UnderFire (7 page)
Authors: Denise A. Agnew
“This reception rocks.” The young woman standing next to
Jake batted her gunked-up blue eyes at him as the wedding reception burst into
full swing.
The disc jockey put on a ballad but no one was dancing yet.
Jake knew he had to dance with Kathleen, and he was happy and sad about the
idea.
The reception at the hotel had started twenty minutes ago
and he’d spent part of that time in a reception line with Kathleen next to him.
She’d spoken to him during the wedding, and walking down the aisle with her on
his arm had stirred unwanted feelings of possession. He wanted more time with Kathleen
McSwain, and she had barely given him the time of day. Oh she was pleasant
enough but her greeting lacked warmth and so did her gaze. She’d shut him out,
and he couldn’t blame her. Wasn’t it better this way?
“I’m Talia Duncan.” The woman pushed back a long toss of
messy platinum-blonde hair.
“Jake Frasier.” He held out his hand and shook hers. “You
didn’t go through the reception line.”
“Nah. I was late. I’m the daughter of wedding planner. I’m
helping her out.”
“Oh. I see.”
He returned the woman’s grin and her cheeks went pink. She
looked all of twenty-one and she’d worn a low-necked, sleeveless pink dress
that was at least a size too small. It clung to her curvy body in intriguing
ways, and she acted as if she knew it.
She turned full toward him and he felt her gaze latch on to
him. “Wait. You’re that guy. One of the brothers who kicked ass in the mall on
Tuesday.”
He couldn’t restrain a laugh. “What?”
“Yeah. I saw it in the paper.” She shrugged. “The online
edition. You guys are heroes.”
“I haven’t watched the news or read any papers the last few
days.”
“It’s all over the place.” Before he could deflect her
praise, she shifted closer to him. “Think you could introduce me to your
brothers? They’re both hot.” She looked him over. “You’re not too bad either.”
He made a half-laughing, half-strangled sound.
Before he could escape with some excuse, the disc jockey
made the announcement that the wedding party would dance directly after the
bride and groom. Patrick and Danelle went onto the floor and a love song
started.
“Hope you’ll dance with me,” Talia said, licking her lips.
“I think the groomsman has to dance with me first,” Kathleen
said from behind them.
He swung around and so did Talia. He wanted to thank
Kathleen but her straight face didn’t appear amused.
Talia planted her hands on her hips. “I know that.”
He almost rolled his eyes. If he didn’t know better he’d
think these women had decided to fight over him.
“Yep, that’s right.” He smiled at Kathleen but she walked
away without another word.
Talia smirked, hands still on hips. “Man, she looked pissed.
Is she your girlfriend?”
He knew the answer right away. “Yes. I’d better go talk to
her.”
Before he could escape Talia, two other people in the crowd
waylaid him to ask questions relating to the mall incident. Talia and the other
two women hung on his words, and he didn’t feel comfortable with it. He smiled
and answered their questions.
Relief came when the disc jockey announced the wedding party
dance. Jake excused himself from the conversation and went looking for
Kathleen. When he approached her as she stood talking with a couple, she didn’t
smile. He ached with a desire to change her expression. It didn’t matter
because he would drive out of here tomorrow. He craved her in his arms and this
one dance would be his last opportunity.
He held out his hand. “Ready to dance?”
She hesitated and glanced over at the rest of the wedding
party—they’d already entered the floor and started dancing.
She slipped her hand into his and a jolt of longing hit him
straight in the gut. He ached to connect with her at least one more time.
“All right,” she said, her voice so soft he almost couldn’t
hear it.
He drew her onto the dance floor. The slow song was sultry
and sexy. As their movements flowed together, her breasts and hips brushed
against him. He gritted his teeth.
Fuck. Just what I need. A hard-on
.
Her eyebrows went up and her lips parted. Oh yeah. She had to feel that.
Under the music she said, “When do you leave tomorrow?”
Not what he expected her to say. “Probably around six. I
want to get an early start.”
“Of course.”
Was it his imagination or did her voice and eyes hold
sadness? An ache started in him that had nothing to do with his cock. Yeah, she
was driving him out of his mind.
“Jake, I need to talk to you,” she said.
Surprised, he said, “About what?”
“About the way we left things.” Contrition colored her
voice.
His arm tightened around her waist as they moved in slow,
sensuous rhythm to the love song.
“What else can we say? We don’t see eye to eye,” he said.
“Of course we don’t see everything eye to eye. No one does.
Please, Jake.”
He drew in a deep breath. If nothing else he owed her a
clean break, and they couldn’t do that in the middle of the dance floor. Her
hand smoothed over his chest and he felt it in his heart.
