LITMIR.BIZ

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and Kelly knew that he knew what she was up to. But it didn’t seem to matter. He shrugged and started talking. “There are three of them. Travis, Deke and J.T. We’ve been together for a long time. Long enough that we can each tell what the others are thinking.”

      “You’re good friends,” she said, judging more from the warmth in his tone than his words.

      “The best,” he agreed, giving her a soft smile. “But it’s more than that. We’re family.”

      Family. He said the single word as if it was sacred, and she knew how much that meant to him. The last time they were together, he hadn’t talked much about his childhood, but he’d said enough for her to know it hadn’t been an easy one. She knew he’d grown up mostly in an orphanage before being placed in a foster home when he was in his late teens. But by then, it was too late for him to forge any kind of a bond with a family situation.

      He was too much his own man. Even then. Kelly had no trouble at all imagining what he’d been like at sixteeen. Tall, good-looking, with shadows in his eyes and a way of holding himself apart from everyone around him.

      Which pretty much described him as he was now. Except with her. And Emily.

      And the realization of that hit her hard. Family was all-important to Kelly, and she’d grown up in the loving arms of four overbearing brothers.

      Though their parents were gone now, killed in a traffic accident five years ago, the five of them remained close. If family meant so much to her, what would it mean to a man who’d never really known it before?

      “We’ve been in some hairy situations,” he was saying, and Kelly forced herself to pay attention. To keep her mind from wandering down dangerous paths. “But each of us knows the others are there to watch his back.”

      “Tell me,” she said, wanting him to keep talking, loving the sound of his voice and knowing that as long as he was talking about work, the conversation wouldn’t go places she wasn’t ready for. “Tell me about a typical mission.”

      He choked out a laugh. “There’s no such thing as a typical mission. Every one is different.” His gaze shuttered. “And I can’t really talk about what I do, anyway.”

      “Can’t or won’t?” she asked. “Both, I guess,” he said, trying to be as honest as possible. “I wouldn’t want to, even if I could. But most of what we do is secret. You know the old joke, ‘I could tell you, but then I’d have to kill you.”’

      “Charming,” she said, and took another sip of wine.

      “It’s not an easy job,” he continued, locking his gaze with hers. “But it’s an important one. And I’m good at it.”

      “I believe you are,” she murmured, watching him. Even at rest, his body was tight, as if some inner core of him were coiled, ready to spring loose into action. She had no trouble at all imagining him stealing covertly into danger and Kelly knew one thing for sure. If she were ever in trouble, hoping for rescue, she’d want a man like Jeff Hunter to be sent in after her.

      “But I don’t want to talk about the job tonight,” he said. “You talk for a while.”

      “About what?” She didn’t have anything exciting to say. No great adventures to share. She lived an ordinary life.

      “About you. Emily. Your brothers.” She laughed at the tightness in his voice there at the end. “Believe it or not, they’re pretty great, for brothers,” she added as a caveat. “We were always a close family, but since our folks died a few years ago, we’ve gotten even tighter. Except for those occasions when I have to fight tooth and nail to remind them that I’m all grown up and can take care of myself.” He gave her a slow smile. “It’s nice, though,” she said thoughtfully, “having them there to count on. Our mom always told us, ‘Family comes first,’ and she was right. Come hell or high water, even when they irritate me beyond belief—” she paused and shook her head gently “—they’re there when I need them. Just as I am for them. And that’s a gift.”

      “Yeah,” he said, his voice even tighter now. “It is.”

      There was something else here. Something beyond wanting to listen to her talk about her family. She just wasn’t sure what exactly it was. So, trying to lighten the moment, she said, “Boy, you must be desperate for me to talk if you’re even willing to talk about them.”

      He gave her a half smile and lifted one shoulder in a quick shrug. “We didn’t exactly get off to a great start, your brothers and me. But I understand where they’re coming from.” “You do, huh?”

      “You bet,” he said, sitting up again and resting one forearm on his upraised knee. “If some clown comes dancing around Emily and leaves her alone and pregnant—” he shook his head at the thought, and the grim set of his mouth told Kelly how he’d finish that statement before he spoke and confirmed it “—I’ll hunt him down like a dog.”

      Though a part of her warmed to hear him speak so protectively of Emily, another part—the independent heart of her, had to say something. “Jeff, you didn’t leave me alone and pregnant.”

      “Yeah, I did.”

      “Neither of us knew when you left.”

      “Doesn’t change the facts, does it?” He tossed the last of his champagne down his throat, set the glass down and stood up. Feet braced wide apart, arms folded across his chest, he stood staring out at the black ocean, and his gaze locked on the silvery trail of moonlight that stretched out into eternity.

      Kelly set her own glass down and stood up to join him. Standing directly in front of him, she placed both hands on the corded muscles of his forearms and looked up into his face. She kept staring at him until he lowered his gaze to hers.

      In the glow of the moonlight, she saw the shadows in his eyes darken and gather and she wasn’t sure if it was anger or pain. All she knew was that she wanted to ease those shadows back.

      “You didn’t know,” she repeated, her voice firm.

      His jaw worked and she could almost hear his teeth grinding. “Like I said, that doesn’t change the facts, does it?”

      “And I wasn’t alone,” she pointed out. “I wouldn’t think I’d have to remind you of that. The guys have been ‘dropping by’ on you all week while you’ve been watching Emily.”

      In fact, the Rogan brothers had made a point of checking up on Jeff. Not a day went by that one of her brothers hadn’t been at her house when she got home from work. And though the week had started out rough, by Friday, even Kevin had warmed up some toward Jeff.

      And Kelly wasn’t sure which was better—them liking Jeff or not liking him? Either way, her brothers had plenty to say to her about him.

      “No, you weren’t alone,” he admitted, and unfolded those arms to pull her in close. “But I wasn’t there. And I should have been.”

      Exasperation kicked in. Talk about a hard head. “Are you going to beat yourself up over this for the next twenty or thirty years?” “What do you expect?” “I expect you to get over it. Emily’s here. My pregnancy is long done and everyone’s fine.”

      He moved one hand to cup her cheek. “Yeah, and that’s something else.”

      She blew out a breath, and the curls on her forehead danced. “What?”

      “I missed seeing you pregnant.”

      Kelly laughed shortly. Frankly, she was more than grateful that he hadn’t seen her at her biggest. Call it vanity, but she knew darn well she’d been as big as a house.

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