Jen smiled, then searched the yard again. “Hey, are my brother and Holly here?”
“They were,” Annabelle replied. “I don’t know where they disappeared to.”
From the refreshment table, Jane suddenly caught Cash’s eye and flashed him a delighted smile.
“We should say hi to the birthday girl,” Cash said as he waved hello to Jane.
He and Jen drifted away from the women, passing several men Cash knew from the base. He said a few hellos, then caught sight of Dylan and Jackson near the swing set, holding paper plates and munching on appetizers. Ryan and Matt stood a few feet away, beers in their hands, heads bent in deep conversation. He looked around in search of Seth, but their resident badass was MIA. No surprise there—Seth’s dislike of kids was no secret. No doubt he’d already come by to drop off a gift, said a quick hello and hightailed it home.
“I’m so glad you could make it,” Jane said when they approached.
Baby Sadie made a delighted gurgling sound as her big blue eyes focused on the new arrivals.
“Hey there,” Jen crooned, leaning in to kiss Sadie’s forehead. “Happy birthday, cutie.”
“Gah!”
Jane grinned. “That means thank-you.” She shifted Sadie to her other hip and gestured to the food table behind her. “We decided not to barbeque—” she rolled her eyes, “—because Becker is scared the smoke from the grill will give our daughter cancer. But Holly prepared a whole bunch of yummy dishes—there’s like five different kinds of salad, mini sandwiches, appetizers and a bunch of other finger foods. So help yourself, okay?”
“Everything looks delicious,” Jen said, reaching for two plates. “Where is Holly, by the way?”
Jane wrinkled her brow. “I don’t know. I haven’t seen her since she set up the tables.”
Carson was noticeably absent too. Cash wasn’t sure if that was a good sign, or a bad one. As much as he didn’t want to imagine his lieutenant screwing around, he hoped Carson and Holly were inside getting it on somewhere. At least that would mean they were on their way to fixing the problems between them.
“I’m sure they’ll turn up soon,” Cash said, catching Jen’s frown. “Come on, let’s have something to eat.”
They spent the next twenty minutes chatting with Jane while they scarfed down some food. People drifted over to say hello, including Dylan and Jackson, the latter of whom Jen had yet to meet.
“So you’re the Texan,” she said, giving Jackson a thorough once-over.
Cash knew she liked what she saw. Women went wild for the smooth-talking Texan, with his wavy brown hair, whiskey-colored eyes and tall muscular frame. The guy lived in faded blue jeans, plaid shirts and combat boots, which made him appear laidback but at the same time tough.
Jackson winked. “And you are even more beautiful than everyone described, sugar.”
“What the hell, Texas?” Jane grumbled. “Why don’t you ever call me sugar?”
“Why don’t I call you sugar?” Jackson hooked a thumb behind her. “That’s why.”
Next thing Cash knew, Becker was barreling toward them, a surprising spring to his step. “There’s my little angel,” he said happily, in no way resembling the man who’d picked them up at the police station the other night. This Becker was relaxed and overjoyed, smiling broadly as he greeted his daughter.
Sadie wiggled in her mother’s arms and stuck out her chubby fists in Becker’s direction. “Gah!” she cried.
Becker gave everyone a brisk nod. “That means dad.” He promptly scooped Sadie out of Jane’s arms and tucked her against his powerful chest.
“It means everything,” Jane muttered under her breath. “It’s the only word she says.”
“Thanks for coming,” Becker told the men. He glanced at Jen. “You too, Jen. I’m sorry to hear about the troubles you’ve been having with your ex-boyfriend.”
She shrugged. “Thanks, but I think the trouble’s come to an end.”
Cash casually squeezed her arm before she could say more. He didn’t want her bringing up the fight at the bar and reigniting Becker’s anger.
“So the little princess is growing up,” Cash said, reaching out to touch one of Sadie’s tiny hands.
She immediately curled her whole fist around his index finger and squeezed. Man, the kid was strong. Then again, she was the offspring of Thomas Becker, so no surprise there.
