“I’m glad. Trust me when I tell you, I sincerely wanted to be with you instead of searching for Reggie.” Kendall’s fingers traced a path down her spine, rubbing here and there as he finally secured his palm against her butt cheek and squeezed.
“I’m sorry we never got to complete our negotiated arrangement.”
“As am I, believe me.” His hand traveled to her hair. He tangled his fingers there, tilted her head back, and kissed her soundly.
Logan slipped in behind them and pressed his hard body against her back. “Convince her to return, Kendall.”
He broke the lusty kiss, and murmured against her lips, “You know that you still owe me a round two, right? If you come back, I’m going to insist upon taking it.”
Jocelyn laughed and pressed her face against his chest. “I suppose you’re right. Unfortunately, I don’t expect to be in this area anytime soon. Although, my time here has been nothing short of amazing.”
She felt him slip something into her front pocket. “This is a business card with our personal phone numbers listed. Should you find yourself in the area again, call us. Until then, the debt you owe me will simply hang over your head. I hope you can live with yourself.”
She laughed, but then he pressed his mouth hard to hers again. The ferocity of this kiss was so forceful she barely remembered her own name let alone whether or not she could live with the debt of an unfinished round two hanging over her head until the end of time. She so wanted to change her life and include these two cowboys in a new adventure. But that was not her current reality. His hand moved from her waist to her breast, stroking his thumb across her pert nipple. Kendall’s every touch made her reconsider staying, even though she knew she had to go. They might have taken the embrace further, but the door opened suddenly.
A tall, attractive man dressed like a deputy stepped halfway inside. He glanced at their intimate embrace, but it didn’t seem to register or he didn’t care. She got the impression he wouldn’t have flinched to find the three of them naked and fucking wildly on the desk. “Hey, the trooper just pulled up outside the ticket office.”
Kendall stepped back, leaving her plastered against Logan. “Already?”
The deputy shrugged and glanced her way briefly before putting his focus back on Kendall. “Why don’t you go meet him, and I’ll fetch Reggie.”
Kendall frowned but nodded. “Good idea. Thanks, Zane. I don’t trust myself alone with that little prick.”
The deputy grinned. Zane then crossed the room, and entered a doorway leading to the
jail cells
, if the hand-painted sign above the door was accurate.
“Nice spending time with you, Jocelyn. I truly hope you’ll visit us again.” He exited the room without touching her again. Perhaps he didn’t trust himself with her either. She understood because she felt the exact same way.
A minute later, Logan took her hand and led her out of the sheriff’s office and along a short brick-lined path to the parking lot where her car waited. The stagecoach ride from the day before had taken her on the very
long
scenic route to town. She’d never forget that ride or meeting Logan and Kendall.
“Drive safely,” he said once she was tucked inside the front seat.
With a friendly wave, he departed the side of her car, opening the outer gate of the parking lot long enough for her to exit the best time she’d ever had in her life.
Already planning a possible return once she settled things with her sister and got her parents calmed down, Jocelyn drove the few miles to the local hotel. Once inside her room, she retrieved her charger, plugged her phone in, and then promptly grimaced, noticing the large list of messages, the bulk of which were sent from her parents yesterday. That was a return call she didn’t look forward to.
There would likely be hell to pay for her mini one-day vacation, but Jocelyn didn’t have a single regret. She fingered the card in her pocket and contemplated the future. What would have to happen for her to return and experience Kendall’s round two with Logan either watching or better yet helping?
She wasn’t sure of the answer, but gave the idea free rein to roam around in her head for awhile.
A week later
“Do you think we’ll ever hear from her again?” Logan asked. They were underground, riding in the golf cart, headed home for a few days’ break from the Western park. Logan hadn’t once mentioned her all week, until just now.
And Kendall knew exactly who “her” was because his best friend’s question was one he had asked himself every morning since
Jocelyn
had left a week ago. “I don’t know. I hope so.”
“Me, too.” Logan didn’t say anything else. He’d been quiet since Jocelyn left. Unlike him. Plus, they hadn’t so much as mentioned sleeping with or getting together with any another woman since she’d gone. Also very unlike them both. Logan had never once been the least bit moody, preoccupied, or lost in thought over any woman they’d ever shared. Until Jocelyn.
For his own part, he felt like their time together had been preempted and he hadn’t been able to pull himself from those fantasies. Or that’s what he told himself was the case. Truthfully, she’d been on his mind most of every waking minute of each day that she’d been gone. He even dreamed about her, making his unconscious mind a cohort in the sappy, lovesick way he felt.
Kendall heard the phone start ringing as soon as they stepped inside the home they shared, and not for the first time felt his heart leap, hoping for a call from Jocelyn. They were upstairs in the main house this time, and not in their basement play area. He picked up the phone before it rang a second time.
“Hello.” He hadn’t meant for his tone to sound so eager. So he was even more than slightly disappointed when his brother Clay said, “Hey, it’s me. I heard you called a while back. What’s up?”
“
Not Jocelyn
,” he mouthed to Logan. “It’s about time you called me back, bro,” Kendall added and watched Logan nod then head upstairs.
“Well, I was on the run, dodging an assassin for a bit. Then I got married again. Sorry to keep you waiting so long.” Clay told him briefly about the person who tried to kill him, and also about the woman he married. Her name was Angelica. Each subject was equally intriguing, but Kendall was under the gun from the other owners to resolve this security issue with the compound computer being hacked, and additionally, last week’s break-in from Reggie.
