But a new guy, Levi Jackson, creeps me the hell out.
He’s never done anything inappropriate, but the way he watches me and the tone of his voice when he speaks to me give me the shivers.
And not in a good way.
He’s a good-looking guy, and probably used to snagging any woman he sets his sights on, if she doesn’t pick up on the creepy factor.
I have a sick feeling in my gut that he’s set his sights on me.
So not gonna happen.
I find myself avoiding eye contact with him, walking past him quickly and generally avoiding him as much as possible. I’d tell him to fuck right off, but he hasn’t done anything to warrant it.
Except give me the creeps.
Isaac shares the office with me but is out with the crews most of the time, leaving the office duties to me, which suits us both just fine. He’s outside instructing a crew on a new project, and I can hear his no-nonsense voice as I check company e-mail.
The front door opens and closes, the hinges groaning loudly.
“We are a construction company,” I remark loudly. “Can’t you oil those damn hinges?”
“I think I’d have to have the boss approve that first.”
My head snaps up in surprise. I was expecting Isaac, but instead, Levi is approaching my desk, a smirk on his face.
“Sorry, I thought you were Isaac,” I respond politely. “What can I do for you?”
“I have a question about the insurance benefits.” He moves around my desk to lean a hip against the edge at my side.
Way too close for comfort.
“I explained the insurance to you last week, Levi.”
He smiles and shrugs, crosses his arms over his chest and leans back a bit, watching me. “I’m slow.”
“No, you’re not.”
“Maybe I just want to come in here and talk to a pretty lady.” He smiles, like he’s trying to pick me up in a bar, and it makes my stomach roll.
“Levi, I’m not interested. If you have questions about payroll or insurance, fine, but I’m too busy to chitchat and am not interested in your come-ons.”
I stand and try to move around him to the center of the office, but he blocks my path and deliberately brushes his arm against my breast.
“You know,” he murmurs and reaches out to run the back of his index finger down my arm, “you don’t look like you belong to a cop.”
What the fuck? How does he know about Jeff? Who the hell is this guy?
I jerk away just as Isaac walks through the office door.
“I don’t belong to a cop,” I reply, my voice ice-cold.
“What the hell are you doing?” Isaac asks, his voice calm, but his blue eyes pissed off.
“I was just asking Brynna some questions about my insurance.”
“He was just leaving,” I announce and glare up at Levi. “If you have any more questions, take them directly to Isaac.”
He holds his hands up as if in surrender and backs away from me. “Sorry to bother you.”
“Get to work,” Isaac snarls.
“Yes, boss.”
Levi hurries out the door, slamming it shut behind him, and Isaac turns his cold gaze to me.
“What was that about?”
“Nothing I can’t handle.” I sigh as I sink down in my chair and return to my e-mail, willing my rolling stomach to settle. Dear God, I just want to throw up. I feel like I need a long, hot shower to try to erase the feel of his touch.
Isaac braces his hands on my desk and leans down toward me. “Don’t bullshit me.”
“Levi came on to me.” I shrug and offer Isaac what I hope is a confident smile, but it slips as I’m still shaking from Levi’s cop comment. “Except, why would he say that about me belonging to a cop?”
“He must have seen Matt pick you up yesterday.” Isaac shrugs, as though that explains it all, and it does, thank God. I’ve never mentioned anything about my past before.
“Oh, you’re right.” I smile at him and shake my head. “No biggie.”
“Are you sure? I’ll fire the bastard.”
“I’m sure.” I shake my head and lean back in my chair as I push my hands through my hair and exhale deeply. “He’s a bit creepy, but this was the first time he crossed a line.”
“I’m going to be watching him. If anything like this happens again, you tell me right away, and I’ll kick that little asshole’s ass. You understand me?”
“Yes, sir,” I reply sarcastically.
“I mean it, Bryn.”
“Okay.”
He nods and settles behind his computer. Today is his office day.
“How are the kids feeling?” I ask.
“A little better. Stace and I were up with them all night.”
