Bonus Scenes
DANIEL AND THE SUMMER…
OF ALL THE COLESON women, besides Heather, there were three Daniel just…
couldn’t handle. He’d decided that on day two of staying right there with those creatures next to him.
Hope…hotter than hell. Yes, he finally had realized that.
But Hope almost always had a big hulking Miguel Rodriguez near her.
Or one of the man’s kids. Those served as a pretty clear reminder to Daniel to keep his hands and thoughts to himself.
Heather’s twin—she had five little reasons Daniel was aware of.
The last thing he wanted to do was play daddy to five kids—and he knew it.
Kids deserved better than him, by far. What if he turned out like his own father?
That was a pretty strong reason to avoid a woman with kids—no matter that she was one of the hottest, most intriguing women he had ever seen.
No, she wasn’t one of the three that were driving him crazy.
No. It was Samia. It was the demon known as Cashlyn.
And it was Summer.
Summer was a mix of Heather and Bonnie and all the rest. And something about the way that woman looked at a man—it would tempt a weak man to take over the world. With just one look from her. One smile.
Damn it. These women were just not human. He was sure of it.
Samia—he was behaving himself with her. But he found that woman damned fascinating.
The quiet way she had of just looking at the world—it made a man want to protect her from all of the darkness out there.
But…he wasn’t a man to poach. Daniel held himself to higher standards than that.
And Murdoch’s brother was gone over her.
It was evident in the way Anthony Lake looked at her.
Samia just didn’t seem to be aware of it.
Daniel wished Anthony the best of luck. Anthony was a genuinely good man.
Murdoch had said that a few times before.
And Daniel had witnessed it himself a time or two.
Cashlyn, the only thing keeping him from scooping Zoey’s sister off her feet and carrying her off into the woods or to a cave or something was the almost fourteen years that separated them in age. Cashlyn taunted a man—and she didn’t even seem to be aware of it. Most of the time.
There were times that he had to wonder, though.
She would look at a man and just blink, then smile.
Just that woman’s smile had his hands breaking out in a sweat.
The way she had of moving would draw a man in, until she got her claws into him, and then she would sting him forever.
Or…keep him guessing what she was going to do next.
She was an odd little mix of Summer and Heather and Bonnie. He found her beyond fascinating. He’d even dreamed of her at night for the past three nights. Eventually, some guy was going to grab that one and haul her off to his lair. And never let her go.
If she didn’t devour the guy first.
And then there…was the woman in front of him now.
In a red string bikini. A bikini she had no business even owning in a house that contained children. But there weren’t any children around now.
Surprising, there were usually about thirty-six thousand children in this house at one time.
But now…
“Commander Butthead,” Summer said in the voice that was almost eerily like Heather’s, only far more seductive, as she stood there, on the pebbled concrete next to the family pool. “I thought I was alone…I thought you were sleeping…”
Commander Butthead. They all called him that. Even the kids—and Bonnie. He was getting used to it. To being called ‘Mander Butthead’ while being asked to read stories wasn’t all that bad. “No…”
He’d gotten up and showered, no problems. For the first time in weeks, he finally felt like his body was in his control again. He’d be okay. It was just going to take a few more weeks. “I’m feeling…better.”
Parts of him definitely were. The woman had the most perfect body he had ever seen. And she was tall, and tanned, and…damn it.
She was every man’s fantasy. He was sure of it. “Where…where is everyone else?”
“They are around. Cara should be home soon. Powell was back in the office today for a few hours this afternoon.”
“Gunnar?”
“He went with her. Cara told Cashlyn that Gunnar is up moving around more fully.” She studied him for a moment.
The woman had Heather’s eyes. Those eyes that saw through a man completely.
Damn it, these Coleson beasts should come with warning labels.
Now he understood why Murdoch would cackle whenever one of them was mentioned.
“Cashlyn is sitting with Heather today, before her shift.”
“How…how is she?”
“Awake, talking. She’ll be weak for a while. And Sam said Heather will probably be on crutches for a few weeks once she gets out, but…they are talking as early as three days from now.”
“That’s…that’s wonderful news.”
“Yes, it is. But you will not be interrogating her. Or…well, you really don’t want to see us angry, do you?” She put her hands on her hips—bringing attention to the teeny tiny red bows holding the bottoms of her swimsuit in place.
