Mercedes had kept a tight rein on her daughters and raised them to understand their responsibilities to themselves and one another. Survival had been uppermost, juvenile sex had been highly frowned upon. Mercedes, he had heard, had tried to instruct her daughters often on the dangers of sex and the chances of conceiving a child they were far too young to care for. Seeing their mother’s example, living the hardships and the weariness their mother had suffered had obviously convinced the girls that she was right.
As he pushed the speed limit as far as he dared, Brogan found himself gritting his teeth.
Dammit, at this rate he’d wear his back teeth to nubs.
Knowing what Doogan would do to her tender heart brought another realization, though. Brogan had never taken Eve out. He’d almost taken her virginity in her own bed, but he hadn’t taken her out or shown the world she was worth far more than the pleasure he would find in her body.
Doogan thought he could wine and dine her, but the ruse had nothing to do with showing the world a damned thing. Getting lucky after he took her home was all he would care about.
That, and ensuring that he pulled Eve Mackay in on an operation she had no business being a part of.
Brogan made one stop.
Driving into the back parking lot of the inn, he pulled a spare set of keys from the magnet beneath the four-by-four truck parked there, unlocked it, and a second later slid it into drive.
It was well after seven that evening before he pulled into valet parking at Mackay’s Fine Dining, and gave the young man, Mark Carlson, a hard look and a fifty-dollar bill as he growled, “The truck stays here.”
“You gonna be long?” Mark eyed the fifty-dollar bill dubiously, making Brogan wonder when a fifty stopped impressing kids.
He slapped another in the young man’s hand. “Mark, that truck moves and I’m going to kick your ass and take both these fifties back,” he promised softly. “You got me?”
“Alls I can say is, as long as Declan, Rogue, Janey, or Alex don’t yell at me.”
Brogan wasn’t worried about Declan for sure.
Declan Mackay, formerly Faisal Mackay, the Afghani whom Natches Mackay had adopted more than five years before, was the floor manager of the restaurant.
“Just tell them whose truck it is; they’ll be fine with it,” Brogan promised as he turned and entered the restaurant.
He strode past the well-dressed customers waiting for a table, knowing damned good and well that he was far from the dress code in his biker boots and khaki shirt tucked into his jeans.
He’d been riding for more than six hours. The bandanna skullcap was still tied around his head, and Brogan didn’t give a damn.
Striding past the sputtering hostess, he looked around quickly, caught sight of Eve, and strode toward her.
Damn, she sure looked pretty, too, he thought.
She wasn’t dressed in her customary jeans and snug cami. Tonight she wore a sundress with thin straps at her shoulders. The bodice cupped and loved her breasts. It skimmed to her hips and fell to her knees in shimmering chiffon.
The soft blue color brought out the green of her eyes and made her look like a tempting little sorceress.
A sorceress he was set and ready to claim.
* * *
Eve could feel her heart racing, pounding in her chest as she watched Brogan stalk across the room.
It was obvious he’d just returned from the ride. She had understood, based on listening to other members of the touring club, that the riders wouldn’t be arriving back until late into the night.
He looked hot, though: rough, tough, dangerous, and so damned sexy she almost caught her breath in excitement.
Jeans, a road dust–stained khaki shirt, rider’s boots, and a dark blue bandanna skullcap wasn’t exactly adhering to the restaurant’s dress code, though.
She was aware of the other diners watching curiously. She could almost feel them waiting to see what Brogan Campbell would do with his woman, who was obviously enjoying an evening with another man. Eve just wished there had actually been enjoyment.
Chatham Bromleah Doogan was a player, and he didn’t try to hide it. He was nice about it. He was damned charming about it. But Chatham was unapologetically a playboy.
Brogan was unapologetically all man. Wild, tough, dangerous. He was willing to be tame, but only under his own conditions, and only at those times that he chose to be.
He wasn’t willing to be tamed at this moment, though.
His gaze locked on hers, the blue-gray depths a sliver of color behind the lashes of his narrowed gaze, he came to a stop at the table, glowering down at her.
Chatham never lifted his gaze from the dessert menu.
“Ah, the maître d’,” Chatham murmured dismissively. “Isn’t it about time?”
Eve almost groaned in rising trepidation.
This could get ugly fast.
Brogan lifted a red-gold brow mockingly as he stared down at her. The arch conveyed such deliberate intent that she could feel her knees almost trembling.
How the hell was she supposed to handle this?
Chatham lifted his head then, gazing up at Brogan arrogantly.
“He’s not the maître d’,” she commented as Brogan completely ignored him.
“Really?” Chatham drawled in amusement. “My dear, I would have never guessed. Friend of yours?”
It could end gracefully, she thought.
Without bloodshed.
She hoped.
Eve cleared her throat. “Sometimes, I guess.”
Chatham chuckled. “A friend is not a friend, my dear, unless he is a friend at all times.”
“So I’ve heard.” She couldn’t break the hold Brogan had on her gaze. She wanted to. She tried to. Yet she couldn’t turn away.
“What happened to the ride?” she asked, fighting the tremble in her voice as something flickered in Brogan’s gaze.
