumstances.”

“Drink, drugs, gambling, a woman.
Any one of them could be the catalyst for a man’s downfall. But they’re just excuses. A man has to be fundamentally weak to let them consume him.”

She wrinkled her nose reading between the lines. “From your tone, I can tell you’d never let yourself be that weak.”

He quirked an eyebrow in response to her scathing tone. “Drink, drugs, and gambling aren’t a problem. But a certain woman I know is driving me crazy right now.”

The feeling is mutual.
She glumly stared up at him. He was so implacable, so sure he was right. Was she fighting a losing battle? After all Ramsey took his marching orders from her dad, maybe he already knew and thought Tad was guilty too. It was a horrible thought but she had to know. “Does my father know what you’re up to?”

“He knows I’m here.”

Her heart leapt with joy at what Ramsey wasn’t saying. If her dad had given the orders Jake would tell her, wouldn’t he? Of course he would. “He doesn’t know you’re here laying in wait for Tad, does he?” she said victoriously.

“I didn’t see any reason to alarm him.” He frowned. “He knows Tad is on the short list of suspects. But I didn’t want to worry him because he has enough on his mind with marrying you off.”

She sucked in a breath at the reminder. With everything that happened
¼
colliding with then claiming Jake
¼
almost being the victim of road rage
¼
and now finding out her brother was a suspected felon
¼
her failed engagement paled in comparison. She watched Jake watching her reaction and saw a nerve pulse in his tight jaw and knew he was regretting the words. But she was glad of them. Jake Ramsey could be a ruthless so-and-so but she needed his snarky attitude to keep her eyes on the prize. “And what did Dad think about Tad being on the list?” She smiled when Jake hesitated as if surprised by her rapid recovery. Good, it would teach him not to underestimate her.

“He doesn’t believe it either.
Says a Logan wouldn’t cheat, especially his golden boy Tad.”

“He’s right. They’ve always been close. There’s no way that Tad would betray him.” Samantha flashed a victorious smile his way. “That should tell you that you’re pursuing the wrong man.”

 
“Possibly.
Whichever way it comes down, you shouldn’t be here when it happens. Now that I know you’re not involved, I need you to go home, if you agree to keep your mouth shut.”

She gasped. “Now that you know I’m not involved! So you thought I was in on the thefts.”

“I wasn’t sure. It was a pretty strange coincidence, you showing up here the other night.”

It put her rude welcome in perspective. He wasn’t so overcome with lust at seeing her that he couldn’t think straight. He’d thought she might be Tad’s accomplice.
Shit, he brought a gun to bed with us. Well I screamed and the safety was on the whole delightful time but it still counts against him. Ramsey needs someone to set him straight and I’m just the woman to do it.
“You ought to be happy I’m here. If you’re right and Tad shows up, I’m probably the only one he’d trust to talk to. Face it, Jake, you need me.”