“Wow. An assassin,
and
another wife. You
have
been busy, but that’s still no excuse. I’d love to chat with you more about your jet-set lifestyle, and I’d also love to meet your wife, but first you need to get up here and take a look at our security system.”
Clay’s long sigh came over the phone. “What’s the problem? Maybe I can just talk you through it over the phone.”
“Someone hacked into the compound computer security about three weeks ago. The report that spit out only said there’d been a breach, but not where it came from.”
There was a long silence at the end of the phone line. “Surprising.” Clay finally said the one word and nothing else. More time elapsed in silence. Apparently, it was going to be one of
those
conversations, meaning the limited conversational ones Clay liked best.
Kendall rolled his eyes. “Yes. Especially since you told me that the compound security was hack-proof.”
Clay released another sigh over the phone line and responded, “Hack-resistant is probably more accurate. What did the hacker do while in your system?”
“I don’t know, but it happened again a week ago. Although, I may know who got in the second time. Still, I can’t prove it. That’s where you come in. Nothing was changed, nothing was added or introduced that I can tell, but I don’t want to be surprised by an all-consuming virus later on wrecking our entire system.”
“Right. I get it. I’ll look into it. But I wouldn’t worry. There’s a failsafe built in to shut down the system once a breach has been recognized, if there is any viable threat to the software. Who do you think got in the second time? Maybe that’s who got in the first time.”
“I considered that. And I believe it’s possible. The guy is a blogger-slash-journalist-slash pain in my ass trying to find a salacious sex scandal at our amusement park afterhours. His name is Reggie Bender.”
In a sardonic tone, Clay said, “Never heard of him.”
“And did you think you might have?”
“Well, anyone with the skills to hack your
custom
-designed system—the one I personally installed for you—would definitely be someone I’d recognize.”
“Oh yeah? So there aren’t very many of these skilled hackers who could get into this system?”
“There are probably many that might be able to get in, but the system would shut down and kick them out and also leave a wide trail to follow. I’m assuming you didn’t get a report from the system with a name, and that it didn’t shut down.”
“No. This person didn’t leave any trail. The system didn’t shut down. Just a breach notification.”
“Right. So like I said there are only a few who could pull that off.” Clay didn’t seem too worried. This relaxed Kendall somewhat. Having Reggie anywhere near their system gave him heart palpitations.
So if it were an enemy of one of the owners, that was a whole different can of worms. He asked, “How few?”
“Like a handful.”
“And you’re sure Reggie isn’t one of them?”
“Like I said, I’ve never heard of him.”
“Who would be on your list then?” Kendall could maybe recognize one of the names. Perhaps someone had been at their park or an enemy of one of the several owners might be trying to get insider information. Or worse. Maybe Reggie hired them. His heart rate increased again.
“There’s a guy named Ben, another named Roger, maybe Carter could do it, oh, and then there’s Jocelyn, just to name the few elite off the top of my head.”
Kendall felt like a stake had just jammed through his chest. He breathed in slowly around the figurative pain near his heart, and then exhaled. “Jocelyn?” he managed to ask.
“Yes. Jocelyn. Don’t be so narrow-minded. Girls can do things. In fact, they often have better skills than men. And they aren’t as prideful about it either.”
“I’m not prejudiced.” Kendall’s mind raced with uncomfortable possibilities. “So…this Jocelyn has the skills to hack our private compound computer and not leave a trail?”
“Yes. Why? Do you know her?”
Kendall tried to scoff, but didn’t have his heart or soul in it. “How could I know her?”
“Well, I don’t know, Kendall, but you sound like a stick just suddenly jammed up your ass when I merely mentioned her name.”
“The name Jocelyn is simply an unusual one.” Kendall knew he sounded like the biggest idiot on the planet and even he wouldn’t buy the explanation. But hearing Jocelyn’s name, and the real possibility that
she’d
been the one to hack their system not once but twice, put his heart and head in an unusual place. Off-balance.
“Yes, it is. And from what little I know of her, she’s also a very talented computer security consultant.”
“Can you get in contact with her?”
“Maybe, why would I do that?”
“To find out if she’s the one who hacked my system.”
And I really want to see her again.
Clay laughed mirthlessly. “Kendall, she’s not a criminal. She’s a private computer security consultant who has mad skills. I said that she
had
the skills, not that she’s complicit.”
“So can you get in touch with her or not?” He didn’t mean to sound ill-tempered, but likely didn’t carry it off.
“I can. But I won’t.”
“Why not?” Petulance rolled down his body in giant waves before he could curb his tone.
Clay completely ignored him. “Tell you what I
will
do. Since I don’t have any proof it was Jocelyn. I’ll remote access your system and look around to see if I can figure out who
did
actually hack you. Then we can talk again.”
“Wait.”
“For what?”
“Okay, jackass, I
do
know a Jocelyn. I do not happen to know what her occupation is. She might possibly have been able to access my computer system last week. I don’t know about three weeks ago.”
“Who is she to you?”
“Someone I met a week ago. What difference does
that
make?”
“Did you two part on bad terms or something?”
“No. Not exactly.”
“What exactly?”
“Nothing you need to concern yourself with, Clay.”
“So that means it’s personal. And you
do
want me to contact her and set up a date for the two of you? Is that more what you had in mind, bro?”
Kendall pushed out a breath to keep from jumping for joy and asking his brother to do exactly that. “Sort of. The fact is, I do not have any other way to contact her. Therefore, I do not want you to call her out of the blue and accuse her of anything. You said it yourself, she may not even be involved. But either way I’d like to talk to her.”