He squeezes his eyes shut and pushes his thumb and forefinger over them.
“I know that feeling,” I reply with sympathy. “Let me know if you guys need help.”
“I think we’re almost out of the woods. Stacy’s mom is over helping her today.”
“Good.” I nod and switch to the payroll program to begin logging in hours worked by the guys. “I’ll call her when I get home today.”
“I’m serious, Brynna, if Levi pulls one more stunt…”
“Isaac, stop. I’m fine.”
He watches me for a long minute and then exhales deeply. “Okay, I’ll drop it.”
He mutters under his breath something about Caleb killing him and hiding the body if he finds out about it, making me smirk.
“Caleb wouldn’t do that,” I tell him with a wide smile.
“Oh, honey, you clearly don’t know my brother very well.”
I know him very well.
***
“Where is Caleb?” Maddie asks and turns her big brown eyes to me as she pushes her chicken nuggets around on her dinner plate.
“I told you earlier. He’s having some fun with his brothers and his dad.” After I finish slicing up some cantaloupe, I dish it onto their plates and then return to cleaning up my mom and dad’s kitchen.
“I miss him.” Josie sighs dramatically.
“He just dropped us off an hour ago, girls,” I remind them with a roll of the eyes.
“Hey! I’m not gonna watch this damn Nemo fish by myself!” My dad yells from the living room, making the girls giggle.
“Hurry up and eat so you can go watch Nemo with your grandpa.”
After scarfing down their nuggets and fruit, they climb down from the stools at the breakfast bar and run to join my dad in front of the television.
“They seem to really like Caleb,” my mom mentions casually as she walks into the room.
She’s not fooling me.
“We all like Caleb,” I tell her and grin. “He’s family.”
“Hmm,” she replies noncommittally.
“What’s your point?” I prop my hands on my hips.
Mom shakes her head and shrugs as she gathers brownie mix, eggs and oil, ready to make a treat for the girls. “It was an observation.”
“Mom—”
“I’m happy that the kids like him,” she murmurs as she opens the box. “He’s a good man.”
I frown and nod, watching her closely.
“And you’ve been alone for a long time.”
“Mom,” I try again, but she turns to me with big tears in her eyes, and I’m rooted where I stand.
“You’ve been alone for a long time,” she repeats and swallows, blinking rapidly. “I wish you’d come home much sooner, and I’m sorry that you had to come under these circumstances. I’m so proud of you, baby girl.”
I move across the kitchen and wrap her in my arms, hugging her tightly. I get my height from my mom, along with my dark hair and eyes.
Eloise Quinn is a beautiful woman, inside and out.
“If he is who you and the girls want, I say go for it,” she whispers in my ear and then steps back and smiles at me before returning to her brownies.
“Mom, I never said anything about feel
ing that way about Caleb,” I remind her gently.
“I’m not blind or stupid, Brynna Marie.”
She’s got me there.
I fall silent and listen to the whir of the electric mixer as she stirs the batter, and get lost in my own thoughts.
Is Caleb who I want?
Oh, who am I kidding? Of course he is.
Chapter Eight
~Caleb~
“Well, ladies, you might as well just hand over your money now ’cause Daddy’s going home a winner.” Will smirks at us and plops down in his chair as he passes everyone fresh, ice-cold, long-necked beers.
It’s Thursday poker night at our parents’ house, just us brothers and our pop. We try to do this every month, and usually succeed, especially now that I’m no longer being called out on deployment at the drop of a dime.
“Big talker,” Pop murmurs and studies his cards.
“You’re losing bad, old man,” Isaac taunts, his gaze on the small stack of chips before him.
“I’m about to hit my stride anytime now.”
“It’s okay, Pop, Will has a tendency to choke in the second half of the game anyway.” Matt laughs and reaches over to ruffle Will’s hair, who quickly evades.
“Whatever, jackass!” Will throws a kernel of popcorn at Matt.
“You just can’t stand to lose.” Matt sneers at our younger brother.
“Dude, sports are my job. Of course I don’t like to lose.”
