Chapter 21
21
I t had been two days of Jordan staying home. She’d been discharged from the hospital, and Rhys saw that she hated it. Not that she hated being at the farm, she hated not going into the precinct. He was quite happy with her staying home. She needed to rest. She was injured more than she wanted to admit. His stubborn woman was in pain. He watched how she moved around and saw it in her eyes.
Rhys jogged down the stairs and went in search of everyone. He and Honor had worked the night shift last night. He’d come home, eaten, then taken a short nap. Now he was up and the house was quiet. He arrived on the first floor and figured they would probably be outside. He had a few things that needed to be taken care of out in the barn. He’d thrown on some old jeans and a t-shirt, planning to put in a few hours’ work.
Laughter floated through the air outside. He smiled, loving the sound of it. He followed Nova’s voice, and it would figure the girls would be outside in the back. He arrived at the patio door from the kitchen. Nova and Honor sat on the bottom stairs, but Jordan was nowhere to be found. He pushed open the door and stepped out onto the patio.
Honor focused on him. Her tail beat the ground as she watched him walk toward her and Nova.
“Hey, Dad. We didn’t wake you, did we?” Nova asked. Her pink hair was pulled up into twin buns. She wore a pair of shades to combat the stark rays of the sun.
Rhys grimaced and held his hand up over his eyes to block out the brightness.
“I slept like the dead,” he replied. He moved to the railing and leaned his hip on it. He scanned the yard and didn’t see any sign of Jordan. She’d better not have gone anywhere. That was one stubborn woman. He would certainly put her over his knee if she had. “Where’s Jordan?”
“Hiding.” Nova giggled.
It was then Rhys noticed that Nova was holding on to Honor’s collar. The dog was growing more excited. No wonder. They were playing one of her favorite games. He just hoped his partner had gotten some rest after their long shift. Honor didn’t need much sleep, but he would prefer for his partner to be well rested before their next shift.
“Are you ready, girl?”
Honor barked her response. Her entire body wiggled with each wag of her tail. She was ready to go off and find Jordan.
“Honor,” he called her name. She paused and glanced at him. “Where’s Jordan?”
She gave a series of barks and tried to pull away from Nova. He laughed at her antics. Nova screeched and fell over onto the ground as she released the German Shepherd. Honor took off running across the yard. Rhys was curious as to where Jordan had hidden.
“Look at her go!” Nova laughed. She stood and brushed a little dirt off her legs.
Rhys pushed off the railing and went down the stairs and stood next to Nova. He wrapped an arm around her shoulders and dropped a kiss onto her forehead.
“How long have y’all be at this?” he asked.
If Honor had her way, they would be playing it for hours at a time. The dog loved her games. If it wasn’t catch, it was hide and go seek. She was a pup at heart. As long as she remained in good shape and was happy, she wouldn’t have to retire anytime soon.
“I don’t know. I think at least an hour.” Nova laughed. She leaned into his hug and wrapped an arm around his waist.
They stood together and watched Honor sniff around the edge of the trees. She moved on to another set as if she were following Jordan’s trail. Rhys scanned the small wooded area and saw no sign of his woman.
Where the hell was she hiding?
Honor lifted her head and barked. She went back immediately to her job of sniffing the land. Her tail wagged as she continued.
“You feed her?” he asked.
“Jordan did,” Nova answered.
Rhys had figured Honor would seek out Jordan when they had returned home. The dog certainly loved having Jordan living with them. She had stayed glued to her hip every chance she got. The two were a close pair.
“Oh, is she on her trail?” Nova’s laugh grabbed Rhys’s attention.
Honor was sprinting across the yard and headed toward the barn. Rhys chuckled. Apparently Jordan had tried to throw Honor off and must have stood by the trees first before running into the barn. Smart woman, but not enough to outwit a K9. Honor skidded to a halt in the opening of the barn. Her head lowered, and she went inside. She was focused as if she were following a perp. The dog disappeared into the barn.
“She’ll catch Jordan,” Rhys murmured. He had money on the dog. She was damn good at what she did. That nose of hers was a machine. It always amazed him to think of how many scents she could detect. Finding Jordan would be light work for her.
“I don’t know. Jordan told me to hold her for ten minutes before letting her go.” Nova shook her head.
Rhys grinned. Jordan was going to fail at trying to hide from Honor. She didn’t know the dog as well as she thought if she figured Honor would lose her scent. Honor’s bark echoed through the air. It was an excited bark, one that she gave off when playing. It wasn’t her signal she gave when she found what they were searching for.