“I canceled it,” he growled as he slowly lifted his hands from where he’d had his thumbs hooked in the front pockets of his jeans.
Almost immediately his hands flattened against the top of the table, his upper body bending to her. He was almost nose-to-nose with her so fast she could only stare up at him in surprise.
“Are you coming peacefully, or will I have to discuss the situation with your date?”
Eve’s gaze flickered in Chatham’s direction. He sat back in his chair, completely at ease as he, too, seemed to await her decision. His dark brown eyes mocked her dilemma, and for a second Eve swore he appeared as self-satisfied as the proverbial cat with the canary.
“I’m not waiting much longer,” Brogan warned her softly.
“I believe we should leave this decision up to Ms. Mackay, without undue coercion,” Chatham advised, causing Eve to flick a horrified glance in his direction.
Didn’t he know a dangerous situation when he saw one? Brogan was in no way willing to endure advice at the moment.
“I’m sorry about this, Chatham.” Lifting the napkin from her lap, Eve laid it on the table as she apologized.
Rising, she quickly opened her small clutch purse and pulled several bills free before laying them on the table.
“That is entirely unnecessary.” Chatham looked almost horrified as he glanced at the bills before his gaze lifted to her again. “My dear, your company was well worth the meal.”
Brogan jerked her money from the table.
“Brogan?” she hissed, outraged by the action.
“He looks like he can afford the damned meal.” Brogan snorted.
Chatham rose to his feet, the amusement in his gaze intensifying.
Turning to Brogan, she said querulously, “I hope you brought something besides that Harley.”
“I came prepared.”
There was something about the way he said it and the words he used that sent a rush of heat flooding her body.
Before Brogan turned away, though, he reached into his pocket, pulled two hundreds free, and tossed them to the t
able.
“I can pay for the meal.” Chatham chuckled.
“Take the money and count yourself lucky,” Brogan suggested, his tone dark and forbidding. “My ancestors castrated poachers. With great satisfaction.”
Chatham lifted a brow as the diners around them snickered in amusement.
Gripping her upper arm, Brogan led her unhurriedly through the restaurant and out the front door as outrage rushed through her.
“That was completely uncalled-for, Brogan.” She turned to face him as he stepped into the driver’s seat after helping her into the truck. Glaring up at the brooding anger burning in his gaze, she ignored the butterfly excitement in her stomach.
“You had absolutely no right whatsoever to barge in on my date in such a way.”
“A date, was it?” Silky, dangerous, his voice lowered and his expression tightened savagely as he started the truck. “I’d change the description of that little outing if I were you, Eve. Because you knew better than to date until this relationship thing of ours has been settled, one way or the other.”
“That’s what you think,” she snapped back at him, so offended by his attitude she could barely tolerate it. “We have no relationship, remember? I told you, I can’t do this.”
It was killing her—the need for his touch, for his kiss. It raged inside her, hotter even than the anger now coursing inside her. “Because of you my brother is probably getting calls from everyone in that restaurant about now. He’s going to end up at my door again—God forbid, while you’re in my bed. And before the night is over I’m going to feel like the worst sister to live, because I find it completely impossible to tell you no.”
She was only barely aware of the tightening of Brogan’s knuckles on the steering wheel, as though he were fighting desperately to keep his hands off her.
“You tell me no all the damned time,” he argued, his tone rasping with irritation. “Your damned brother can just be proud as hell of you, can’t he, Eve?”
“Not if he shows up and you’re in my bed.” Turning to face forward again, her arms crossing over her breasts, she glared into the evening traffic.
Until the chain swinging on the rearview mirror drew her gaze. She recognized the small gold cross Timothy Cranston had told her belonged to his daughter. She had been wearing it the day a bomb had killed her and her mother.
“Timothy let you use his truck?” she questioned in disbelief. “He doesn’t even like you.”
“I stole it,” he informed her with such a look of triumph she was momentarily taken aback. “I knew where he kept the spare key and I just took it.”
Pure disbelief filled her as she shook her head and returned her gaze forward. She had to grit her teeth to keep herself from completely losing her temper. That lasted all of the time it took him to pass the turnoff that led to the inn.
“Where are you going? You just missed the turn to the house,” she reminded him as he continued through town.
“I borrowed a place for the night.” He shocked her with the statement. “I don’t intend to have Dawg Mackay disturb me again while we’re together, Eve. I may end up forgetting he’s your brother.”
“The only friend you have in this county who would have something to loan is Billy Ray, and all he has is that ragged houseboat of his. You think Dawg won’t know the minute we pull into the marina and go onto that alley cat’s boat? Are you trying to rub his nose in the fact that I can’t stay away from you?”
Where had his mind gone? There wasn’t a chance in hell that she was getting on a houseboat with him. Especially Billy Ray Chauncey’s. The man was a dog when it came to women.
“For God’s sake, give me a little credit here, Eve.” The look he shot her was rife with simmering lust and banked frustration. “Do you really think I’m going to give Dawg Mackay the opportunity to try to beat the shit out of me?”
“Try?” She looked back at him doubtfully, determined to make him as crazy as he made her.