“She sure is.” Becker planted an indulgent kiss on the tuft of red hair atop Sadie’s head. “And she’s smart as a whip. She—” He halted, his brown eyes narrowing as he gazed at something behind Cash. Then he made an annoyed sound and turned to glare at his wife. “Why the fu-fudge did you invite Steven?”
Jane was clearly braver than Cash and the others, because she didn’t cower under Becker’s hard stare. “It was the polite thing to do.”
“Polite? That lunatic nearly killed our child.”
Cash and Jen exchanged WTF looks, as did Dylan and Jackson.
“It was harmless fun, Beck!” Jane shot back.
“Who’s Steven?” Jen spoke up tentatively.
Becker jammed a finger across the backyard. Everyone followed his gaze, but the only person in their line of sight was a chubby blonde with a cherub-cheeked infant in her arms.
“Wait—Steven’s the baby?” Dylan said, looking confused.
“Spawn of Satan,” Becker corrected.
Jane sighed. “Beck tags along for my Mommy and Me program.” Which she sounded incredibly unthrilled about. “Last time we were there, Steven crawled over to Sadie and knocked her over. It was nothing. They both got giggly about it and wiggled around on the floor afterwards.”
Becker looked livid. “That baby had malevolence in his eyes, Jane. He knew exactly what he was doing when—”
“Who wants to help me refill the beer cooler?” Jane interrupted, completely turning away from her husband.
Cash spoke first. “I’ll do it.”
He resisted doing a victory dance as Dylan, Jackson and Jen all scowled at him in betrayal. Whatever. He didn’t feel the slightest bit remorse over saddling them with Becker. This entire conversation had begun to feel like an episode of The Twilight Zone. Babies with malevolence in their eyes? Fatherhood had clearly turned the commander into a crazy person.
Besides, he’d been hoping to get Jane alone today, and now that the opportunity had presented itself, he pounced on it, trailing after the redhead as she headed for the house.
“We stored all the alcohol in the fridge in the basement,” she explained as she led him to a door in the hallway. Jane opened the door, pulled on a metal string and light illuminated a narrow staircase.
“I’m glad we have a moment alone,” Cash said as they trudged down to the basement. “There was something I wanted to talk to you about.”
Jane looked intrigued. “Okay.”
The Beckers’ basement was unfinished, featuring a large dusty room cluttered with boxes. Pink drywall covered walls that still needed to be insulated, and the exposed piping gave the room a creepy vibe. Jane walked over to the large freezer against the far wall and leaned in to grab a case of Bud Light, which Cash promptly took from her hands and set on the floor. “Let me do it. How many cases do you want to bring out?”
“Two or three should be fine.”
As he grabbed two more and added them to the pile, Jane leaned against the wall and said, “So what did you want to talk about?”
He hesitated, then reached into his back pocket for the USB memory stick he’d shoved there. Guilt pricked his gut as he pulled out the evidence of his subterfuge. He hated going behind Jen’s back, but he knew that if left to her own devices, she would keep stalling, the way she had for the past five days.
Despite her insistence that she was ready to seriously pursue photography, he’d noticed that she’d started second-guessing herself again, this time with the photos she wanted to include in her portfolio. Since no papers or magazines in the area had any open full-time positions, Jen’s bes
t bet was to submit work to a variety of publications in hopes of landing a freelance gig, but the way she was agonizing over this portfolio, it would take years before she sent any submissions out.
That’s why he’d wanted to talk to Jane. Before marrying Becker, Jane had worked for a big-time magazine in L.A., and Cash had been considering the idea of getting Jane to put feelers out with her former editor. But he knew they’d need to see Jen’s work before extending any offers, and he also knew Jen wouldn’t dream of sending stuff to such a prestigious publication.
Cash shifted on his feet. “You still keep in contact with your editor at Today’s World, right?”
“Yeah, why?”
He rolled the memory key between his fingers, battling another pang of guilt as he remembered the way he’d snuck onto Jen’s laptop when she’d been in the shower earlier and copied her entire picture folder onto this stick.
