Page 27 of Dirty Rotten Scoundrel

He shrugged it off. “I knew when Lauren and I were together that she wasn’t the one. I told you before that I’ve never told another woman I loved her, and it was the truth. You’re the only woman I’ve ever said that to.” His dark gaze was direct and I believed him. Hadn’t doubted him really.

“You were always there in the back of my mind,” he said. “Even when we were living in different states. But Lauren was comfortable, and it was nice to be able to go home to that comfort after being in the trenches at work.”

“You really don’t have anything to explain to me, Jack.” I pushed my plate aside and touched his hand. “I understand. Just like I understand that seeing her yesterday caught you off guard and made you question whether everything she said might be true.” I wove my fingers with his. “I understandyou.But Lauren was right about what she said about me. About us.”

Jack frowned and started to say something, but I cut him off.

“No, listen. She’s right that you’ll never be able to pick up where you left off with your career or go toward a high level position somewhere if you marry me. And I want you to know that I understand the sacrifice, and I love you all the more that you’re willing to make it.”

“It’s not a goddamned sacrifice,” he growled, and it made me smile just a little.

“I know. Which makes it even more special. You love me no matter what. And I trust you with my life, and more importantly, my heart.” I looked into his eyes and kissed him softly, and the tension in his shoulders ebbed as he took it deeper—made it sweeter.

“I love you.”

The words still made my heart flutter when he said them. “I love you too. But you should probably tell Lauren if she touches you again, I’m going to punch her in her perfect face.”

Jack let out a surprised burst of laughter and pulled me into a hug. “I’ll pass the word along. Are you headed up to bed or do you want to sit in on what Carver and I are doing for a while?”

“I’ll sit in with you guys. I want to know what’s going on.” I took my plate to the sink and rinsed it before I loaded it in the dishwasher, and then I refilled my coffee. “Don’t take any unnecessary chances with this. I’m scared for you.”

“I’m more at the pissed off stage than scared. We’ll find out who’s behind this. Carver and Greer are damned good at their jobs, and I’m no slouch either.”

“There’s something I need to tell you, and I don’t want you to get angry with me.”

“That’s always a good way to start a conversation. Does it have to do with your father?”

“You could say that.”

He sat at the kitchen tablein the little nook that looked out over the trees. In the daytime it was beautiful. In the dark it was unnerving, especially when there were madmen out for Jack’s blood.

“Don’t worry. Greer’s got agents rotating the perimeter. Our home is safe. Never doubt that.”

“I saw my father again tonight,” I said. “When I came back to the funeral home with Leanne’s body.”

“Where? What did he want?” Jack was all cop now and I gave him a look until he relaxed back in his seat and stopped treating me like I was being interviewed.

“He was waiting for me inside the lab when I took the body down. He’d bypassed security.”

“When was the last time you changed the code?”

“When I came back after the attack. So it hasn’t been long. But I’m not sure anything could have kept him out. He’s good at what he does or he wouldn’t have made it as far as he has.”

“He took a chance being down there when you might not have gone down alone.”

“He’s plugged into everything that’s going on. He knew Agent Donaldson was sitting in front of the funeral home. He knew what was going on with you. He said to let him know if we needed any help.”

“Jesus,” Jack said, pushing up from the booth and getting a cup of coffee instead of another beer. “He’s got balls. I’ll give him that.”

Our knees bumped as he sat back across from me. “I take it he was there for the boxes?”

“Yeah.I let him know I’d told you he was back. He didn’t seem overly concerned.”

“He knows I’ve got my hands full with something else at the moment. It’s actually brilliant timing on his part. And it makes me wonder if he didn’t know some of what was going on before he decided to rise from the dead.”

“I had the same thought. He said my mom is dead.” I looked down into the steaming blackness of my cup as I told him. “It shouldn’t seem so fresh. She’s been dead to me for two years.”

My hands held the cup for dear life and Jack wrapped his hands around mine. “It doesn’t make the truth hurt any less.”

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