At Her Service: His Baby! / Major Attraction. Julie Miller
Читать онлайн книгу.
of his eyes.
“Blast it, Kevin!” she called, racing down off the porch and across the lawn. She stood over them, hands at her hips, glaring at the man on the ground. “Stop hitting him. I warned you … no fighting.”
Jeff wiggled his jaw back and forth a couple of times, ran his tongue around the inside of his mouth checking for loose teeth and, thankfully, found none. Then he turned a feral smile on the man still glaring at him. “I owe you for that one.”
“Anytime,” he countered, breathing hard as Jeff released him.
What the hell was going on around here, anyway? Why was a fellow Marine ready to pound his face in when as far as Jeff knew, they’d never met before?
“I don’t believe this,” Kelly muttered, glancing up and down the street, obviously looking to see if any of her neighbors had witnessed the brawl.
Pain flickered through his body in a series of stings and aches, but despite it all, he felt his blood go thick and hot at the sight of her. Damn, but she looked good, Jeff thought and felt his body stir.
She wore a soft green skirt that fell to her ankles and swirled around her legs in the cool wind. Her long-sleeved yellow blouse clung to her upper body, outlining her small, perfect breasts and made Jeff’s hands itch to touch them. Long auburn curls flew into a wild dance around her head, and her green eyes sparkled with what looked like pure temper. Yep, he thought, wincing with a new twinge of pain. Damn good.
“Hi, Kelly,” he said, and felt the full impact of her fury when she shifted her gaze to him.
“‘Hi Kelly’?” she repeated. “That’s all you have to say? I find you brawling in my front yard with Kevin, and all you say is ‘hi’?”
“Go inside, Kelly,” the other man said. “This is between him and me.”
She kicked him, then winced as her bare toes connected with his hipbone. “For heaven’s sake, Kevin,” she snapped. “Stop acting like the puritan father in an old movie.” “Damn it, Kelly …”
“I told you I wanted to talk to Jeff alone.” “Just who the hell are you, anyway?” Jeff interrupted, glaring at the man he’d just been pounding into the ground.
“Kevin Rogan. I’m Kelly’s brother.” Brother. Well, that was good news, anyway. Sort of. Probably wasn’t the best way to impress a woman you hadn’t seen in a year and a half—beating up on her brother. But on the other hand, at least he wasn’t a boyfriend.
Jeff pushed himself to his feet and waited while Kevin did the same. Tension still rippled in the air between them, and Jeff sensed the other man’s eagerness to continue the fight. Fine with him, he thought, already taking a step toward him. Then, before either of them could start up again, Kelly stepped between them, placing one hand on each of their chests.
“Obviously, an overdose of testosterone. Play nice or leave,” she said, looking from one to the other of them.
“Fine,” Kevin said flatly. “But I’m not leaving.”
“Neither am I,” Jeff told him. “I just got here.” “Yeah,” Kevin said with a derisive snort, “but you’ve been here before, haven’t you?” “What’s that supposed to mean?” “You bastard, if you’d—” “Kevin …” Kelly interrupted her brother with one word and a long warning look.
Then, turning her back on him, she smiled at Jeff. “It’s good to see you.” Kevin snorted again.
“Got a cold?” Jeff asked, then ignored the man and reached out to touch Kelly’s hair, blowing wild and gorgeous in the breeze. He had to see if it was as soft and silky as he remembered.
It was.
“Good to see you, too,” he said, knowing it for the understatement of the century. It was worth a few bruises and what felt like a cracked rib or two to see her smile. Damn, but he’d missed her.
“You going to introduce us, sis?” Another male voice spoke up, and Jeff glanced at the porch. Lined up like a wall of muscle with bad attitudes, three men—identical men—stood with arms crossed over wide chests. And each one of them wore a scowl fierce enough to fry bacon.
Specifically, Jeff guessed, his bacon. What was going on around here?
“More brothers?” Jeff muttered, more to himself than to Kelly.
“Yes, but the triplets are the last of them. Four older brothers.” She blew out a breath that ruffled the loose curls lying across her forehead. “Lucky me.”
Yeah, Jeff thought, glancing from the triplets to Kevin, still glowering at him from the lawn. He was starting to feel real lucky himself.
She lifted one hand and with a sigh, pointed to each of the three in turn. “Jeff, this is Keith, Kieran and Kincaid.”
If anything, their scowls got blacker. Interesting, Jeff thought, wishing that he had Deke, J.T. and Travis backing him up. He was badly outnumbered.
“They Marines, too?” he asked. “No, just Kevin. Keith’s a policeman, Kieran’s a contractor and Kincaid’s a—” She paused, cocked her head and looked at her last brother. “What would you call it? A spy?”
For the first time, Jeff saw a chink in the wall of muscle as Kincaid smiled at his sister. “FBI, Kelly. Hardly a spy.”
She shrugged. “Well, whatever. So why don’t you guys get lost while I talk to Jeff?”
“Not hardly,” Kevin muttered, and walked past her, pausing just long enough to glare at Jeff again. Then he nodded to his brothers, and the four of them went into the house.
No doubt, Jeff thought, to lay an ambush for him. Man, what had he done to get all four men so damn mad? Hell, he hadn’t even been in the country for the past year and a half!
“I tried to get rid of them,” Kelly was saying, “but once they found out you were coming, they wouldn’t budge.”
“I don’t care about them,” Jeff said. “I’m here to see you. It’s been a long time, Kelly.”
“Yeah,” she said, smiling up at him, “it really has.”
“You look great,” he told her, and for the first time in eighteen months, reached out and cupped her cheek in the palm of his hand. God, she felt good. Soft, warm and so damn smooth. Just the touch of her skin was enough to set off a back fire in his blood. And if she didn’t have a platoon of brothers just a stone’s throw away, he’d show her just how glad he was to see her. As it was, he’d have to wait or take on all four of them.
She pulled in a long shaky breath, telling him silently that she was just as affected as he was. A flush of heat filled her cheeks, and her eyes went that deep, smoky green that he remembered so clearly.
But there was something else. Something … different about her. She looked rounder. Softer. Hell, the plain truth was, she looked good enough to eat. And he was a hungry man.
“What?” she asked, tipping her head to one side and looking up at him.
“Hmm?”
“You’re looking at me a little … strangely.”
“I’m just trying to figure out what it is that’s different about you.”
“Different?”
“Not different bad, honey,” he said, pulling her close enough to kiss. “Just … different.”
Kelly flattened her palms on his chest and leaned toward him. A soft ocean wind slipped past them and lifted her hair off her neck. He felt the warmth of her hands clean through to his bones and for the first time in too damn long, he felt alive again.
The scent of her surrounded him, and he lost himself in it. So many nights, he’d dreamed about this moment. Having his hands on her again. Feeling the soft brush