Dangerous Secrets: Callaghan Brothers, Book 1 (6 page)

“This is your bedroom,” she said.

“So?” he asked.

Taryn shook her head.  “I’m not taking your bedroom.  Where are those spare rooms you were talking about?  The ones not completely done?”

Jake sighed.  So much for his hopes that she’d just crawl into his bed on her own.  That was okay.  He liked a challenge. 

“You’ll be much more comfortable here.  The bathroom’s over here...”  He opened a door at the far end.  When he turned back to Taryn, she was gone.

Cursing under his breath, Jake walked back toward the entrance and found her on the stairs, already passing the second floor landing.  Damn, but she was fast when she wanted to be.  A few minutes ago he’d been convinced she was about to face-plant where she stood.

“Taryn!” he called out.  She ignored him.  He caught up to her just as she reached the ground level, stretching one long arm over her head to prevent her from opening the door.  “What did I do this time?”

She turned around to face him, as if he wasn’t a foot taller and two feet wider than her.  Her eyes sparkled, even in the dim light of the narrow staircase.  Only inches from him, Jake inhaled a lungful of her sweet, musky scent.  His muscles – as well as other parts of him – hardened considerably.  Fleetingly he thought of how easy it would be to take her, right there, right then and curb the edge of the hunger that was eating him from the inside out.  His entire body craved her with an intensity that bordered on scary. 

“Let me out,” she demanded.

“Not until you tell me why you are so angry with me.”

She exhaled heavily, murmuring under her breath.  He had the distinct impression she was counting to ten.  When she spoke, it was an obvious exercise in patience, as if she was trying to explain something to a child. 

“I know you mean well, but I will not take your room.  That’s non-negotiable.  I will come back and work for you tonight, though.”

Stubborn female. 
It would be so easy to put her over his knee.  Not so easy to take his hand off her ass once he got it there, though, so he pushed that thought off for the time being.  Why couldn’t she just let him
do
something for her?  Didn’t she understand his need to? 

Putting her in one of the unfinished spare rooms went totally against his sense of propriety, but he had no doubt she would leave otherwise.  And that was simply unacceptable.  Short of heaving her over his shoulder and carrying her back upstairs – which did cross his mind – he had no other options.

He exhaled deeply, too.  It was not in his nature to acquiesce, even if he did respect her obvious aversion to accepting charity in any form.  Tossing her over his shoulder was looking better every second. 

“Okay.”  He wasn’t happy about it, though. 

“Okay what?” she asked suspiciously. 

He gave a martyred sigh.  “Okay.  You can stay in one of the unfinished spare rooms.” 
As long as you stay
.  Her scent was intoxicating in the narrow stairway, rising up to where he stood above her.  He had to get them out of here soon before he did something that would really get her hackles up.   

“There now,” she said, her lips quirking just a bit at the corners.  “That wasn’t so hard, was it?”

He wanted to show her exactly how hard
it
was, but he didn’t think that would win him any points at the moment, so instead he just grunted, a sound so totally and unmistakably male that he actually heard her choking back a laugh. 

He led her back up to the living room, this time taking hold of her small hand in his, just in case she changed her mind and tried to leave again. Surprisingly enough, she didn’t fight him.  It mollified him somewhat.  Her touch made his concession almost bearable. 
Almost
.  It still kind of chafed, though.

Once back in the private living area, he opened one of the doors on the left wall.  This was clearly more what she had envisioned.  The plaster walls were half-spackled.  Dust cloths covered the large bed, the only amenity beside the single floor lamp.  Huge, five-gallon white plastic buckets of primer and sealant were stacked throughout. 

She nodded approvingly.  “This is more like it.” 

Jake shot her an ‘I’ll never understand women’ look.  She patted his arm, the gesture innocuous and innocent, yet it shot bolts of sensation through his entire body.  

“Thank you,” she said sincerely. He nodded.  He didn’t understand it, but she was satisfied and more importantly – still here with him, so he wasn’t going to overanalyze.  Even the pain in his chest at putting her in here eased slightly.

