Chapter Sixteen #2
He moved efficiently to set the table, admired the flowers in the vase still set in the middle of the table and then heard a sharp inhalation of pain from Axel as he bent over to scratch Daisy’s belly.
His heart jumped at the sound. Axel never complained unless something was really wrong.
Had Axel hurt himself while on the roof today, or was it just sore muscles?
“What’s wrong?” Nick asked, sensing something was off.
“Jenna’s in the shower,” Axel replied, his eyes twinkling with mischief as he glanced over at Nick.
Instantly visions of a naked Jenna flooded his mind.
“Really. Did you play Peeping Tom?” His voice was low, teasing but edged with curiosity.
Axel grinned.
“No, but maybe you should,” he teased back, a playful challenge in his tone.
Nick swore softly, glancing away as a blush of heat crept up his neck. Axel always knew exactly where to poke to get a reaction.
“Um, no. I am not invading her privacy like that, Axel. Besides, she’s not my woman. She’s your woman.”
“She doesn’t belong to me, Nick. She’s her own woman. You saw her today. She has her own feelings, her own mind, and if I’m reading her right, and I believe I am, she’s interested. In both of us.” His words hung in the air.
No way. Was Axel toying with him?
His pulse kicked hard, a dizzying mix of hope and disbelief flooding him.
Nick shifted his weight as his shaft tightened and his pulse quickened.
“Aren’t you jealous of another man looking at her?” Nick asked, his words tinged with both teasing and genuine curiosity, searching Axel’s face for a reaction.
“Was I jealous when we were fantasizing about her in prison? Why would I be jealous now?” he replied, a sly smile curving his lips.
Was he detecting an underlying note of longing to share his woman?
Nick couldn’t tell, and that uncertainty sent a fresh jolt of heat through him. Maybe he should just keep his mouth shut and not go any further with this? Or maybe he should…
“Because she’s a beautiful woman and, with all the stories you've told me about her over the years, I feel like I know her pretty well,” Nick confessed before he could stop it. It felt raw, honest, and terrifying.
He noted Axel’s head snap up, and the heat in his gaze shot straight into Nick. He’d expected to see anger or jealousy, but instead, he found something else entirely.
He saw desire. It was undeniable and raw.
Shit.
“Do you think I haven’t noticed that you’ve been watching her like a sex-starved puppy?” he said, his tone teasing but edged with truth as he continued rubbing Daisy’s belly.
“Puppy is an understatement,” Nick muttered, grinding out the words with a mixture of embarrassment and humour.
“Okay, I stand corrected. You dog,” he replied, shaking his head, the camaraderie between them easy and familiar.
Axel’s voice dropped as he continued.
“And you’d better show me your dog side tonight, because I am going to need you, big time.”
Nick chuckled. Excitement twisted in his gut, the anticipation coiling low as he headed for the utensil drawer. He heard Axel inhale sharply again as he straightened himself. Nick’s gaze immediately flew to the juncture of Axel’s thighs and found his pants tented with arousal.
He grinned with amusement.
“I am at your command, sir. How about I take you into my mouth right here and now? I can give you a quickie before Jenna arrives,” Nick said, his voice low and mischievous.
Axel swore softly. His hands going to his zipper.
Just then, the squeak of the water taps turning off signalled that Jenna was finished with her shower. The sound hit him like a bucket of cold water and reality crashed over him. Jenna would be out here soon.
Axel’s fingers snapped away from his pants as if his zipper was on fire.
Nick laughed.
“Okay, let’s hold off on this until bedtime,” Nick said lowly as he slid open the utensil drawer and shot Axel a sly smile.
Axel swore again, heading to the sink to wash his hands, a resigned grin tugging at his lips.
The promise of being together tonight hung in the air between them, thick and electric, making the air feel a wee bit too warm.
* * * * *
Jenna heard her cell phone begin to ring the instant she stepped out of the shower. She’d left the phone on the bathroom counter, praying no one would call while she was under the spray and knowing she would answer it, if someone did.
Quickly she grabbed a towel, wrapped it around her, and checked who was calling.
Her tummy tightened.
It was Ben.
“Hey, have you got anything new for me?” she asked. Her voice came out too fast, too eager and she hated how much she needed answers.
“What? Not even a hello for your old university chum?” he asked with a chuckle.
Jenna grinned.
“Hello. Have you got anything new for me?” she asked with a laugh.
“Wish I had better news for you, Jenna,” Ben said seriously.
A cold weight dropped into her gut, and she braced herself without even realizing it.
“I’ve got all the results back and there’s nothing. Nothing on the tracks, nothing on the truck your friend saw, no prints on the note or on the rock. Tell me that you still have someone staying with you?”
“I do. Two friends. Hopefully for awhile.” The word friends felt too small for what Axel and Nick had become in such a short time.
“Good. The perp knows you have company now and will hopefully stay away. Just keep on guard. Maybe the perp will give up.”
Jenna sighed. She wished that were true.
“Let’s hope so.”
“You know the drill. If anything new comes up, call me day or night at my personal number and I’ll do the same.”
“Thanks, Ben, for all your help. I will. And remember my invitation to you is always open to drop in and take some trail rides with the horses.”
“Thanks, Jenna. I will when I get some time away from all this work. Okay, bye for now. Stay safe.”
“You too. Bye.”
The call was disconnected.
To say that she was disappointed was an understatement. She’d hoped to get an identification on the perp and throw charges at him or her or whoever.
She stared at the screen long after it went dark, the silence pressing in around her. There was a very bad person somewhere out there. He’d attacked her home and he’d assaulted Nick and they had no evidence of who it could be.
