Surrender to Temptation (Agent Lovers Series Book 1) (20 page)

“Physical exertion can really make a person hungry, am I right?” he said with a smug smile. He leaned against the door frame and grinned at her confused expression. “By the way, Jennifer threatened not to let me back into the room if I didn’t bring her something decent to eat.”

Chris’s comment elicited cheerful laughter from Gray, who’d been merely grinning. Liz promptly threw the package of bread at his broad chest. With a quick movement, he caught it before it landed on the floor.

“Stop laughing, or I won’t let you in your room either!” She threw him a sullen, spoiled expression.

“You wouldn’t let me in the bedroom anymore? Hm…” Gray stroked his chin and furrowed his brow and then said with a wolfish grin, “Who needs a room with a bed anyway when there are more than enough comfortable lounge chairs around the pool?”

Liz blushed when she saw Chris grin in understanding. She put down the carton she held in her hands, then opened it and took out one chilly egg. Reaching out one hand, she pulled on Gray’s waistband, and then—
thwap
—dumped the egg inside his pants, punched it firmly against him, and walked out of the kitchen with her head held high. Chris laughed heartily as Gray doubled over in shock at this new sensory experience.

“That’s the first time I’ve seen her not have anything say,” Chris said as Gray tried to dry himself off.

“Which just goes to prove once more that
there’s a first time for everything!”
Gray called out as he ran toward the stairs, drawing renewed laughter from Chris. He leaned with crossed arms against the doorjamb and looked after his friend. When he didn’t come back right away, Chris took over the mission.

“With or without cheese,” he yelled, but Gray didn’t answer, so Chris got a bowl out of one of the cupboards and started cracking the eggs.

The first six landed as planned in the bowl and at least half of egg number seven made it there, too. After egg number eight stopped for a layover on the countertop, Chris grumbled in frustration and simply wiped it into the bowl with its comrades. He fished small pieces of shell out of the bowl and then reached for the whisk.

Freshly dressed in new clothes, Gray reappeared and surveyed the damage.

“Did you have an accident?”

“I’ll clean it up, don’t worry.” Chris smiled, feeling confident of his success. Furball used the opportunity to jump up on the counter and forage for food. Greedily he lapped up the milk and the rest of the egg.

When the phone suddenly rang, the startled cat abruptly flung himself from the countertop, causing plates to rattle, flour to fly, and two more eggs to splatter on the floor. Gray lifted his hands in resignation and disgust. More work. It figured that this week and next were the weeks his housecleaner Anna was on vacation.

After a brief phone conversation, Gray came back into the kitchen with his brow furrowed and his lips pressed together in irritation.

“Come on, Chris! It looks like a tornado ripped through here.”

“Calm down! What’s the big deal? Breakfast is just about ready, and then I’ll clean up the place, I promise!” Chris looked at Gray quizzically. “Bad news?”

“You could call it that.” Gray took a deep breath and exhaled noisily as he wiped up the slobber left by the cat. “Jeff’s on his way here. At any other time, I wouldn’t have minded a visit. But this timing doesn’t work for me at all.”

“I hear you. Things were just getting good! Why didn’t you just put him off?”

“I couldn’t. You don’t know my brother very well. I’m surprised he even called first. Once he’s set his mind on something, he won’t be stopped.”

“And that surprises you?” Chris laughed softly. “You two are a lot alike. Not identical dispositions, but awfully close. How far apart are you? Two years?”

“He’s four years younger.”

“He doesn’t look it. Anyone would think you were twins.” Chris tilted his head at his ill-tempered friend. “Maybe that’s why you’re constantly at each other’s throats.” Meticulously, he laid out strips of bacon in a square frying pan. “What’s bothering you so much about this visit?”

“The problem isn’t him, it’s Liz and maybe even Jennifer.” Gray crossed his arms over his broad chest, leaned sideways against the countertop and scratched his upper lip with his thumbnail.

Chris lifted his head, looking alarmed. Strips of bacon dangled from the tips of his fork and then fell unnoticed into the pan. “Why ‘Liz and maybe even Jennifer’? What are you saying?”

