Desert Angel (Family Justice Book 2) Page 6

  If Alex had learned just one thing in his time with Meghan, it was that what was said about women being unpredictable, able to stop on a dime—was absolutely true. His woman excelled at the quick about-face.

  “I like when you grab my ass,” she said while wrapping her arms around his neck.

  She was fucking perfect.

  “I know,” he growled playfully.

  She nuzzled her nose against his cheek and breathed hot kisses onto his skin. Putting her lips close to his ear, Meghan sighed, and then murmured, “And Major, I have total faith in you.”

  With her fingers speared into his hair, she pressed against him and did a naughty shimmy. “Please tell me you know that.”

  He squeezed her ass but good, until she yelped with surprise.

  “Mine,” he growled deeply.

  She pouted like a pro and gave him a dirty look. “And just because I didn’t actually make the damn dinner doesn’t mean you have to go telling people that!”

  Put in his place, Alex roared his approval. Well, she certainly told him!

  “Oh, for god’s sake,” a cross sounding voice cut in. “Get a damn room, okay?”

  Angie couldn’t believe what was happening. Parker was here, with his head so far up his egotistical ass that it was ridiculous.

  And her brother and his woman? Fuck my damn life, she thought. Why’d they have to be so . . . ugh. There weren’t words to describe Alex and Meghan. Every phrase she entertained became an understatement.

  Coming upon the couple wound together in a serious embrace took all the wind out of her sails. Sensing that Parker was a mere step behind her, she couldn’t believe her shitty luck when she quite literally crashed headlong into someone else’s intimate interlude. “Oh, for god’s sake! Get a damn room, okay?” she grumbled quite loudly.

  Sulkily pushing past Alex and Meghan, Angie reached for her tumbler and knocked back a healthy mouthful of Jameson as Parker rounded the arched doorway. Dismissing his presence with a grunted “Hmph,” she plopped inelegantly down in a chair.

  “So . . . are we having dinner or is it pistols at dawn?” Alex asked in a voice dripping with sarcasm.

  Meghan, looking bemused, scurried away saying she would pull dinner from the oven. Before disappearing into the kitchen, she called out, “Darling, get Parker a drink, would you.”

  Oh, great. The idea of playing nice made Angie want to scream. Maybe a temporary escape was possible.

  “Uh, need help, Red?” she blurted out.

  Her chair scraped along the tile floor when she stood and before she moved another inch, Parker was right there, doing that gentlemanly thing. Taking control of the chair, he placed a hand below her elbow for support as she stood. It was a simple, helpful gesture—he would have done the same for any female needing assistance but when his hand cupped her arm, she felt like a balloon with all the air being let out.

  “Actually, I’m good,” Meghan quipped with a wave of her hands. “I’ve got this, Ang. You hang out with the guys. Ask Alex to tell you about the new Justice dog program. We’re trying to saddle Parker with a Lab puppy, but so far, he’s resisted!”

  Meghan’s laughter continued to ring out after she’d left the room.

  “Oh god, would you two give the puppy thing a rest?” Parker groaned. Pushing her chair under the table, he was the epitome of a chivalrous man—considerate and attentive.

  His treatment felt familiar, reassuring, and normal. It struck her that it had been a very long time since she had been alone with the older brother she worshipped and his dashing best friend. Being included in their brotherly dynamic was the greatest compliment they could give her. These two shitheads were her family, she thought.

  Watching silently while Parker and Alex tossed off one-liners and insults with an ease that spoke to the depth of their bond, she took a minute to internally marvel at how fucked up the last ten minutes of her life had been.

  Here she was standing alongside a man she honestly thought she’d never speak to again as if nothing unusual was happening when five minutes prior she’d almost torn his face off and the five minutes before that, she’d been so overwhelmed at seeing him in the flesh that she had to run away.

  Brought out of her contemplation by a grinning Meghan carrying an enormous stoneware baking dish, she refocused as everyone took a spot at the table and Red drawled, “Delete all previous mention of a brisket.” With everyone’s attention on her, Meghan boomed in a funny Irish brogue, “Ah, a shepherd’s pie, it is then,” she tsked with a laugh. And then rather pithily in her usual no-nonsense way added, “And a note from Ria saying she remembered the dish was a particular favorite of Miss Angelina’s.”

