Terms of Surrender (19 page)

More trust.

He softened his tone. “Do you always lie for your sister?”

For a moment, the tears in her eyes shimmered up at him, and then she scrubbed them away with the back of her hand. “She’s younger so I have to p’tect her.”

“I get that,” he responded. “Your daddy is my younger brother and I used to feel the same about him. But Lisa needs to learn some things for herself or she could get hurt.”

“I keep an eye out for her, Unca Gage.”

His heart shattered at the thought of the responsibility forced upon her at such a young age. “You’re too little to prevent her from doing something dangerous.”

“I tried to stop her.”

“It didn’t work, did it?” He hefted her back to her feet and stood up. “Come on. Help me stand up the beast and see what kind of damage there is.”

In the end, there’d been little damage to the bike.

No, the damage had all been internal.

Because when he entered the house, Laura in his arms, a smile widening her mouth, Harley looked at him with something new in her eyes—hope—and he knew this couldn’t last.

He’d been lucky so far.

A day or two with Harley and the twins underfoot was no test for a lifetime of trouble.

CHAPTER NINETEEN

Sex

’ex.

Kissy, kissy. Huggy, huggy.

Gage pushed away from the ominously silent table and tried not to feel guilty for his part in getting the twins into trouble. Across from him, Harley smiled at the girls, then slipped the last bite of hamburger and bun into her mouth.

She’d pulled a white spaghetti-strapped sundress over her hot pink bikini. Every time she reached across the table to help one of the twins, the top gaped open, her breasts threatened to spill out, and he stopped breathing.

Waiting.

Anticipating.

Wondering how the hell he’d allowed this woman to slip back into his life.

She was far more dangerous to his well being than coming face to face with a gun toting criminal. She tore him apart, made him want things he couldn’t have. Family, future, forever in her arms and bed.

He shifted on the chair, tried to ease the tightness in his jeans, and attempted to relax. “So what’s the plan for tonight? Maybe a good book and an early bedtime?”

She glanced at the silent girls and leaned forward, her forearms braced on the tabletop, the soft mounds of her breasts shifting dangerously close to exposure. “We need to talk.”

Gage started to sweat, forced his gaze back to her face, and her serious expression finally registered. “What about?”

“I’m ready to go home.”

Her words hit him square in the gut and he jerked upright on the chair. “
Hell, no way
.”

“Quarter,” Lisa whispered.

With a patient smile, Harley admonished the younger twin. “This is a no Laura and Lisa talking night, remember?”

Silence. Only nods as the twins acknowledged their punishment for the afternoon fiasco in the garage.

Harley turned back to face him. The heat in the kitchen escalated, the twins growing as still as they were silent, their big desperate eyes fixed on him as though they expected him to step in and stop her.

“I’ll take the girls with me, of course. Maybe I’ll even take some more time off work until we get this all sorted out.”

He nearly swore out loud again, then remembered the girls.

Fuck
. He had no right to keep her here, no right to pursue her, and yet he didn’t have the willpower to stay away. Double fuck. “Hell no.”

“Nother quarter,” Lisa whispered.

“Hush, sugarplum,” Gage said. He grabbed his plate and pushed to his feet. “You don’t have to leave.”

“Yes, I do.”

He opened his mouth to reply, snapping it shut when the back door swung open and banged against the wall.

His dad barged into the house, a long rectangle box in his arms, and slammed the door shut behind himself. “It’s hotter’n hell out there.”

Lisa poked her head under the table and whispered a barely audible, “Quarter.”

Harley reached under the table. “Sit back up, young lady.”

Annoyance at his dad’s interruption shot through Gage. With his dishes in hand, he stomped to the sink, tamping down the emotion as he noted the old man’s pasty complexion. “Dad, I wish you’d knock before barging in.”

“I haven’t knocked since you moved in here. What goddamn difference does it make now?”

“Quarter, quarter, quarter,” Lisa sang out at full volume.

Laura kicked her sister in the shin. Harley put her finger to her lips.

“The girls are here now. That’s the difference.” Gage kept his voice quiet. The old man couldn’t get ornery if he had no one to rile him up. “And you should call before you come over. Make sure it’s a good time to show up.”

“Good time for who?”

