Bitter Wild (23 page)

“Hey,
Chance. I should have known you’d be right by your mistress’s side.”

Jack
straightened and Chance came back to Casey. She cleared her throat and motioned
toward the chair directly across the table from her.

“Why
don’t you sit down?”

Jack
moved toward the chair, again glancing between her and John. He stopped at the
chair, started to sit, then straightened again.

“Look,
could we talk alone?”

She saw
John tense. Casey reached out to touch his arm, drawing his gaze to her. “I’ll
be okay.”

He
didn’t want to go. He didn’t want to leave her side when he knew her emotions
had already been stretched to the breaking point. He wouldn’t argue with her,
though. At least she hoped he wouldn’t. She watched as he took a step toward
Jack.

“Don’t
you dare hurt her.”

Casey
ached for the pain she heard in her brother’s voice. He was so angry with Jack
because he knew she loved him and that she’d been broken hearted when he turned
his back on her. She reached for her brother as he walked past her. He caught
her hand and bent to kiss her cheek.

“You
call if you need me.”

 She
nodded, then wiped at the moisture in her eyes as he walked away. She heard his
bedroom door close quietly and then lifted her gaze to Jack as he spoke.

“He
loves you very much.”

Casey
nodded. “Yes, he does. I don’t know how I would have survived the past year and
a half without him.”

“I do
too, you know.”

Casey
froze. She had no trouble seeing emotion in his eyes now. They were full of it.
He still hadn’t sat down. He was standing there, his hands clasping and
unclasping at his side, his eyes almost boring into her as he poured everything
he felt into his gaze.

“I
think I’ve loved you from the moment you jabbed me in the chest with your
finger and told me they’d never find my body if I killed your dog.”

Casey
couldn’t draw the breath to speak. She shook her head, almost afraid to believe
he was actually saying what her ears were hearing. He moved then, coming toward
her and sitting on the corner of the table right beside the tray of food. He
reached out, grasping one of her hands as if he was afraid she’d try to get up
and run away.

“I know
it’s crazy. God, we couldn’t be less alike if we came from different planets.
But the fact is, I love you and I think you love me, too. And in the end,
that’s all that matters. We can find a way to deal with everything else.”

His
gaze shifted to the door John had disappeared through, then came back to her.

“If you
love him, tell me so and I’ll go. But I need to hear you say it. I need to know
there’s no chance at all for us or I’ll go insane wondering what might have
been.”

Casey
was now too shocked to speak. She blinked as her mind slowly grasped what Jack
was thinking, what he must have been thinking from the moment they’d met. She
shook her head, tightening her grip on his hand when he misunderstood and
started to pull away.

“You
must be the biggest idiot in the world.”

Jack
blinked in surprise. Whatever he’d expected, this wasn’t it. Of course, he
never even dreamed of the next stunner she dropped on him.

“John
is my
brother
.”

Jack figured,
at that moment, a light breeze would have knocked him over. He stared at her,
half wondering if maybe he’d imagined that she’d just told him the man he’d
spent the past three months being jealous of was her brother. Maybe she’d said
lover. The two words were close enough that he might have misunderstood, if he
were in the middle of a hurricane, in the pitch black, with a half dozen jet airplanes
flying rings around his head. He shook his head.

“You
don’t look anything alike.” So much for wit. Stating the obvious was starting
to be a real problem when he was in her presence.

“No, we
don’t.”

Jack
finally started believing it. He thought back on every moment he’d seen the two
of them together, every interaction, and it all made perfect sense. Everything
except his own idiotic determination to deny himself the woman he loved.

“Okay,
so I’m an idiot. But I still love you.”

Casey
was afraid to let the emotion in her heart out. This was everything she’d been
wanting since the moment she realized she loved him. She was wary, though,
afraid of where it might take them both.

“Jack,
I don’t know what to say. I thought I did, but now I’m not sure.”

“I am.
I’ve spent every second since I left you being miserable. In my entire life,
I’ve never felt about any woman the way I feel about you. That day on the
cliff, when I saw you go over that edge I could have sworn my heart turned to
stone in my chest. I was so afraid you were dead, so horrified by the idea that
you’d done it for me. I don’t know what would have happened if you hadn’t
survived. I don’t think I could have lived with it. Hell, I don’t think I can
live without you at all. I’m at peace with you. You fill some void inside me
that I didn’t even know was there. Every day, I wake up wondering what you’re
doing. I wonder if you think about me. I wonder if you hate me for leaving
you.”

He
shook his head. “I thought I was being noble. I figured John could give you
something I couldn’t. He was from your world. He already fit into it. I told
myself that’s what you needed, but I was wrong. Because I love you more than
anyone or anything in this world. I would have died for you that day. I was
ready to let Jester kill me, if it would give John and Stan a chance to save
you. And it wasn’t a job or a duty. It was a need to make sure you would be
safe, to protect you from that bastard by any means necessary. I love you,
Casey. Please tell me you haven’t stopped loving me.”

Casey
couldn’t stand it any longer. Tears had come into her eyes and she reached out
for him, needing to feel his arms around her. He dropped to his knees on the
floor in front of her and pulled her to his chest.

“I was
so sure you didn’t want me. I knew you weren’t looking for any kind of
commitment, especially with someone like me. I told myself I didn’t care, that
I’d take you on your terms and never regret it, but it broke my heart when you
left without a word.”

Jack
leaned back to feather kisses across her face. “Forgive me for being so cruel.”
He looked into her eyes. “If you’ll trust me with your heart again, I swear
I’ll never, ever give you reason to regret it. I’ll never hurt you like that
again, Casey. I’d rather die than cause you pain.”

