Fate Intended (The Coulter Men Series Book 3) (8 page)

The now twenty-year-old offspring of Tres and Jenna planted himself by his Uncle Trip. They both had the same blond good looks, unlike Tres and Craig who were both dark haired. “Check ‘em out, Tripster. Bet you ain’t got guns like these.” Tanner flexed an arm.

Trip laughed as he struck his own pose. “Boo ya, nephew, I’ve got you beat.”

“Holy shi…” Tanner looked over his shoulder with a nervous jerk of his head. “Crap. I mean holy crap. You doing steroids?”

“No. Just trained and worked out.”

“Bull. The governments, probably sneaking them in your food,” Tanner said with a punch to his uncle’s shoulder.

“I work for a private company,” Trip said.

“As what? A science experiment?” Tanner asked.

“You realize, Mom is pissed you did that, right?” Craig asked.

“Trust me, she’s told me. Another reason I didn’t want to bring Jane around her yet.”

“Hell, now is perfect. She can’t get any madder at you.” Craig laughed. “To think you were the perfect one. Way to make Tres and me look good, little man.”

“Careful with the little man stuff, sweetie. I think Trip might be able to take you,” Mollie said.

Craig gave her a playful squeeze. “You’ll pay for that, woman.”

Mollie buried her face in under his chin. “You know I’m just teasing. No one could beat my big, strong, manly…”

“Mollie. Baby alert,” Tres said from the doorway. “One was crying. I still can’t tell which is which.”

Both Mollie and Craig hurried from the room. Their twin girls, Hope and Grace, were approaching the six-month mark, but their parents were still amazed at the wonder of them. Mollie’s bout with childhood cancer left the prospect of children to fate, and fortunately for them, fate smiled on them.

Tres gave Tanner a shoulder punch as he passed. “You made it. Better tell your mom. She was worried about you driving so late.”

Tanner shook his head and rolled his eyes.

“Your mom loves you, humor her,” Tres said. “Go tell her you’re home safe.”

Tanner turned to Trip and asked, “Up for some Call of Duty? Or is your girlfriend here to lecture us about…what does she call it?” Tanner thought a minute before answering, “Brain-numbing futility?”

“Olivia isn’t here,” Trip said.

“Seriously? How did you sneak out of town without her? Didn’t you just get back this week?”

“Yeah. Uh, we broke up,” Trip said.

Tanner gave an approving nod, but quickly added, “Sorry though…sort of.”

“It’s all right,” Trip assured.

Tanner bumped into Jane as she and Jenna came into the room. “Excuse me, pretty lady.” His apology dripped with all the cockiness and smoothness of self-assured youth

“This is your uncle’s girlfriend, Jane. Jane…my son, Tanner. He’s the kind of guy smart girls avoid,” Jenna answered dryly as she gave her son a hug. “But he’s my baby, and I love him anyhow.” She let go, rubbing his arms with her hands. “Did you just get here?”

“Yeah, I did.” He gave his mom a kiss on the cheek.

“You hungry?” Jenna asked.

“Nanny back from her cruise?”

“No, they won’t be back until next weekend.”

“Sooo, you cooked?” Tanner sounded skeptical.

“Yes.”

“Then no, I’m not hungry.”

Jenna rolled her eyes. “Your Aunt Mollie helped.”

“Well, in that case….” Tanner had his arms ready to block his mother’s punch. “I’ll grab a bite while the old farts decide if it’s too late and Trip decides if he’s too whipped to play some COD.” Tanner wandered off toward the kitchen. Jenna turned to Jane and sighed. “I’m afraid my kids will want to steal all of Trip’s attention. He’s their buddy. Well, all but Sammy—you seem to be his new obsession.”

“He is adorable. All of your boys are handsome. You are a lucky woman.”

“I am blessed. Truly blessed.” Jenna smiled. “How about you? Are you hungry? I’m not nearly the horrible cook my son says.”

“No, I’m fine. The flight left me queasy, so food is the last thing on my mind.”

“How about some lemonade? I bet that would help. When I had morning sickness, lemon was the best cure.”

“That actually sounds good.”

“If you’d like, you can join Trip and I’ll bring you a glass.”

Jane nodded, but hesitated, then said, “Your son, the older one…he is home from university?”

“Yes, he came home to see Trip, why?”

“Then I should tell Trip to play with him, then help you make lemonade? If you don’t mind?”

“Oh, of course. Why don’t I get Mollie, and we’ll make some vodka lemonades and hit the hot tub? Well, Mollie can’t drink. Breast feeding, but she can be our designated swimmer.”

“That sounds like fun,” Jane agreed. “I will tell Trip.”

“And I’ll get Mollie.” Jenna sounded pleased by the change of plans.