This sucked.
Then came Nick and Axel’s laughter and reality snapped through her again. There was nothing she could do about whomever had tossed that rock through her window, so she’d best get on with life.
She took a moment to check if she’d received any other messages, but nothing. Heat rose in her chest. She felt the betrayal, the irritation, and then the fear that she might have a limited amount of time with Axel and Nick. The emotions tangled around her like a lasso.
Cyn, I am seriously going to kill you. And then fire your ass for not telling me what is going on.
Jenna shook her head in frustration and then she hurriedly towel dried herself, grateful she hadn’t felt the need to cry again about Sam. She’d been doing it off and on all day. Just having waves of grief coming at her and she’d allowed them to come, sobbing her heart out.
Reality had finally set in.
Sam was gone and she had inherited his animals and his place.
At the moment, she couldn’t fathom what to do with his little hobby farm.
But she knew she would take care of his animals, just like he’d wanted her to do.
The thought pressed against her ribs. He’d given her a gift, and a burden.
A final request she hadn’t been ready for.
Nonetheless, after her shower she felt so much better and she just wanted this day to be over. To have a good night sleep and forget that Sam was dead.
And if she thought she was hungry before, she was starving now and she knew too without a doubt her morning sickness was gone.
Replaced once again with something stirring hot and low, deep within. That intense need for sex. The relentless pull of something she couldn’t seem to control. That so-called widow’s fire and her pregnancy hormones were all jumbled up inside of her like a volcano waiting to erupt.
Oh boy. She was in trouble.
Such big trouble.
She grabbed her blow dryer and had her hair dried within minutes, then she dressed in a fresh pair of jeans and a cool short-sleeved white blouse that she’d brought in here this morning before heading out to work with the horses.
All the while her tummy growled and her mouth watered at the succulent scents drifting into the humid room. When she finished dressing she silently opened the bathroom door.
Sudden visions of when the men had arrived zipped through her memory.
The caring way the two had been looking at each other, like something had been going on between them.
Had she read too much into that? It could have just been some deep camaraderie, some shared feelings from being free after years in lockup.
Whatever was between them, it was real, and she wanted to understand it. Maybe if she was quiet enough, she could see if that same connection was going on between them?
Unfortunately, she hadn’t tiptoed even halfway down the hallway when Daisy came scampering up to her, giving her away.
She sighed, unable to be annoyed at the happy little whirlwind circling her legs.
“She can hear you for miles, Jenna,” Axel’s voice cut through the quiet.
His comment was followed by laughter from Nick who appeared to be deeper in the kitchen. The sound of his laughter loosened something tight inside her.
“Better pay attention to her or she’ll never leave your side,” Nick called out.
“Oh Daisy, you are such a happy dog. How am I going to break it to you that your dad has gone to heaven?” she whispered as she bent over and began to scratch the dog’s ears.
Emotions welled and tears blinded her as the dog flopped over and wanted a belly rub. The dog’s simple joy tugged a sudden laugh from her, easing the ache in her chest.
“Told you, she’d want another belly rub,” Axel said from where he was now standing at the end of the hallway watching them.
“She loves her belly rubs. Come on, let’s get moving, Daisy. Aren’t you hungry? Foooood! ” Nick called out.
The dog’s ears perked up at the word food, and she rolled away from Jenna and raced into the kitchen.
Seeing Daisy so easily cheered made Jenna’s sadness evaporate and she couldn’t help but laugh as she joined the two men in the kitchen. Seeing them here, in her kitchen, busy, relaxed, waiting for her, felt like she was wrapped in a soothing balm.
Yeah, this was nice. They belonged here.
* * * * *
Jenna enjoyed such a lovely dinner, and after she’d revealed what Ben had told her, the guys had been disappointed, vowing they would keep a lookout without compromising her space.
Then the dinner conversation had been strictly work-related with the men explaining what they were going to do tomorrow, which was work some more on the roof. Weather permitting, they would finish the day after.
And now as Daisy had settled in beside Jenna on the guestroom bed, her warm white body pressed against Jenna’s thigh, she felt a bit of a chill blowing in through her partially opened window.
The draft brushed her skin like a warning.
A reminder that the world outside her walls was still unpredictable and sharp.
A window which could only be lifted two inches high now because Axel had rigged it with pieces of wood that wouldn’t allow it to open any further which let fresh air in without her having to worry about the intruder creeping in as well.
She liked that he had thought of doing that for her. Liked that the two men had remained professional tonight, despite her hormones being all over the place and wanting to have sex with them.
Jenna released a tense breath. She should alleviate her frustrations, but with the dog on her bed, that just wasn’t happening.
A sudden gust of wind slipped through the narrow opening, rattling the old glass pane and stinging her cheeks with its crispness. It reminded her that the barn hay loft where the guys were sleeping had a lot of cracks in the planked walls which would allow plenty of wind to get in.
Would Axel and Nick be warm enough, surrounded by tonight’s chill?
They’d been so good to her. Cooking meals, washing dishes, and thankfully finally giving her space. It wasn’t right that she didn’t return the favor and look beyond herself. She hadn’t even checked if they were warm enough.
Her worries for their comfort grew and soon she made her decision. She would grab a couple of sleeping bags that were stored in this room’s closet, grab her handgun in case the intruder was watching, sneak through the darkness, and peek in on the guys to ensure they were settled.
She began to feel better as she quietly slipped out of bed, smiling that Daisy didn’t so much as budge. She pulled her robe over her nightie, grabbed her gun, a flashlight and went to retrieve the sleeping bags.