On Jason's Watch [Paladin Protection Agency 2] (Siren Publishing Classic) (5 page)

She finally stirred, and he felt the tension leave her as she tipped her head up to smile at him. “You’re not a bad boy at all. In fact, I think you’re a very good man.”

“Hush, don’t tell anyone. You’ll ruin my reputation, saying things like that.”

Her eyes met his, and for a moment, he felt like she was staring straight into his soul, past his jokes, the glib responses, and past the walls that only a handful of people had ever managed to breach. He waited for her to turn away from him. To push him back so she could escape, but instead she twined her arms around his waist and hugged him.

“Your secrets are safe with me.”

“Same here, beautiful.” He gave her a last squeeze and then let her go. “If you approve of your accommodations, why don’t we go find something to eat?”

She stepped out of his arms and nodded. “I really am famished.”

“Then it’s time to introduce you to the cafeteria. Think of it as feeding time at the zoo. Don’t disturb the other animals and keep your hands at your sides at all times.” He offered her his arm in a gesture of chivalry, pleased when she curled her hand over his arm. An almost overwhelming sense of possession hit him, and he knew the first man who so much as looked at her was going to get his head torn off. She was his. Or she would be, soon.
Shit. I’m in serious trouble.
He headed for the cafeteria level. Sin was never going to stop laughing at him if he fell for a client.

Chapter 3

“Jeez, are you sure this is the right address, Val?” Jase stared out the window at the wrought iron gates and the house beyond.
No, not a house, a fucking mansion.

“I’m sure. This is the address the client gave us.” Val leaned her tall frame out the window of the company-marked SUV and punched a code into the security panel. As the gates slid open, she dropped back into her seat with a crow of triumph. “See? The code worked, too. Quit backseat navigating, Jase. We’re at the right place.”

Tara glanced over at him, and he knew she was sensing his emotions. Having an empath on the team was great, until she started reading the team instead of focusing on the bad guys. He shot her a dirty look, and she gave him an apologetic shrug.

“Not my fault you’re projecting, Jase. I keep telling you to work on your shields.”

He heard Val snicker as he stepped out onto the driveway. “A new girl, Romeo? What happened to what’s-her-name, the blonde?”

“Her name was Amy, and she decided that she wanted someone who didn’t drive too fast, work too much, and travel too far away from her.”

“So, anyone who wasn’t you, then,” Val commented and hopped out of the vehicle.

“Like your love life is any better, Valentina.” Jase knew he would pay for using her full name, but it was always worth it to see her reaction.

“Play nice, you two, or I’ll never be able to get a read on things here,” Tara broke in before Val could do more than snarl in Jase’s direction.

“Why don’t you and Val do a quick sweep of the grounds and I’ll start with the house? Then I’ll head outside while you two pack for Miss Masters.”

“Yes, sir.” Val grinned as he flinched at the second word.

“Don’t you start doing that, too, Val! Damn it, I hate being called sir.”

“She knows,” Tara muttered as she tapped Val’s arm and pointed to the far side of the house. “C’mon, let’s get going before it starts raining again.”

Once he was alone, Jase walked around the SUV and stared up at the house. “Oh, I run my own business.” He repeated Jazz’s words of earlier and then shook his head. “I think she understated the situation slightly. She’s not an entrepreneur. She’s a damned tycoon.”

He took her keys out of his pocket and unlocked the front door, moving quickly to punch in the alarm codes once he was inside. Then he started looking around, already making notes of where her security system could be improved. They’d have to have all the upgrades in place before she’d be able to come back. He wasn’t going to let her step foot in her home until he knew she’d be safe here. He’d just about finished his assessment of the first floor when Tara’s voice intruded into his mind.

“We’ve found something, Jase. You’re going to need to see this.”

“I really hate it when she does that,” he grumbled and grabbed the secure radios they all carried. “Tara, we have radios for a reason.”

“Sorry, force of habit. Val and I are at the fence line, northeast corner. The client’s had company out here.”

“Be right there.” If Jazz’s fan club had been inside the fence, things were a lot worse than she had suspected. He didn’t let himself think about what might have happened if she hadn’t spotted the one watching the gate last night and wisely driven away.

It was two hours later before they made it back to Paladin’s offices. They’d found wolf prints and human footprints at two different locations inside the fence. Some fresh and some were older, already partially washed away by the last rains. There was no sign they’d managed to get past the house’s security system. After Jake was done working his technical wizardry, the place would be a fortress. Still, they’d gotten too damned close, and Jase didn’t relish having to tell her what they’d discovered today.

Once they were all back at the office, he left Val and Tara to finish up the report and headed for Jazz’s room with the suitcase the women had packed for her in his hand. After wearing the same clothes all day, he was pretty sure she’d be thankful to have options again.

When he knocked on her door, there was no answer. He knocked again, louder this time. When he still got no answer, he slipped out his override card and opened the door. “Jazz?” he called out into the quiet room. The lights were on, and on the bed he spotted the skirt and blouse she’d been wearing earlier.
Where the hell was she?

He dropped the suitcase at the bottom of the bed and headed back out into the hall, already pulling his cell out of his pocket. He hit speed dial and waited while it rang.

Michelle answered on the second ring, “Hey Jase. You guys back from Jazz’s place?”

“We are. Reports are being worked up right now. I went to give Jazz her stuff, but she’s not in her room. Do you have any idea where she is?” He tried to sound casual, but it bothered him he didn’t know where she was. He was supposed to be protecting her. How could he do that if he didn’t even know her current location?

