Feeling Hot (17 page)

Jen’s jaw fell open. “Cash, if my brother denies you a good recommendation based on who you’re
sleeping
with rather than your skills as a soldier, then he’s a really shitty lieutenant.”

“Maybe, but I can’t risk it.”

Now she let out a sigh. “Fine, my lips are sealed. But I can’t promise I won’t tell him off for all the
other
ways he’s been interfering in my life lately.” She paused. “Not today, though. I’ll already have my hands full dealing with my dad.”

She reached for the door handle, then stopped abruptly. Grinning, she surprised him by looping her arms around his neck, standing on her tiptoes and giving him a long, open-mouthed kiss that left him breathless.

As their tongues met, Cash’s anxiety vanished, replaced by a blast of molten heat that sizzled from his mouth straight down to his groin. Christ, he couldn’t get enough of this woman. She was like a new drug he hadn’t known existed, and every kiss, every touch and mind-numbing release, fueled the addiction.

“There,” she said, pulling her mouth free. “That ought to tide us over for a while.”

Hardly. That one kiss had made his groin throb like a motherfucker. It took all his willpower to banish the surge of lust buzzing in his veins.

They headed downstairs and left the building through the rear doors that opened onto the parking lot. Neither of them said much during the drive, the silence broken only by the occasional direction from Jen. Cash absently tapped his fingers on the steering wheel as he drove north on the I-805, wishing he knew what to expect from this visit. He hated going into situations blind, and by the time he exited the interstate and followed Del Mar Heights toward Jen’s parents’ house, he was feeling tense and subdued again.

The Scott family home was nestled away from the road in a residential area. Modest-sized houses, towering oaks and well-maintained sidewalks flashed by. It was a nice area, and family friendly, judging by the multitude of bicycles and kiddie pools littering the lawns.

Cash pulled into the wide driveway and parked behind a very familiar Range Rover. He smothered a curse. Great, the LT was already here. Hopefully Carson didn’t possess some freaky sex radar that would start beeping the second he saw Cash’s face.

But hell, Jen had raised a damn good point before. Carson had no business basing his recommendation on Cash’s sex life. So what if he’d given in to his attraction to Jen? His love life had no bearing on his military expertise. He was a damn good SEAL, and his cock played no part in that equation.

Setting his jaw, he followed Jen up the flower-lined path toward the house.

The front door swung open the second they climbed the porch and Carson’s tall frame filled the doorway, his gloomy expression serving as an omen of what lay behind the door. He nodded a distracted hello at Cash, then glanced at his sister.

“How pissed is he?” Jen asked with a sigh.

“Scale of one to ten? Seven, maybe eight.” Carson dragged a hand through his blond hair. “But it’s not directed at you. Mostly Brendan, and then me, for handling it on my own and not telling them.”

Jen frowned. “
I’m
handling it on my own. They should be mad at me, not you.”

Her brother shrugged. “Come on, let’s get this over with. They’re out on the patio.”

Neither Scott sibling paid Cash much attention. They simply marched down the wide hallway, leaving him to steal a quick glance here and there as he trailed after them. Family photos lined the cream-colored walls in the corridor. There was an obscene amount of shots featuring Carson in his uniform, and Cash also glimpsed a portrait featuring an older version of Carson clad in full navy regalia.

The hallway spilled into a spacious, country-style kitchen with gleaming appliances and an enormous butcher-block work island. A glass sliding door across the room led out to a cedar deck ringed by a slatted wooden railing. As they neared the door, Cash gazed beyond the deck at the manicured lawn and kidney-shaped swimming pool.

Jen’s parents were out on the deck, sitting on white wicker chairs. Both jumped to their feet when they spotted the new arrivals, and a little blonde cyclone dashed over to embrace Jen. Jen must have inherited her diminutive stature and perfect features from her mother, who looked so much like her daughter they could have been twins.