“Let’s meet up after the reception.”
“Stop by my hotel again?”
“All right.”
She smiled as the song got louder. “If there’s one thing we
still have between us, Jake, it’s heat.”
He couldn’t stop a smile. “That’s for damn sure.”
But it just wouldn’t be enough.
* * * * *
Kathleen paced the hotel room floor. She’d tried to tell
herself that if Jake was willing to meet with her, that had to be good. At
least if he turned away from her forever they’d still leave this relationship
on a good note. She’d changed from her bridesmaid dress into jeans and a long-sleeved
t-shirt. Nothing sexy. She didn’t want him to think she planned to seduce him.
Nope. That wasn’t going to happen, unfortunately.
When a knock came on the door, she jumped. She hurried over,
checked the peephole. She opened the door for Jake. Of course he looked
wonderful in a coat, blue sweater and jeans, as always. He walked in with a
serious expression firmly planted on his face, as if someone had relayed bad
news. Regret pierced her like a knife.
He shoved his hands in his pockets. “So. What did you want
to talk about?”
“Take off your coat. Want something to drink?”
He stripped off his coat and placed it over the chair. “I’m
good, thanks.”
God, this felt weird. And she was tired of pretending it
wasn’t. “This is awkward.”
His expression warmed, a gentle smile touching his lips
before he sat in the chair. “Yeah.”
She rubbed her hands together, nervous as hell. “The way
things ended between us the other night… I’m sorry.”
“Me too.”
Okay, so he didn’t like the way it ended either but his
voice and face were bleak.
“I screwed up, Jake. I hope you can forgive me.”
“Screwed up how?”
“Should be obvious, shouldn’t it?” She paced the room a
little and rubbed her hands together once more. “You were right. I do tend to
treat all men with distrust. When Rick said he didn’t want to get married ever
and I saw Lena’s face, I felt bad for her. I felt like Rick was being a jerk.
But then maybe he really feels that way.”
His gaze softened, understanding flooding his eyes. “Of
course you don’t want to see her hurt. Sometimes Rick opens his big mouth and
inserts his foot. I think he needs a woman to shake him up. Make him see that he
can’t get away with being a dumbass about people’s feelings.”
Surprised by the vehemence in his voice, she asked, “You
think he’s insensitive?”
“He can be. Do you think Lena would like him if he was that
bad?”
“I don’t know. I mean, every woman I’ve known has fallen in
love one time with a man who isn’t good for her.”
His attention went laser sharp. “Is that what happened with
you? Your father was an ass to you and another man broke your heart?”
She shook her head and closed her eyes for a moment. “No…I…”
How could she tell him what she’d just discovered herself? “It’s not all right
that I treated you that way. I know you’re not my father.”
He stood, and as he approached her she stood her ground. He
was close enough she could smell his delicious scent. “You’re a wonderful
woman, Kathleen. You’re strong, and you put up with a lot from your family. And
it hasn’t been that long since your sister passed away.”
She swallowed hard, battling emotions still tender enough to
bring tears to her eyes. “I couldn’t help her. Sometimes I think I could have.”
He stepped forward and cupped her shoulders. “No, you couldn’t
have helped her any more than you did. You tried your best but she made the
choices. Sometimes we can’t help people. We can’t fix them.”
God, she knew that. She
really
knew it. Convincing
her emotions to accept what she understood intellectually took hard work.
“I admire how you turned out. You’re a great person,
Kathleen. All that shit against you and you could have let it beat you down
forever. Instead you stood up and fought.”
Her eyes filled with tears. “God, Jake. You always know what
to say.” He pulled her into his arms and brought her against his chest. “Crap.
I’ve cried way too much the last few days. Weddings suck.”
Jake laughed. “Yeah right. This is coming from a woman who
wants to be a wedding planner.”
“Maybe I should rethink my idea.”
“You gotta do what makes you happy.” His eyes filled with a
passionate conviction. “Anything less… It just isn’t worth it.”
Something profound broke loose inside her but not in a bad
way. She was uplifted, brought to the surface after a long time with water over
her head. Clouds parted and she could see land ahead. “You’re right, Jake. How
did you get to be so damned smart?”
“Huh. If I was so smart, I wouldn’t have left things the way
they were all those years ago.”
She wiped her eyes with one hand as tears dried and new hope
surfaced. “We were just kids. We didn’t know jack.”
He pressed his forehead against hers. “That’s true. When I
left Constitution for the military I didn’t think we’d ever stand here like
this. That I would have made love with you.” His gaze swept her with clear
admiration and undeniable heat. “You don’t need a man to validate you. You’re
perfect as you are, Kathleen McSwain, and don’t ever forget it.”