Jane nodded and headed for the living room.

Jenna headed back down the long hall, spotting Craig and Mollie slipping out of the bedroom they were staying in, closing the door very gently.

“Mollie!” Jenna whispered. “Jane and I are going to make vodka lemonades and hit the hot tub. You game for some girl time?”

Craig gave Jenna a wink as he said, “Smart girl, Jenna. Get her drunk…then pump her for information.”

Chapter 10

Tanner set up the videogame and handed out the controllers. “Trip and I on a team?” he asked as he curled up on the couch, grabbing a bag of chips and a two-liter of soda from the floor and bracing it beside him.

“My ass,” Craig answered. “The two biggest nerds in the family aren’t allowed on the same team.”

“You two are just getting old. Bifocals probably aren’t up to speed,” Trip squawked.

“Screw you. We’re not old,” Tres said.

“Then you guys against us,” Trip challenged.

“Fine,” Tres said.

“You nuts?” Craig asked. “We’re about to get slaughtered. It’s going to be freaking Desert Storm all over again, and we’re Iraq.”

“We can take them,” Tres predicted.

“Yeah, right,” Craig answered.

Seconds into the video game, Tanner’s avatar leaped from a burned-out building and snuck up behind his dad’s player and knifed him.

Craig’s went down seconds later. Also stabbed in the back. As the game respawned their characters, Craig took the opportunity to point out to Tres, “I told you this would be a slaughter.”

“You need to cover me! Warn me when the little shit is sneaking up behind me.”

No sooner than the game offered him up another life, Tres took two steps forward and went down again. This time it was Trip, who got a good laugh and offered his gaming partner and nephew a knuckle bump.

“Where the hell did you come from?” Tres asked.

“Told ya you needed those bifocals,” Trip said as he sliced him yet again. He turned to Tanner and said, “I’m not even wasting my bullets on these two. That’d be like shooting fish in a barrel.”

“Haha, you little asshole.” Craig got in a sniper shot from a bombed out window.

“Wanya play that way, huh?” Tanner took out his dad and then called in an airstrike.

Tres shook his head. “Un-freaking-believable. How do we get an airstrike?”

“Earn the points…by killing someone,” Tanner laughed.

Tres rounded a corner in the game and bumped into Trip. He tried to aim before Trip could stab him, so he yelled, “Tanner was hitting on your girlfriend. Maybe if you weren’t grabbing girls from kindergarten, you wouldn’t have to compete with your nephew.”

Trip turned to Tanner. “Huh? You hit on Jane?”

Tanner turned red. “I just said hello. I was being friendly.”

“Your hello or a normal guy hello?” Trip asked.

“Normal. I guess. Hey, I thought she was a nanny or something. Not your girlfriend. Don’t worry. Won’t happen again.”

“I wasn’t worried,” Trip assured. “I trust Jane.”

“What the hell?” Tanner yelled.

“Watch your mouth. Your mother will have my ass. Blames me for your potty mouth,” Tres said.

“Uncle Craig, you’re humping my character? Your own nephew?”

Craig laughed, head tipped back to the ceiling. “Who’s the old man now, bitch?”

“Check it out,” Tres said. Trip, who had been lost in thoughts of Jane, looked up. Craig’s player was dancing on his player’s corpse. Trip grabbed a throw pillow and beamed it at his brother’s head.

“Chill, Trippy,” Craig caught the pillow mid-flight. Craig looked at Tres and whispered as loud as he could, “Roid rage. His penis is probably back to two inches like when he was a baby.”

“Screw you,” Trip said.

Craig grimaced and said, “Irrational anger is a side effect.”

“I’m not on steroids. I swear.”

“Out of curiosity…why does doing tech security require you to look like mini-hulk?” Craig asked.

“It doesn’t. I just didn’t have anything better to do between jobs.”

Craig laid his controller in his lap. “Seriously, what the hell have you gotten yourself into?”

“Security,” Trip said flatly. His player walked up to Craig’s. “You wanya even try to defend yourself?”

Tres snuck up behind Trip’s guy and pistol whipped him. Trip’s player dropped to the virtual dirt.

“You wanya tell us the truth?” Tres asked.

Trip also dropped his controller. “All right. Fine. It’s a little more than tech security.”`             

“Cool. What is it?” Tanner asked.

“Go get your homework done.”

“I’m in college. I don’t have homework.” Tanner settled his feet on the coffee table and ripped open his chips.

“Somehow that doesn’t sound right, but I guess you are an adult. So, whatever is said here doesn’t get repeated, understood?” Tres warned.

“Of course,” Tanner said around a mouthful of food.

Tres seemed satisfied with his son’s promised silence, so he turned to Trip. “So, what are you into?”

“You know I was already working for National Security, right?”

