Deadly Secrets (Hardy Brothers Security Book 11) (7 page)

“Oh, right,” James said, extending his hand. “It’s nice to meet you.”

“Are you a fan of the show?” Clive asked.

“Not really,” James said. “My wife’s taste runs more toward sharks and slasher movies than … pretty vampires. Not that there’s anything wrong with that.”

Clive smiled. “Trust me. I know what I look like.”

“Still, you’re famous,” James said. “That has to be working out well for you.”

“I like the money,” Clive said. “I just get sick of all the screaming girls.”

At that exact moment, the door to the conference room popped open and a blonde in a
Star Trek
uniform – followed by a reluctant female Han Solo – jumped into the room. “Aha!”

It took Jake a moment to realize what he was looking at. “Ally?”

Ally faltered when she took in the scene. “Oh, well, crap.”

James smirked at Mandy. “I knew I recognized that dress. I saw you across the convention hall about fifteen minutes ago.”

“What’s going on, Ally?” Jake asked, arching an eyebrow.

“I was just … .” She glanced at Mandy for help.

“We were spying,” Mandy said. “What? It’s not like they don’t already know.”

Jake pressed his lips together. “I see.”

“Why were you spying?” Clive asked.

“I … um … I have to be going.” Ally’s face was red when she turned on her heel and bolted from the room.

Mandy looked torn between following or staying. “I guess I should be going, too,” she said finally.

“Hey, wife?”

“Hmm.”

“Don’t you dare change out of that outfit before I get home,” James said.

Once they were gone, Jake and James exchanged an entertained look before bursting into laughter.

“You think that’s funny?” Cara asked. “Aren’t you embarrassed by that?”

“Nope,” James said. “In fact, I’m massively turned on. Let’s get this show on the road. The faster this thing shuts down tonight the faster I get to explore the Death Star.”

“Nice,” Jake said.

“You, on the other hand, should probably follow the nurse,” James said. “I have a feeling she’s a little more worked up than Han Solo.”

“Yeah, I figured that out myself,” Jake said. “I’ll text you when I know what’s going on.”

“Don’t bother,” James said. “Take the rest of the afternoon off and soothe the frazzled Trekkie. We’ll see you for dinner tonight.”

“Hey there … angel.”

Despite his best efforts to catch up with Mandy and Ally in the convention center parking lot, Jake was forced to follow them back to the suburbs. Figuring Ally would have to drop Mandy off before returning to her house, he had enough time to buy her a bouquet of flowers and still beat her home.

Ally’s face was drawn as she climbed out of the car. Jake was mildly amused to see she was still wearing the wig.

“What are you doing here?” Ally asked. “Are you here to yell at me?”

“Why would I yell at you?”

“Because I was … spying.”

Jake fought the mad urge to laugh. While Ally had technically been spying, she was too cute to be angry with. Plus, he figured he owed her one after the previous evening. “While I’m not thrilled that you don’t trust me, I can’t say that today surprised me. I saw this coming a mile away.”

“I didn’t say I didn’t trust you,” Ally said, slouching as she shuffled forward. “I don’t trust Cara.”

“Well, that’s the reason I’m not angry with you,” Jake said. “I think you have a right not to trust Cara.”

Ally narrowed her eyes. “Why? What did she do?”

“She was a little flirty today,” Jake said. “That’s why I called your brother in as backup. I didn’t want to be mean to her, so I used him as a buffer.”

“He was with you all morning?”

“No, he just kept showing up every ten minutes as he was making his rounds,” Jake said.

“I could be naked and on top of you in two minutes,” Ally pointed out.

“We’ll try that later,” Jake said, his eyes flashing.

“I … I feel like an idiot,” Ally admitted. “I expected you to show up here screaming, or force me to go to your house and beg for your forgiveness. Instead, you’re smiling and you bought me flowers.”

“I thought my sexy nurse deserved a present,” Jake said. “By the way, now I see why you bought that outfit. I especially love the boots.”

“What about the wig?”

“That has to go,” Jake said, sidling up to her and handing her the flowers. He reached up and tugged the wig off, smiling as her long waves tumbled out. “I like this hair better.”

“You’re really not mad?”

“I’m really not,” Jake said. “I do desperately need to see what’s under that that dress, though.”

“Do you want to see how fast I can get it off?”

“Can you take the dress off but leave the boots on?”

Ally smiled, the first real smile he’d seen in almost twenty-four hours, and Jake’s heart melted.

