Chapter 17

"Eli, I'm glad you scored this trip for us, because with the gala canceled, the timing couldn't be better. And because Jasmine is about twenty-five years overdue for her first real vacation," Jake said.

"We had such a good childhood. It showed us again how lucky we were. It's not guilt even. It's just this sinking feeling of how wrong that is, for her mom to struggle like that with two kids," I said.

"And no dad to step in and make sure that they had what they needed. It's bullshit. I never wanted to start a nonprofit in my life before today. Right now, I'd sign off on a charity where decent guys contribute to a monetary fund that women with deadbeat exes could draw from to pay for what they need, and in exchange, all that they have to do is give us his full legal name and we'd take it from there," I said, resisting the urge to crack my knuckles.

"I don't think that's what charities do. I mean, the ones I've donated to are more on the side of benefiting the needy and less about extorting identifying information from them so you can perform vigilante acts of violence," Eli said wryly.

"Then this is a better business model for a charity. Everyone gets what they deserve this way. I'd get pure personal satisfaction from being karma's delivery boy," I said victoriously.

"That's a hit man, dude. Not a charity. That's a civic minded hit man."

"Exactly. Like Robin Hood, but homicidal," I said with a harsh laugh. "It scared the shit out of me the way I reacted to her ex. I saw that motherfucker in the car outside here and all I could think was that if I ended him now, he wouldn't ever lay a hand on anyone again."

"You wanted to do crimes," Jake chuckled.

"I did. I can't seem to stop thinking about it. I've never wanted to break the law before. I'm not that kind of guy, the type that thinks I can do whatever I want, no repercussions. Tell me why I went psycho on this dirtbag. I don't like losing control."

"You? Don't like losing control?" Jake said sarcastically.

"Says the man with the app that shows where we are at all times? Control freak much?" I shot back. "That is nothing more than the pot calling the kettle black right there."

"Hey, before we get in argument about which one of you is the bigger control freak, can we focus? I think your question is, why did you lose it and also how can you keep that from happening again, right?" Eli said.

I nodded and went ahead and dropped my head in my hands, elbows propped on my knees.

"You're crazy about her. That's why. We all are. You grabbed him and roughed him up, threatened his life. I understand how that's freaking you out. I wish I could say that I would've responded rationally in your shoes, but I don't trust myself to claim that. When I thought about it, I decided I probably would have dragged him out of the car and into the street so I had room to beat his ass thoroughly. You know, where all the security and traffic cameras could pick up on every single move I made so I'd end up in jail. Not a real intelligent move. My point is, I don't think I would have reacted better than you did in the same situation. That's not a boast, it's acknowledging the fact that we're all too close to this situation to see clearly. I don't know how to get her out of this without getting our hands really dirty."

"We didn't go into security to keep our hands clean," Jake said. The most by the book of all of us, Mr. Law and Order, let the authorities handle it himself, was coming down on the side of dirty justice. "I felt bad about it at first, that it was unethical and flies in the face of everything we all fought to uphold and protect in the Armed Forces all those years. But I thought about this too, and the thing is, I don't care. I don't care as much about my ideals as I thought I did. Not if it comes down to a choice between protecting Jasmine and clinging to our reputation for integrity in our operations. She's family. You don't fuck with our family and live to tell about it. Agreed?"

We both stared at him for probably a full minute. Jake was the very last person I expected to say something like that.

"What's the plan?" I asked at last.

He dipped his chin, a slight nod of thanks or acceptance of my agreement to get on board with whatever strategy he had in mind. It would be high tech in some way I didn't fully comprehend, I expected that much. But I didn't expect the rest of it.

"I've got an app in beta right now and I'm feeding it his locations and patterns as far as we know, what we've spotted on traffic cams with the AI I've got scanning the footage at speed. I'm hoping the app will triangulate a pattern and help me better predict his next moves. If it does, we're a step ahead of him. If not, then I retool the code and try again, but in real time, we keep her shielded, one of us physically by her side, at all times on this trip and otherwise. If she takes a shower we check the fucking bathroom first, I mean it. When he shows, and he will, whoever's on the ground gets first shot at him. No bullshit about let her talk to him and calm him down or whatever. She calls 911, and we do whatever we need to do to subdue him until authorities get there. Ideally he knows he's caught and goes without a fight. Realistically, this motherfucker doesn't know when to quit, which is why he's cropped up in her life again. So we teach him when to quit. It's when the Burns boys have your back against a wall and there's not a damn one of us with capacity for mercy toward him now."

"Damn, that's a thorough strategy," Eli said.

"Now that we've got a plan lined out to commit some felonies on an as-needed basis," I quipped, "what do we need to do to make this trip special for Jasmine?"

"She needs ski gear. There's no way she has the shit she needs. I want to be in charge of outfitting her. I got this urge to spoil her and wrap her up warm, you know," Eli said, a little sheepishly.