“Yeah, in an office,” Tres said.

“Yeah, and that office got stuffy. Then, I met a guy at the agency. We talked and his job sounded like more fun than mine, so I asked how I could get a job, and he hooked me up.”

“What guy?” Craig asked, his voice a little more harsh than Tres’s.

“Frankie,” Trip explained.

“Holy shit, kid,” Craig said as he ran a hand through his hair. “That’s merc shit.”

“You’re a mercenary?” Tanner sounded impressed.

“No, it’s not like that. We do jobs for a fee. Like this one…we went into Pakistan and got some guy’s daughter out. Pakistan is an
ally,
so the government couldn’t just send a rescue team in, but she was being held, so we got paid to go get her.”

“And if you had gotten caught, no one would have claimed you ever existed, so there would be no international fuss,” Craig offered.

“Exactly!” Trip was glad his brother understood.

“That’s a freaking merc,” Tanner said.

“No, mercs are paid to fight. We do rescues, security envoys, some surveillance.”

“What the hell, Trip?” Tres stood and paced the room. “Are you insane?”

“No, I’m just doing what I want to do. I like what I do,” Trip said.

“This is what caused the fight between you and Olivia?” Craig asked.

“Yes, she didn’t want me to do it.”

“What does Jane say?” Tres asked.

“She told me I should do what I want.”

“Holy shit. Never thought I’d say this, but maybe you should reconsider Olivia,” Craig said with a frown.

Trip shook his head. “Screw you. That’s never going to happen. I like Jane. She understands me; she encourages me to do what I want to do.”

“She knows you’re a merc?” Tanner asked.

“I’m not a freakin’ merc! It’s security. She knows I work in security.”

“But does she know it could get you killed?” Tres asked, returning to his seat.

“It won’t get me killed. I have a good team.” Trip stood and shut the game down. “You guys should come to Mom’s. They’re all coming to my welcome back party next weekend.”

“Next weekend? ‘Cause you lied to Mom about when you’d be back, right?” Tres said with a sigh.

Trip shrugged. “I don’t need Mom in my business right now. It’s my life. I thought you guys, of all people, would appreciate that.”

Tres ran a hand across his face and said, “None of this is like the little brother I know. What’s gotten into you?” Tres looked tired and worried, his voice dropped to a near whisper as he asked, “Hell, little brother, do I even know you anymore?”

Chapter 11

Trip tossed his controller on the table. “Come on. I didn’t give you guys hell over your choices. I backed you all the way.”

Craig rested his elbows in his knees as he pointed out. “But none of our choices were stupid.”

“Seriously?” Trip’s voice rose. “You married Mollie, and you only knew her a few months.”

“Mollie wasn’t going to get me killed,” Craig reminded in a volume that matched his brother’s.

“He’s right, Trip. We don’t want to lose you. This is dangerous way to thrill seek,” Tres spoke calmly, his words steady.

“I’m not thrill seeking. I’ve made changes. Changes that I think are positive. I thought, of all people, you guys would understand.” Trip stood to leave. He’d go find Jane. She’d understand. Turning toward the door, he didn’t have to look far to find her. There she was, fresh from the hot tub, wrapped in a terry cloth robe. Tears sparkled in her eyes. “Jane,” he said as he moved toward her.

With a shake of her head, she ran from the room.

“What the hell?” Trip asked as he followed behind her. She ducked into the bedroom Jenna had taken her to earlier. Jane tried to shut the door, but Trip shoved against it.

“What’s wrong?”

“I think it is best I go home.”

“No,” Trip’s words were firm.

“You will hold me hostage?”

“If I have to.” Trip folded his fingers inside the door, she’d have to crush them to get him to let go. “Let me in and talk to me.”

“I don’t want to talk to you.”

“Yes, you do. Now step back, so I don’t hit your toes.”

She pushed with both hands against the door. “No!”

“Jane,” he said quietly as he increased the pressure. She turned and put her back against the door to stop him, but the shift in her weight left her off balance, and the door swung open. It took her several stutter steps to get her balance. Righting herself, she tucked the robe tighter around her waist.

He pulled her close and held her. Her body was stiff and uncooperative, but he had no intention of letting her go. He wasn’t going to let a misunderstanding about his job piss her off at him too. Tipping her chin until she had no option but to look at him, he explained, “It’s just a job. No more dangerous than being a police officer.”

Confusion clouded her blue eyes. “What job?”

“The job Tres and Craig were giving me hell over.”

“They were mad about your job?”

“Yes, they think I’m just thrill seeking.”

Her body relaxed a little. “Oh.”

His fingers teased damp curls at her neck. “What were you thinking they were yelling about?”

Jane shrugged and laid her cheek on his chest. Resting there a few minutes she whispered, “Me.”

