Dancing with Deception (2 page)

“Moving water…particularly falling water and waves, positively charges the ions in the air. It gives people relief from the negativity so often surrounding them, sort of a “feel good boost” compliments of Mother Nature.”
Damn. Nothing like sounding like a science nerd.

Brandt struggled to
hold back his laughter—damn, Phoenix had definitely nailed this one. There was a lot more to Joelle than what she wanted anyone to see. One thing Brandt learned a long time ago—it’s as hard to hide intelligence as it is to hide ignorance over a long period of time. Not wanting to tip his hand, he simply nodded before turning her so she was facing away from the waterfall. She’d still be able to hear it, but he wanted her eyes on him. He didn’t say anything, he simply watched her for long seconds. When she started to fidget under his scrutiny, he used his fingers under her chin to bring her focus back to him. “Eyes on me, minx.” Watching her pupils dilate with arousal at his command confirmed what he already suspected—there was a submissive buried deep inside the feisty redhead.

“Now, I want you to tell me what you meant by your earlier comment. What makes you believe I wouldn’t be interested in you?”
Because, baby, I’m telling you now—I’ve more than a little interested already.
Letting out an exasperated sigh, she rolled her eyes bringing the sexual Dominant in him roaring to the surface. Before he could rein it in, he growled, “Be very careful, minx. Those little signs of disrespect won’t serve you well.”

Her eyes widened for a split second in recognition and Brandt wanted to smile when she immediately dropped her gaze to the floor.
Oh yes indeed, there is definitely a sub in there, and one who appears to have at least a subconscious awareness of the fact she’s a sub. Jesus, Joseph, and Mary, has she been trained?
That question flooded him with a white hot flash of jealousy so intense it shocked him. Hell, he’d never felt anything close to possessive of a submissive before.

“Well, I just meant that I’m just a clerk in a small town drug store.” Brandt wasn’t going to listen to her blow smoke up his ass, particularly when it was glaringly apparent her story was bogus. Even a passing understanding of Dominance and submission would have taught her that lying in any form was unacceptable—so she fucking knew better than to try it.

“Stop. Don’t insult my intelligence with drivel.” He watched her lips firm in a stubborn line that would get her a paddling she wouldn’t soon forget if she belonged to him. He opened his mouth to tell her to try again when he heard someone pounding on the glass behind him. Turning, he saw his mother motioning for them to come out. She was talking a mile a minute even though she had to know they couldn’t hear her, and the only word he’d been able to make out was “bouquet.”

Brandt nodded once at his mother before leading Joelle toward the door. Looking down at her, he wanted to snarl his frustration. “Don’t look so smug, minx. You’ve gotten a temporary reprieve, but I assure you, this conversation is far from over.” Seeing the grin on Joelle’s face when he handed her over to his mother made his palm twitch in anticipation.
You’d look lovely with your bare ass draped over my lap, minx.
He barely managed to keep the comment to himself as her fingers slipped from his.

Moving to one of the large tubs set-up in front of the bar, Brandt pulled a bottle of water from the ice and downed the contents in a few gulps. Kip bent close to be heard over the music. “Mom can have really lousy timing sometimes.” The youngest Morgan brother was leaning with his back against the bar grinning like a fucking loon. Kip was fun loving and considering his reputation with the ladies, Brandt didn’t doubt his little brother had given their mom numerous opportunities to interrupt his amorous adventures.

Nodding, Brandt agreed, “That she does, but my conversation with Ms. Freemont is far from finished. She made a comment about not being the type of woman I’d be interested in.” Kip didn’t respond, but his brow arched up letting Brandt know he also recognized the comment as a lame excuse at the very least. Personally, Brandt was more inclined to see it as a blatant lie. “And then she had the audacity to try to blow smoke up my ass by playing the
I’m just a lowly drug store clerk card
.” This time, Kip laughed out loud.

“Hope you called bull shit because she’s sharp as a tack. And Barney swears she knows more about most of the drugs in his inventory than he does. She’s also implemented new security protocols. The old fart told me he was shocked at the difference in his profit margin—seems more than a few of the store’s narcotics were walking out the door in his employee’s pockets.” Barney Knapp was Pine Creek’s only pharmacist. Brandt knew the elderly man wanted to retire, but he’d put off moving to a warmer climate because he didn’t want to leave his hometown without a pharmacy. Brandt appreciated the man’s loyalty to the community but wasn’t at all pleased this was the first he’d heard about the drug thefts.

“God damn it, why didn’t I know about this?”

The knowing look in Kip’s eyes made Brandt want to slap his kid brother upside the head. “Wow, lemme’ think. Don’t suppose it’s
this
reaction, do you?”
Fuck!
Had he really been such an ass the citizens he’d sworn to protect were afraid to talk to him? “Aww…I see a spark of awareness flickering to life. And the answer to the question I see in your eyes is
yes
, you’ve been a douche in varying degrees since you moved home. But we love you and we’re trying to be patient—but it’s probably time to yank your head out of your ass before the scales tip in the other direction.”

Running his hand through his short hair in frustration, Brandt could only nod. It was true—he wasn’t the easy-going kid who’d left Pine Creek more than a decade ago. That young man had slowly faded from existence during his years as a SEAL. Having a front row seat to the brutality and senseless loss of life—which were always a part of war, had a way of eroding even the strongest among them and wasn’t it just happy-fucking-humbling having your kid brother point it out to you?