Dear God, he was going to die here. Right on the concrete next to the lounge chair.
What in the hell was she doing in a bikini now, anyway? It was only April—the high had only been in the mid-seventies. But…he looked up. There was a glass dome cover…enclosing most of the pool. He supposed…maybe it was warm enough?
He was certainly sweating now.
How had he missed that?
Probably distracted by the bikini. He didn’t think he had ever been on this side of their backyard. He could see Alex’s place right there over a small stone fence.
Alex had this view all summer now? Did the man know that?
As far as Daniel remembered, Alex had just moved in a month or so ago. And the Colesons hadn’t all lived there until around Christmas, right? Heather had transferred to Finley Creek in January. So maybe…Alex didn’t know?
Daniel couldn’t do it any longer. He just couldn’t.
She turned, and moved the small table next to her.
“I was just…checking out the pool. We love the water, we Colesons. And the kids have already been begging to be in it. Crispin already checked the chemicals, chlorine, that kind of thing. She usually maintains the pool for us. She’s part mermaid, I’m sure.
But…I wanted some time to bake a little in the sun, myself.
Don’t worry—I used plenty of sunscreen.”
She was facing away from him now. Probably a good thing.
The bikini was…a fucking thong. What in the hell?
He choked something out. “I…need…I’m going to go back inside. Have to…check with Gunnar about some things.”
“Well, don’t overdo it. You know Samia will fuss if you do. She’ll try to tuck you back in…bed…or something.”
He almost thought she knew that her older sister was pushing his buttons or something. And there was a wicked, knowing look, in Summer’s dark brown eyes.
Daniel just went. Fast.
He had to get away. Summer in a thong was just far more than he could handle now.
Daniel had to make a decision. He stood in his guest room and just…thought of all he had seen in this house. It was time to make a choice. One…for his sanity. He just…couldn’t stay there any longer. He had to get out.
He just couldn’t handle a mostly naked Summer. He just couldn’t.
Of all of them—a naked Summer was…more than he could take.
She was probably the most perfect woman he had ever seen, physically. Add in a tiny red bikini—red was his favorite color, and her just as tempting as Heather…no. He just couldn’t stay there any longer.
Daniel grabbed his bag, threw his belongings in it and…snuck out.
Like the coward he was.
Daniel just snuck right out of the downstairs and kept going. Until he was outside. Alex’s house. That was it. That was his refuge.
He was going to hide out at Alex’s until rescue could come.
Somehow.
It took fifteen minutes for Alex to pull in.
Daniel had just sat there on the porch and waited.
Even when Cara had come outside to find out what he was doing.
He just hadn’t felt up to dealing with Cara Coleson, too.
He’d just told her something had come up—he grimaced again at the image that evoked—and told her he needed to talk to Alex about something as soon as the other man made it home. Something TSP related.
Hell, it had nothing to do with the TSP and everything to do with his sanity.
Cara had then informed him that Alex should be on his way.
That he had wanted to drive her home from the FCU: LAW campus himself, but she was perfectly capable of getting herself home, and didn’t need a Barratt man telling her what to do.
That the only Barratt that got to tell her what to do was Powell, and that was because Powell was paying Cara twenty-five percent over the going rate for Cara to be her personal assistant.
Whether Alex liked it or not, she was not coming back to work at Barratt, Barratt, & Barratt as an intern, period. No matter how much he pestered her.
Daniel had just nodded.
Cara was Alex’s personal Coleson demon to handle. Daniel feared he had a whole house of them of his own to deal with now. Unless he got away first.
Then Alex was pulling in and Cara was running home.
Literally. She jumped the hedge. That woman wouldn’t stay near Alex for even a moment now.
Daniel suspected he knew why. He had known Alex his entire life, after all.
He should warn Alex. Tell him to get his ass as far away from the Coleson women as he could get.
Didn’t he owe it to his friend to warn him, before they sucked Alex in, too?
If they hadn’t already.
The world just wasn’t normal in that house. They weren’t normal. None of them.
Maybe they should check for fumes coming from that basement room of theirs? Something that made them all just constantly strip their clothes off? Had they run around like that in front of Miguel, and that was why the commander of homicide hadn’t acted the same since?