Page 114 of Defenders of Jawhara

“For Brock Wells—and I got you instead. Unless I miss my guess, you’ve got an agenda here. There’s a reason you came instead of sending Brock or bringing him with you.”

She saw him stiffen. The muscles in his jaw tightened ever so slightly, and she knew she’d hit pay dirt with that last comment. But he only said, “Brock’s overseas. So I’m here to assess the situation.” He fixed a steady stare on her. “But I’d also like to make sure that boy doesn’t become a chess piece in anyone’s game.”

She narrowed her eyes. “That sounds like you have a personal stake in this.”

* * *

Slade let out a breath and ran his fingers through his hair. He hated to talk about the past, hated to even think about it. It was done, gone, and buried. But Bethany was staring at him, eyes bright and her chin jutting forward slightly, and he knew she wouldn’t leave it alone. He had to tell her something.

“My dad was military. Folks divorced when I was nine. My younger brother and I got to be the territory my folks fought over. I did my best to look out for my brother, but the back and forth was harder on him than it was on me. I went into the service at seventeen and didn’t look back. He didn’t do so well. Took him five years to drag himself out of drugs and booze, but he did it. He’s got his own family now. He’s stable, doing well.”

“And you were left thinking all marriages go that way?”

“No, more like thinking most folks don’t fight hard enough to hang on to what they have. Tayra didn’t even try. I still don’t really know why she bailed on Brock, but I do know she couldn’t be talked out of it.” That was all he wanted to say about it.

Bethany turned and pulled two mugs down from the cupboard. She set them down with a sharp clink on the tile counter. “I’ve no idea who my real dad is. My mom met Tayra’s dad when I was three, and then suddenly, she was pregnant with my sister and marriage was the next logical step. Except it shouldn’t have been. They were like a wildfire when they argued, and the destruction was devastating. But they hung on—till the bitter end. We had the police over about once a month when the arguments got loud enough. Our folks never had time for us—they were too busy fighting. For Tayra, it left her hungry for attention, and once she’d met Brock, it was as if she was his sun, and she basked in the attention he gave her. Whereas I buried myself in computer code. I suspect that our parents are the reason why Tayra hated any kind of confrontation. If sports or school activities became too much, or if someone was being a bully, she’d walk away instead of standing her ground.”

“But not you?” Slade asked. He heard what she wasn’t saying—how she came out of it just as much a fighter as her folks.

She turned away, pulled open the fridge door, and took out half and half. “How do you take your coffee?”

Slade was starting to think she was better than he was at ducking personal questions that cut too close to the truth. He picked up a cup, holding it smooth and cool in his hand. “Black’s fine.” She poured it and used both hands to hold the pot steady. The steam and aroma reached him, and his mouth watered. There were few things better than that first cup of coffee in the morning. Bethany bit her lower lip as she poured, and Slade’s thoughts went back to that kiss. Okay, so that was better.

He wanted to kiss her again—kiss her senseless, leave her eyes darkening with passion, and empty her mind. He wanted to drag off that shapeless T-shirt and see what she looked like naked and fit his palms over her breasts. He wanted to smell her and taste her.

But none of that would be smart.

The tears could be an act—the timing was about right to hook him in with the poor female who needed a strong shoulder to cry on. She could play him now for a fool who could be won over with sex, and she’d probably be able to pull that off. He’d always been a sucker for damsels in distress. Besides, get any guy cranked up and his mind ended up down in his pants. Slade was still half hard from that kiss. He still wanted more from her. He had to be careful. She was beautiful dynamite.

She poured her own coffee, added a large dollop of cream, and stirred in two sugars. He smiled. “Take a little coffee with your cream?”

She leaned a hip against the counter. “Let’s say I take you up on your offer. I…I have to tell you, my love life’s been dismal over the last few years, and completely nonexistent prior to moving here. I’m attracted to you. I’m not going to be coy about that. All of that means I’m not sure how smart it is to let you stay around.”

“I’m too much temptation?” Slade asked. He couldn’t keep the humor out of his voice.

Bethany nodded. “Something like that. But…Jason likes you. And you’re not wrong about him needing a role model of some kind. However, if this is part of some plan to get him away from me—”

“You’ll rip off my head and let Jason use it for batting practice?”

She smiled. “Something like that.”

“Great.” He lifted his coffee to her. “Sounds like we’ve got everything all worked out.”

7

Bethany replayed Slade’s words in her head, over and over again, as she sat at her computer, staring at the code she was working on. Or rather, not working on. She was working on her own project right now, something that would identify if any tracking software was being run on a mobile phone.

The program would then send back a series of signals, causing the files that had originated from the phone or computer to destroy themselves. She wanted to get this done and put it out as freeware for anyone who wanted privacy. But without a hard deadline, she had no reason to pull late nights working on it. No reason to send Slade away.

Was she wrong about this idea of letting Slade stay? Had one kiss left her wanting too much more from him?

She gave a sigh. Slade was out now, buying supplies, he’d said. “If I’m staying, I’m eating. I’m also not a bad cook, so we can share the burden,” he’d said.

She’d tried to argue with him, but it was useless. She had a feeling he won most arguments simply by being a stone wall that you couldn’t get around.

In the background she could hear Jason playing on the Wii. The game made soft pinging sounds, played bright, happy digital music. Tayra had been strict about that—no TV, no violent video games, and only an hour on weekends playing his favorite games. Bethany wasn’t going to begrudge Jason a little fun right now.

She leaned her head back and wondered what it was that Slade wasn’t telling her about why he was here. From the way he’d spoken, there had to be more to it than just him being here for a friend—a man who was like a brother to him. She had to admit that was half the reason she’d let him stay. She wanted to know more about Slade—including if that was the only name he’d had. She smirked remembering how Jason had compared his name to Batman, and she wondered how true it was.

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