“If there were a world record for stealing other men’s women, Jeff would have broken it long ago.” Gray tried to keep an uninterested expression on his face, as if the fact of his brother’s notorious womanizing didn’t matter to him in the least. But the truth was just the opposite. Gray was very worried about what would happen when Jeff met Liz.

Chris looked at him in disbelief. “I would never have thought he was the kind of guy to do that.”

Gray sighed and ran his hand through his short, dark hair. “We’ve always been fiercely competitive, ever since grade school. Sooner or later, one of us always picked a fight—it didn’t matter what it was about. At first it was toys we both wanted and later it was gym shoes and jeans. Even the first car I bought and my brother wanted.” Gray stopped and remembered the day Jeff had crashed his black Mustang into a tree.

Jeff hadn’t had his driver’s license for even three hours when he decided to “borrow” Gray’s car and take it for a joyride. He had driven just four streets when a beech tree abruptly stopped the Mustang. It was the only tree on that stretch of the road.

A young girl had unexpectedly darted out between two parked trucks and into the middle of the street. Instead of breaking, Jeff jerked the steering wheel. The Mustang banged against the curb and plowed through the adjacent strip of grass before the sturdy beech finally stopped it. Fortunately, neither the young girl nor Jeff was hurt, but the car had to be scrapped.

“Stuff like that happens all the time between siblings,” said Chris, drawing Gray back into the present. “So what’s the real problem?”

“The problem is that this envy and competition, which was normal when we were teenagers, still exists. I noticed years ago that this constant power struggle between us was pointless, but Jeff has done everything he can to keep it alive. I could swear that’s the reason he joined the Army. It’s why I keep contact with him to only what’s necessary, hoping that he’ll finally come to his senses and all this squabbling will die down on its own.” Gray looked directly at Chris and grinned. “I really do love my brother; he’s the only family I have left. But if he doesn’t quit provoking me, I’m going to have to give him a thrashing one of these days.”

Chris laughed and took a taste of the cooked bacon he’d stacked on the plate. “This could be an interesting visit then. You two are built the same, you have the same training behind you and you seem equally strong.” He set the bacon to the side, lay the fork on the plate’s edge and turned to his friend with a mischievous smile, “I really don’t know on which of you two to bet on.”

“And you call yourself my friend.” Gray shook his head and laughed as he reached for the plate of bacon.

The two men went out to set the table on the patio, each of them lost in his own thoughts. Without talking about it, each came to the same conclusion: if Jeff should try his luck with Liz or Jennifer, he’d be kicked out, no ifs, ands or buts about it.

***

Jennifer watched Chris for a while from the corner of her eye and then Gray, who sat diagonally across from her. Was there tension in the atmosphere? Both men seemed pensive. No trace of the morning’s cheerfulness remained. She glanced at Liz and tried to read her expression, but she couldn’t tell what Liz was thinking. She cleaned her plate with the appetite of a coal miner without looking up once.

“You boys aren’t very talkative today,” Jennifer said. Chris looked at her questioningly, but just pushed his chin forward and chewed. Gray didn’t react at all.

“Guy stuff then…” Jennifer took a deep breath and leaned back in her chair.
There’s no reason for a woman to assume that a guy’s moods are about her or are caused by her. Anyway, maybe I’m just imagining something’s wrong.
She took a bite of the scrambled eggs on her plate.

***

Liz had gone into the kitchen to fill the bread basket with toast when the doorbell rang. Gray’s head jerked around. There was only one person it could only be. He jumped up and ran into the house in an attempt to reach the door before Liz, but he was too late. Liz had already opened the door and now stood opposite his four-years-younger double.

Just as Gray had feared, blatant interest appeared on Jeff’s face at the sight of Liz. He gave her an attentive once-over before flashing her the wide movie-star smile that never failed to have its desired effect on women.

This has got to stop, right now!
Gray thought as he stood behind Liz. He put both hands possessively on her shoulders and pulled her against his body. “Hello, Jeff! Nice of you to stop by.”

“How are you, brother?” Predictably, he ignored the obvious warning in Gray’s eyes. His smile took on a wolfish feature and Gray suspected it wouldn’t be long before Jeff made his first move.

“Who’s this enchanting angel you’re holding on to for dear life?” Jeff managed to flatter Liz and take a potshot at his brother at the same time.

