Todd Barnes wasn’t just sloppy and ingratiating. He thought his every breath should be gilded with gold. He was so arrogant and sure that he was a god amongst agents that he was going to prove dangerous one day. He was going to get someone hurt.
As a familiar redhead passed in his field of vision again, Max made a decision. Todd Barnes wasn’t getting close to her.
Jac had his daughter in her arms, celebrating. A big blue stuffed dolphin was clutched in Emery’s hands. She’d most likely wheedled a few extra tickets out of Jac.
Or Jac had won the toy for her. It was a shooting game, even if the weapon of choice was a water banana gun. Jac was the best markswoman he had ever seen. Carnival games were barely a challenge for that woman. The last thing anyone expected when they looked at her was her skill.
Jac was often assigned to team three, as the computer liaison, when needed. He’d be damned if he was going to leave her to work for Todd Barnes.
No way in hell. If he could do something to protect Jac then Max would do it. Max made a decision, one he hoped he wouldn’t regret. “Six months?”
“Six months. Then we’ll talk about something more grounded in the St. Louis area. Dan is talking about retiring soon to take care of his twins before they get school aged. He wants time with them. His position as coordinator will be open then. It’ll be yours if you want it. No questions asked. Or we can work something else out somewhere.”
“I want on Sin Lorcan’s team. I…don’t want what happened to Andy to happen to anyone else.”
“Noted. And I’ll see what I can do. In the meantime, I think there are a few beautiful redheads waiting for you.” Ed nodded in Emery and Jac’s direction.
Six months. He could juggle this for six months. He’d make a point of doubling the time he spent with Emery when he wasn’t on the road for those six months. And he’d talk to Jac, see if she would mind keeping Emery sometimes.
He’d talk to Emery. Explain to her that if they did this for half a year, he’d be able to take a position where he would be home every night by six. She’d been wanting him home every night since she first realized that was how other families lived.
It would thrill her.
Six months was a small trade-off for that. It sounded like a pretty fair deal to Max. “I’ll do it. Six months. Then I want in with Lorcan.”
Ed’s face relaxed, as he scooped his youngest into an affectionate hug. The little boy grinned at Max, a dead ringer for Ed’s wife. He was in the same class as Emery. “You sure about this?”
“I am. But after that six months, I’m looking at moving into admin of some type, Ed. I have to do what’s best for my daughter. And she needs me here now.”
14
“Em’s glad you’re here.” Max stepped closer to Jac as the crowd pressed into him. He put a hand on her shoulder, wanting to protect her from the press of bodies. Jac was perfectly capable of taking care of herself, and he knew that. He’d seen evidence of it time and time again. But he liked doing it. Liked how it made him feel. He just liked touching the woman. Every chance he could.
“I’m glad I’m here.”
The sweater set she wore made her look soft and feminine. Deceptively so. He wanted to touch, see if the sweater, and the woman beneath it, were as soft as they looked.
Jac sure as hell made him forget everything but her sometimes—just by breathing. “I wasn’t certain you’d be back from Masterson in time. I saw the weather report—and Miranda’s post about you two being polar bears in Masterson.”
“We borrowed those coats from her sisters. I told Emery I’d be here today. And I meant it. I will always keep my promises to her. I know what that means to her.”
“I know.” Max wanted to say more, but refrained. They were still on shaky ground between them. He didn’t want to screw things up. But he appreciated it; Emery was starting to struggle with the inevitable broken promises associated with his job. And the fact that her mother constantly broke every promise Pamela made to Emery. That hurt their daughter, each and every time.
But Jac—Jac had never broken a promise to Emery.
Or to Max. “I saw Miranda is back on the roster. How is she handling this latest?”
“She’s ok. More frustrated and impatient with being on modified duty than anything. This broken arm is the first thing that’s ever slowed that woman down. She’s had two surgeries on it now. And I’m not sure she’s fully dealt with what happened in Masterson.”
Emery demanded their attention. They both turned to her. Max slipped his fingers around Jac’s. Just for a moment.
He just wanted to touch her.
15
He was scheming. That man was definitely plotting against her.
Maddox James Jones was up to something, right up to his six-foot-four height.
She enjoyed the carnival, but Max…that man was most certainly up to something where she was concerned. Half the night, Jac had to evade his hand.
For some reason, he wanted to hold hands when they walked around.
Hers, specifically.
She wasn’t even certain the man was aware of what he was doing. Jac certainly was—and she was far too old to be holding a guy’s hand in a school gymnasium.
Most of the times when he touched her, he wasn’t even focused on her. He was just there.
It seemed to be instinctive.
Seemed to be.
Jac wasn’t putting anything past him. He was a master manipulator, after all. And there was something in those eyes of his that made her feel a little…hunted.
That was a little disconcerting.
At one point, she’d found herself between him and Emery, her hands trapped in theirs. They’d been laughing at her the
