Her Mother's Killer (6 page)

She throbbed. Every pore, every hormone, every fiber of her being. Tension gathered in her stomach, then slipped lower. Everything thing in her told her right now, right there. But a moment later, Duncan pulled away, just slightly.

“We probably shouldn’t be doing this in the hall.” His voice was hoarse, the passion he’d built vibrated in his voice.

“Hmm, no.”

Still he didn’t move. Instead he placed his hands on the wall and pressed his groin harder against hers. Every nerve in her body sizzled and she hummed.

He sighed, the sound filled with regret. “We have to talk about this. It’s…odd.”

She frowned. “What do you mean odd?”

He closed his eyes and seemed to mentally gather himself and gingerly stepped away. The moment he did, the cold air that replaced his warmth caused her to shiver.

“You’re the first woman I’ve kissed whose shoes I tied when she was a girl.”

She crossed her arms over her breasts, which was a mistake. Her nipples were hard, sensitive, and brushing against them sent a tremor of need through her again.

“I’m almost thirty.”

“And you’re Jed’s sister.”

“What the hell does that have to do with it?”

“It’s…well, guys just don’t do it.”

With an irritated huff, she pushed past him. “Fine, then stay away from me. I don’t need this crap right now.”

She didn’t get more than three steps away from him before fingers of steel wrapped around her upper arm and pulled her back. He crowded her up against the wall again.

“I didn’t say I didn’t want you.”

“You just don’t like wanting me.”

He brushed the backs of his knuckles over her cheek. “No, actually, I’m getting to like that quite a bit.” The heat in his voice shivered over her. “I’m just not sure what it means, or if we should act on it.”

“What’s there to think about? It’s sex.”

Duncan chuckled. “This would complicate things. Your brother, my family…this town.”

She hated that he was right, but damn it, he was. They had a connection, one that wasn’t always easy to deal with. Throw in his job as a town leader, and the fact everyone paid attention to everyone else in Crocker…even a one-night stand would make the gossip rounds. She blew out a breath.

“Fine. You don’t want to even try—”

He pressed his groin against hers again, his shaft still hard. Thea shivered.

“Trying is not in question. I just think…” He cocked his head to the side listening to something in the other room. “But one of our main problems just got here.”

He stepped away. Thea didn’t have time to even contemplate what he meant when she heard her brother say, “Just what the hell is going on here?”

She turned in the direction of his voice and for a moment, didn’t move. He had a black eye and a bandage covered his hand. As usual, he looked a little banged up, a little rough around the edges. Warmth filled her chest and the stress of the last week caught up with her as she launched herself into his arms.

“It’s so good to see you.”

His arms tightened slightly and he kissed the top of her head. “You said a mouthful, kid.”

* * * *

Duncan watched the siblings talk to each other, their heads bent together, their voices, he was sure, low.

“Amazing how much she looks like her mother,” Uncle Chris said behind him.

Duncan kept his attention on Thea and Jed as they both stood in the kitchen. “Yeah. Has her mama’s personality, too.”

“I take it Jed didn’t know she moved back here?”

“I called him.”

Chris stepped up beside him and watched the unfolding scene. The warm sibling reunion was now over and she and Jed were arguing. “Maybe that wasn’t a good idea.”

Up until that point, Jed had been doing most of the talking, but apparently he said something Thea really did not like. She settled her hands on her hips, and started blasting her brother. Several people surrounding them turned to look, and believe it or not, Jed took a step away.

“They don’t need to be fighting like that.”

Duncan glanced at his uncle, who was now frowning, worry filled his expression. He knew Chris saw the Johnson kids as surrogate Perrys. He’d been their father’s best friend most of his life.

“Actually, I think it is the best thing that could happen.”

Chris was now frowning at him. “I think it would be best to let things lie. It’s not good for either of them to get things stirred up.”

Duncan turned away from his uncle and watched the brother and sister. “No. They’ve been doing that for too many years. They need to move on.”

It was then that Jed threw back his head back and laughed, then grabbed Thea and pulled her into a bear hug.

“I think that’s my cue.”

Chris didn’t say anything, his expression darkening even more.

“Hey, they need this, they both need to move on.”

“She doesn’t need him here to bother her though.”

And with that odd statement, his uncle retreated to the kitchen. Maybe Chris knew more than he did. Hell, Duncan was sure of it. But he knew his uncle had little contact with either Jed or Thea since they moved away. With a shrug, he grabbed a beer out of the cooler and headed out to talk to his best friend.

As he stepped off the porch, Thea glanced at him, fire blazing in her eyes. Damn, she was gorgeous. He walked across the lawn, ignoring several people who hailed him, keeping his attention focused on Thea.

When he reached them, he offered Jed a beer and he shook his head. “Nope. Not with the pain medications.” He handed it to Thea who took it and narrowed her eyes.

“And when were you going to tell me that you called my brother?”

He didn’t say anything and she looked at Jed. “I hope he can put you up for the night. Gwen and I don’t have the room.”

With that she stomped off into the house. Duncan watched, enjoying the exaggerated sway of her hips. Damn, but she was even more attractive when she was pissed off at him. Which should warn him to stay away from her, but for some reason, it attracted him even more.

Jed cleared his throat. Duncan looked over at him with a smile. “Your sister turned into a beautiful woman.”

“A beautiful woman with a whole mess of problems.” He crossed his arms over his chest and gave him the same narrow-eyed glare his sister did. “And I’ll be damned if you add to them, not after she damned near died.”

Chapter
Five

Duncan’s heart stopped for a second, then beat in double time. “What?”