“Oh right, she’s probably still in the gym. She was bored and asked me if I could find her something to wear so she could go burn off some energy. We hit up the quartermaster and she headed out.”

“The gym?” An image of Jazz surrounded by off-duty security officers sent his blood pressure sky-high, and he started jogging toward the elevators. “Thanks Michelle. I’ll track her down there and let her know what we found.”

“You’re welcome, Jase.”

He hung up and hit the elevator call button. He needed to get to the gym.

The cardio room was empty. He couldn’t see anyone in the weight room either, which was unheard of. Usually there were as many bodies in the gym as there were in the cafeteria. But today he couldn’t find a single soul. He rounded a corner and finally found signs of life. There was cheering coming from the sparring room. He headed in and stopped dead in his tracks as his brain tried to process what he was seeing. Jazz was standing in the middle of the mats, barefoot and wearing a pair of gray track pants and a tank top. Tendrils of dark hair curled against her face, and she was grinning down at something lying on the ground. No, make that
someone
lying
on the ground.

“Jase, you have got to check this out. This chick’s been here for almost an hour now, and no one can beat her!” Carl, one of the more junior members of Paladin, stepped over to join Jase, his eyes still on the combat circle that had formed in the middle of the room. “You want in on the betting? Danny’s going up next. Odds are 8-to-1 he finally puts her down.”

“You guys are betting on her?” Jase’s vision was going red around the edges. Here he’d been worried about her only to discover she was in the middle of an impromptu version of
Fight Club
.

“Well, I sure as hell don’t plan on fighting her. She’d take me apart!” Carl stated and then faded back into the crowd, looking for more gamblers.

The cheering got louder as Danny stepped into the circle and took his place across from Jazz. The two nodded tersely, and then the former marine sergeant was on the attack. He came at her with a roundhouse kick that made Jase wince
. She is going to get herself killed out there!
He’d already taken half a step toward the ring, determined to put a stop to the insanity, when Jazz ducked the incoming blow and launched her counterattack. Her leg swept out in a blur as her body shifted, and the next thing anyone knew, Danny was sprawled flat on his back with Jazz kneeling on his throat. Her fist was drawn and hovering a foot above his face.

Holy shit.

She bounced back to her feet and offered her hand to the much larger man, helping him up. Danny just gave the others a sheepish grin and headed off the floor, weaving slightly.

“Waters, care to explain to me why one of your clients is making my employees look like a bunch of pansies?” Geoff Remington’s soft-spoken drawl made Jase swallow a curse as he turned to face his boss.

“I just got back, sir. But I believe that the young lady in question has some uh, unique skills and abilities that she’s putting to good use.”

“And I believe she’s kicking their asses. She’s your client, Waters. I suggest you get in there and do your best to repair Paladin’s reputation.”

“Yes, sir!”

“All right everyone, consider this last call.” Remington’s voice carried to every corner of the sparring room, and silence followed in its wake. “Waters, you’re up.”

The crowd parted and Jase walked onto the mats. He was painfully aware that Remington’s eyes were burning a hole in the back of his head.

“Hi, Jase.” Jazz shot him a smile, but her eyes were wary as she sensed the change in the room.

“I see you found a way to stay busy while I was out.” He nodded to her new attire, trying not to focus on the way the cotton top was clinging to her damp skin, enhancing every one of her curves.

“This was the most fun I’ve had in ages. I don’t get to spar too often, and never against such different fighting styles.”

“When we’re done here, you and I are going to have a little chat about just exactly what it is you do for a living.”

He saw the sparkle of laughter in her eyes just as she struck out at him with her right foot. He sidestepped it by the thinnest of margins, and his training kicked in. She was good. But with his boss watching, he had a great deal of incentive to be better.

When her first blow missed, she drew backward a step and reassessed, and they exchanged several lightning fast kicks and punches as they tested each other’s guard. When her real attack came, he was ready. He caught her ankle in his hands instead of blocking it. Then he pulled her into him in a move that threw her completely off-balance. As she fought to compensate, he dropped her foot and lunged in close, wrapping his arms around her tightly. With her arms immobilized and her balance off-kilter, Jase dropped them both to the mats. As he went down, he took care not to crush her as he rolled her over and pinned her beneath him.

“That’s cheating!” she protested with a wriggle that drove their lower bodies together. She gasped, and he bit back a groan as they both reacted to the intimate contact.

“Don’t do that again unless you’re ready to become an exhibitionist,” he whispered into her ear, thankful that the cheering crowd drowned out what he’d just said.

As he eased himself off of her, he let his mouth graze her cheek with the faintest of kisses. Then he rolled to one side and stood up before offering her his hand as he spoke in a normal voice. “It’s not cheating. It’s surviving. Tournament rules are great for practice, but in the real world, there’s only one rule. If it works, use it.”

“Remington’s rule number one.” Several of the men close enough to hear what he’d told her exclaimed in unison before breaking into grins.

The crowd scattered as Remington made his way over to the mats. “Miss Masters, isn’t it? I’m Geoff Remington. That was a most impressive demonstration of Taekwondo. I’d appreciate it if you’d consider teaching some classes here in the future. Quite obviously there’s a gap in our hand-to-hand training program.”

He looked pointedly at the last of the retreating members of Paladin. “A big gap.”