  “How terribly sweet of her,” she remarked when all eyes turned her way. “It’s the little things that count, sometimes,” she added with some hostile side shade Parker’s way that was unavoidable. “I miss our family cookouts,” she told Alex with a wistful smile. “Remember? When we camped, Mom always made shepherd’s pie with our leftovers. And over a campfire! Amazing.” She chuckled.

  “Hey,” Parker exclaimed. Stretching an arm out, he grabbed the back of Meghan’s chair. “Alex, remember the summer we went camping in Colorado and the night our moms got shitfaced and we ate that amazing pot of beans?”

  Alex barked a laugh and nodded.

  “You were too young to remember this, Angel,” he chuckled, “but dumbass over there,” he said with a dip of his head in Alex’s direction, “and I were fourteen and fifteen so for us, seeing our parents tie one on out in the woods and watching them get silly was quite entertaining.”

  Meghan exploded with a hilarious giggle-snort. “Been there! Done that,” she yelped with glee.

  “I can’t wait to party with your parents,” Angie told her with relish. “No, seriously. Your mother is fucking hilarious.”

  “Anyway,” Parker continued, “there was Aunt Ashleigh and my mom making a simple pot of beans-n-weenies over the campfire. First, there was a metric ton of bacon followed by another half-ton of local handmade hot dogs thrown in the pot. I remember ‘cause Dad insisted the scent of the meat was going to attract animals. He and Uncle Cristián tormented our moms with the threat of bears looming behind every tree.”

  “Oh, my god,” Alex chuckled. “I remember that. It was fucking hilarious.”

  “Soph, of course, was all of about twelve and already so serious that we started calling her hospital corners. She was writing down the recipe as they went along, saying it was for a school project. The beans were added along with a hunk of brown sugar the size of a softball and the pot was set over the fire to cook. Alex’s mom suddenly dumped a container of pineapple chunks into the pot and from there a legend was created! Was the best damn beans-n-weenies ever!”

  “I’ve seen that recipe card,” Angie said excitedly. “Sophie is so organized. She has this huge box of loose papers and stuff ripped from magazines of all our family recipes. She called it Hawaiian Cowboy Goo.”

  “Well, I thought it was amazeballs,” Alex chimed in. “Of course, we were operating with a serious case of the munchies.”

  Parker drawled, “It was the Colorado Mountains, after all, and we were set-up on the edge of some old stoner campground so my wingman and I were pretty buzzed.”

  Angie giggled when Meghan jerked upright and snarled at Alex. “Excuse me?”

  Watching her big brother grin like a lunatic at Red made Angie laugh.

  “First and last time,” he chuckled with a straight face.

  “Uh-huh,” she bit back.

  “Actually,” he laughed, “it was a summer of many firsts.”

  An interesting interplay of silent communication bounced back and forth between Alex and Parker—obviously a shared memory from that summer. Meghan also noted this unspoken interchange and raised an eyebrow at Angie.

  God. What she wouldn’t give to be the fly on the wall when that conversation fired up. Poor Alex. She didn’t envy him the cross-examination coming his way.
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br />   After that comical waltz down memory lane, they ate in companionable silence mixed with smatterings of polite, politically correct small talk while Alex and Meghan refereed and kept the conversation going. It actually wasn’t all that bad. Once she recovered from the shock of having to deal unexpectedly with Parker, she’d calmed down.

  Of course, she also managed to check the man out from head to toe several times—she hoped without notice by anyone. Holy god, he was hot. When the hell had that happened? She was used to big men. Alex was the size of a football player and her dad wasn’t exactly small. But the man sitting between her and Meghan? He was huge. Or the room was overly small. One of the two.

  After a bit, their dinner discussion turned to the wedding plans. Seemed like a safe topic until Meghan dropped a bombshell.

  Angie was in the process of forking a large pile of food into her open mouth when she saw Meghan reach for Alex’s hand. Something was up.