“Jen’s a photographer,” he started. “And she’s damn good.”
“Really? I had no idea.”
“She doesn’t advertise it. And I don’t think she realizes how talented she actually is, but trust me, she’s the real deal. The thing is, she’s too scared to show her work to people. She just started researching possible publications she can submit to, but I remembered that you worked at Today’s World and I figured it wouldn’t hurt to ask you to take a look at this.” He held out the memory key. “All her stuff is on this.”
Jane took the USB and tucked it in the front pocket of her denim capris. “Sure, I’d be happy to take a look, and if her photographs are as good as you say, I’d also be happy to forward them to the photo editor at TW. He’s always on the lookout for talented freelancers.”
“Wow, that would be amazing. Thanks, Jane.”
She tilted her head pensively. “Why didn’t Jen just ask me herself?”
“Um…well, she doesn’t exactly know I’m talking to you. In fact, if you don’t mind, I’d like it if we kept this between us.”
Her bewilderment grew. “Why?”
“I don’t want her to think I’m overstepping my bounds and messing around with her career. She’s got this blog where she puts up her pictures. I can send you the link, and if your editor likes Jen’s work and wants to meet with her, maybe he can pretend he came across her work through the blog.” Cash offered a sheepish shrug. “That way Jen will feel like she did it on her own, you know?”
Jane stared at him, slack-jawed.
“What?” he mumbled.
“You’re sleeping with her,” she accused.
“No,” he said in a half-ass denial. “We’re friends, that’s all.”
“Bullshit.” Jane grinned. “You’re sleeping together. And not only that, but you care about her, don’t you?”
Continuing to deny it was fruitless. Jane would see right through it, anyway.
“Yeah, I care about her,” he admitted.
“A lot.”
“A lot,” he conceded.
“Oh, Hot Stuff, you’ve really gone and done it now.”
Cash arched a brow. Hot Stuff?
As if reading his mind, the redhead waved a hand. “Yeah, that’s what all the wives and girlfriends call you. Deal with it. Anyway, you know Carson will kick your ass, right?”
“I know.” He let out a breath. “I tried to keep my hands off her, but she was determined to seduce me.”
Jane laughed. “How long did you manage to hold out for?”
“Two days.”
“That’s actually pretty impressive, considering that…well, that you’re a man.” She paused. “What about Jen? Does she feel the same way?”
Discomfort rippled through him. “She insists we’re only having a fling.”
“Becker insisted the same thing when we first got together. Don’t worry, they always come to their senses eventually.”
He had to smile. “That’s reassuring.”
“She’d be crazy not to want something more. You’re a great guy, Hot Stuff. A real catch. She’ll figure it out sooner or later.”
“I hope so,” he murmured.
Jane stood on her tiptoes and kissed his cheek with a loud smack. “She will. Now, will you be a doll and carry these cases upstairs for me?”
“Sure thing.”
Jane’s sandals clicked on the wooden stairs as she hurried away. Cash bent down and picked up the cases, easily carting all three up the stairs. He was two steps from the kitchen when a familiar voice caught his attention.
“Can we please just talk about this?”
Carson.
He followed the voice to a closed door off to the left. The hall bathroom, he guessed, and when a female voice joined Carson’s, Cash realized the lieutenant wasn’t alone.
“For God’s sake, we’re at Sadie’s birthday party. We can talk about this later.”
Holly.
Cash breathed a sigh of relief. Okay, well at least Carson was in that bathroom with his wife, and not some member of the catering staff.
He felt guilty for even considering the latter as a legitimate possibility, but the memory of Carson with another woman refused to leave his brain. Unfortunately, the identity of the woman remained a mystery since Carson was yet again avoiding Jen’s phone calls.
“You can’t tell me seeing Penny and Sadie and Lucas doesn’t make you want the same thing for us.”
“What I want is to fix this rift between us. A baby isn’t the solution, Carson.”
“It’ll bring us closer together, you know it will. And I’m ready for this.” He sounded desperate now. “Besides, it’ll be nice for our kid to be around other kids his age. He’ll have an instant playmate in Penny and—”
Holly cut in angrily. “You want to knock me up so that Garrett and Shelby’s daughter has someone to play with?”
