Every Breath You Take (6 page)

Lexie glared at the two men sharing wicked grins and scoffed.

“God, you men are predictable. It all comes down to who’s screwing whom, is that what you’re saying?”

Jake shrugged.

“Works for me. How about you, Peter?”

“Sums it up for me.”

Lexie snarled, glaring at Brady who was grinning as broadly as the other two men.

“Well, lover boy, I guess I don’t have to ask if you are in this ‘my life is ruled by sex’ group?”

Brady laughed.

“Hotstuff, if anyone proves the law of the jungle, it’s me. Hell, I’ve been sniffing after you since the moment I met you. Only reason I haven’t swept you up in my arms and hauled you back to my cave is that even I acknowledge you belong to the Big Guy.”

He hopped out of his chair and rounded the table. Leaning over next to Lexie’s ear, he said in a loud stage whisper, “Admit it, sweet cheeks. You’re as bad as us guys. Damn, Jake can’t even walk in the room and you start drooling. Hell, the rest of hustle to get out of the way. The sparks between you two are fucking dangerous!”

Lexie tried to stifle her grin but it was impossible not to laugh at Brady. He’d thrown himself on the floor with his hands up panting at her feet like a puppy dog.

“Brady, you are
crazy
. Get up, you silly thing! And, fine. I’ll concede. We women came out of the same jungle that you horny guys did. Now most women don’t know how to fight the way that I do but let me tell you, if anyone went after my man, she’d be begging for mercy. After I’d kicked her ass out the door and to the curb, that is.”

In the hoots of laughter that rang out, Jake sprang up and strong-armed Brady out of the way.

“Back off, buddy. Get your own hot chick and leave mine alone.”

An amused voice spoke from the doorway.

“I think that’s a good suggestion. Particularly since I came all the way from Seoul to claim you. What do you say, Brady? Ready to give up on the blonde and see how you fare with a redhead?”

Chapter 6

“Damn!”

Brady sprang from the floor. In seconds he reached the gorgeous redheaded woman standing in the doorway. She tossed her head and put her hands on her hips, a saucy grin curving her full lips.

“Jesus, Tiffany! I thought you weren’t coming ‘til Wednesday. Hot damn, little spitfire, I woulda picked you up at the airport. Christ, Tiff, why didn’t you let me know?”

Tiffany shrugged.

“I wanted to see if I could catch you on your knees in front of some other woman panting like a lovesick puppy dog. And guess what…”

She looked at the group around the table and winked at Jake.

“Really, Commander. Even if I couldn’t count on lover boy to behave, I’d have thought I could trust you to keep him away from
your
woman.”

Her words died in a shriek when Brady grasped her under her arms and swung her in a dizzying circle, not putting her down until she was begging for mercy.

He set her on the floor and yanked her head back, his hands twisted in her hair. Staring into her eyes, Brady’s casual joking words were belied by the passion in his eyes.

“Damn, spitfire. I should have warned you before you flew 14,000 miles. I’ve had a thing for Lexie since the first time I saw her. Good thing Jake’s got a leash on her or you would have come all this way for nothing.”

“A leash? How dare you, Brady?” Lexie gasped in mock outrage.

“Just sayin’, hotstuff.” Brady tossed her a wink over his shoulder.

Tiffany gave Brady a playful punch.

“I don’t know, Brady, given Lexie’s skills on the mat, I’ll bet she’s the one holding the leash.” Glancing at Jake, she added, “Hmm, let me take that back. Seeing that look in the Commander’s eyes, maybe that leash goes
two
ways.”

Jake rose up from his chair and headed toward Brady who now had Tiffany wrapped securely in his arms. He jerked a thumb at Brady.

“Step aside, Lt. Colonel. I’m pulling rank. I haven’t had this gorgeous woman in my arms since she became
Major
Anderson. At the very least that promotion deserves a kiss from her former commander.”

Pulling Tiffany into his arms, he grinned at Brady’s low growl.

“See how it feels, Lt. Colonel? Man, I’m going to enjoy this. Payback time, buddy!” He gave Tiffany a loud smack on the cheek.

Lexie rose to her feet.

“Not so fast, you two. There’s not going to be any ménages around here that I’m not a part of. In that Jake has promised to emasculate any man who touches me… that leaves me out. Since I would return the favor if anyone went after Jake, guess that leaves Tiffany with Brady and… maybe, Peter, since Master Wan is also spoken for…”

In the general laughter that followed, Brady put a possessive arm around Tiffany.

