plush stuffed tiger. Brewster was a tad spoiled.
Sitting on the edge of the bed, Jayce leaned over Rocky, eyes sparkling. “Hey, baby.”
“Hey.” The sight of Jayce Bello always tripped her pulse, but the nearness of the man scattered her senses to the four winds. It had been like this ever since she was ten.
The sinfully gorgeous bad boy nodded toward her abandoned copy of
“I was thinking about a makeover.”
“Why?”
She shrugged. “How do you think I’d look as a brunette?”
“Hot.”
“What about a redhead?”
“Hot.”
She narrowed her eyes. “What if I shaved my head bald?”
He angled his head as if conjuring the image. “Wildly fuckable.”
She gave his shoulder a playful thump. “A lot of help you are.”
He grinned. “Babe, I’d have a hard-on for you if you had a blue Mohawk—although that wasn’t a suggestion.” He kissed her then, a deep kiss that fired up her girly parts.
She smiled when he eased away, traced her fingers over his sexy goatee. “You should be naked when you kiss me like that. Makes me want to jump your bones.”
“Hold that thought.” He pushed up and leaned over to unlace his boots. “So what did Rae have to say about the Cupcake Lovers?”
“She thinks she can use her celebrity status to respark the publisher’s enthusiasm for our project.”
“Makes sense.”
Rocky nodded. “Except I don’t get the feeling she’s all that comfortable with drawing attention to herself.”
“I thought that was Rachel’s MO. Shy, modest.”
“Believe it or not, obscene wealth and fashion taste aside, Rachel and Rae, are pretty much the same.”
Jayce angled his head as he unbuckled his belt. “You think so,
Rocky shifted to pull his T-shirt over his head. “You know different?”
His silence spoke volumes.
She jerked her thoughts from his muscled torso and focused on her new theory. “Remember that night I walked into the kitchen and interrupted a discussion between you and Luke?”
“The night before Christmas Eve.”
“Luke was angry and blew out the back door without saying good-bye to anyone. Then he skipped out completely on Christmas Eve. So not Luke. He said it was a personal emergency with an old friend. I asked you if you knew anything about it and you said—”
“I said, I wasn’t at liberty to comment.” Jayce glanced over his bare shoulder. “That’s still the case, Dash.”
She warmed at his pet name for her, but stayed the course. “I assumed Luke confided in you and you promised to keep whatever he told you under wraps. I thought maybe it had something to do with an old girlfriend. God knows he has hundreds. And he’s the biggest sucker in the world when it comes to a friend, especially a lady friend, in need.”
“You going somewhere with this?”
“I’ve reassessed my assumption. I think Luke hired you to find Rae. That’s why you can’t tell me anything. Professional confidentiality.”
“If that’s what you think, why are you asking?”
“I’m not asking. I’m surmising.” She watched as he shucked his jeans and boxers and climbed over her, buck naked, into bed. “You’re trying to distract me.”
“I always sleep in the raw.”
“Yeah, but you’ve got an ornery look in your eye.”
“You’re the one who got all hot and bothered by a simple kiss.”
“There was nothing simple about that kiss.”
He rolled into her. “Allow me to complicate matters further.”
She braced her palm on his chest. “Hold that thought.”
Sighing, Jayce rolled back to his own pillow and placed his hands behind his head. “Go on. Surmise.”
“Rae admitted she’s been infatuated with Luke for a long time and that things are now a mess. I think they had a thing.”
“As in an affair?”
“He does boink his waitresses on a pretty regular basis.”
“Nice way to talk about your brother.”
“Just saying. Anyway, maybe it wasn’t an affair. Maybe Luke just flirted with Rae and Sam caught wind of it. Maybe Sam confronted Luke and they had words. Think about it, Luke had a black eye the day after Rae disappeared.”
“He said he was distracted and walked into a doorjamb.”
“Maybe he walked into Sam’s fist.”
“That’s a lot of surmising, Dash.”
“None of which you’ll confirm or deny.”
“I can honestly say I’m not privy to any of your conjecture.”
She frowned. “Really?”
“Really.”
“So Luke didn’t hire you to find Rae? He didn’t fly out to California on Christmas Eve to … I don’t know. Talk her into coming back?”
Jayce reached over and tugged on one of her curls. “You need to let this go, babe.”
“Why?”
“It’s none of our business. Whatever it is, it will work itself out.”
“Like us?”
“If they’re lucky.” He rolled back on top of her, pinning her between the soft mattress and his hard body. “About that makeover. Maybe we should start with some wigs. A couple of costumes.”
Every intimate part of Rocky throbbed. “Costumes?”
“The redheaded nurse. The tight-bunned librarian.”
Rocky pushed and shifted, reversing their position. Quirking a naughty grin, she shoved Jayce’s hands above his head and squirmed against his erection. “What about the raven-bobbed dominatrix?”
Eyes dancing, the natural dominator feigned submission. “Works for me, Dash. With or without the wig.”
TWELVE
Sam’s morning started like every morning. Waking up alone. Staring at the ceiling. Listening for activity.
Rarely did he hear a sound, mostly because he woke before the kids roused. He’d always been a light sleeper, part of his combat training. Ever since he’d become a single parent, he was even more on guard.
What if Ben or Mina woke up sick or with a nightmare? What if one of them walked in their sleep and fell down the stairs?
In the hour to two before sunrise, his mind turned to the upcoming day. Making sure they were up in time, dressed, fed, and off to school. Mental reminders regarding any homework or upcoming events. Did he need to book a babysitter? Had he agreed to any playdates or sleepovers? What was he making for supper? Did he need to stop by Oslow’s?