“For Harley. For the girls. For me, too.” Gage recognized the disbelief on his dad’s face. “This is my house, Dad. I make the rules here like you made the rules when I lived in your house.”

“Damn it, boy. Don’t treat me like a child. I’m free to do as I please.”

At the table, Harley and Laura simultaneously put their hands over Lisa’s mouth.

“Not in my house. Not anymore.” Gage turned and leaned back against the cupboard. “Oh, and one more rule you need to follow if you ever want to come back here again.”

“Always rules with you, boy.”

“Don’t swear in front of the girls.”

“If they don’t hear it from me, they’ll hear it from someone else,” the old man grumbled as he plopped down on an empty chair, shoved the box onto the table, and wiped the back of his shirt sleeve across his forehead. A frown on his face, he fixed his attention on the girls. “What’s wrong with you two? Cat got your tongues?”

“They’re being punished,” Harley explained as Gage moved to the table and collected her plate. She leaned back in her chair, a warm smile turning up the edges of her mouth as she met his gaze. “Complete silence till bedtime. Right, girls?”

The twins bobbed their heads up and down, and made the widest, toothiest grin Gage had ever seen on them.

The old man snorted. “In my day, punishment meant something. We punished kids with a spanking. You were supposed to be seen, not heard.”

Gage saw Harley stiffen, then felt extraordinarily proud of her as she raised her chin and remained calm.

“It’s a good thing we’re leaving, isn’t it?”

His good mood deflated. Damn, they were back to that. Gage gritted his teeth. “No, you’re not.”

The kitchen turned silent again. Outside, a car motor started. A dog barked. A fly buzzed at the screen, trying to get out of the heat and into the coolness of the house. Gage set the plates in the sink, searching for a way to relieve the tension in the room. His gaze lit on the box. “What’s that?”

Relief eased the lined features of his dad’s face. The old man poked at the edge of the box, sliding it closer to Harley. “Found it on your doorstep. Looks like flowers to me.”

She shook her head, pushed it back. “These can’t be for me.”

A pang of jealousy hit Gage. He crossed his arms over his chest. “Who’s sending you flowers? I thought you told me you didn’t have a boyfriend.”

“I don’t.” She pushed to her feet, gathered the box in her arms, and crossed the room. Setting the box on the counter, she glanced up at Gage, a twinkle in her eyes. “You sent them, right?”

If he’d known flowers would put that look in her eyes, he would’ve been tempted. Heart thundering, he shook his head and gave her a lopsided grin. “Sorry, honey. You’re looking at the wrong man.”

Her gaze skittered back to the box. A frown tugged between her eyebrows. “Are you sure?”

“I’d remember if I did.”

Disappointment wiped the glow from her face. “Romantic you’re not.”

Like a blow from his old man’s fist, guilt slammed into his gut. Okay, so he’d gotten his wish. Wiped that hero-worship expression off her face. Gage kept his expression carefully neutral. “Open the box, Harl.”

She brushed a hand through her hair, ruffling the edges, giving her a tousled look that reminded him of their encounter outside. Another rush of blood flooded his lower extremities.

Maybe it was better if she left and took the girls with her.

Although they’d already been through that scenario once and the ending hadn’t been pretty.

No, he was stuck with them and he knew it.

She glanced up, caught his eye, and gave him a smile. No come-hither arch of the brow. No tilt of the hip to catch his eye. Just a smile that said
I’m still your friend, even if you sometimes act like a jerk to get rid of me
.

He wanted to close the distance between them, grab her by the shoulders, and hang on tight. He wanted to kiss her again and see where it might lead. There were a lot of things he’d like to do with her tonight, but he wouldn’t do a single one of them.

Because he’d cause her nothing but trouble.

She fiddled with the string around the box, a grimace tightening her lips, delaying the moment of revelation, driving Gage crazy with curiosity. Finally, he opened the junk drawer and pulled out a pair of scissors. Careful not to touch her, he reached around her, cut the ribbon, and flipped back the lid.

A dozen or so long stemmed roses spilled out of the box, over the edge of the counter top, and onto the floor. Black roses. Shriveled up, dried up, dead black roses.

Harley stepped back and bumped into his chest.