“Just wait,” he said. He gave Nova’s shoulder a squeeze. He had all the faith in his K9 partner.
“So, Dad. I wanted to ask you something,” Nova said. She turned to him with wide eyes.
He bit back a groan. He knew the look. She was about to ask him for something.
“How much?” He raked his fingers through his hair. He knew his daughter well enough to know when she was about to grovel for something she wanted. She’d done it when she was a kid, and now, here she was, a college woman, still pulling the same trick.
“Here me out!” She laughed. She pouted and jumped in place. “This is a lifetime opportunity that I can’t pass up.”
Rhys laughed. Why did everything have to be a lifetime opportunity? She had barely begun to live life, and according to her, she couldn’t miss anything.
“What is it?” he asked. He folded his arms and leveled her with what she called his fatherly look. This was something he had to hear. What did she consider to be a lifetime opportunity this time?
“Well, you remember my friend, Natalie, right?” Nova asked.
He racked his brain to try to remember all of these friends she had. It was hard to keep up. She had her high school friends, college, and work buddies.
“Remind me.” He gave up. There was no telling which one she was talking about.
“You know Natalie. Her parents are mega loaded. They are wanting to do a cruise to the Mediterranean and invited me.”
“A Mediterranean cruise?” he sputtered.
Hell, that sounded expensive. He remembered Natalie’s parents now. Natalie had gone to college with Nova. He’d met her parents the weekend he’d driven down for parent weekend at the college. Her father had seemed like a cool guy, the mother a little uppity, but she appeared to like Nova, and that was all that mattered.
Rhys shook his head and blew out a deep pocket of air. “I don’t know, Nova. How much are we talking?”
“Nothing! They are footing the bill. I’d just need spending money, I already have a passport, and just need you to say yes.” She hopped up in one place. Hope and excitement lined her face. She poked out her lips in a pout. “Please, Daddy?”
Daddy.
She certainly knew what strings to pull. Rhys still hesitated.
“Why are they footing the bill for everything?” he asked suspiciously.
“Well, Natalie’s cousin was supposed to go with them, but now she can’t and they have extra tickets. Somehow they said they could transfer the tickets into someone else’s name. Natalie asked me if I wanted to go. Please, Daddy. Can I?”
“When?” he asked gruffly. He could already feel the stone wall he’d built around his heart starting to crumble. She had always been a good kid, and it was rare that he had to say no to her. And to see her happy was all he strived for in life as a parent.
“Next week. That’s why they asked me just yesterday. They didn’t want the ticket to go to waste.” She stood in place and batted her eyelashes at him.
Rhys rolled his eyes and nodded. Nova screamed and launched herself at him. The air escaped his lungs at the strength of her hitting him. He smiled and wrapped his arms around her. He bent down and inhaled her scent. This was his little girl, and if he could give her the world, he would.
“I love you, Dad.”
“I love you, too, cupcake,” he mumbled. He hadn’t called her that in a while. It had been a nickname for her when she had been a youngster. How had she grown up so fast? It seemed just like yesterday she had fallen off her bike and needed him to kiss her booboo. Now here she was, jetting off around the world. “We are going to set up some rules.”
“I’m sure we are, but I need to let Natalie and her parents know what you said.” She pulled away and took her cellphone out of her jean shorts pocket.
Frantic barking sounded. Rhys glanced over and took in Jordan running from around the back of the barn. She had a large grin on her face as she sprinted. Honor came barreling around the corner after her. Rhys and Nova laughed at the duo.
Rhys didn’t know why Jordan would ever think she could outrun Honor. The K9 caught up with Jordan and sped in front of her. Jordan almost fell with the way that Honor landed in front of her.
“Hey, girl. Watch it!” Jordan giggled.
She play fought with Honor. The pair had Rhys laughing. Honor was having the time of her life. Jordan looked worn out slightly. Her dark hair was pulled up in a high ponytail, sweat lined her forehead, but she was still gorgeous. She was breathing heavier than usual. She still wasn’t as rested as she should have been. The woman was determined to stay active. He’d caught her working out yesterday, and she’d brushed him off since it was just yoga.
But he knew her.
She was going to overdo it and hurt herself more, but she wasn’t going to admit it.
“Look who’s up from his beauty nap,” Jordan said. She turned Honor around and pushed her toward him. “Go see Dad.”