“Here’s the bathroom,” he said, showing her to a door at the far end and to the right.  “It’s not pretty, but it’s functional.  I’ll get you some towels and sheets.”  He looked at her questioningly.  “Assuming you’re okay with clean towels and sheets.  Would you prefer to use the drop cloths instead?  There’s some sandpaper over there, too, if you run out of toilet paper.”

She grinned and he swore every part of his body lit up from the inside.  “I would very much appreciate clean towels and sheets,” she said.  “I’ll get back to you on the sandpaper.” 

He grunted again, making her laugh.  “Anything else I can get you?”

The brief but powerful look of desire that crossed her face almost did him in, but even with his desire hitting critical levels he wouldn’t have taken her then.  He wanted her wide awake, every sense at its most keen, for what he had in mind.

“No, thanks,” she said finally.  “If it’s okay with you I am going to get a hot shower and crash for a few.  What time do you need me downstairs?”

Jake did a few mental calculations – not an easy thing to do when so much of his blood flow had been redirected southward.  The big game kickoff was slated for three, which meant they could expect a steady stream from two o’clock on.  He and Ian could handle the afternoon easily; he’d need Taryn when the heavy crowds came in afterwards, around seven or so.  That should give her plenty of time to rest up and be ready to go. Besides, his father and younger brothers were due back sometime today, but it could be pretty late, and he definitely didn’t want to subject Taryn to them while suffering sleep deprivation.

“How about six?”  he said. 

Taryn checked her watch.  “Great.  And Jake?”

“Yeah?”

“Thanks.”   

––––––––

I
n the time it took Jake to retrieve the items from his storage closet (and restore some semblance of control over his rampant lust), Taryn had already parked herself in the shower.  He knocked on the bathroom door.  When she didn’t answer, he nudged the door open a little and was blasted by a room full of steam and the most intoxicating scent he’d ever smelled.  More powerful than his finest cognac, it filled his lungs, head, and body.  Sweet and warm, like caramel, but with heady, musky overtones, ten times more potent than what he’d scented in the stairwell. 

Jake had never put much stock in pheromones before, but damn if he wasn’t doing his own case study right now.  Something about the way that woman smelled had him ready to release in his jeans.  God help him if he actually imagined what she looked like naked with all that hot water sluicing over those incredible curves...

He closed his eyes and gritted his teeth as his blood flow took another decided turn southward.  If he stayed in there one more second he was going to jump right into that shower with her, and he had already decided he wouldn’t do that – at least, not yet.  He hastily placed the towels on the sink and got out of there while he still had some measure of self-control, no matter how slight.  He was going to take a shower too.  Except his was going to be ice-cold.

One hour and two full tanks of water later, Jake felt only a little relief.  What was it about her that drove him crazy?  Her scent? 
Definitely
.  The way she looked at him with the amazing, multi-faceted eyes that seemed fathoms deep? 
Oh, yeah.
  Those lush curves that he just knew would be soft and willing beneath his touch and tongue? 
Uh-huh
.  But what really drove him over the edge?  The way she stood up to him. 

It made no sense whatsoever.  Grown men shrank from his stare.  Soldiers trembled in their combat boots with nothing but a look.  But this tiny thing stood up to him, challenging his every word and deed.  No one had ever done that before.  It made him crazy.  One minute he was ready to kill on her behalf; the next he wanted to pull her into his lap and spank her.

He had to know more about her; there was no question about that.  The problem was, Taryn wasn’t exactly the open book type.  If she was a normal woman, he would probably already know everything there was to know about her.  Then again, if she was normal woman, he probably wouldn’t want to know.  As it was, he found her... intriguing.

His subtle information extraction techniques over breakfast had not been successful.  As he saw it, she had left him no other option.  In choosing not to share, she was forcing him to take matters into his own hands.  Some might consider what he had in mind a gross invasion of her privacy, but in this case, Jake believed the ends justified the means.  Taryn had a problem; his gut told him that.  Unless he knew what it was, he couldn’t help her.  To a former SEAL and current off-the-books ops man, it was perfectly logical.

Besides, it was far less intrusive than his first choice, which would have been to just seduce the information out of her.  Given the persistent ache in his lower anatomy, that
was
going to happen, just not yet. 