He
kissed her and Casey let go of all the grief that had plagued her for so long.
This was where she belonged, in Jack Hall’s arms. No matter where he was, she
would make her home at his side. When he pulled away from her several seconds
later, they were both breathless. He looked into her face, his hands stroking
her hair.

“I have
missed you so much.”

“Me,
too. And just so there’s no doubt. I do love you, Jack. And I’ll go wherever
you go. I’ll move here, though we’ll have to find someplace where Chance can
run. And then there’s Bullet, I can’t leave him behind.”

Jack
laid a finger against her lips to silence her. “You won’t move anywhere. I’ve
seen you in those woods. They’re a part of your soul. I would never take them
away from you. I may be a city boy, but I’ll learn to live in the country.”

Casey
frowned. “Oh, Jack, you’ll go crazy. I’ve told you before, there’s nothing to
do. No current movies, no restaurants to speak of.”

“I
haven’t been to a movie or a show in the past three months and the only
restaurants I’ve frequented are ones that provide takeout. I found out in a
hurry that none of it meant anything to me. I thought I loved the city, but the
truth is, it was just busy enough to keep me from realizing how lonely I was.
The only thing I want is you.”

He
kissed her again and Casey couldn’t hold back her tears. He kissed her closed
eyes, wiping at the tears falling down her cheeks. She wanted to stay in his
arms forever, to just revel in his kiss and his embrace. But she couldn’t
forget the reason she’d come to Washington in the first place. She leaned away
from him and Jack let her go.

“Jack,
there’s something else I need to tell you.”

Jack
heard the tension in her voice and felt his stomach clench in response. She met
his gaze, twining her fingers with his.

“I
didn’t really come to Washington to get the award. I came to see you, to tell
you something.”

She paused,
clearly unsure of what to say next. She drew a deep breath and hurried on, as
if she felt compelled to get it all out in one breath. “I didn’t lie to you,
Jack, I promise. The doctors really did tell me that I wouldn’t be able to have
children. Except, a few weeks after I woke up in the hospital I started getting
sick and the doctor ran some tests and, well, I’m pregnant.”

She
stopped suddenly, apparently unable to think of anything else to say. Jack
thought he’d already been just about as surprised as he could be, but this
really wasn’t something he’d even dared to anticipate. A child. His child. It
was thrilling and terrifying all at the same time. He instantly worried what
kind of father he’d make. He imagined playing ball with a son, then felt a fresh
wave of terror at the thought of having a beautiful little girl. A little girl
with all her mother’s spirit and fire. He could see it in his mind and as
unnerving as it was, he knew it was the most wonderful thing he could ever hope
for.

Casey
didn’t know what to think when he just stared at her and didn’t say a word. She
waited for him to speak, to say something, anything, then finally gave in and
started talking again herself.

“I know
you weren’t expecting this. I know it’s a shock and I’ll understand if you need
some time to get used to the idea. I didn’t come here to try to force you into
anything, I just wanted you to know. You have a right to know you’re going to
be a father.”

He
seemed to snap out of his daze suddenly. He leaned forward and kissed her,
stopping her rambling instantly. When he let her go a few moments later, he
lowered his gaze to her belly. He reached out to touch her and she covered his
hand with hers as her heart melted in her chest. There were tears in his eyes.

“A
baby.”

She nodded.
“Our baby.”

He
lifted his gaze to her and his mouth spread into a wide grin. “I’m gonna be a
daddy.”

Casey
nodded again, then laughed when he wrapped her in his arms and kissed every
inch of her face. He was working his way down her neck when a throat cleared
loudly behind Casey. She turned to look at her brother over her shoulder. His
eyes were suspiciously moist.

“Sorry
to interrupt, but my stomach is acutely aware that there’s food in here and
it’s insisting that I feed it.” He met Casey’s gaze. “You need to eat, too.”

Her
stomach rumbled in answer and she had to laugh. Jack met her gaze, smiling.
“Brings back memories.”

She
gave him a sly grin. “You have no idea.”

He gave
her a puzzled look, but she didn’t explain herself. Instead she sat up a little
straighter and motioned for her brother to come into the room.

“Come
on, John. I know how cranky you get when you’re hungry.”

John came
around the couch, snorting. “Hah, you think I’m cranky, you ought to take a
look in the mirror sometime. There’s nothing worse than a pregnant woman on
hormone overload.”

Casey
shot him a narrow look while Jack got to his feet and perched on the couch
beside her.

“How do
you know I’ve told him about that? You might have spoken out of turn.”

John
shook his head. “Give me a little credit. I’ve been listening at the door the
whole time.”

Casey
gasped, then pulled the pillow out from under her leg and threw it at him. “I
can’t believe you.”

John
easily deflected the pillow. “I wasn’t about to just go wait patiently to see what
happened. You are my baby
sister
after all.”

He
fixed Jack with an incredulous look. “I can’t believe you didn’t know.”

Jack
shook his head. “I’m not the only one who made the mistake. Skip never guessed
the truth, either.”

Casey
watched her brother shake his head. “The two of you don’t exactly do much for
my faith in the government.”

Jack
shrugged. “No one ever mentioned you were siblings, and you’ll admit that you
don’t share much in the way of family resemblance. It was obvious you were
closer than friends so the only other logical conclusion was that you had to be
romantically involved.”

John
still looked disbelieving. “Yeah, well maybe you should have taken a hint from
the first conclusion you leapt to regarding Casey and just put your conclusion
jumping on hiatus.” He waved at Casey. “She’s a woman and I’m her brother.”

Jack
figured he could stand some ribbing, considering all he’d gained in the past
minutes. He shrugged. “Like I said earlier. Maybe I am an idiot.”