“I’ll race you in the house,” Ally said, bolting toward the door with her flowers clutched to her chest.

Jake let her stay a little ways in front of him, but only because he loved the view.

“ARE
you sure this is okay?” Cara was nervous as she climbed out of her car and took in the sprawling house.

Finn smiled at her encouragingly. “It’s fine,” he said.

“I got the feeling that Jake and Ally were going to have a big fight this afternoon,” Cara said.

“Please. Jake bought her flowers and they did dirty things all afternoon,” Finn said.

Cara arched an eyebrow. “Your sister told you that?”

“No,” Finn said, shaking his head. “My sister told Mandy, who told Emma, and she’s the one who told me.”

“That’s a lot of gossiping,” Cara said. “I always thought brothers didn’t like to know about their sister’s sexual exploits.”

“It’s not my favorite part of the day,” Finn said, ushering Cara toward the front door of Mandy and James’ house. “However, Ally and I were only a year apart. We were pretty close, so I’m used to her big mouth.

“She and Mandy were extremely vocal as teenagers,” he continued. “I heard a lot more than I ever should have. I’m used to it. Grady, and especially James, are the ones who can’t take it.”

“That’s right, Mandy and Ally grew up together,” Cara said. “I forgot about that. Doesn’t that make it weird that your brother married your sister’s best friend?”

Finn shrugged. “Not really. We all knew James was a goner the minute Mandy walked back into our lives. It was a forgone conclusion they were going to be together. Ally is generous with her heart. She wanted both of them to be happy.”

“Speaking of happy, where is your fiancée?”

“She stopped back at our apartment,” Finn said. “She wanted to shower and get all the zombie makeup off.”

“It doesn’t bother you that she’s a model and that everyone stares at her all day?”

“She’s officially done being a model,” Finn said. “And, yeah, it bothers me. When I met her she was a model, though. It would be hypocritical of me to hold that against her.”

“Still, you’re secretly happy she’s done, aren’t you?”

“It’s not a secret,” Finn said. “Now she can just relax and take care of herself.”

“It’s cute how much you love her,” Cara said. “In fact, it’s cute how all of you seem to love each other.”

“We’re close,” Finn said. “Come on. I promise the dinner will be good, and everyone will be relaxed.”

“Okay,” Cara said. “A relaxing evening sounds like just what I need.”

“I CAN’T
believe your brother brought her to my house.”

Mandy stood by the sliding glass door in the master bedroom glaring down at the patio below.

James, wearing nothing but his boxer shorts, studied her for a moment. “You’re going to be nice to her, right?”

“No.”

“Mandy,” James warned. “She’s a guest in our house. You’d better be nice to her.”

Mandy narrowed her eyes as she swiveled to face her husband. “Did you know he was bringing her?”

“No,” James said. “I don’t think he’s up on all the … drama … over the past twenty-four hours.”

“You should kick her out.”

“Let’s wait until she does something before we go crazy,” James said, bending over so he could scoop the Han Solo dress off the floor. He’d spent four hours fantasizing about the dress and exactly four seconds ripping it off her the minute he got home. “Do you want to put this back on?”

Mandy made a face, and James couldn’t hide his smirk when he saw it. She was too cute for words. “Come here, wife.”

Mandy sighed dramatically but moved toward him. “What?”

James wrapped his arms around her waist and kissed her deeply. “I love you.”

“I love you, too.”

“If you’re good tonight, I’ll massage you for an hour in the hot tub after everyone leaves.”

“I can’t promise that,” Mandy said. “If she says one passive aggressive thing to Ally, I’m going to open my big mouth and kick her out.”

“Fair enough,” James said.

“And then, because she’s bigger and stronger than me, you’re going to have to physically throw her out.”

James grinned. “God, I love you.”

“THIS
is a beautiful house,” Cara said, smiling at Mandy amiably as the blonde settled on a lounge chair next to Sophie. “How long have you lived here?”

“Just a few months,” Mandy said. “We moved in the day we got back from our honeymoon.”

“That’s cool,” Cara said. “Did you pick the house out together?”

Cara was really trying to engage everyone in conversation, and Mandy recognized that, but she still didn’t like the woman in her house. “I found it online,” Mandy said. “We looked at it together. Then James bought it without telling me. He gave it to me the day he proposed.”

Cara arched her perfectly manicured eyebrows. “Wow. That was quite the engagement gift.”