She smiled as a wave of affection and longing hit her. “Thank
you. I know you weren’t trying to control me, and I apologize for treating you
the way I did.”
“I overreacted. I didn’t realize how deeply you’ve been hurt
by what happened in the past. Of course you’d think I was ordering you around.
I didn’t think before I spoke.”
She drew in a deep breath and spread her palms across his
wide chest, savoring what she could of his masculine warmth before he left her
for good. She still heard goodbye in his voice, and that hurt more than she
could have imagined. “Thanks for understanding.”
She would have pulled away but he drew her closer. “Was I
imagining things at the wedding? Were you jealous of that woman who was hitting
on me?”
She laughed softly. “Which woman? There were a few drooling.”
He snorted. “Talia. I was talking to her when you walked up
and mentioned the dance.”
“Right.” She heaved a short breath. “Yes, I was jealous. But
that’s wasted emotion, isn’t it? It never solves anything.” Amusement shoved
aside the building sadness inside her. “When we were dancing you seemed happy
to see me.”
He laughed. “Yeah. I was.” He slipped his fingers into her
hair. “I still am.”
She winced, not from physical pain but from knowing he would
leave tomorrow. Tonight. “Jake, I—”
He kissed her.
Heat burst under her skin as a wave of desire caught her up.
She grabbed at him and his touch was just as greedy. Their mouths mated with
urgency, his tongue thrusting deep to taste her in a carnal kiss. He drew her against
him, his arms secure, warm, and the sensuality of his touch undeniable.
He broke away but his arms stayed around her and his lips
touched her forehead. “God, I don’t want to leave all this.”
“Neither do I, but what do we do? You’re leaving for Fort Carson.
I’m going back to California.”
He placed one tender kiss to her forehead and another to her
nose. “You said you might come back to Arizona.”
An idea came alive in her mind. “What if we…if
I
visited you down at the fort sometimes? On holidays or something? Jake, I don’t
want this to end here.”
Heat flared in his eyes and she knew she’d lit a spark. “It
doesn’t have to. Kathleen, I’ve always wanted you. I feel this connection, I
feel if I walked away from you now I’d be making a huge mistake.”
Happiness flared in her heart, a promise of a future
blossoming on the horizon. “We can make this work, Jake. We can.”
His eyes burned with a hope that stirred excitement in her
body and mind. His mouth found hers again and she knew they’d made a new
beginning forged with an understanding deeper than anything she’d known. Maybe
even love.
When he finally pulled back from the kiss he said, “Let’s
make tonight count, and every night after that. I want to be with you,
Kathleen.”
Happiness moved aside her fears, giving her a new sense of
direction and the strength to go forward with him every step of the way. “Yes.
Yes.”
The End
Suspenseful, erotic, edgy, thrilling, romantic, adventurous.
All these words are used to describe award-winning, bestselling novelist Denise
A. Agnew’s novels.
Romantic Times Magazine
called her romantic suspense
novels
Dangerous Intentions
and
Treacherous Wishes
“top-notch
romantic suspense”. With paranormal, time travel, romantic comedy,
contemporary, historical, erotica and romantic suspense novels under her belt,
she proves her gift for writing about a diverse range of subjects. (Writing
tales that scare the reader is her ultimate thrill.)
Denise’s inspiration for her novels comes from innumerable
sources, but the fact that she has lived in Colorado, Hawaii and the United
Kingdom has given her a lifetime of ideas. Her experiences with archaeology
have crept into her work, as well as numerous travels throughout England,
Ireland, Scotland and Wales. Denise currently lives in Arizona with her real
life hero, her husband.
Denise welcomes comments from readers. You can find her
website and email addresses on her
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Denise
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By
Honor Bound
anthology
Deep
is the Night 2: Night Watch
Deep
is the Night 3: Haunted Souls
Ellora’s
Cavemen: Dreams of the Oasis II
anthology
Ellora’s
Cavemen: Tales from the Temple IV
anthology
Special
Investigations Agency: Clandestine
Special
Investigations Agency: Hideaway
Special
Investigations Agency: Impetuous
Special
Investigations Agency: Primordial
Special
Investigations Agency: Shadows and Ruins
Special Investigations
Agency: Sins and Secrets
Ellora’s Cave Publishing
Under Fire
ISBN 9781419948220
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
Under Fire Copyright © 2014 Denise A. Agnew
Edited by Ann Leveille
Cover design by Syneca & MichelleB
Cover photography by CURAphotography, conrado, Dmitrijs
Bindemanis/shutterstock.com
Electronic book publication January 2014
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