Page 23 of Securing the Odds

He answered with a groan and a fist to her hair, the sharp bite at her scalp, sending tingles and a deep ache straight to her core.

“I need you.” His words were spoken gruffly in her ear right before he latched onto her lobe, sucking it into his mouth and teasing it with his tongue.

“I need you, too.” She hiked a leg around his waist, and he grabbed the back of her thigh, helping her to keep it in place.

“Lift the other one. I’ve got you.”

She did, and he walked them toward the stairs.

But just as his foot took the first step, the doorbell rang.

He stilled.

She stilled.

Neither of them moved.

The doorbell rang again.

“Fuck.” Jake looked over his shoulder at the door as if he could magically see through it or, more likely, murder the person behind it.

The person at the door knocked.

“You better answer that.” That was the last thing Tammy had wanted to say, but with the persistence of the person at the door, she knew they weren’t going away.

With a sigh, Jake let go of his hold on her legs but held on to her until she was steady on her feet. “Don’t move. I’ll get rid of whoever that is.”

She nodded, but that was all she could manage as she gripped the railing to keep herself steady.

“House!” Tammy heard the loud, booming voice before she saw the man who filled the doorway pull Jake in for a man hug—his left shoulder to Jake’s right, each with one arm thumping the other’s back.

“Gumby. This is a surprise. Thought you’d be sippin’ fancy cocktails on your beach while working on your tan.”

“Screw you,” the Gumby guy laughed and then patted his flat stomach. “You know I stay away from those fruity drinks. Gotta keep my girlish figure.”

Jake shared in his laughter as the guy stepped around him and into the house, his step faltering when he spied Tammy at the base of the stairs. “Well, who have we here? Hello, darlin’.”

The guy took another step, extending a tattooed arm her direction, but stopped in his tracks when Jake growled, “Back off, Decker.”

Decker threw his hands in the air but did it with a smile as he watched Jake come to a stop at Tammy’s side. “Was just gonna introduce myself to the pretty lady.”

“I’ll do it,” Jake grumbled, and Tammy glanced over to see he had a scowl on his face.

She bit the inside of her cheek to keep from laughing.

“Tammy, Decker Kincade. Deck, Tammy Reed.” He threw an arm around her back, securely holding her by the hip to hug her close. “Now, why are you here?”

Decker didn’t try to hold back his laugh. “Well, Iwasstopping by to see if you wanted to go to lunch. But I guess now I’m here to cockblock you. Sorry about that, by the way, I know you’ve had a long dry spell.”

Tammy flicked her eyes Jake’s direction again to find his scowl had deepened. “Don’t you have a fiancée to annoy? A mission to go on?”

“Nope, she and Caite went up to San Francisco to shop for wedding stuff, and I haven’t been assigned a new mission yet, so I have the whole weekend with nothin’ to do.”

“Lucky me.” That was muttered under Jake’s breath and quiet enough only Tammy heard him.

She bit her cheek harder.

“Congratulations on your engagement,” Tammy said to cover Jake’s rudeness.

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