  The two smiled broadly in her direction, and from the periphery, she saw Parker put his fork down and wipe his mouth with his napkin before dropping it on the table. Anticipation hovered in the air around them.

  “Angie, honey,” Alex began. “Meghan has something she wants to ask you.”

  Glancing wide-eyed at Meghan, she quirked a fleeting half-grin and murmured, “Anything, Red. Ask me anything.”

  Meghan smiled warmly and she saw her squeeze her brother’s hand before she spoke.

  “Angie—I love your brother more than you can possibly imagine. His happiness, his well-being—they mean everything to me. Becoming his wife is something I take seriously.”

  She smiled. Awww, how sweet is this? Tears of happiness gathered in her eyes. “You’re going to be an awesome Marquez, Red,” Angie squeaked, overcome with emotion.

  Meghan choked back an emotional gasp and said, “You have no idea how much hearing that means to me.”

  Oh, wow, Angie thought. Alex is so damn lucky. His bride actually gave a shit about the prospect of becoming a member of their crazy family.

  “To that end,” Meghan continued rather solemnly, “it would mean the world to me . . . I mean, to us,” she emphasized with a nod toward Alex, “if you would bless our marriage as my maid of honor.”

  Maid of honor? What? Had she heard right? Oh, my god! This was really happening if the hopeful, nervous expression on Meghan’s face was any indication.

  “You guys!” she yelped in shocked disbelief. “Oh, Red!” Angie choked out as she jumped from her seat and ran around the table just as Meghan rose.

  Grabbing her in a fierce bear hug, Angie laughed joyfully. “This is fantastic! Thank you so much.”

  She heard Alex snicker. “I take it that was a yes?”

  Angie was exploding with happiness. Her parents would be so touched to hear this bit of news. They were already charmed and impressed by how magnificently Alex’s choice of a bride was handling herself. Having Meghan ask Angie to stand by their side as she wed Alex was an honor she did not take lightly.

  Wiping away an emotional tear, Meghan hugged her one last time before running into Alex’s waiting arms. “You two have made us so happy,” she gushed.

  You two? Huh? Angie felt confused.

  Looking sideways at Parker, she immediately noted the way he’d paled and how his mouth seemed stuck in an open position.

  When Meghan all but purred with satisfaction and burrowed into Alex’s chest with her arms around his waist and a contented grin, Angie felt the floor drop out from under her.

  “Looks like we have our maid of honor and best man!” Alex drawled.

  Angie’s jaw joined Parker’s in a freefall. She had not seen that coming.

  COMPLETELY IN AWE OF WHAT he was seeing, Alex excitedly proclaimed, “This is incredible, Drae,” when the whole thing came into focus. “What the hell was this room before?”

  “Fuck if I know. One day all the girls descended out of nowhere and dragged me here . . . said, will this work?” Looking around at the space, his friend shrugged. “I said yep, and next thing anyone knew, a project had been born!”

  Alex laughed at the apt description of what dealing with the women of Family Justice was like. Meghan was the battering ram. She simply ripped down walls to get what she wanted. And Tori? Shit. She might be little, but she was the scariest one of the bunch. That woman could talk circles around anyone. Fuck, man. Sometimes she won because her ridiculous grasp of arcane facts pretty much beat every argument into the ground.

  And then, of course, there was Lacey. She was sweet, young, bright-eyed, and completely authentic in every way. The first of the Justice wives, she couldn’t fathom the glass half empty notion because, after all, to her, the glass was half full. Period. Her simple belief in all that was good, right, and true was what changed everything. For all of them.

  “Crazy women! They caused all kinds of hell in the construction office the other day. Something about solar lights.” Alex shook his head remembering the dust-up their interference had instigated.

  Draegyn snorted a laugh, which got Alex laughing along. They went back a long way, he and Drae. Theirs was a unique friendship, born before the firestorm of an ugly war and made closer through long years spent building a business together. They were more than friends. Draegyn St. John was hardwired into Alex’s conscience—his own personal Jiminy Cricket. The wise partner along on the adventure.