"Okay, thanks for taking care of all that," I said. "How about we plan a romantic night for her, let's say the second night since she's going to be wiped out from traveling and exploring the resort the first night. Maybe a fancy dinner at the hotel or something," I said. "Flowers, music, the whole nine."

"I'm sure the resort has terrific food and all that, but I want to cook. We've got a cabin, right, E?" Jake asked.

Eli nodded in agreement.

"Great, that means a kitchen. Now, I hit their site and saw they have a charcoal grill on the deck of each cabin, so I thought I'd go all out, steaks, lobster, make the truffle butter and mushrooms and everything," Jake offered. "Get a dessert from the hotel though. I don't bake for shit."

"We know," I said wryly. "That sounds incredible. Can you source the ingredients and tools and everything you'll need?"

"Absolutely. I'll see what they have on site and find a grocery that delivers there too. I can pack the specialty crap I need," Jake said.

"Good. Will you pick the dessert too?"

"Yeah. I have a couple options in mind. I'm looking at the tasting menu at the flagship restaurant there. They've got good stuff. We should go there night one."

"That's a plan," I said, "now for the flowers and candles and everything. I'll take care of that part," I said.

They nodded in agreement, and we all got on our phones to start locating and ordering stuff for the trip. I used a local florist near the resort. I found a small business a couple towns over that got high ratings for their handmade artisanal chocolates. I never had anything I would call artisanal before, but they looked good.

I ordered champagne from the hotel, then set off to get the items I wanted to choose in person. A photo wouldn't tell me what I needed to know. I'd never been inside the upscale boutique, but it looked and felt about how I figured it would. Like I didn't belong there at all.

I went to the counter where a woman was fussing with the tissue paper in a gift bag.

"Excuse me," I said, my voice sounding strained, betraying my nerves. "I want to get my girlfriend something special for a weekend away. She's about a size eight, 34-DD. She's not real tall, and she likes things that are soft. No scratchy lace and buckles and crap." She looked askance at me when I said ‘crap', failing to appreciate the fact that I'd toned my language down for her store.

"If you're interested in comfortable pajamas, there is a nice sleepwear range at Nordstrom," she said icily.

She obviously didn't think I had the money. "I saw a gown and robe thing in the window about a month ago that was what I'm looking for. It was kind of yellow."

"Full length? That would be the Golden Empress set, long chemise and peignoir."

"Yes. I want that."

"You're sure? The set is not on sale, and it came from France, exclusively for our boutique," she said.

"You seem worried that I can't afford it," I said. "Don't be. How much is it?"

"Seventeen hundred dollars," she said matter-of-factly.

"Okay," I said without blinking. "Do you take American Express black card? If you're cash only, I'll go to the ATM and be back in ten minutes."

She cleared her throat and had the good sense to look a tad sheepish. "That won't be necessary, sir."

"I want it gift wrapped. Ribbon, all of it."

"Would you like the matching slippers? Kitten heel mules in a coordinating gold and champagne jacquard."

"Size seven," I confirmed. She gave a satisfied nod and said she'd only be a moment. I allowed myself a smug grin.

It took her twenty minutes and two failed attempts to sell me perfume before I held the wrapped package, a large box covered in thick cream-colored paper patterned with a muted gold logo and tied with a satin bow in the same shade of gold.

18

Ty

I grumbled about having to get up early to leave on vacation. It was six-thirty in the morning when I shouldered my duffel bag and boarded the sleek silver jet. I settled onto an aisle seat, wide and cushioned, comfortable enough for a nap. Except there was no hope of a nap or me. Once I was awake, I was awake.

Drew opened his laptop and asked if we wanted to watch with him. We exchanged a glance and shook our heads. Nobody wanted to hurt his feelings, but nobody wanted to sit through another Marvel flick right now. In fact, as they wheeled the jetway stairs off and closed the hatch, I saw Jake settle in, lean his seat back and shut his eyes. Eli was flying the plane.

I pulled out my tablet and tapped the e-reader. I started to skim the first couple of chapters of the book I'd bought for research, but I found myself getting drawn in by the characters and their story. It wasn't dumb and cheesy. It was a genuine, caring relationship that unfolded between the softspoken veterinarian who barely survived a hit and run accident and the three burly paramedics who saved her life. The premise was pretty laughable, but I was reading it for ideas, for inspiration.

It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that I was glued to my e-reader for about a hundred pages before I looked up. It was then that I realized I had a seatmate. Jasmine had settled in next to me, a fluffy blanket wrapped around her like she was freezing just at the thought of all that snow waiting at our destination.

"Hey," she said when I noticed her, "you're pretty deep into whatever's on that tablet. I'm nosy. What are you reading?"

She leaned her head on my arm and batted her eyelashes at me playfully. I shrugged.