She was pushing him, and she knew she was, but this was the first time she had seen so much emotion in him. He wasn’t as controlled as he normally was, and the knowledge of that had adrenaline crashing through her system.
She could get used to this. The excitement was addictive.
Brogan snorted. “Don’t fool yourself, sweet pea. The Mackay cousins are hitting their forties. They’re not exactly as spry as they used to be.”
Eve almost laughed. For a second—well, maybe a millisecond—she had the insane urge to share with him the fact that the cousins’ wives often made that claim themselves. But it was only after the cousins proved otherwise.
“Maybe your confidence is just enough to ensure that he does kick your ass,” she suggested. “Be careful there, Brogan; you could be a little overconfident.”
“That’s possible.” Surprising her with the agreement as he cast her a hard, mocking look, he continued. “Personally, I’d just as soon not find out, though, so I’ve made certain he’ll be completely unaware of our location.”
She doubted that. Dawg seemed to know exactly where each of his sisters was and what they were doing at any given time of the day. Or night.
“So what have you borrowed and who did you borrow it off of?” she asked, rubbing at the sensation almost of static electricity that raced over her arms at the thought of being alone with Brogan right now. Sensual intensity and male confidence seemed to bleed from every pore of his body. Sexual intent and erotic heat filled the cab of the truck, raising her heart rate and sending excitement crashing through her bloodstream.
“Does it matter who I borrowed it from?” he answered her as he turned up a narrow, unlined paved road.
It was one of the few she and her sisters hadn’t explored—for a reason.
“The property up this road is gated,” she told him. “There used to be a guard at the gate, too.”
“Only when it’s being used by certain people,” he informed her cryptically.
“What sort of people?” Eve probed as the truck pulled up to the locked gate and the guard post.
The guard post was empty. Surprisingly, Brogan pulled his wallet from his jeans back pocket, extracted what appeared to be a key card from one of the credit card slots, and slid it through the security scanner.
The gate swung open slowly in the bright lights of the truck as a green light flashed next to the gate’s support post.
Driving through, he stopped at the mounted control box on the other side, opened the weatherproof door as he stuck his arm through the open window of the truck, and pushed in a code. The gate swung closed behind them.
The entirety of the property was fenced in, though it was fenced at different heights as it moved up the mountain, to allow larger wildlife to clear it. As the cabin came into view, Eve glimpsed the eight-foot fence about two hundred feet from the house and another gate. Like the control box that closed the first gate, this one took only a code that Brogan pushed into it.
There were rumors . . .
Eve stared through the windshield as she propped her elbow on the door and rubbed at her temple. “Who does this cabin belong to, Brogan?”
“Tonight it belongs to me. I told you: I have a friend.”
“Did Timothy give you the key and access code into it?” she asked. “I know there’s a rumor this cabin belongs to the government, and Timothy’s the only former agent I know who you talk to.”
“As you said, though, Timothy and I aren’t exactly friends,” he reminded her.
“Yeah, well, Timothy has friends no one knows anything about, and often treats the friends he does associate with like suspects or enemies rather than friends. So who the hell knows?”
Brogan chuckled, a low, sensual sound that sent heat skipping up her spine.
Stepping from the truck, Eve stared around the small clearing before turning to the cabin and staring up at it.
She’d thought the fence surrounded all four sides of the large cabin until she stepped from the truck. To the side, instead
, the waters of the lake lapped at the sandy ground, while a dock extended out into the water.
Lights had flipped on from the front porch as the truck pulled up to it, revealing the elegant wilderness retreat.
She’d heard the cabin hidden in the wide canyon above the lake was a luxurious retreat often used by government officials, senators, governors, and megarich hunters with the right political ties.
From the back of the truck Brogan pulled two overnight bags free. Eve’s brows lifted in disbelief as she recognized her own bag.
“You packed my clothes?” Propping her hands on her hips, she stared back at him incredulously. “Before or after you stole the truck?”
“Let’s just say I had help.” He growled.
“You had no right to go through my things, Brogan,” she informed him, furious that he’d taken such liberties. It was one thing to practically kidnap her, but packing her clothes? Going through her drawers? That was uncalled-for.
“You weren’t there,” he stated, as though that made it just fine.
“So? That doesn’t give you the right to paw through my clothes.” Or anything else she kept in her drawers.
“Don’t worry, sweetie; your little toys didn’t offend me in the least,” he promised good-naturedly as he stepped up on the porch, set the bags on the wide bench beside the door, and pulled the key card from his shirt pocket before swiping it through the reader.
“I can’t believe you,” she bit out furiously as she followed him into the cabin. “Brogan, what gives you the right to do any of this? First you barge in on my date—”
He turned on her so fast she stepped back, startled that he was facing her so quickly, no more than inches from her where less than a second before he had been a good three feet away.
“Eve, sweetheart, don’t make me tell you again not to call that farce of a dinner you were having with that jackass a date,” he ordered fiercely rather than furiously. “My patience is wearing thin with the people who seem to be standing between us. I can deal with your brother, your sisters, your cousins. Hell, I can even deal with your mother if she decides to protest. But if you dare to put a date between us, then I might not hold on to my patience much longer.”