“Yes,” Jack and Deke said in unison in voices that indicated they weren’t backing down.Kimber sighed. She hated being coddled and hidden away, but doing it kept Logan, and now Hunter, free to watch over Dad, rather than standing guard over her…just in case.“Fine. You win.”After dropping another kiss on her dad’s cheek and getting a stiff half hug from Hunter, Kimber allowed Deke to escort her out the door.On the way out, they crept through the hospital, taking a different route. It whipped them past the hotel’s gift shop, complete with current magazines and newspapers. And there on the front was a picture of her and Jesse the night he’d announced their engagement onstage in Houston. The headline screamed “Is the Wedding Off?”Before Deke could drag her away, she slipped into the store and grabbed the magazine and started skimming. The pictures themselves showed him smiling—almost frantically so—and denying the breakup, insisting she was “the one.” There was a brief news item abou
Kimber’s heart all but stopped. “Ohmigod. Is he in custody now?”“Absolutely. Hunter is down with the police. At the moment, he’s denying the bomb, but he’s been made. I think it’s just a matter of time before he ‘fesses up.What else can he do?”“Yeah,” she murmured. And all sorts of implications raced through her brain.Someone had tried to kill her dad. He was not only alive, but conscious and out of danger. She was out of danger. They could leave the swamp. Today! No more hiding or worrying or…Staying under one roof with Deke 24/7. He loved her, he claimed, but he wasn’t ready to be with her. Just her. She either had to decide to leave him or stay and hope that things between them—the three of them—changed. But she couldn’t think about that now. Today had to be about Dad.“This is great news, all of it! It’s like someone poured miracle juice on us.” Her voice cracked; she couldn’t keep it together.“You okay, sis?” She could hear the frown in Logan’s voice. “It’s not like you to
He wasn’t close enough, deep enough. He had to envelop her, fill her. Easing his arms over her shoulders, between her back and the mattress, he lifted her chest against his and pressed in. Panting, frantic, fucking on fire, he fused their mouths together and surged deep into her once more. She responded again with a jerk and a groan. And still, it wasn’t enough. It never would be.Hard, fast, the slick slide of his flesh over—into—hers was both heaven and hell.Exquisite torture. Every rasp of her clasping cunt sent him careening closer to oblivion. She was everything he’d ever wanted, never believed existed or that he deserved. And he wasn’t leaving this bed until she exploded in orgasm and shouted a hoarse cry in his name.“Deke,” Luc’s voice broke into the wild rhythm of his shuttling in and out of her.“Deke!”“What?” he snarled.“Be gentle.”Gentle? Shit!Deke thundered a heavy stare down at Kimber. His gaze met her dilated hazel eyes and an arc of electricity zinged right up his
“I need to grab a few things at the store. Can I borrow your car keys?” With a frown, he agreed. “Could you be back by six? I need to put in an appearance at a restaurant downtown tonight.”With a nod and a gutful of relief, Kimber escaped the quiet house—too packed with memories for comfort—and drove.It didn’t take her long to pick up some supplies. Picking out the get well/I miss you card for her dad was easy. Securing a new cell phone didn’t take long, either.She called Logan and Hunter to check in, and they said Dad would be released day after tomorrow.She even had the opportunity to talk to him for a few short minutes.Ecstatic about his quickly recovering health, Kimber picked up the rest of the items on her mental list, trying to push away the reality of it all.Kimber returned to Luc’s house a little after five.Looking sinfully sexy with his long hair loose, charcoal slacks, and a long white linen shirt, he pressed a lingering kiss to her cheek. “I won’t be gone long. Can
“At least this makes so many things clear. You took up ménages after Heather’s death, didn’t you? Then if any woman got pregnant, you always had another man to blame.”She’d figured him out fast. Exactly. She was exactly—Wait!His gaze snapped over to Luc. “Maybe you’re the baby’s father. Maybe—”“I’d love to take responsibility for this.” Luc dropped to his knees in front of Kimber, lifted her T-shirt, and placed a gossamer kiss on her still-flat belly. Deke waited for the relief. And waited. But watching Luc’s reverence as he stroked a soft hand over Kimber’s stomach, he could only feel sick at the thought of his cousin creating life inside his woman. The possibility made him want to retch and break something at the same time.Then Luc stood and looked at him with not just sadness, but tragedy in his dark eyes. “But I can’t take responsibility, Deke. The baby can’t be mine.”“You fucked her, too. Both of us did.”“True.” Luc crossed the room and sat beside him, clapped a hand across
Damn, the man could flat out kiss. The finesse…wow. The way he raked his tongue across the roof of her mouth sent a shiver through her. Then he nibbled erotically on her lip. A tilt of his head later, and the kiss changed, deepened, as he swept through. He had full command of her mouth now, and she tingled, felt…taken. It would be easy to melt against him. But it would give him false hope.She pulled away. “I’ll be leaving in the morning.” Luc’s fingers tightened in her hair, and he looked like he wanted to argue.Instead, he gritted his teeth and released her. “Where will you go?”“I need to check in with my brothers. My dad should be coming home from the hospital soon, and they’ll bring him to Logan’s place when he’s released. They’ll need my help. My place isn’t too far from his, and my poor neglected apartment…Bet all my houseplants are dead.”“Will you leave me a number? I want to be with you. I want to be as involved as you’ll let me.”She smiled. “Sure. I have no doubt I’ll ne
“Damn it… What do you think? Is he guilty?”“Could go either way. But my gut…he didn’t set the bomb.”“So we could still have a psycho out there after Dad?”“Or after you. While you were in the swamp, we got a couple of phone calls on Dad’s cell, some guy asking where you were and how to find you. He always used private, untraceable numbers and never talked long. I never knew if he was a reporter or a criminal.”She frowned. Surely, he was overreacting. It had to be the press trying to get ahold of her and bite into the big juicy story of her and Jesse’s busted relationship, which seemed like a lifetime ago now…. She’d assumed about all the unavailable calls and mute voice mails on her cell phone were all members of the press, too.“I haven’t made any enemies.”“That you know of.”True. Kimber sighed. But unlikely. Had to be the pesky press not knowing when to leave a story alone. “Go with me to the hospital later today, just in case?”“Yeah. Let me know what time. Could I…” He hesita
“Why are you trying to make everything better between Kimber and me?” Deke turned his attention back to his cousin. “To make up for manipulating us? To get closer to the baby?”Luc closed his eyes. “I deserved that. I…influenced you both to get what I want. I thought it was in everyone’s best interest, not just mine. Now, I’m trying to talk some sense into you purely for your own good. Like you said a few days ago, I regard you as a brother. You should be happy. You deserve it after all this time and shit.”Deke swallowed. That was probably the nicest thing Luc could have said to him in that moment. He wanted to believe it. He almost did… “Thanks.”At one o’clock, Kimber sat on the patio of her favorite deli. The area was shaded by live oak trees and bordered a quiet side street, which would help with privacy.She plucked at the tank top wilting against her skin, hoping that the heat would ensure that if they were gawked at, it would be purely through windows in the deli’s cool interi