“Swear to God, I never thought I’d hear these words coming out of my mouth. But anybody who even breathes wrong around this woman is a dead man.”

Jake guffawed.

“Damn, man. You’re right. I never thought I’d see you all wrapped up pretty and pussy-whipped. Gotta say, I can’t blame you. I’ve known this stunning redhead as long as you have and if anyone—”

Lexie couldn’t hide her frown.

Jake laughed. “Hang on there, Darlin’! Let me qualify that. I’ve known Major Anderson, but in a distinctly different way than my drooling partner here. As you know, sweetheart, I only have eyes for you. And everything else, for that matter.”

Turning to Peter and Master Wan who were sitting at the table clearly enjoying the scene playing out in front of them, Jake pointed at Tiffany,

“Gentlemen, I would bring our guest over to you but I may need this hand in the future and no doubt Brady would break it off if I touch the Major.”

His wink confirmed that like Lexie he was remembering back to their ‘primitive men and their mates’ conversation.

“But I’ll be brave. Peter, Master Wan, may I introduce Major Tiffany Anderson, soon I hope to be retired Major Anderson. Now I know you think that Brady convinced this gorgeous creature to leave the United States Army and come to San Francisco. In actuality, it was my offer to make her a partner in our consulting firm that did the trick.”

Brady grimaced.

“Unfortunately, Jake is probably right about that. Damn, I’ve been after Tiffany for more than a year, but she only agreed to come when Jake convinced her that we needed her in our company.”

Tiffany leaned her head against Brady’s shoulder.

“You’re correct, Commander. Your offer was compelling. But Brady’s ‘proposition’ sealed the deal.”

Lexie noted that Tiffany bit her bottom lip when she said that. She knew from watching Brady agonize for the last year how hard he’d tried to convince Tiffany that he loved her. Lexie wasn’t surprised that it was a challenging task. As long as she’d known Brady, he’d been the epitome of a commitment-phobe. And his reputation with women was as infamous as Jake’s had been before Jake fell in love with her. Seeing the shining light in her friend’s eyes, it was clear to her that Brady was gaga over the lovely woman. Whether or not Tiffany felt the same way, it was hard to tell. Lexie could sympathize. These damn powerful men could sweep you off your feet with their overwhelming charm–but then what?

Master Wan stepped up to Tiffany and bowed low.

“Welcome, Major Anderson. Now I understand why Brady has been moping around our house for a year now. Being apart from you must have been a challenge indeed.”

Tiffany returned his bow and greeted him in Chinese.

Master Wan’s face lit in appreciation and he replied in Mandarin.

Tiffany upped the ante when she spoke again in Chinese indicating that she was honored to meet him. She told him that she had studied with Chan Giong in Beijing and that the world renowned grandmaster had sent Master Wan his fond regards.

Master Wan replied eagerly. Clearly he was delighted and impressed.

Lexie also spoke Chinese and was surprised to feel an involuntary twinge of jealousy. Learning Chinese had been one of the things she had done to surprise and to honor Master Wan. It had been something they shared. To hear Tiffany rattle off a full five minute exchange with her beloved teacher about people and things Lexie didn’t know was disconcerting.

As if her Chinese weren’t impressive enough, Tiffany responded to Peter’s greeting in flawless Korean. Clearly as charmed as Master Wan by the lovely Major who was accomplished
and
beautiful, Peter launched into a smiling repartee in Korean with Tiffany. The fact that Jake was smiling at her as though she was one of his prized pupils didn’t help to quell the annoyance twisting in Lexie’s gut. On one level she was embarrassed that she was jealous, but damn,
she
was accustomed to being the woman all the men fluttered around. Watching Peter and Master Wan and Jake, for god’s sake, maneuver to get closer to the fiery redhead had Lexie digging her fingernails into her fists.

At the sound of a low snarling sound, she turned to see Brady glaring at the three men. The fierce look on his face would have made her laugh, but Lexie understood. She felt the same way.

Once again Jake swaggered into the mix, delighted to poke at his friend’s discomfort. He seemed to miss the frown on her face.

“Hey, Brady, What’s that look for? Surely you must be used to every man in the room ogling your babe?”

Brady responded tersely.

“Yeah. I am. But the ones doing the ogling aren’t usually my partners—or frankly, men I expect more from,” he added glowering at Master Wan.

