Forever Entangled (7 page)

“Dylan, it’s Ryan. I need a favor.”

CHAPTER SEVEN

Dylan Davies was Ryan’s twenty-three-year-old cousin. He’d always been the black sheep of the huge Davies family. More like his Uncle Cy than his own father, Pierce. Cy had been a spy but when he wanted to, he could turn on the charm. Dylan was built like Cy, tall and muscular. His face was dark and brooding like Miles, the oldest of his Davies uncles. Dylan's size was an anomaly, considering his father was average height and build, and his mother, Tammy, was a little pixie of a woman with a sweet smile and fun spiky hair that brought her up to five-feet-two inches . . . if she really got a good spike going.

The rap on the door made Ryan smile. He hadn’t seen or heard Dylan approach his car. His cousin had just completed Special Forces training. Dylan wouldn't tell anyone which division of the Special Forces, and that alone spoke volumes.

“Hey, cuz, new tattoo?” Ryan asked, taking in the black band encircling Dylan’s thick bicep.

“Yep.”

“How was training?”

“Good. You caught me right in time. I’m heading out tomorrow,” Dylan said with his trademark serious face. Ryan shook his head. It was like trying to talk to Uncle Miles.

“Where are you going?”

Dylan just raised an eyebrow over his hazel eyes. The same hazel eyes most of the Davies grandkids had.

“So that’s how it is?” Ryan asked.

“That’s the way it’s gotta be. Now why did you call me to Sienna’s house? I’m not really the one to call for a pep talk if you finally grew the balls to ask her out.”

Ryan thought about punching his cousin, but that would be a very bad decision. “Why does everyone think I’m the one after her? Has it dawned on any of you that she’s the one who is begging me to go out with her?”

Dylan just snorted.

“Some cousin you are.” Ryan shoved Dylan, and Dylan’s lips quirked, but he didn’t move. “Short story, Sienna overheard a murder on the phone.”

“Malik Coleman?”

“That’s right. And the killer picked up the phone and knows she heard. Dad called me out to keep an eye on her. Someone broke into her house tonight and copied her calendar and contacts. Plus there’s this sports agent sniffing around her, and I want to make sure he or anyone else doesn’t come back tonight while I run to the café to get us dinner.”

“Damn. I’m sorry I can’t stick around to help longer.”

Ryan smiled at his younger cousin. “You’re helping right now. I’ll be back shortly.”

“You can count on me. She’ll be safely tucked inside when you get back. Oh, and bring me one of Zinnia’s double bacon cheeseburgers,” Dylan said before hopping out of the SUV and melting into the night.

Ryan shook his head. His cousin was scary. Thank goodness Dylan was on his side.

Ryan smiled as he stepped into the Blossom Café. It was almost closing time but the place was still packed. People waved to him and shouted out their greetings. It was good to be home. There was no other place like this in world.

“Hey, hon.” Zinnia winked as she handed a tray of food to her sister, Poppy, to deliver. “I didn’t know you were back in town.”

“He’s been back for three hours,” John Wolfe called out from the special booth reserved just for the Rose sisters and their husbands.

“Then you should have told us,” Poppy chided before coming to give him a hug. “It’s nice to have you back. How long are you staying this time?”

“Don’t know yet. I’m here to help Dad get ready for retirement.”

John snorted and his wife, Lily Rae, rolled her eyes.

“Well, we’re sure glad to have you back. Be careful, the Belles have reverted to their less-than-admirable ways under their new leadership. Neely Grace is fuming. But she’s now a Keeneston Lady, so it’s hard for her to do much.”

“Thanks for the warning.” Ryan cast a quick glance around the café and found danger at three o’clock. The Keeneston Belles was a group made up of Keeneston’s most eligible women. They were the cheerleaders, the prom queens, and then sadly, some of the hottest women in town. The trouble was, hidden under their philanthropic deeds, was a more sinister plan to marry the most eligible bachelors of the town. They wanted power and money. Once they got it, they were able to join the elite Keeneston Ladies. Not all of them were bad. Neely Grace Rooney was an attorney in town, and she had gotten them back onto the straight and narrow. Apparently this new crop had wandered off the path. The way all of them at the table were devouring him with their eyes, he had just made the Most Wanted list.

