hair streaked by the sun instead of a salon. His neatly trimmed beard couldn’t hide his full mouth or firm chin. His blue eyes had been both startled and, ultimately, full of amusement as she and Jeff told him off for stealing their big sister away from them. He’d thanked them for telling him his shirt was wrong and his tie was crooked, then sat down and asked them their opinions on what clothes he should buy. She’d been charmed at being treated like a lady by such a handsome man. She hadn’t even shrieked at him once, and she’d totally planned on it the moment he put them down. But Travis never did. He treated everyone with respect, and earned that respect back tenfold.
She’d dreamed of him every night since. She’d probably dream of him until the day she died, no matter how much she might wish otherwise. But those dreams had changed recently. Now he rescued her from Grimm instead of asking her on a date.
She was pretty sure that was the only reason she was still sane.
Working for Guardian Investigations was both heaven and hell. She got to see him and talk to him every single day. That was heaven.
Hell was seeing the women he dated and knowing that there was no way she could ever measure up.
Soon after coming to work for Travis she’d seen him with his girlfriend of the time, Karen. The way he’d held her, stroking her through the thin silk blouse she’d had on, his hand drifting down to the blonde’s ass, had broken her heart. The heat in his eyes when he’d looked at Karen had been intense. The friendly regard he’d turned on Jamie had been horrible. The smug, satisfied look on the blonde had been worse.
She’d gone out with her boyfriend that night, gotten tipsy and finally given him her virginity. It hadn’t been bad, actually. Some of it felt pretty good. They’d gotten comfortable with one another, or so she thought.
When she’d found Tim cheating on her she hadn’t been as heartbroken as she probably should have been. That was when she knew no other man would ever measure up to Travis. She’d given up looking soon after that, kicking Tim’s ass to the curb, much to her father’s relief. Fred Grimm had never approved of him.
“Here.”
She jumped. She must have dozed off, because Travis was standing over her with her pill and a glass of water clutched in his hand. “Mmm. Thanks.” She sat up gingerly, easing herself against the pillows. He handed her the pill and she took it, making a face as it stuck halfway down.
“Logan’s going to bring you something to eat in a few minutes. When you’re done eating I want you to get some sleep.”
She rolled her eyes at him. “Yes, Daddy.”
He shuddered. “
She shrugged and tried to smirk, knowing it looked more like a grimace but not caring. “It’s better than Pita.”
“That’s debatable.” He turned as Logan carried in a tray with a bowl of tomato soup and a grilled cheese sandwich on it and frowned. “That’s it? That’s what you’re feeding her?”
“Yes.” Logan placed the tray on her lap, winking at her.
“Hell,
“Obviously your mother never made you the perfect sick foods before.” Jamie dug into the soup with gusto. The almost painful bite of the soup had her groaning in pleasure. “Oh, lord, Jordan told you?”
“Yup. Happy, Pita?”
She ate another spoonful of the sinfully spiced soup and sighed. “Practically orgasmic.” She ignored Travis’s growl and happily ate her soup, stopping every now and then to take a bite of the ultra-gooey grilled cheese.
“Are those jalapeno peppers in your soup?”
She looked up into Travis’s horrified face. “Oh yeah.”
“And grilled
She bit into the sandwich with as much gusto as her broken face would allow. “Mmm-hmm.” She licked her lips, moaning in cheesy ecstasy.
A dark flush crept up Travis’s cheeks. He cleared his throat. “Isn’t that bad for someone who’s sick?
Aren’t you supposed to eat bland food?”
She looked at him blankly. “I’m already hurting. Why suffer more than I absolutely have to?” She finished her soup and handed the tray back to Logan with as sweet a smile as she could muster. “Thank you, Logan.”
He smiled down at her, his fondness for her written all over his face. “You’re welcome, Pita.”
She finished off the water and handed the empty glass to Travis, who took it with a frown. She yawned, snuggling down against the pillow, the pain pill making her sleepy again. “’Night, Travis.”
“’Night, Pita.”
She smiled, her eyes closed as she began drifting off to sleep. The gentle kiss she imagined against her lips sent her into sweet dreams where Travis actually wanted a crazy, pushy redhead for his own.
Travis lifted his lips from her, shaking his head over the lingering taste of peppers. He smoothed his hand over her hair, unable to resist the way the limp curls clung to his fingers.
She needed a bath. As soon as she woke up, he’d see to it she got one. He’d have to be careful of the cast still on her wrist, but he could deal with it when the time came.
He left her to sleep, heading into the living room to find Jordan, Jeff, Logan and Kir waiting for him.
“What?”
“Nothing. Just wondering when you’re going to move your stuff into her bedroom.” Jeff threw a piece of popcorn up into the air, catching it in his mouth. He grinned at Travis as he chewed.
Kir grinned. “Already taken care of.”
Travis did his best to keep his expression serene. If he had any hope of a happy life with Jamie he’d have to make sure her twin was okay with it. “You have an objection to that?”
“Nope, but she might.”
The two men stared at one another. Jeff looked relaxed, his bare feet propped up on the coffee table, a bowl of popcorn in his lap, but Travis knew better. Even at twenty-five, Jeff was one of the best operatives he had, mostly because people saw a slender, carefree guy with bright red hair and a cheery smile. What they failed to see was the ruthless hunter underneath, a warrior who felt quite capable of taking Travis on if he felt his sister was threatened.
Travis wondered if that attitude would still be there if Jeff knew who he was challenging. When it came to Jamie, he had the feeling that it might.
He could respect that. He’d still have to smack the kid down if he got in the way of Travis taking care of Jamie, but, still.
The younger man stood and stretched, putting the bowl on the coffee table. “I’m not going to wait much longer for you guys to get your collective heads out of your asses, you know.” He looked around the room at the four of them, his intent stare lingering the longest on his older half-sister, Jordan. “You
Because if you don’t, I’ll be forced to find out on my own, and something tells me none of you would like that.” He smiled sweetly, reminding Travis of Jamie. “Good night, everyone.” He sauntered off toward the den with an absent wave. “I’m taking the futon, Travis.”
Travis shook his head as he watched Jeff close the door behind him. “Fuck me.”
“No thanks. Logan would kill me.”
Travis closed his eyes against the incipient headache building behind his eyes. “Kir.”
“Sorry.” The blond man sank into the seat Jeff had so recently occupied, picking up the bowl of popcorn with a sigh. “Anyone want—”
“
Kir winced as all three of them shouted him down. “Okay, okay. I can see how you’d all be pizza’d out. You don’t have to shout, though.” He put the bowl down, fiddling with it absently. “He’s right.”
Travis found himself staring at Jeff’s closed door. “Yeah. He is. And don’t make the mistake of thinking that was an idle threat, either. If Jeff decides to go after Grimm it’ll get ugly fast.”
“He can’t handle what Grimm will do to him.” Jordan started pacing, a frown on that pretty face of hers. She brushed her hair behind her ear, missing the way both her men’s eyes latched onto her movements. It was obvious even to a blind man that Logan and Kir were hyper-aware of her every move.