“This is poker, man. It’s not a sport.” I laugh and take a long sip of water as I lean back in my chair, one eye out for my mom. If she catches me leaning back in her dining room chair, she’ll kick my ass.
I’ll always be afraid of that woman.
“You clearly don’t play it right,” Will mutters and throws his cards down on the kitchen table. “I fold.”
“Sucker,” Pop taunts and pulls the pot toward him. “I’ve taught you everything you know, kids, but I haven’t taught you everything I know.”
We all laugh as we watch our father stack his chips and smile smugly as he takes a long sip of beer.
“How are things with Brynna and the girls?” Isaac asks me as he shuffles the deck.
“Good. I took Brynna to the range last week.” I lean forward as my cock stirs at the memory of watching her with the gun in her hand. She’s so fucking amazing. “Let her shoot my nine mil.”
“Did it knock her on her ass?” Matt asks.
“Nope,” I boast proudly. “She did great. Hit the target. Wasn’t afraid.” I shrug and take another sip of water. “I wouldn’t want to be on the business end of her weapon.”
“I know what kind of weapon you want to show her.” Isaac smirks and examines his cards.
“Fuck you, man.”
“He’s just pissed because he’s been married for so fucking long, he can’t remember what a blow job feels like,” Matt says, earning a glare from Isaac.
“I don’t know that being married has anything to do with it,” Pop says and stuffs some Doritos into his mouth. “Your mom and I have been married for almost forty years, and just the other night…”
“No! No! No!”
“Stop talking!”
“Oh my God!”
We all yell at the same time, begging our father to stop talking, and he throws his head back and laughs his ass off.
“We may be old, boys, but we’re not dead.”
“I will murder you if you ever, ever imply that my mother has sex ever again,” Isaac mutters as he cringes.
“Don’t ever say ‘mother’ and ‘sex’ in the same sentence,” Will says, his voice hard and strained.
“So is that why you don’t want to get married?” Isaac asks Matt. “Afraid the sex will suck?”
“No,” I butt in with a laugh. “Matt just doesn’t like to be the one tied down.”
“Or tied up, for that matter.” Will chuckles and then yelps when Matt punches him in the arm.
“Dude, that’s my fucking throwing arm!”
“Don’t be a pussy.” Matt says.
“I am not a pussy,” Will counters and takes a pull on his beer. “And you clearly need to get laid.”
“Who says I haven’t been getting laid?” Matt asks.
“Who would fuck you? You’re ugly as fuck,” I respond, earning chuckles from my other brothers.
“He looks just like you,” Pop responds and grins at me. “You’re all a bunch of ugly shitheads.”
“Stop calling my boys ugly!” Mom calls from upstairs. “And, Caleb, stop leaning back in my chair!”
“How does she know?” I whisper and return my chair to all fours.
“She knows everything,” Isaac reminds me. “Mom radar.”
“It scares me.”
“It should.” Pop smirks, his eyes trained on the stairway.
The house phone rings, and Pop stands to answer it. “Hello?”
He frowns. “Yes, this is Steven Montgomery.” A pause. “Hello?”
He pulls the receiver away from his face and stares at it before replacing it.
“They hung up?” Matt asks and leans forward, his eyes narrowed.
“Yeah, just asked my name and hung up.” He returns to his seat, and we all stare at each other, frowning, our red flags not just up, but waving violently, and we are all on high alert.
“What the fuck?” I whisper and stand to pace about the room. “What is going on?”
“Why was he so freaked out at the idea of her being linked to a cop?” Isaac whispers, and our heads whip around to focus on him.
“What did you say?” I ask.
He looks up at all of us and shakes his head as he scowls.
“What did you say?” I repeat.
“There’s a guy at work,” he begins and takes a sip of his beer. “Levi Jackson. I’ve noticed him watching Bryn, making up excuses to talk to her.”
“Why didn’t you say anything before?” Matt demands.
“Let him finish,” Pop interjects sternly.
“He’s never crossed a line with her. Until yesterday.”
