Page 2 of Stripped Bare

“That’s me.”Griff gave her his trademark grin that made all the women follow him.“Griff Daniels, at your service.”Then he did a typical Griff move and bowed, bringing her hand to his mouth and kissing the back of her fingers.Shep wanted to smack him out of the way.

Her smile showed she wasn’t immune to the youngest Daniel brother’s charm.Shep gave a grin of his own when her gaze swept back toward him as if she couldn’t help herself.He liked that.A lot.She looked back to Griff as he released her hand.

“You must be the charmer in the family,” she said.

“How do you know my family?”Griff asked.“More importantly, how do I not know you?”

She laughed, and Shep felt the melodious sound wash over him.He wanted to hear it again.Preferably when it was just the two of them.Clothing optional.

“Stace Anders,” she introduced herself.“I served briefly with your brother, Gil.”

She’d been a Marine.Which only made her hotter in his opinion.You had to respect a woman who kicked ass.He gave her another once over, noting the well-defined muscles in her arms.He’d already surveyed her long legs.God, he loved a woman with long legs.

“That explains why you see me as the charmer,” Griff said.“My oldest brother isn’t known for his sweet personality.”

Jack snorted but said nothing.

“Maybe not, but he’s one of the few I felt comfortable guarding my back,” Stace shared.

“That’s high praise,” Shep said, pulling that sexy gaze his way.He liked the way her voice caught slightly when she repeated her name and held her hand out to him in a similar greeting to what she’d given Griff.He took her hand between both of his and held it loosely, letting the heat of his skin surround her.He wondered if she was imagining the two of them in bed, his heat surrounding more of her, all of her, filling her.He shut down those thoughts quickly before he embarrassed them both with a visual display of how she already affected him.“Donavan Shepard, but you can call me Shep.”

“Shep and Griff are two of my best men,” Jack said.“They’ll both be working to help locate your sister, Ms.Anders.”

“Stace,” she corrected then turned back to Shep, though she flicked her gaze briefly to include Griff.“Thank you both for agreeing to help me.The call you listened to was made by my sister, Chloe Anders, after she was drugged while at Tark’s Tavern.She made it to her car before it kicked in, and you heard what happened from there.”She pulled a picture from her crossbody bag and handed it to Jack.“She’s five nine with short brown hair and brown eyes.Third year nursing student.Went to the bar on a Friday night with a few fellow students to blow off some steam and dance.My sister loves to dance.”Shep caught a brief glimpse of fear on Stace’s face before she controlled it.“I was out of the country when she was taken.Didn’t know about it until I returned three weeks after she was taken.”

She’d been back a week then, Shep noted.

“No one reached out to you?”Griff asked.

“I wasn’t in a place where I could be easily reached,” she admitted.

Shep found that interesting.Where had she been?

“When I got back, the house was empty, mail piled up, and no sign of my sister.Once I heard from Chloe’s best friend, I headed to the police station.The Sheriff’s department has no leads, no suspects, and no direction to look.That’s not good enough for me.”

“No, it’s not,” Jack agreed.“My men are good at what they do.Shep and Griff will start at ground zero and work from there.Someone saw something.They’ll find it.We’ll do everything we can to help you find your sister, Ms.Anders, and there’s a lot we can do.”

“Thank you, Mr.Madigan, Mr.Davis.I appreciate you seeing me so quickly.”

“Anything for a friend of my son-in-law,” Jack vowed.

“Again, thank you.”She glanced back at Shep.“I’d like to leave today.You’ll both be staying with me.Hope that’s alright.It’s a big farmhouse.Fully modernized.Plenty of room for everyone to have their own space.”

“What about our current case?”Griff asked Jack, but it was Roman who answered.

“Chetan has it.”

Chetan was another member of their team, a former Marine, too.Jack had done something to earn the other man’s loyalty, and he’d followed when Jack formed Midnight, Inc.There was very little Chetan couldn’t do.He was lethal as hell, especially with the knife that he tended to keep close at hand.Shep wasn’t sure what he’d done in the Marines, but he was lethal with any weapon, including his bare hands.

“Sounds good,” Shep answered while Griff tensed further beside him.Shep had figured Griff would be more accepting of Roman once the man became his stepfather, but marrying Catherine Daniels only seemed to make the tension between the two men worse.Griff couldn’t accept that his mother was happy with a man who wasn’t Griff’s deceased father.He kept a professional but polite distance with Roman while they were at work, and Roman didn’t push.He said it was between Catherine and her son, and as long as Catherine was okay, he wouldn’t interfere.God help Griff if that ever changed.Roman wasn’t a man Shep would want to cross.Honestly, he didn’t know what he’d do if he was ever put between the two men.Hopefully, Griff would work through his issues soon.

“We’ll need at least an hour to take care of a few things here and throw together a bag to leave,” Griff told Stace.“We’ll need to let a few people know where we’ll be.”

“My apologies.I’ll give you the address for your wives or girlfriends.I’d appreciate a heads up if one of you is expecting company, but it was never my intention to keep you from your significant others,” Stace offered.

“Not an issue,” Shep assured her.“Neither of us is married or dating.”

“On that note, Roman and I will leave you to go meet with another client.You’re in good hands, Stace.”Jack glanced between Shep and Griff.“Let me know if you need anything.”

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