The admiral waited his turn while his wife hugged their daughter, but the hard line of his square jaw belied his patient pose. The second Jen’s mother released her, the admiral pulled her into a tight embrace.

The Scotts looked Jen up and down as if gauging her physical and mental state. Their scrutiny lasted so long Jen finally sighed. “I told you I’m fine. Stop looking at me like I’m not.”

Jen’s mother suddenly peered at Cash. “Is this him?”

“Yes,” Jen replied, sounding both irritated and amused. “Cash McCoy, these are my parents, Laura and Gary Scott.”

Cash approached the couple and stuck out his hand. “Pleased to meet you, Mr. and Mrs. Scott,” he said gruffly.

Laura shook his hand first. Her smile was genuinely warm. “Call me Laura, please.”

Gary leaned in for the handshake, his lips curled in a frown as he said, “Call me Admiral. Or sir.”

From the corner of his eye, Cash saw Jen rolling her eyes.

Jen’s father still had a death grip on Cash’s hand. He didn’t want to pansy out and be the first to end the shake, but he knew the older man expected it of him, and the need to get in the man’s good graces beat out Cash’s macho instincts.

He withdrew his hand, then studied Gary Scott. Six feet tall, blond hair threaded with silver, the shoulders of a linebacker and a handsome yet stern face.
Commanding
was the first word that came to mind. Followed by
terrifying
.

The admiral narrowed his pale blue eyes. “So you’re the one entrusted with the task of keeping my daughter safe.”

“Yes, sir.”

The man continued his slow appraisal, then nodded as if Cash had passed his test. “You seem competent.”

Relief flickered through him. “Thank you, sir.”

“With that said, know that if any harm comes to my daughter, I will drown you.”

Huh. So that’s where Carson got it from.

“Dad!” Jen chided, but her father had already turned away from Cash.

“Why don’t we all sit down?” Although he formed it as a question, it was clearly an order.

And although the admiral wasn’t his CO, wasn’t even active duty, in fact, Cash’s butt landed in the chair before the man even finished his sentence. So did everyone else’s butts. Which made one thing very clear—the admiral ran a tight ship here.

Fuck. This was going to be a long afternoon.

As expected, her parents almost had a coronary when Jen reluctantly detailed Brendan’s stalker activities of late. When she reached the part about the rose petals in her apartment, her father looked so livid she thought he might actually grab his favorite rifle and go after Brendan. Thankfully, Carson managed to talk the admiral down, assuring him that Jen was safe at Cash’s apartment and would remain that way until Brendan left town.

The discussion lasted for the better part of an hour. When her parents finally eased up and stopped trying to coerce her to move back home, she breathed a sigh of relief—only to get annoyed all over again once they started harassing her about her current state of unemployment.

Her mother mentioned nursing again.

Her father pointed out there was no shame in enlisting in the military at twenty-six.

They both remarked that she spent too much time taking “silly” pictures.

Her brother tried to run interference.

And through it all, Cash sat there, looking so uncomfortable she felt truly bad for him. The only time her father acknowledged him was to bark out questions about Cash’s training and offer pointed reminders that his “little girl’s” safety was in Cash’s hands. Talk about pressure, but it was all you could expect from the mighty Admiral Scott.

By four o’clock, her parents had calmed down, and she was anxious to get the hell out of there. So was Cash, judging by the way he kept tapping his loafers on the floor of the deck. Carson had gone inside by then to check his email, though Jen suspected he’d used that as an excuse to disappear.

Abruptly, she pushed her chair back and stood up. “Okay, I think it’s time for us to go. I want to clean up my resume tonight.”

That earned her a frown from her mother. “Where are you thinking of applying?”

“Not sure yet. I’ll take a look at the classifieds, maybe hit up Horton Plaza and Fashion Valley to drop off resumes.”

Her mom made that familiar
tsk
of disapproval. “Wouldn’t you rather do something useful, Jennifer? Something that makes a difference?”