Honor took off running toward him. She arrived in front of him, yipping and barking. She danced around him and Nova. He grabbed her body and gave her a few good rubs. Her sides were rising and falling fast. It was easy for her to get overheated with her thick coat.
“Go get water.” He gave her one more good pat on her butt.
She trotted up the stairs and went over to her water bowl on the patio. Rhys turned and caught a slight grimace on Jordan’s face. He narrowed his eyes on her.
He knew it.
“I’m going to go call Natalie. We have a million things to plan,” Nova said. She skipped up the stairs and practically ran into the house.
“I take it she asked you?” Jordan raised an eyebrow. She arrived at his side.
He didn’t want to talk about Nova at the moment. They were going to have to discuss how she wasn’t taking care of herself. She was to be resting. Not running around the farm with the dog.
“What’s wrong?” he asked, ignoring her statement. He jerked his chin toward her.
She rolled her eyes and exhaled. There was pain in her eyes. Didn’t she know he knew her better than she apparently knew herself?
“What are you talking about?” She met his gaze without batting an eye. The woman even had the nerve to raise her chin slightly.
“Don’t bullshit me, Jordan. I can see you are in pain,” he said.
“It’s not pain. I’m stiff,” she muttered. She reached up and brushed a few loose strands of hair from her face. She shrugged and glanced out at the yard. “I’ll be okay. It’s nothing to tell Spook about.”
“I should call him. How do you think he will like knowing that his SWAT officer who was almost in a fatal car crash was not taking care of herself?” he threatened.
“You wouldn’t.” She rested her hands on her waist and tried to glare at him.
He stepped toe to toe with her, not fazed by her little tough-girl glare. He mimicked her and rested his hands on his waist. He met her gaze head-on.
“I would if it means my woman gets some actual rest.” If looks could kill, he would be pushing up daisies, but Rhys wasn’t going to let Jordan bully him. He was immune to her tough-woman charade. He knew the real Jordan, and she was his responsibility.
“What the hell do you think I’m doing?” Jordan spread her arms wide. She motioned around them. “Resting is all I’ve been doing. I’m ready to go back to work. Since you want to call Spook, tell him that.”
She brushed past him, bumping into him. Rhys grabbed her arm and spun her around toward him. She tried to push him away, but he held on to her tight.
“Do you know how much I love you? Care about your well being?” he growled. He drew her flush to him. He reached up with his free hand and tipped her chin back so she could meet his gaze. This stubborn woman always brought out this protective side of him.
Jordan searched his eyes. Whatever she saw caused hers to widen slightly.
“You could have been taken from me, and I’ll be damned if you injure yourself even more, woman.”
“Rhys—”
“I’m not done. Now you get in that house, go take those pain pills the doctor prescribed for you, and then you go put your damn feet up and relax.”
Rhys caught sight of her plump lips and couldn’t resist a taste. He lowered his head and captured her lips with his. Her mouth immediately opened. His tongue pushed forth and swept inside. She tasted of strawberries and sunshine. He wasn’t sure how, but he needed more.
Jordan groaned and leaned into him. Her arms snuck around his neck as she returned the kiss with the same fire and drive that he had. Why couldn’t she just listen to him? Didn’t she know he just wanted to take care of her? Give her everything she needed? Even if that was some damn common sense.
Rhys tore his mouth away and rested his forehead on hers. Their panting filled his ears. As much as he wanted to throw her over his shoulder, they couldn’t. She had to heal, and putting his desires on the back burner was a must. He could wait. Sex with Jordan was well worth it. Their first time after the car accident would be mind-blowing. This he already knew.
“I love you,” Jordan said. His t-shirt was balled up into her fist. She released it and smoothed out the material. Her wide brown eyes lifted to meet his. She smiled softly and shook her head. “You know you are the only man I would ever allow to manhandle me like that, right?”
He barked a laugh and dropped a hard kiss to her swollen lips.
“I know. Now go. I’ll be in the barn working.” He turned her around and angled her to the house. He gave a gentle push and swatted her backside.
She glanced over her shoulder. The heat burning in those brown orbs had him almost following her inside.
“Well, I guess I have orders to follow.”
She tossed him a wink, and if he hadn’t been in love with her already, he certainly would be then. That woman was it for him. He watched her make her way into the house before he headed to the barn. He readjusted himself as he walked. His cock was stiff and pressing at his jeans. He grimaced and tried to will it down. Cleaning out horse stalls with a hard-on would not be ideal.