His stare sharpened on her. He opened his mouth, but then stopped.

What do you want to say? Tell me, Brodie.

Jennifer waited. A thousand words were flying through her own mind right then, but she didn’t know where to begin.

He took a step back. “The bathroom’s down the hall. You can shower, then meet Davis and me for breakfast.”

Davis. Right.

Were they even going to talk about last night? Maybe they shouldn’t. Maybe it was for the best.

The morning after wasn’t exactly her best scene. Perhaps they would just pretend that the sensual hours hadn’t happened.

“It was better than before.”

Jennifer almost missed those rumbling words. Heat stained her cheeks. “Yes.” It had been.

“I’ll want more...of you.”

She wanted more of him. That was her problem. Jennifer was afraid she’d always want him, and she couldn’t blame that desire on an adrenaline rush or on a danger high or anything else like that—not this time.

She simply wanted him.

He was a weakness that could prove lethal for her.

“You came to me last night...”

She hadn’t been able to stay away.

“You will come to me again, and when you do, I’ll be waiting.”

She looked into his eyes, and saw the sensual promise there.

Definitely lethal.

She started to close the door, but his hand flew up, and his fingers curled around the side of the door frame, halting her movement.

“One more thing...”

“Brodie?” Something in his expression put her on guard.

“I want you like hell on fire. We need to both be clear about that. I look at you, and I need. I want.”

Her breath came faster.

“But I can also tell you’re keeping secrets.”

Secrets were her life.

His head cocked as he studied her. “You wouldn’t lie to me, would you, Jennifer?”

She had, and she would again. There were some things that she would never be cleared to tell him. “Why would you ask me that?” He’d gone from making her heart race with desire to making her tremble in fear. She didn’t want him getting too close to the truth about her.

She feared if he found out the truth, Brodie would turn her away. Jennifer couldn’t let that happen because he was her last hope.

“I’m starting to realize there’s a lot more to you than just meets the eye.” He studied her with an assessing stare. “You need to tell me your secrets.”

She shook her head but then caught herself.

Brodie’s suspicious gaze said he’d caught the telling movement. “You will tell me, or I’ll discover them on my own.”

He let the door shut and she heard his footsteps march away.

* * *

“YOU’VE BEEN HOLDING out on me,” Davis accused him.

Brodie lifted his brows as he entered the kitchen. He wasn’t the one holding back. That’s Jennifer.

“Now that I’m not running on fumes, want to tell me the real story about the looker staying at our ranch? You know, the woman with a body to beg for and near-ninja skills?”

Brodie downed a cup of coffee. “Her name’s Jennifer Wesley, and you need to keep your damn eyes off her body.”

Davis narrowed the eyes in question. “Why is her name familiar? I swear I’ve heard it before.”

That was a fairly easy question to answer. “Because her father used to be an oil magnate, before his company went broke and he decided it was better to die at sea than to face his creditors.” He’d been digging into her past that morning. After she’d left him, sleep sure hadn’t come again, so he’d spent more time on his computer.

Davis exhaled on a long sigh. “The guy just left his daughter to face all that alone?”

“From all accounts, yes.”

Davis rubbed a hand over his jaw. “And where do you fit into the picture that is Ms. Wesley? Because I might’ve been tired, but I saw the way you looked at her last night.”

“Just how did I look at her?” And if he brought up that crap about wanting to devour Jennifer—

Well, Davis would be right.

“Like a lover. Like she was your lover.”

She was. Brodie glanced over his shoulder, toward the doorway. Jennifer wasn’t heading toward them, not yet. “She’s our client, that’s what we need to focus on now.”

“But before she was a client? I mean, just how did the lovely Ms. Wesley know about our security services?”

She knew because she’d tracked him down. His fingers tightened around his coffee mug. “I was on a rescue mission once... A wealthy American’s daughter had been taken hostage in the Middle East. My job was to get her out alive. I did.” He kept the details of that time as brief and emotionless as could be. Davis would understand exactly what he was saying and what he wasn’t.

“You saved her once, so she came to you for help again?”

Something like that. Brodie put down the coffee mug.

The floor creaked. He glanced back at the doorway once more and saw Jennifer standing there, her hair still wet, her face free of makeup. And she was so beautiful. He actually found himself taking a step toward her before he forced his body to be still.

“I think I’m bigger than your sister.” She glanced down at her body. The tight jeans fit her like a perfect glove.

“Looks good to me,” Davis muttered as he came to Brodie’s side.

Brodie elbowed the guy. He’d warned Davis about keeping his eyes off Jennifer’s body.

Jennifer nibbled on her lower lip. “Are you sure she won’t mind me using her clothes?”

It was Davis who replied. “Ava doesn’t come here.” He glanced around the room. “She can’t see any good memories here anymore. Only death.”

Sadness flashed across Jennifer’s face. “I’m sorry.”

So was he. While he’d been halfway across the world, his parents had been slaughtered, and he still didn’t know why. But after years of dead-end leads, they’d finally recovered some solid evidence recently. They’d found the guns that had been used to kill his parents. The guns had been hidden inside an abandoned cabin, an old cabin that bordered their ranch’s property.

“What’s the plan for today?” Jennifer glanced, rather nervously, toward the window. “As much as I’d like to keep hiding here, that’s not an option that will last forever.”

No, it wasn’t.

“If he doesn’t already know I’m here, he will soon. He followed me from New Orleans. He found my hotel room.” She swallowed. “He’ll find me here, too, and I don’t want that threat coming down on you and your family. You’ve already suffered enough.”

“I read the reports from the NOPD.”

Her eyelashes flickered a bit.

“You fought off the man who attacked you in that alley. According to the police, you said that you broke his nose and were able to escape from him.”

Her shoulders moved in a slight shrug. “I told them I thought I’d broken his nose. I mean, it sounded like those bones crunched.”

His brows rose. “And when the fire started, sweetheart, you failed to mention that you were in your house.” That detail had enraged him. He kept picturing flames rushing toward her delicate skin. “You climbed out a second-story window and scaled down the side of your house in order to escape.”

Davis whistled. “Nice.”

“No,” she said softly. “It was actually rather terrifying. The trellis I used to climb down was old and it was breaking beneath me. Crumbling with every move I made. I was afraid it wouldn’t last long enough for me to reach safety.”

His eyes closed. Too close.

“I don’t understand what’s happening here,” Jennifer said, anger roughening her words. “I mean, are you grilling me because I’ve managed to survive for so long? Was I supposed to let the guy kill me?”

No. His eyes opened. “The arson was deliberately set—judging by the report, a professional was at work.” A guy who’d known exactly how to set a fire for ultimate destruction capabilities. “And the attack in the alley? That was an isolated spot, a timed attack.” Something that was nagging at him... “The guy stabbed you in the side and managed not to even hit one major organ.”