“She’s worth it,” James said, taking a beer from Grady as he prepped steaks for the grill.

“You must be really good in bed,” Cara said.

Mandy frowned while James cleared his throat. “Baby, can you come over here and help me for a second?”

“Help you what?”

“Just … come over here.”

Mandy grudgingly got up from the lounge chair and stomped over to James. “What?”

“Don’t mouth off to her,” James warned, keeping his voice low. “I’m too far away to protect you.”

“Did you hear what she just said to me?”

“You are good in bed,” James said. “Think of it as a compliment.”

“I’m going to compliment your ass off later.”

“I don’t think that’s quite the threat you think it is,” James said. “Now go over there and try really hard not to say something horrifically mean to her.”

When Mandy returned to the lounger, she found Cara had turned her attention to Jake and Ally. Ally’s face when she saw Cara at the family barbecue had mirrored her own. Jake wisely took Ally in hand – literally – and settled her on his lap in one of the chairs. It was a clear message to Cara, and a way to make sure Ally didn’t fly off the handle.

“So, do you two live together?” Cara asked.

“No,” Ally replied.

“We spend every night together, though,” Jake said.

“But you don’t live together,” Cara clarified.

“Not yet,” Jake said pointedly. He rubbed Ally’s hip and shifted her slightly so she could relax against his chest. “Do you want something to drink, angel?”

“I’m fine.”

Jake was starting to hate those two words when they were strung together. “Are you sure?”

“She can have mine,” Mandy said, handing her cocktail to Ally. “I’ll make a new one.”

Ally took it, shooting Mandy a grateful smile. “Thanks. What is it?”

“Romulan Ale.”

Jake barked out a laugh as Ally scowled. “You are the worst friend ever.”

“Hey, she dressed up with you and snuck around Detcon all morning,” James said. “From where I’m standing, she’s the best friend you’ve got.”

“Oh, please,” Ally scoffed. “I know very well you two tried to take down the Sith lords this afternoon.”

James’ smile was lazy. “She was motivated.”

“You were motivated,” Mandy shot back.

“I was definitely motivated,” James agreed. “I couldn’t get that dress out of my head all afternoon.”

“He hurried the last geeks out of the room by himself,” Finn said.

“Speaking of geeks, where is Emma?” Ally asked. “I would’ve thought she’d be here celebrating her last day as a model.”

“She’s home showering first,” Finn said. “I tried to get her to keep the makeup on, but she said it was going to ruin the sheets … and you know how she is about a mess.”

“Is she a neat freak?” Cara asked.

“She just doesn’t like a dirty house,” Finn said. “I figure she’s going to have to let up on that once we have the baby. Babies are messy.”

“And they smell,” James said.

“I think it’s probably good you’re not having kids,” Finn shot back.

“I couldn’t agree more,” James said. “We’re just going to travel all over the world.”

“I want to see the hobbit holes in New Zealand,” Mandy said.

“That sounds … interesting,” Cara said.

Mandy shot James a pleading look, to which he shook his head.

“I think it does sound interesting,” Ally said. “I would love to see hobbit holes.”

“I would, too,” Jake said. “I think those movies are great.”

“You like science fiction?” Cara was dubious.

“It’s fantasy,” Jake said. “And I like those movies. There’s tons of action and great special effects. What’s not to like?”

“I’ve never seen them,” Cara said. “I guess I’ll have to check them out.”

“So, Cara, where is your home base?” Sophie asked, trying to deflect attention from the uncomfortable pall that was settling over the patio.

“I live in New York City full time now,” Cara said.

“How did you end up out here this weekend?”

“The studio hired me to run security for
Vampire Garden
at Detcon,” Cara said.

“Do you do a lot of traveling?”

“More than I would like,” Cara said. “I’m ready to settle down.”

Ally didn’t miss Cara’s eyes as they landed on Jake. There was something there she didn’t like. She was pretty sure it was yearning. “Well, I’m sure there are plenty of men in New York who wouldn’t mind settling down with you.”

“I’m sure there are,” Cara said. “I’m just not sure I want to make New York my permanent home.”

“Oh, where do you want to live?” Sophie asked.

“I hear Alaska is nice,” Ally said, causing Jake to tighten his arms around her waist.

“I don’t know yet,” Cara said. “From what I’ve seen of Michigan so far, though, it might be a possibility.”

Mandy glanced at James again, but he was too busy rubbing his forehead to send her a silent admonishment. This barbecue just kept getting worse and worse.