Gray took a deep calming breath, even though he was seething inwardly. “Liz, may I introduce you? My baby brother, Jeffrey.”

“Nice to meet you.” She smiled sincerely at Jeff and tipped her head toward Gray. “This is your brother?” she said with a chuckle. “You two look a little bit alike.”

“That’s where the similarity ends,” said Jeff, drawing Liz’s attention back to him. She raised her brows at him. “Gray’s rather a stiff.” One by one, Jeff ticked off his brother’s characteristics on his fingers, as if they were crimes. “He’s arrogant, opinionated, unnecessarily proper, inflexible—at least I’ve never known him not to be—and a control freak who drives people crazy with his smug composure.” He dropped his hand, tilted his head and knit his brows, appearing to ponder whether he had forgotten any other important faults.

Jeff’s gaze ran briefly over Liz, then he grinned in surprise. “I see he’s given the lady of his heart an extremely delicate piece of jewelry. This is really very charming. May I have a look?” He took her hand and raised it up to his eyes… and then to his lips. “Very interesting and unusual! Only a few select women are allowed to wear such a delightful accessory. Be careful that you don’t get hurt by accepting such a gift!”

“Thanks for the warning.” Liz laughed. She appeared to find Jeff’s casual, playful attitude adorable and gave every sign of liking him right off the bat. She wondered if it was because Jeff reminded her of her own brother.

Liz eyes grew wide when she saw what was parked behind Jeff in the driveway. Quickly she scrambled past him and ran to the motorcycle. She walked around it once, and then circled it again, gazing at it in amazement from all sides, a wistful expression on her face. “Can I take it for a spin later?”

“You sure you can handle it?”

“She can handle it,” said Gray.

“Just be careful, love. That’s my shrine.” Jeff murmured these last words as sweetly as only he could and clasped his hands together.

Like a little kid, Liz hopped up and down in delight before charging past the brothers and into the house to put on appropriate clothing for her ride. Gray watched as she ran up two steps at a time, turned the corner and disappeared from sight.

“That chick’s wearing a monitoring bracelet?” asked Jeff. “What’s going on here, bro? What kind of a game are you playing? Is she into that?” Gray just ignored him.
Why is that woman wearing one of those small, nasty things Gray tested on me a few weeks ago?
Jeff wondered.

At the time, he had figured the monitoring bracelet would simply make a warning sound if he exceeded the maximum distance allowed. Then the first, extremely effective jolt had run through his body. That was Gray’s payback for the teasing Jeff had given during a visit three weeks earlier. Among other things, Jeff called his brother “a washed up former agent.” That day, Gray had stayed as cool as a block of ice, and he showed no sign that the comment had fazed him. Gray never let himself be provoked.

Jeff worried about the fact that his brother was so withdrawn. For years their relationship had been a chilly one. They spoke about mundane things, rarely touching upon anything personal, or rather,
never
about anything personal. Tension had been building in Gray for some time; Jeff could feel it. If he hit him at just the right time, Gray would explode like a firecracker.

“That’s a sweet chick you’ve got there. Nice ass. Where’d you meet her? I’ll have to check the place out.” Jeff’s exaggerated friendliness was obviously insincere. Abruptly the tension inside Gray ratcheted up a few notches. His body felt like a rubber band stretched to the breaking point. When he turned to Jeff, he was careful to keep the expression on his face from betraying that tension. Only the dark look in his eyes hinted that he might not be as calm as he appeared.

“I’m warning you: keep your hands off her!” He opened the door a little wider, stepping aside to allow Jeff entry into the house.

“Oh, come on!” A taunting smile turned up the corners of Jeff’s mouth. “What kind of guy do you think I am? I would never take away your
toy.
” Jeff slipped off the straps of his backpack and dropped the bag on the floor next to the closet. He looked straight into the eyes that were so similar to his own. “Anyway that was pathetic. ‘I’m warning you’? Is that the best you can do?”

“One warning is all you’re going to get.”

“If you think—”

“And if you ignore it, I’ll give you what you have coming to you.” Keeping completely composed, Gray turned his back on Jeff and walked into the kitchen. He didn’t see the challenging expression in his brother’s eyes turn wistful. And he didn’t hear him murmur softly, “That’s what I’m hoping.”