“Hurry up and get over here!” Violet Fae hissed. Ryan looked to the table where the Rose sisters sat and dove for cover as the first Belle started her approach.

“There, there, you’re safe now,” Miss Violet whispered as she held him to her billowy bosom. Ryan struggled to breathe as she held tight, warding off the Belles.

“Really, Violet? I thought you gave that up when you married Anton!” her sister Daisy Mae chided.

“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” Miss Violet said innocently as she let Ryan up for air.

“I know we’re not as young as we used to be, but if you need any help with Sienna’s little
situation
, you just give us a call.” John winked as Miss Lily nodded her white-haired head.

“We’re always up for some action,” Miss Violet said with what could only be akin to an evil smile and pulled a spatula from her apron while her husband Anton’s smile faded.

“Not the type of action I thought you were talking about,” he grumbled.

“We’ve been ready for years. Quite frankly, things have gotten a little dull around here,” Miss Daisy told Ryan as she slipped a wooden spoon from her sleeve.

“I haven’t operated on someone in decades. I’m getting antsy. If you get shot, I’m your guy,” Charlie, Daisy’s husband, told him. He had been a surgeon but when Ryan looked at Charlie’s hands they had a slight shake to them. Ryan cringed at the thought. The collective age of the table had to be nearing five hundred fifty years or more. They’d break a hip if they saw any action . . . of any kind.

Ryan just nodded and the table showed off their dentures as they smiled back at him.

Poppy stopped by the table and shot a glance over her shoulder. “Good call. What can I bring you, hon?”

“Two double cheeseburgers, two orders of fries, a fried Buffalo chicken wrap, and a chocolate glop to go. Oh, and toss in another two burgers. Nothing on those two. To go, please.”

“Sure thing.” Poppy sent him a wink and headed to give her sister the ticket.

“That’s nice of you to get dinner for Sienna, Dylan, and Hooch. They’ll appreciate it. Be prepared to share some of your fries with that monstrosity she calls a dog,” John said as he shook his head. “Not even I can find out what it really is.”

“How on earth did you know?” Ryan should have expected this, considering John’s innate ability to discover the town’s gossip, but this was too much. The prevailing theories were that John had the town wiretapped or aliens told him.

John just smiled. “If your parents, Ahmed, Nabi, and all those Davies boys couldn’t figure it out, then you won't either.”

“He hasn’t even told me, and I’m his wife.” Lily sent him a glare before leaning forward and dropping her voice. “Now, tell us everything about our girl. How much trouble is she really in?”

*     *     *

Sienna rested her head against the back of the tub and let herself cry. The day had been overwhelming. She had thought she had cried it all out on Cole’s shirt, but it all came back once she was alone. The way it felt to be alone and hearing Malik’s life being taken from him. The feeling of knowing someone had been in her house made her drag Hooch along with her into the bathroom.

She reached over and picked up the wineglass from the small table next to the tub and took a sip. She would dig out a frozen dinner and fall asleep holding Hooch while dreaming of Ryan and hating herself for it. She was in love with a man who only wanted her to prove a point and that made her cry even harder.

Ryan pulled up in front of Sienna’s house and was relieved to see that Seth’s sports car was nowhere to be seen. He looked around for Dylan but didn’t see him. Ryan reached into the passenger seat for the bag of food and almost jumped when he looked up to find Dylan standing at his door. Damn, he needed to learn how his cousin did that.

Ryan opened his door and handed one of the bags to Dylan. “I got you fries, too.”

“Thanks. She’s in the bathroom crying and drinking wine.”

“How do you know that?” Ryan asked. Had Dylan gone inside?

“She left the bathroom window open.” Dylan grinned and before Ryan could think twice, he planted his fist in his cousin’s face. Dylan’s head snapped back and a trickle of blood ran from the side of his lip.