“You?” Trip laughed. “How the hell could you be dangerous?”

Jane played with the collar on his shirt. “I wasn’t sure, but I guessed they didn’t like me.”

“No, it’s the job, not you.”

She nodded; her body trembled.

“You cold?” he asked.

“No. Nervous I guess.”

“Why be nervous?” he asked with a grin.

“I suppose it means a lot that they like me.”

“Listen,” he held her by the shoulders and said, “I’m sure they like you, but whether or not they do doesn’t matter. I like you. I want you with me, and that’s what’s important.”

Jane felt the hot sting in her eyes, but she nodded and attempted a happy smile.

“Ah, Janie. Don’t cry.” He brushed the hair from her face as he bent to kiss her. She tasted so sweet and felt so right, he couldn’t pull her close enough or kiss her deep enough. As he pulled back, she let out a little sigh that warmed his cheek and melted his heart. She felt so small and vulnerable, alone in a strange world. Scooping her off her feet, he settled himself on the edge of the bed with her cradled on his lap. Her robe slipped open, widening the V where the fabric met. He couldn’t resist helping gravity, tracing a finger down the space between her breasts.

She was better than he imagined. Olivia was all hard lines and sinewy; Jane was soft curves and smooth skin as pale as a china doll. And her breasts. Nothing about them was firm. They were full and warm, pliable and tempting against his chest. He shouldn’t have peaked. He thought she’d be wearing a suit, not the flimsy wet lace of her bra. His brain kept nudging him to slip a hand in her robe, between the damp cloth and warm flesh.

He coughed as he shook his head.
Get a grip
, he told himself. Groping her would only send her running. Closing his eyes, he willed his body to calm the hell down.

Wrapping cool arms around his neck, she played with the hair at the base of his skull. “You all right?”

Trip had to clear his throat or he’d sound like a croaking teen. “I’m fine. I just was thinking I should let you get into some clothes.” Or out of them. That thought made sweat bead up on his forehead. “You’re probably cold.”

“I’m all right,” she said as she nuzzled his neck with warm lips.

One move and you have her on her back.
Trip shook off the thought. She wasn’t some tramp.

“Why were they mad about your job, Trip?” she whispered

He paused, mustered a few brain cells, and answered, “They think it’s dangerous.”

“Is it dangerous?” Cool fingers slid down the corded muscle along his throat.

He felt so hot, and she felt so cool, it was natural that he’d consider taking a dip in…
dear God, Trip! Get control.

Her touch, so slight against his skin, only paused to frame his face as she forced him to look her in the eyes. “Promise me you are safe. I’ve lost everything; I can’t lose you too.”

All thoughts of relationship strategy lost, he pulled her close, then leaned her body back into the soft mattress. A single bare leg wrapped around him for support; her arms tightened around his neck. He kissed her. Sex was no longer a thought. He was driven by something more, something closer to spiritual than sensual. It was a need to know every inch of her, to get so close he was lost.

She didn’t know how long he kissed her before she felt the heat of his hand slip inside her robe. The feel of his hand against such sensitive flesh made her head spin, but not so fast that she couldn’t hear the creaking of floorboards in the hallway and the good night call from Tanner to his parents. She couldn’t do this here. No matter how tempting, she wouldn’t want his family to think poorly of her.

Pulling back, she placed a finger over his lips. “Trip?”

“Hmm,” he answered without opening his eyes.

“You need to go to bed.”

His eyes popped open. “Why? I’m thoroughly,” he said as he ducked her finger and trailed kisses across her collar bone, “enjoying this.”

“Your brother has little kids. It will look bad.”

“Tanner’s old enough to understand, and Sammy and Chas aren’t. Perfect ages.”

She giggled as she squirmed out from under him.

“Where are you going?” Trip asked.

“To bed,” she said as she dropped her feet to the floor.

“You were in bed.” He grabbed her hand and tried to pull her back to him.

“I’m going to sleep. As are you.”

He rolled onto his back and grinned up at her.

“Alone,” she said as she tugged her robe together and tightened the belt.

“Spoil sport.” Trip rolled off and stood in front of her. He traced her jawline as he promised, “You’d sleep better with me here.”

“I’m certain I will have to make do.”

He kissed her lightly. “Sure?” he asked.

“Positive.” She offered him light kisses as she backed him out of her room.

Pausing at the threshold, he leaned his head against the door casing and frowned. “You’re breaking my heart. You know that, right?”

“I…no…I just….”

A huge grin spread across his face. “I’m teasing you, Jane. You’re so sweet. I can’t believe you ever thought people would think you were dangerous.”

Jane’s smile was weak as the thought filtered through her head…
oh, if he only knew.
But he couldn’t.