Page 5 of Threatened

As she folded and stacked her sheets, Kylie couldn’t help noticing that Gage was humming as he worked. The tune was sweet and sad and tugged at her heart, regardless of whether she wanted it to or not. Determined to make the most of an awkward situation, she finished cleaning up the sofa then joined him at the table. “What’s that song you’re humming?”

“Huh?” He gave her a slightly confused stare, as if he hadn’t realized what he’d been doing. “Oh. Sorry. I do that sometimes—hum when I’m concentrating. That’s what the guys in my squad used to tell me anyway. Helpful for dealing with babies, not so much when you’re on a black ops mission with people trying to kill you.”

“Yikes, I’d say not.” While he picked up Maya and stuck a bottle in her mouth, Kylie did the same with Brennan, settling into the chair across from Gage’s. “That must’ve been pretty terrifying.”

He shrugged, drawing her attention once more to his broad shoulders beneath the soft cotton of his black T-shirt. “We’re trained for it. You learn to channel that adrenaline and fight-or-flight energy into more productive activities, like tracking and reconnaissance. It’s all about redirection.”

“I get that. My work is about redirection too,” she said, surprising herself. Normally, she didn’t discuss her occupation with people she didn’t know well. Years of judgmental idiots had taught her that, despite the growing respect for Feng Shui and her wealthy client list, most people refused to take her work seriously. When he didn’t say anything, she looked up to find him staring down at Maya with such awe that it took her breath away. Her chest squeezed and she focused on Brennan once more. Truthfully, she understood that too. There was something about having a baby in your arms that made the rest of the world and all its problems fall away. “They are so precious.”

“Yeah, they are,” Gage said, his deep voice quiet. “Listen, Kylie. I owe you an apology for last night. I shouldn’t have stalked off the way I did.”

A bit shocked, she met his gaze. “Wow. Thanks for that. And thanks for letting me crash here.”

“Hmm.” He watched her a moment before looking away. “I’m sorry about what I said about you and your sister and the funeral. I had no right.”

Those words caused a tiny pinch inside her. Dammit. She’d been determined last night to not like him, and now he had to go and be all nice this morning. She exhaled slowly and smiled at Brennan when he caught her finger in his little fist. “I’m sorry about questioning your parenting abilities. Obviously, you’ve learned some skills if you got both of them ready by yourself today.”

Gage snorted. “You learn fast with two screaming babies in your care. You should’ve seen me the first night. All three of us were a mess. Formula and food everywhere, and let’s not even talk about the diaper situation. So much poop. Talk about a black ops mission.”

Kylie chuckled and set Brennan’s now-empty bottle on the table. Her nephew was smiling at her. He seemed to be a happy baby despite losing his parents. Kylie imagined that it had to have an impact on him and his sister, but at that moment, he seemed perfectly normal. Especially when he made a grab for her hair. She swept it out of the way just in time, so Brennan fisted her sweatshirt instead. She glanced over to find Gage rocking slowly from side to side, cooing to the baby girl. Her expression was more serious than her brother’s, but it was clear that she was content in Gage’s arms. What girl wouldn’t be happy nestled against his chest and getting all his attention?

“You know, the last time I saw Chris and the twins was right after they were born,” she said. “We talked about coming up with signals we could use to communicate with each other so we wouldn’t make any noise when they were sleeping.”

“Like sign language?” Gage asked. “That sounds like a good idea.”

“Yeah.” She smiled. “Nothing fancy though. Just like okay and hello and help.” She showed him the signals they’d come up with. “Chris was so creative that way.”

Her voice cracked as her throat constricted with unexpected tears. That was the thing about grief—it hit you out of nowhere at the worst times. She squeezed her eyes shut and held little Brennan tighter, cuddling him beneath her chin, wishing she could see her sister one last time.

“Hey,” Gage said, his soft tone soothing Kylie more than she ever could have imagined. “I miss them too. Every day I wish I could just talk to Tucker one more time, hang out in their kitchen and eat some of Christine’s fabulous snickerdoodles.”

“Man, those were the best, weren’t they?” She took a deep breath, feeling some of the overwhelming sadness lift slightly at the happy memories. “I can’t cook worth a damn. Well, except for breakfast.”

“Good to know.” Gage smiled over at her and once again she was struck by just how gorgeous he was, all tanned and toned and brimming with masculine grace. Before she could get too carried away with that though, he brought her back to the topic at hand. “I hope you’re not too hard on yourself about missing your sister’s funeral. It was an accident. No one was prepared. I’m sure Christine would want you to remember all the good times, the wonderful memories, instead of beating yourself up because of one day.”

His words helped lighten her gloomy mood a bit, yet an empty void remained. Her sadness had been what had kept her goingsince Christine’s death, what had driven her to quit the amazing job in Tokyo and rush home as fast as she could to be with the twins. The problems came when she didn’t have something to do. That was when grief dragged on her, overwhelming her.

Brennan squirmed again her chest, and she pushed to her feet. She needed to be moving. She paced with Brennan around the house, her eyes stinging and her heart pounding. The last few days had been a whirlwind and she needed some time and space to clear her head and get her priorities in order. Yes, she was the twins’ aunt and she wanted what was best for them, but she still wasn’t sure if that was her or not. Lord knew she’d never raised kids herself. She’d never even spent much time around them, finding it too upsetting since she’d learned she couldn’t have any of her own. She was just returning to the living room when she narrowly avoided a collision with Gage.

“You hungry?” he asked. “We can put them on a blanket to play in the living room. They’ll be happy there for a while.”

As soon as he mentioned food, her stomach growled. “I could eat.”

“Good.” Gage gestured for her to follow him back to the living room. Balancing Maya against his hip, he spread a brightly colored blanket on the floor. He put Maya down and gestured for Kylie to do the same with Brennan. Gage went to the toy basket and grabbed an assortment of items. “That ought to do it.”

“Are they crawling yet?” She was a little embarrassed that she had to ask. She should know that about her own niece and nephew.

“Some. I’ve been working on child proofing. It they’re together, they’re usually content to stay put. I just don’t wander off too far.”

“It’s a whole different world, isn’t it?” Kylie commented as she struggled to come up to speed with the babies’ development. It left her reeling emotionally.

“So far,” he said, looking down at the kids. They were both sitting up, exchanging brightly colored cups and rings between them and babbling in some language that they seemed to understand. “While they’re happy, let’s put those breakfast skills of yours to the test. I’m starved.”

She was, too, but she was still feeling overwhelmed. Taking in a breath, she committed to staying focused on one day at a time. That was how she’d take things now, until she figured out what the hell she was going to do here. One day at a time. She could do that, couldn’t she?

Yep. She could and she would. She smoothed a hand down her sweatshirt and looked around the room. It pretty much screamed single guy. The furniture was good quality, though, and the space could be soothing if properly arranged. She should keep the idea that was forming to herself, but…what the heck? “I’ll cook if you let me rearrange your living room.”

“What?” He turned to her with a frown. “What’s wrong with my living room?”

---