Sigh. It would be another restless night.
Chapter Four
Lars waited with Sophie at the private entrance to the backstage area of the enormous LA Music Center. For a US Marine Raider, an elite spec forces operator who could control his metabolic rate, his heart rate, and his breathing, today was a lost cause. He’d like to believe that the reason was that he hadn’t returned to his level of fitness after his injury. But fitness wasn’t the issue. His breathing and heart rate were surging in anticipation of Danni.
Could he see her touch Hardy and not react? Faced with the obvious, he’d have to give up obsessing over this one woman. Give up his need to have Danni in his bed and act out every fantasy he had imagined to burn out his fascination finally. He just wasn’t built to quit. Quitting went against every fiber of his being. It wasn’t in the Marines’ or the Jenkins’ credo to give up.
He’d have to move on without her, the sassy woman he had wanted since the moment he met her. After her and Jordan’s harrowing kidnapping by the 14K Chinese crime gang, Danni had flipped her long blonde hair and told him, her rescuer, that she was disappointed that he wasn’t as good-looking as his twin.
He looked down to see Sophie’s big baby blues focused on him. “If you hurt her, I’m going to have both Finn and Aiden kick your butt. They consider Danni their sister.”
And here he thought he had been clever in his attempt to get Sophie to LA.
“What about your loyalty to me? You’ve known me your whole life. Did you ever think Danni might be capable of hurting me?”
Shit. He was off his game. Deny, deny, deny… The pain of Danni walking away. Maybe it was having grown up with Sophie that made him honest.
“You don’t have a track record of appreciating the finer points of women. Whenever you’re were in Seattle, you and Sten were always hooking up. It’s all a game. Nothing but a competition. Have you ever actually looked at a woman for more than a good time?”
He was glad that Sophie had never learned about his disastrous relationship with Carmen, the only woman he’d vowed to love forever and had planned to marry after his first deployment. Too bad Carmen turned out to be a cheating skank. He thanked Uncle Sam for interfering with his plans before he made a big fricking mistake.
“I’ve never lied to any woman about what I want. And the women were down with it, or I walked away. No one was hurt.”
“Well, Danni isn’t ‘down with it.’ She doesn’t need another man unable to commit.”
This was new information. Danni maintained she was a player and not interested in commitment. He stowed the reference to explore later. He’d hit up Reeves, who was the easiest to interrogate. Danni’s women friends were all tight-lipped about what shaped Danni’s take-no-prisoners attitude toward the Jenkins brothers. This was the first time Lars had heard that someone in her past had hurt her. If it were true, then he and Danni were perfect for each other. Both were realistic about the happily ever after bullshit.
“You’ve been listening to Danni too long. Have you ever considered that as soldiers, my brothers and I don’t want to bring anyone into the dangerous and unpredictable lives that we lead? And not just because we’re sexist womanizers?”
His family was the perfect example of the devastation that military life wreaked on marriages and families. His mother was left to raise five boys on her own after his dad had been killed in action. He never wanted his kids to grow up without a father.
Sophie wrapped her arms around his middle and rested her head on his shoulder. “Honestly, I never thought about it until Finn’s deployment. I don’t know who took it harder when he left—me with my fear, or him with his guilt for leaving me alone and afraid.”
“Oh, honey.” Lars leaned back and pushed Sophie’s abundant blonde curls away from her face. “You have nothing to worry about. Finn is an indestructible, kick-butt SEAL. He’ll make sure he’s safe since he has you to come home to.”
“Does Finn know you have a thing for his baby brother?” Danni’s husky voice reverberated into his brain, triggering every cell with unanswered needs.
He couldn’t breathe. It was as if someone throat-punched him. Danni, the woman of his every dream, was within reach. He could grab her and hold her tight against him, run his fingers through her thick blonde hair hanging down her slender back, press her shapely frame against him and cup her muscular behind in his hands.
“I’ve missed you, smart-ass.” Laughing and crying, Sophie threw her arms around Danni.
Danni’s teary eyes narrowed on Lars. In a hushed voice, but loud enough that Lars could hear, Danni whispered, “You didn’t tell me you were bringing a Jenkins.”
“Lars hopped a ride with me.” Still embracing Danni, Sophie turned to include Lars. “He has business—an interview with one of Nick’s teammate’s brothers who wants to join the security crew. I asked him to come with me tonight to help reassure Finn about the chance reconnection with Alex. Finn is under enough pressure without worrying about what I’m getting into while he’s gone. You know Finn can be a bit possessive.”
Danni snorted. “A bit?”
Lars wanted to hug Sophie for the perfect excuse. No question, Finn was not going to be happy about Sophie’s little trip. Not that Lars could fault him. If he had a woman like Sophie in his life, he’d do anything to keep her happy and his. Sophie was a gem who