"There's no reason you shouldn't have a look. I'm reading," I cleared my throat, surprised to find myself a little embarrassed, "a romance novel. Very highly rated, in fact."

"Really? Which one? I've read a bunch. I'm a frequent flier at the library. I go after all the new releases. I love contemporaries."

"It's about a foursome," I blurted out.

"Oh," she said.

"Yeah, I'm kind of into this one. The characters and everything. I'm rooting for them, and I want to know how the whole thing turns out."

"You're adorable," she said, beaming up at me. It made me feel absurdly proud of myself, and I liked the warm rush I got from her approval.

"I'm not adorable. I'm a manly man. A manly ex-soldier who likes manly things," I quipped.

She laughed and slapped me on the arm. "Yes, you are all of those things. But it's okay to have a softer side too. I really like that about you."

"You do, eh?" I asked playfully.

She nodded. "I do. So what's this book about?"

I cleared my throat. "Well it's about this woman and these three guys who are all in a relationship. It's about how they spoil her rotten and make sure she's taken care of in every single way."

"Hmm, I like the sound of that," she purred.

The sound made me instantly hard. I shifted in my seat and she laughed.

"Do you care if I read with you?"

"Yeah, that sounds great. I don't mind sharing, but you knew that about me already, didn't you?" I teased.

Jasmine snuggled in close and read over my shoulder. I waited until she was done to flip pages on the e-reader. She'd give me a nod, her hair brushing my cheek, and I'd take the signal to turn the page. We read along for a few minutes, occasionally nudging each other or giving some snarky commentary.

Over a couple of chapters, things heated up between the characters. When things went from kissing and ‘oh-no-we-mustn't' to the inevitable, I felt my skin go hot in response to the descriptions, but it was when Jasmine started shifting and wiggling at my side that I realized she was affected by it as well.

"Hey," I said, my voice husky as I turned to her, setting the tablet aside. When I tried to meet her eyes, her face was flushed, and she looked away as if she were embarrassed. "Did you like what we were reading?" I asked in a low voice, leaning in closer. She nodded, seeming shy all of a sudden.

I tucked her hair behind her ear and kissed her cheek, then just below her ear. I could feel her breath catch in her throat so I did it again, grinning a bit at the gratifying response I got. I reached for her and she came willingly into my lap. A few seconds of shy maneuvering and we were kissing, lips locked and her smooth, hot skin under my hand, which had crept up the back of her shirt almost without my intending it.

She held on to me for dear life and we kissed like that for what could have been ten minutes or six hours. It was hot and blurry and timeless in the best way. Then she started to pull away, only to lean back in and kiss my neck.

I dropped my hands to the armrests and gripped them as she straddled me. My head went back and Jasmine kissed a hot line along my jaw. With one hand I grabbed the full curve of her ass and held her to me, my other head sliding her shirt up. I coaxed her up and up until my mouth was on eye level with her navel and my hot mouth ran along the waistband of her jeans, making her stomach clench and her sounds grow sweater and more reckless. I unbuttoned her jeans.

When the zipper slid down, I was so hard, so eager to get my mouth on her and make her scream, that I wasn't thinking about the other people on the plane, the brother sleeping, the one watching a movie. They didn't need to see the way we were ready to act on our primal urges after being spurred on by a spicy book. With my thumb, I pushed down the waistband of her purple panties and kissed her there, just above her mound. With a throttled cry, she ground against my eager mouth, clutched at my hair.

Jasmine wanted to ride my face, and I wanted to give it to her again and again. But it wasn't the time or the place. Despite how wound up we both were, it was time to call it quits until we could all be together at the cabin. It took a superhuman effort on my part not to lay her back across my arm and feast on her, making her come and come until she begged me to quit.

I raised my head, using every ounce of willpower I had to my name, and met her fevered eyes. She sat back onto my lap, tipped her head to my shoulder and tried to catch her breath. She understood, we both did. This wasn't the time for a fiery fling. It was a chance to enjoy each other's company and share a really lousy book that did have some above-average spiciness to it.

"Let's wait," she said, her voice breathy. I nodded and kissed her on top of her head.

I nodded in agreement. It felt like every muscle in my body was coiled maximum capacity, a painful tightness that I used to bring myself down from that maddening level of arousal.

She climbed off my lap and straightened her clothes a little self-consciously. I wanted to check in with her and make sure she was okay, but I was busy making myself recite Greek verb declensions to finish calming down. My body was slowly coming back down to a normal pulse and temperature but it took a lot of intentional effort to make that happen. Looking over at Jasmine at any point in that process would have defeated the purpose and put me right back at square one. Finally, I felt like I was sufficiently in control of myself. I released my grip on the arm rests and looked over at her,

"Maybe we should stop reading for now," she said with a giggle.

I huffed out a deep breath and nodded my agreement.