  “Well, bro, the good news is that it doesn’t take much to soundproof a room so here ya go, Thunder Foot. One music studio as requested. Plenty of room for a stadium-size drum kit, a grand piano—whatever you need.”

  Alex was suitably stunned. A studio. And shit but it was impressive. The walls and ceiling were covered by unusual carved foam that created different hued waves making the room look like it was alive. Huge framed landscapes were hung here and there—all photographs of the surrounding countryside. There was a comfy seating area and even a small wet bar. And it was soundproof, huh? Suddenly, he could think of some additional uses for the room. Lately he’d gotten insatiably greedy for the screams that he got out of Meghan when their playtimes were especially intense. He wondered if the door locked.

  “Dammit, man,” Drae groaned, his hands on his hips and head bowed. “I fucking hate you for putting that picture in my head.”

  What the hell was he bitching about?

  Drae’s hand came out with a key dangling from his forefinger. “Of course, the goddamn door locks, you old pervert.”

  Alex took the key and snickered. “Was I that obvious?”

  “Yes,” Drae mocked. “Yes, you were. And since I live in constant fear of finding unlocked doors when you’re around . . .” He shuddered dramatically. “I made sure this one has a double lock.”

  The memory of Drae returning to the Villa unexpectedly to find Meghan trussed up like a virgin sacrifice in the stable’s tack room swirled in the air around them. Ever since that day when Drae had freaked out and Alex and Meghan fell over laughing, the incident had been a constant source of amusement.

  “Oh, and by the way,” Drae snickered as he drawled, “I found a box of carabiners. Tactical issue stuff. Installed a bunch of ’em carefully hidden in the walls and ceiling. Pretty clever of me, I think,” he jeered. “It’s up to you to find them.”

  Carabiners? What the hell did something like that have to do with . . . oh! Duh. He got it. Not bursting out with a hearty laugh wasn’t an option.

  “You’re never going to let that go, are you?” Alex chuckled.

  Drae grinned broadly. “Nah. That shit’s comedy gold.”

  “Oh, you mean like giving Meghan a hank of bondage rope for Christmas?”

  “Dude,” Drae sneered. “The look on your face was fucking priceless. I know you tried to act all big daddy-like, but I saw what you were thinking. You were sizing that poor girl up and wondering if you had enough rope.”

  “Watch it,” Alex muttered.

  Drae laughed and motioned him over to check out a control panel by the door. “Rela
x, Major. No disrespect intended. And, for the record, once my other half got wind of that damned rope . . . well, let’s just say it comes in many colors.”

  The lighthearted moment faded as Drae went into specific detail about all the technology he had installed. This was Alex’s passion. Bring electronics of any sort into the discussion and he was sporting half a chub.

  Happily pushing buttons and relentlessly swiping his fingers on the panel’s screen, he found himself chatting away. He tested every feature available and immediately began thinking of ways to improve and expand all the bells and whistles.

  “Hey, did I tell you about the email I got from Brody? I’ll tell you what,” Alex exclaimed, “plugging him in and making it official was a smart move. I like his vision. What he wants to do with the animal program and the veteran’s outreach is way beyond anything our old asses would have thought of.”

  “And speaking of old ass,” Drae drawled mockingly. “I’m pretty impressed with a couple of the recruits Cam singled out. Sent me a bunch of resumes to look at. He really had his shit together on this. Everything seems to be coming together nicely, don’t you agree? And Brody being on the ball, too?” Drae air-played a home run complete with sound effects and a final jump onto home base. “Winning, man! Now if only Calder would get his shit together.”

  “Have you heard from him?”

  Drae snorted and shook his head. “Heard from him? No! Why? He’s your uncle, and if that was just some coy way of asking about Stephanie . . . just cut to the chase, okay?”

  Leave it to Drae! Grinning, Alex shrugged. “Man, all the lines are so fucking blurred lately. It’s weird, isn’t it? My old friend becomes your mother-in-law and now my uncle, who’s also our business associate, is moping over Tori’s mom. What a tangled web.”

  “I’ll give you that it’s all fucking weird,” Drae drawled. “Oh, and my wife has wisely chosen not to tell Stephanie that Calder has retreated to the mountains.”