He stops and rubs his hands through his hair in frustration. “When I came into the office, he had her cornered against her desk, and I heard him say, ‘You don’t look like you belong to a cop.’”
“What the fuck!” I yell and stomp away from the table. “Why in the hell am I just now hearing about this?”
“Has she ever told the guys that she used to be married to a cop?” Matt asks.
“I don’t think so.” Isaac shakes his head. “She’s really careful about what she tells them. Besides,” he continues with a frown, “I don’t think he was talking about Jeff. I think he saw her with you.” He nods at Matt, who scowls.
“Maybe it’s just a coincidence?” Will asks. He’s leaning back in his chair, arms crossed over his chest, deep in thought.
“That’s quite a coincidence,” Pop mentions.
“It’s no coincidence,” I growl. “Did he have his hands on her?”
Isaac grimaces and looks away, and that’s all the answer I need.
“Son of a bitch! Why didn’t she tell me?”
“Probably because she knew you’d react like this?” Matt asks. His eyes are hard and his face taut. He’s in cop mode.
“Are she and the girls alone tonight?” Will asks.
“No, they’re at her parents’ house.”
“I bet having a constant babysitter is starting to piss her off,” Pop mutters.
“It is.” I nod and rub my hand over my forehead. “But it’s necessary. We don’t know what the hell is going on.” I focus on Isaac again, anger coursing through my body, along with a touch of fear that makes me even angrier. “Don’t you do background checks on your people?”
“Of course,” he spits out. “He could just be a creepy kid who has a crush on her.”
“Or he could be a fucking gangster who’s trying to get close enough to kill her!” I shout back at him.
“Oh, I’m sorry, I didn’t run the ‘
are you a motherfucking gangster?’ report on him,” Isaac bites out sarcastically.
“I’m going to kick your ass,” I mutter and reach for my phone, needing to hear her voice to assure myself that she and the girls are safe.
It rings four times and then goes to voice mail, so I leave a message asking her to call me and then text her.
Please call me back ASAP.
“No answer,” I mutter.
“Call her parents’ place,” Matt suggests.
“Already dialing,” I say and listen to their phone ring twice before her mother picks up.
“Hello?”
“Hi, Eloise, this is Caleb. Can I please speak with Brynna?”
“Oh, she and the girls left about an hour ago,” she replies, and all of the hairs on my body stand on end. “Her dad gave them a ride home.”
“I told her to wait there for me and I’d pick them up on my way home.”
Matt’s eyes narrow, and Isaac and Will lean forward as Pop stands and starts dialing his house phone.
“I’ll try her cell again,” he mutters.
“She said that the girls were tired, and she was fine, and they’d just wait for you at home.”
“When did they leave?” I ask.
“About an hour ago,” she repeats.
“Still no answer,” Pop announces and hangs up the phone.
“Thanks, Eloise. I’ll try her cell.” I don’t want to frighten Brynna’s mom, so I keep my voice light and then end the call. “Shit.”
“Where is she?” Will asks.
“Eloise says she took the girls home about an hour ago.”
“But she’s not answering her cell?” Matt asks.
“No, I’m leaving.” I grab my coat. “I’m gonna go spank her ass,” I mutter under my breath as I head for the door.
“Let us know when you find her,” Pop demands.
I nod as I leave, intent on getting back to Bryn’s as soon as I can. I swallow hard, trying to keep the fear at bay, and dial her cell again.
After the fourth ring it goes to voice mail again, and this time my message isn’t as calm. “Answer your fucking phone, Brynna.”
I hang up and toss the phone in the seat as I speed through Seattle back to the Alki neighborhood and to my girls.
My girls.
I slam out of my car and unlock the front door, punching in the code for the alarm system, and move quickly through the downstairs to the kitchen. Brynna’s purse is lying on the kitchen table, so I head for the stairs, climbing them three at a time. I stop by the twins’ room first. Their door is slightly ajar, and the nightlight is glowing. They are both sound asleep in their beds.