Dylan’s grinned widened. “So, that’s how it is.”

“No, it’s not like that.”

Dylan chuckled and popped a fry into his mouth. “You keep telling yourself that.”

Ryan shook his hand out and reached back into his car. Why was everyone saying that to him? “Hey, sorry about the punch.”

When he stood up, Dylan was gone and a key sat on the hood of his car. “You’re such a drama queen,” Ryan shouted. He heard a chuckle from the shadows and smiled. “Stay safe, cuz.”

Ryan shut his car door and headed for the house. From deep within, the house shook. Hooch knew he was there. The thought of the dog being happy to see him made him smile as he took the spare key Dylan had found for him and unlocked the door. He followed the thumping sound and froze. Sienna was lying back in the tub with her eyes closed and one hand absently scratching Hooch’s head as the other lay draped across her stomach under the clear bathwater, but when her hand moved upward Ryan cursed as he turned rock-hard at the same time Hooch’s tail knocked the wine glass from the table and Sienna’s eyes shot open.

Sienna was having a nice little dream. The warm water had lulled her into a light sleep as she trailed her hand over her breast to rest on her stomach. The wine had helped her relax and her thoughts had turned to the way her body had heated at Ryan’s kiss earlier. The thought of him seeing her like this, of him wanting to be in the tub with her had her heated. She imagined legs entangled with legs as she leaned against his strong chest, and he wrapped his arms around her. His hands cupped her breasts . . . The sound of Hooch’s tail shattering the wine glass hit at the same time as a whispered curse as Sienna had been awakened from her dream.

Her initial thought was to scream, which she did until a hand covered her mouth. She blinked back into reality, and Ryan’s face came into focus.

“You’re screaming enough to bring half of Keeneston running,” he said with breathlessness to his voice. And that’s when she wanted to scream again. Three things hit Sienna hard. One, she was naked and had been enjoying a dream about the man currently standing in front of her while he watched. Two, the idea of him watching her turned her on even more. And three, these revelations weren’t the only thing hard. When Ryan had pulled back his hand and stood up, she was at a very good level to investigate point number three. And investigate she did.

“Sienna, you keep staring and I’ll go ahead and show you,” Ryan said with both pain and hope laced in his voice.

Sienna couldn’t tear her eyes from him. If he looked this good in those worn jeans that hugged his thighs just right, she could imagine what he looked like out of them.

“Um,” Sienna muttered to buy her time to decide if she really wanted to find out. Well, of course she did, but did she want what would come after finding out? “I mean, a little peek wouldn’t hurt.”

Ryan sat the bag on the table and pulled off his shirt. She took a look at his chest sprinkled with brown hair and those one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight . . . sweet heavens, eight perfect ridges, she decided she had made a very good decision.

In his excitement to get to the food, Hooch gave Ryan a nudge that sent him sprawling backward. Ryan landed hard on his bottom as Hooch lumbered toward the brown bag.

Ryan shook his head as he tried not to laugh. “Ow! Um, that kind of killed the mood. I brought us dinner. You said you were hungry.”

The lustful spell was broken, and Sienna sighed as she grabbed her robe from the hanger and slipped it on. “Thank you. I’ll meet you in the kitchen.”

“Right, um, yeah,” Ryan muttered before shoving Hooch away from the bag.

Sienna quietly mourned when he slipped his shirt back on over his head and grabbed the bag of food. In under a second, he and Hooch were gone, and she stood alone in the bathroom.

“What was I thinking?” Sienna asked her reflection and then grinned at herself. “Oh, I know exactly what I was thinking.”

With a goofy smile on her face, she brushed out her wet hair and dried off. She stepped into her boxers and tank top before heading for the living room.

Ryan sat on the couch with a beer in his hand, Hooch next to him. A glass of wine was on the coffee table next to her favorite wrap and favorite dessert. As if sensing her, Ryan turned around and smiled nervously. “Okay, Hooch, the lady has arrived.”

Hooch gave a low bark and leaned forward to gobble up two burgers at once from his dog dish.