Master Wan gave a rare full out laugh. Peter and Jake joined in.

No doubt enjoying pricking at Brady, Master Wan bowed. With a twinkle in his eyes, he said, “Pardon my imprudence, Col. Schaefer. I trust you’ll not mention it to Madam Juen. She’s likely to put some kind of a spell on your lovely lady—and me.”

Peter also stepped back.

“My apologies as well, Brady. It’s just that I am accustomed to you taunting Jake with every kind of overture to Lexie. I can’t help but be delighted to see the tables turned.”

He reached for Tiffany’s hand and gave her an outrageous wink.

“Rather than frustrating our friend here, perhaps you and I should agree to meet privately—perhaps over a quiet lunch or dinner?”

When Brady growled outright, Peter added a qualifier jab, “Where we could catch up on all the activities in Korea, of course.”

Jake threw an arm around his friend’s shoulders and gave him a playful hug.

“Okay everyone, enough amusement at Brady’s expense—at least for now. Just know, dude, that I owe you big time.”

When Brady responded with a grim smile without a hint of his usual glee, Jake took pity on him.

“Let’s be clear. Brady is a constant thorn in my side. But he is also my best friend. This cocky guy has saved my life as many times as I’ve saved his. There’s no one who has been a better friend to me or to Lexie than Brady. I want you to know, man, how much it means to me that you have Lexie’s back. And that you take almost as good care of her as I do. Tiffany, I hope that Lexie and I can be as big a comfort to you as Brady has been to Lexie.”

His dark blue eyes flashed with mirth and he winked at Tiffany. “That doesn’t mean that I won’t be on your ass the way I was when we did missions together. The difference is that now you can tell me to shove it up
my
ass. That said, I’m still the commander and I hate to tell you Tiff, but we are dealing with some of the most ruthless sons of bitches I’ve run up against. With my history, that is saying something. I have a feeling that you and the golden boy would like to get the hell out of here and beat it back to Brady’s snazzy condo. But we need to prepare for an important meeting tomorrow.”

“Absolutely. I’m looking forward to the briefing. Don’t forget, Jake, I’ve spent the last two years at Garrison Yongsan, much of the time hassling the guys who work for Young-soo. I don’t know if Brady told you but in addition to being undercover most of the time, I was a master CQC trainer. I headed up the program at Garrison.”

“I’ve seen you fight, Tiffany, but to be a CQC master trainer is another level altogether. Damn, we can use your skills.”

Lexie hoped Jake didn’t see her frown. The slight smile on Peter’s face signaled that he hadn’t missed it. She snorted under her breath. Oh great. That’s all she needed to do. Let on to the guys that she was jealous of the new girl. But damn, if she was going to have competition, you didn’t have to look twice at the redhead to know that she had met her match.

Brady didn’t hide his pride. “Peter, you
will
be impressed. Tiffany trained with some former Kkangpae bad boys. She hit me with some moves last Christmas that could have taken me down. She pulled her kicks or I would still be flat on the ground.”

“That’s saying something, Brady. Who did you work with Tiffany, in the Kkangpae?”

“Chae-ku. I was jumped in an alley my first week in Seoul. In retrospect, I swear the guys at Yongsan put them up to it. None of our troops were happy to learn that the new CQC master trainer was a ditzy redhead. Knowing what I was up against, I checked around and found the most vicious Kkangpai warrior around who was willing to train a woman. After two months with Chae-ku, nobody bothered me again. And our guys actually fought to train with me.”

Peter whistled. “Whew! I’ve heard of Chae-ku. Before he dropped off the scene he was a legend. In addition he is no longer active in the
Jopok
. The only way you ‘choose’ to leave the
Jopok
is by being ferocious enough to make them afraid to force you back in. I look forward to hearing more of your experiences, Tiffany. I’m confident we know many of the same assholes.”

Peter turned to Jake and Brady. “Congratulations, both of you. You couldn’t have chosen a better addition to your firm. And, Brady, you are one lucky son of a bitch.”

Lexie had enough. She was happy for Brady. She’d always wanted him to have someone special in his life. She just wasn’t sure she was ready for the impact Tiffany would have on Brady’s and her relationship. And as for Jake’s open-mouthed admiration for the beautiful redhead, that was another issue. The acid burning in her gut told her it was a more serious one than her apparently changing relationship with Brady.