“Just because I’m a nosy little bastard I’m going to ask—you aren’t going to let the little sub get away with that nonsense are ya? Because I gotta tell ya, I can see her topping from the bottom every chance she gets.”

Brandt shook his head. “First off, you are indeed a nosy bastard, but apparently observant as well. Hell, how did you know she was submissive? I wasn’t absolutely sure until a few minutes ago though I had my suspicions. And I’m sure I’ve spent more time with her than you have.”

“Well, you’ve been courting her—even if neither of you knew it. But me? Like I said, I’m just nosy so I have more time to observe, and one of the things I noticed is how you failed to answer my question.” With that, Kip tipped his bottle of beer in Brandt’s direction, pushed away from the wall, and headed back into the crowd.

“Hey, kid brother.” When Kip turned, Brandt grinned. “Thanks for the kick in the pants, and fuck no I’m not going to ignore it. Maybe I’ll head down to Billings this weekend and hit the club. A chat with Nathanial might be in order.” Kip grinned, giving him a mock salute. Yeah, a long conversation with his friend and mentor at Mountain Mastery would go a long way to help him sort this out.

Phoenix grabbed another
beer and leaned against the bar. He watched his older brother dancing with Joelle wondering if she would finally tell him about her security concerns. Hell, Phoenix would be happy if the pretty redhead would tell Brandt who she really was. Admittedly the name she was using was real, even if it was misleading simply because it was incomplete. Not using your surname wasn’t exactly making your best effort to hide, but since he didn’t understand why she was laying low, he wasn’t going to judge.

When Joelle contacted him to design and install a state of the art security system in her small house at the edge of town, Phoenix had been stunned at the scale of protection she’d requested. He’d questioned her simply because it seemed like a significant level of overkill for Pine Creek. It had taken him hours of heartfelt promises to keep her confidence before he’d finally convinced her to confide in him. He hadn’t told her how easily he could have run her through his facial recognition software—it would have given him her real name within a matter of hours. Knowing she’d finally put her trust in him had been far more satisfying than snooping into her personal information—of course once he’d known her real name, he started wondering why she was living in Pine Creek. There was a lot of internet chatter and speculation, but nobody seemed to know for sure why she’d vanished.

Joelle Freemont Phillips was not only a billionaire heiress, but she was also a brilliant researcher and chemist. Her work within her father’s pharmaceutical division was well respected. None of the internet gossip he’d read mentioned what she’d been working on when she disappeared, but since her father hadn’t contacted authorities, everyone assumed he knew where she was.

The more he’d read, the stranger the entire situation seemed, and oddly enough—out of all the unknowns, the one thing that struck him as particularly odd was the lack of information about her social life. As the member of a wealthy family, Phoenix understood the need for discretion in his personal life, but even a casual search on-line for his brothers turned up speculation about their sexual predilection even if their interests in kink hadn’t been confirmed. But the complete lack of information about Joelle meant she was either a saint or incredibly discreet.

All the components for her upgraded security system were ready to install and he hoped to get things set up for her sooner rather than later, because anytime there was a lack of information on-line, the hair on the back of his neck stood up. He’d promised to keep their business arrangement private and Phoenix didn’t want to betray her confidence—at least not until he had no other choice.

B
randt leaned casually
against the wall near the club’s bar and tipped the bottle of water to his lips. He wasn’t planning to play tonight, but he doubted Phoenix would be in any condition to drive home since he was making his way up the spiral staircase heading to a private party with one of the club’s submissives. Phoenix wasn’t known for partying, but when he did let go, Brandt knew his younger brother could drink the rest of the Morgan brothers under the table. Phoenix wouldn’t drink until after their scene, but he’d certainly hit the bar later. The combination of fatigue and alcohol meant Brandt would be driving them home.

“Looks like Phoenix’s found himself a sub for the evening. Hope he ate his Wheaties; Kitty is a handful.” Mountain Mastery’s owner grinned. When Brandt looked at his friend in question, he shook his head. “Don’t get me wrong, Kitty is a sweet girl, but she pushes Doms to their limit. I’ve seen her send experienced Doms into orbit with her antics. The last time one of the Dungeon Monitors had to intercede I paddled her myself. I’m sure she didn’t sit comfortably for days. But I doubt it made a lasting impression.”

“Perhaps it did since she’s going to play in a private room tonight?” Brandt had to suppress his laughter when his friend groaned. “Don’t worry, Phoenix is remarkably insightful when it comes to women—she’ll play hell getting around him.”

“Glad to hear it. To be honest, she is one of two subs I’ve been wondering what to do with. I’ve been worried we aren’t meeting either of the women’s needs.” Brandt could hear the concern in Big’s voice and wondered what the issue was with the second woman. He saw the other man’s eyes move to a nearby scene, whatever the club’s owner saw didn’t set well because he frowned and pushed away from the wall. “Come on. I’d be interested to hear your opinion on this one.”

Making their way through the small audience gathered around the St. Andrews cross, Big leaned close, “JoJo has come in a couple times a month for the last six or seven months. She never scenes with the same Dom twice and she never lets them fuck her.” Brandt finally stepped around the man who’d been blocking his view and sucked in a breath.
No fucking way.
It couldn’t be her. He heard himself growl and Big turned in his direction. “Do you know her?”