Gage reached out to steady her and caught her by the upper arms. Way too conscious of the scent of sunscreen which clung to her soft skin, of the delicate bone structure that hid her inner strength, he let her go.

“Is there a card?” She nudged a stem off her bare foot, backed up another step into him and stayed there, pressed against his body where she’d be safe from everyone but him. Because, let’s face it, he wasn’t letting anyone get near enough to hurt her.

“Let’s not get our fingerprints all over the evidence.” Gage released her and dug through the cupboards for a pair of rubber gloves, pulled them on, and poked through the contents of the box. “Here we go.”

His dad sidled up beside him.

Harley pressed her hands against her cheeks and moved in to sandwich Gage between them. “If it’s a hate note from you-know-who, I don’t want to know.”

Gage glanced over his shoulder toward the girls at the table. “Are you two done eating?”

The girls bobbed their heads, their eyes huge, their mouths firmly zipped.

“Bring your plates to the sink and go get washed up.” As the twins grabbed their plates and rushed to the sink, Gage peeled back the flap of the envelope. “Harley, why don’t you go with them and make sure they don’t miss any spots?”

“No way. I’m staying right here.”

Gage paused. He didn’t want the girls to hear anything that might put Mike in a bad light. “Dad? Would you mind helping them?”

The old man walked away, his hands in fists. “Trust me when you need me. Is that what we’ve come to?”

Gage watched the girls silently push and shove at each other as they raced out of the kitchen, his dad shuffling behind, scolding them with a steady stream of don’t, don’t, don’t. Alone with Harley, he pulled out the card and flipped it open.

Beside him, she’d stopped breathing. “What?”

“I never thought they could be quiet for so long. I wonder if we could try the same punishment on my dad?”

She blew out a sound of annoyance. “Forget about them. What does it say? Who is it from? Is it bad?”

Gage pulled out the card and scanned the contents. “Yeah, it’s bad.”

“What? Show me. No, don’t.” She stepped away from him as though distance could save her. The color rushed from her face. “How do you know this is for me? Why couldn’t it be for you? Have you upset any crooks lately? Cut off any cars on the freeway? Pissed off your mailman? Maybe it’s hate mail from an old girlfriend.”

He reached for her, but she pushed his arms away, and stepped back. The loud crunch of dead petals came from beneath her bare feet.

She sprang away from the stem as though it had bit her. “Tell me what it says.”

Gage read the note and a chill raced up his spine. “
It should have been you, not my wife.
”

Face pale, she balanced on one foot while she brushed off crushed petals from the other.

The girls dashed into the room and threw their arms around Harley’s waist. She gathered them close, her gaze never leaving his face. “So what do we do now?”

He tucked the card back into the box, took his cell phone out of his pocket, and punched in Mike’s number. “We find the person who sent them.”

The call went straight to voice mail.

Gage turned his back on Harley and the girls, and met his dad’s concerned gaze. Into the phone, he said, “Hey man, it’s me. Call me when you get a minute. It’s urgent.”

As he hung up the phone, he scooped up the brittle rose off the floor, dropped it back into the box, and tied the lid on with the ribbon. “I’ll call Adam and get him to pick this up, take it to the station, and have it checked for fingerprints. I don’t want you or the girls left alone.”

“What about going home tomorrow?”

He turned to face her, keeping his voice deathly calm. “Looks like you won’t be going anywhere without me for a little while.”

CHAPTER TWENTY

While Gage talked to Adam outside and passed over the box of flowers to him, Harley bathed the girls and tucked them into bed. Moments after their heads touched the pillows, they were fast asleep.

She headed into the bathroom for a shower.

The flowers played heavily on her thoughts as did Gage’s last words.

Looks like you won’t be going anywhere without me.

She didn’t fear Mike, at least, not very much. He wouldn’t really hurt the girls or her.

Would he?

Harley climbed out of the shower, and slipped on a cool cotton sundress and a pair of white panties. She poked her head into the girls’ bedroom and confirmed they were still sleeping like the little angels they were not. Hoping for a drift of a cool breeze, she opened the bedroom window, left the door ajar, and returned to the living room to wait for Gage.

Soon, she heard him enter the house, his footsteps quiet. She stood, more worried than she’d ever admit to being. “Well? What did Adam say?”