“Sales makes a difference,” she said lightly, hoping her parents wouldn’t notice the annoyed tic in her jaw. “I help people pick out that perfect outfit or find that perfect gift.”

“Honey, can’t you just
consider
the idea of nursing school?”

Fighting the urge to rip out her own hair, Jen managed a nod. “Sure, Mom. I’ll consider it.” She turned to Cash. “Ready to go?”

He was on his feet in a nanosecond. “Sure. If that’s what you want.”

Suck-up, leaving it up to
her
when he was clearly dying to escape. There was a reason she hadn’t brought many guys home. Her mother wasn’t so bad, aside from the not-so-veiled criticism, but her father? He was a force to be reckoned with—authoritative, strict, and with no tolerance for error.

“I want a daily check-in,” the admiral said after Jen gave him a quick goodbye kiss on the cheek.

“Weekly,” she countered.

“Twice a week.”

She rolled her eyes. “Yes, sir.”

Leaving her parents on the deck, she and Cash headed back inside. In the hallway, she stopped and touched his arm. “I just need to use the bathroom,” she said.

“I’ll meet you in the car.” His strides were eager as he hurried off.

Sighing, Jen quickly popped into the hall washroom. She was eager to get going too, but after she left the bathroom, she ended up getting sidetracked on her way to the front door. Hearing Carson’s voice drifting out of the den, she halted midstep. Her brother sounded…agitated.

She wasn’t a snooper by nature, but Carson’s strained voice compelled her to creep closer to the den.

“I know, but I really need to see you.”

Jen froze.

“Maybe a quick cup of coffee tomorrow?” Carson paused. “No, Holly doesn’t know. I haven’t told her yet.”

A sick feeling settled in the pit of her stomach.

“Okay…sure…tomorrow at noon. The Starbucks on Market? See you then, angel.”

Angel?

Jen shook the WTF cobwebs from her head, now utterly queasy. When she heard footsteps nearing the door, she snapped out of her trance and darted back to the bathroom. Sucking in a few deep breaths, she tried to control the confusion and suspicion flying through her brain like street litter being blown by the wind.

Exhaling slowly, she stepped out of the bathroom, running into Carson just as he strode into the hall.

He flashed her a tired look. “All done with the Spanish Inquisition?”

“Yes, thank God.” She hesitated. “Why didn’t Holly come with you today?”

“She’s at the restaurant.”

“I thought she doesn’t work Sundays.”

“She doesn’t, but the weekend chef called in sick, so she had to go in.”

Jen narrowed her eyes. “What’s this I hear about Holly staying with her sister the other night?”

Carson’s lips tightened under her scrutiny. “It was no big deal. We got into a little fight, that’s all.”

“A fight over what?”

“Over none of your damn business.”

He made a move to march off, but she latched her hand onto his defined upper arm. “Carson. What’s going on?”

“Nothing,” he muttered. “Just husband and wife stuff, okay?”

“Should I be worried?”

“No.” He slowly uncurled her fingers from his biceps. “So how you doing at Cash’s? Is he being a gentleman?”

His transparent attempt at deflection annoyed her. “He’s being very hospitable.”

“He hasn’t put the moves on you, has he?”

No, I put the moves on him
.

“Of course not,” she replied, but only because she’d promised Cash she wouldn’t say anything.

Still, the lie left a bitter taste in her mouth. She was twenty-six, for God’s sake. Her brother had no say in her love life. Her safety, fine, she’d give him that, but she’d only bended to Carson’s will and agreed to move out of her apartment because he’d raised legitimate concerns
.
What if Brendan
did
violate the restraining order and show up at her door? That wasn’t so farfetched anymore, considering he’d just confronted her parents.

But while her brother’s concerns about Brendan were valid, she didn’t agree with his high-handed attitude about Cash.

“I’ll talk to you later.”

Jen snapped out of her thoughts in time to see her brother’s retreating back. Rather than call after him, she let him go, unable to fight the feeling of foreboding climbing up her spine. What on earth was up with her brother?