“Damn, I’m tired.” Jed scrubbed his one good hand over his face.

“I don’t care. Tell me what happened with Thea.”

Jed sighed. “She had a wreck.”

“I heard that. When, where, how?”

“Right before she and Jason divorced. One car. There was something off though. Thea was convinced she’d been run off the road. Police said no. There were no signs of another car, no witnesses. Of course, they all knew Jason.”

Her ex being Atlanta PD, that made sense. “You think he had something to do with it?”

“Nothing I could prove, but I wouldn’t put it past the bastard.”

“How bad was the wreck?”

“Not bad.” He grimaced. “Slight concussion, bruised ribs, some scratches. But that wasn’t the worst of it.”

“There is something worse than being in a wreck and getting a concussion?”

Jed nodded. “Emotionally, she was a mess. She’d lost so much weight.” He swallowed. “She was exhausted. Burnt out is what the doctors claimed. The divorce took more out of her than anyone knew. She gave him her restaurant.”

“He’s a cop. Why would he want it?”

Jed shrugged and looked over at his sister who was now talking to Gwen. “She didn’t want to stay in Atlanta, and for some reason, he wanted it. I think he thought he could run it better. Why, I don’t know.”

“So, she just handed it over?”

Jed nodded. “I think she already knew she was coming back to Texas. She just didn’t want to mess with it anymore. She wanted out of the marriage.” He smiled evilly. “I actually think Jason thought he would get her to stay, or cause her grief over it. She barely blinked when he asked for it.”

“But I thought she loved that place.”

Jed shrugged, his gaze settling on Gwen. “Don’t ask me the motives of most women. I don’t know what the hell they are thinking most of the time.”

* * * *

“I take it Duncan called Jed,” Gwen said.

“Freaking telling on me like I’m a little girl.”

She took a quick swig of beer and grimaced. She didn’t even know why she was drinking the damn stuff. She didn’t like it. It was the situation. Bizarre didn’t even get close to describing it. She’d been ready to strip herself down and jump Duncan’s bones just minutes before her brother showed up. Twice in less than two days now she had found herself lip-locked with Duncan. Not like she hadn’t enjoyed herself. Just thinking about it made her blush. Jesus, in all the years she’d been married to Jason, she’d never felt that electric jolt to her system just from a kiss. Lord only knew what would happen to her if they ended up in bed together. There was a good chance they would combust.

“Thea?”

Gwen was looking at her strangely. Thea realized her friend had been trying to get her attention for some time.

“What?”

“I asked you how long Jed was in town for, but you were off woolgathering.”

Thea glanced over her shoulder at her brother. He wasn’t looking at them, but talking to Chris. Her attention drifted to Duncan who was the only one watching them. His heated stare drifted down her body, then back up to her face. But the time he made eye contact again, her body was heated.

“Thea!”

She swung back around to face her friend. “What? Oh, Jed. He didn’t say, but I think he won’t be here long. If he is banged up because of something going wrong, he will have to go back to Austin for all the paperwork and stuff.”

“Did he say what happened?”

“No, and I didn’t ask. I learned a long time ago not to ask because he wouldn’t talk about it.”

Gwen nodded and Thea noticed the sadness in her gaze as she stared at Jed. Damn her brother for being so stubborn that he drove off everyone who cared about him.

“I have a feeling he’ll bunk down with Duncan tonight and then head back to Austin.”

“I thought he might stay longer since you’re here,” Gwen said.

Thea shook her head. “He won’t have much time on his hands. He took too much leave when I had my accident.”

Selma walked up with a smile. “Brisket’s ready and I advise you all to get in there before the men. If I know my boys and Jed, there won’t be much left by the time they’re done.”

* * * *

“I heard Thea is staying with you,” Jed said from behind Gwen.

Her heart skipped then beat so furiously she was sure everyone around her heard. It took her a minute or two to calm herself down before she could answer. She didn’t look at him, but kept concentrating on picking her drink out of the cooler. “You heard right.”

When she said nothing else, she sensed Jed shifting behind her. She couldn’t stand it, she had to know what he was thinking so she grabbed a diet cola and turned to face him.

Damn it, how did he get better looking? 
It wasn’t fair. Not only did he look like he got the hell beat out of him, but it made him even more attractive, in a scruffy sort of way. The lines around his light green eyes added to his appeal, as did the twenty or so pounds he’d piled on after school. Men sucked. They could gain weight and it helped their looks. Gwen had to fight even a five pound gain before comments were made.

He settled his hands on his hips and gave her a nasty stare. She guessed that was supposed to scare her but it didn’t. Even though she knew this wasn’t the sweet boy she dated, she also knew he would never hurt her physically.

“Why didn’t you call me?” he growled.

She blinked. “Call you?”

“When Thea contacted you, you should have called me.”

Anger sparked through her blood. She counted backwards from ten before answering. “First of all, Thea is an adult. She doesn’t need me to check with her older brother to see if it was okay. Secondly, if I wanted to, how the hell would I find you?”

“You could have if you wanted to.”

His mulish expression told her that he knew he was losing an argument before it started. It was odd to know someone so well, but not know him at all.

“And just how was I supposed to find you? We’ve barely spoken in the last few years. I know where you work, what your job is, but I don’t even know where the hell you live.”

“I live in Austin.”

She closed her eyes calling on the patience she felt slipping away. When she opened them, she found her ex-fiancé staring at her, studying her like she was a case to be solved. She hated that, hated that every time she saw him, her heart broke again, and damn it, she hated that she couldn’t hate him.