Cash stifled a sigh. Carson was really digging himself into a hole. Who knew the lieutenant was so dense?
“That’s not the only reason. I’m getting older, babe. I just turned thirty-four. I don’t want to be an old dad.”
“Then you shouldn’t have married a woman who’s five years younger than you! You should’ve married one whose biological clock lines up with yours!”
Cash’s sigh spilled free. Edging away from the doorway, he readjusted his grip on the beer cases. He felt like a shit for eavesdropping, especially now that the argument had treaded into TMI territory.
But he didn’t escape fast enough, because the bathroom door suddenly swung open and Holly flew into the hall.
She froze when she spotted Cash, instantly reaching up to wipe the tears welling up in her green eyes. Her mouth opened as if she wanted to say something, but then a little sob escaped her lips and she hurried past him. Rather than head for the kitchen, she rushed toward the front door, which slammed with gusto.
A second later, Carson burst out of the bathroom, his blue eyes wild, frustration clearly etched into his GQ features.
When he saw Cash, some of the craziness left his eyes. “You heard all that?” he said in a weary voice.
Cash nodded.
“Fuck. Fuck. I don’t know what to do anymore, man. I can’t fucking stand having her mad at me all the time.” Carson raked both hands through his blond hair, then took a determined step. “I have to go after her.”
Cash hastily moved into the other man’s path. “I think you should probably give her some space.”
“Space,” Carson echoed, his tone wary.
“Hold up, let me put these away.” Without waiting for an answer, Cash quickly ducked into the kitchen and dropped the beer cases on the counter.
When he returned to the hall, he studied Carson’s ravaged face and softened his tone. “Let her be for a while. Maybe Jen should go and talk to her. They’re close, right?”
“My sister’s the one who got my wife riled up in the first place,” Carson snapped. “She filled her head with all these ideas about how we’re not communicating. Like Jenny’s one to dish out relationship advice, for fuck’s sake. Any advi
ce, for that matter. Her taste in men sucks, she can’t hold a damn job, she’s the biggest underachiever I’ve ever known, she—”
“Enough,” Cash growled.
The hallway went so quiet you could hear a pin drop.
“What the fuck, McCoy?” Carson finally said.
“Don’t talk about Jen like that,” Cash retorted, trying to control the anger flowing in his veins. “I get that she’s your little sister, but she’s not a child, Carson. She’s a grown woman, and it’s pretty damn sad that you don’t know a thing about her. She’s intelligent and compassionate and talented and she deserves a helluva lot more respect than what you give her.”
Another deafening silence followed.
Cash caught his breath, instantly regretting the outburst, but the damage had already been done.
Understanding had dawned on Carson’s face, along with the hard glint of accusation. “You’re sleeping with her,” Carson hissed out.
Cash held the eye contact. “Yes.”
“You’re sleeping with my sister. Jesus Christ, McCoy. I told you I didn’t want you messing around with Jenny.”
“Jen,” he corrected. “And yes, I didn’t listen to you, okay? But I don’t regret getting involved with her. I care about her. She’s amazing, and it’s a damn shame you can’t see that.”
Carson must have picked up on the possessive note in Cash’s voice, because his eyes blazed once again. “You care about her? You expect me to buy that?”
“It’s the truth.”
Carson swore savagely. “This ends now. I don’t want you playing games with Jenny.”
“I’m not playing games,” he said evenly, crossing his arms over his chest. “And I’m not ending it. I told you, I care about—”
For the second time that week, a fist came flying at Cash’s face.
And yet again, those irate knuckles caught him in the side of the mouth, ripping open the cut that had just began to heal. Blood spurted and dripped down his chin, but this time, Cash didn’t fight back.
He just stood there and eyed Carson. “You done?”
The other man was breathing heavily, his fists clenched as he glared at Cash like he wanted to kill him. “Yeah, I’m done,” Carson spat out. “And so is your involvement with my sister.”