Until he could have her naked and pliant in his arms, however, he’d make do with a little recon.  With the stealth and silence born from his years as a Navy SEAL, Jake slipped into the spare room.  Taryn was on her side, fast asleep beneath the sheets, her breathing deep and even.  Her lips were parted just slightly; still-damp ringlets hung over her eyes.  He couldn’t help himself.  Ever so gently, he tucked back a few of the strands from her face.  At the slight skim of his fingertips she sighed softly and murmured his name.  In that very moment, Jake would recall years later, he lost his heart.

Quietly, he picked up her backpack from where she’d placed it beside the foot of the frame and backed slowly out of the room.  He took it back into his room, then proceeded to empty the contents on his bed.  He felt only the tiniest twinge of guilt, rationalizing that the more he knew about her, the more he could help her.  There was no doubt in his mind that she did need him.  She just didn’t realize it yet. 

As he methodically removed the items, he noted their placement and laid them out in order.  The first thing he pulled out was a wad of cash, mostly ones.  Her tips from the previous night, no doubt.  Further search revealed no other money.  This was it?  No wonder she was so eager to work.

Next he extracted a bag of apples from a farm two states away - only two were left – followed by a jar of peanut butter.    That explained this morning’s breakfast.  How long had it been since she’d eaten a decent meal?  He would make a point of ensuring she had something to eat before she started working tonight.  He wasn’t a chef by any means, but with seven men calling the place home base, the private kitchen always had good, hearty food and plenty of it.

There was a change of clothes, rolled tightly into a cylinder to occupy minimal space, which told him that she was accustomed to travelling light and/or having to be ready to go at a moment’s notice.  Curious, he unrolled a pair of jeans and a light-weight thermal top practical for fall weather, inhaling sharply when he discovered the black satin bra with matching thong within. 
Jesus.
  He let the thin material dangle from his fingers while his mind conjured up an image of her wearing only this.  It did nothing to help the ache in his groin.

Jake took a deep breath.  Only by calling upon years of self-discipline was he able to leash those salacious thoughts and continue.  He picked up the tiny mp3 player and thumbed through the selections with interest, reasoning that the music a person listened to often provided useful insight.

His eyebrows raised and he let out a soft whistle when he recognized a few of the songs.  It was darkly motivating kick-ass music, the kind of stuff some of his men would listen to before heading into enemy territory.  Exactly what did she psych herself up for, he wondered?

Setting that aside, he turned his attention to the small mobile.  It was one of those prepaid cells, untraceable and sold at every discount store in the country.  There were no programmed numbers or contacts, with only one outgoing call early last evening.  Probably the call to roadside assistance that got her towed to the garage, he reasoned.

The last item he removed was a faded snapshot of a young girl and an older man, hidden beneath a flap at the very bottom.  The girl had long, jet black curls and shockingly violet eyes.  Despite the difference in hair and eye colors, there was no doubt in his mind he was looking at a much-younger Taryn. 

How old was she in that picture?  Sixteen, maybe?  Eighteen?  Yet she still had those haunted eyes.  What the hell had happened to her?  And who was the man?  Her father? 

Jake looked closer.  They were standing in front of a bar.  Charlie’s Old Tyme Tavern, the sign read.  At least now he had a starting point.

“Hey, big brother.  What do you have there?”  Ian strutted into the room, wearing nothing but a pair of loose gray sweats, his hair sticking out at impossible angles, looking for all intents and purposes like he had just managed to roll his ass out of bed.  “Hey, that looks like –“

“Shut the door.  Christ, don’t you ever knock?”

“What are you doing with Taryn’s backpack?”  A knowing grin spread across Ian’s face.  “She’s still here, isn’t she?  Why didn’t you share, bro?”

“She’s sleeping in the spare room, idiot.  Nothing happened.”

Ian stared at him in disbelief.  “Well
that
is a damn shame.  One I am going to rectify right now.” 

Jake was at the door by the time Ian put his hand on the knob.  “Not this one, Ian.”

Ian narrowed his eyes.  “Not like you to be so territorial.  What gives?”