Sunsets & Seduction: Mine Until Morning / Just for the Night / Kept in the Dark. Tawny Weber

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      Whoa, Marine, he cautioned himself. Slow down a little there.

      But Ely had always led the charge, committed to the mission, focused on the target. He didn’t see the point in second thoughts or delaying action.

      “I can help with that,” he said huskily, bending down and scooping her up, smiling at her gasp of surprise as she linked her hands around his neck and held on.

      “Ely, this is hardly necessary,” she said, laughing as he carried her out to the living room.

      “But it is fun,” he said, kissing her nose as he deposited her on the sofa.

      “Matches?” he asked, noting more candles on the fireplace mantel.

      “Up by the picture of my father,” she directed, pointing.

      He saw the picture, and grabbed the box of stick matches, lighting one, taking in the portrait.

      “Navy officer,” he observed, sliding her a glance. Her father was a highly decorated submariner.

      “Yes. Retired now.”

      “You never mentioned him.”

      “You never asked.”

      It was true, he hadn’t. Besides the interview, where she had focused on his life, they hadn’t talked much at all.

      He lit the candles, and then walked to the kitchen, telling her to stay put. He had a lot of making up to do.

      Coming back with a tray of cheese, fruit and crackers and a bottle of wine, he joined her on the sofa.

      “Well, now I am feeling very spoiled,” she said, taking a glass of wine from him. “I could get used to that.”

      “All part of my evil plan,” he agreed, taking some cheese and crackers, and settling back with his own glass.

      “So where are your parents? Norfolk?” he asked, intent on learning as much as he could about her.

      “The house is in Annapolis, but they aren’t there much. My dad has his sailboat there, and they live on the water for most of the year, sailing to vacation spots. They fly back from wherever they are for holidays, and seem to be enjoying life.”

      “Sounds like the perfect retirement.”

      “I don’t know that I’d want to spend that much time on the water, but my mother loves it. And for so many years they were apart when he was at sea.”

      “Squid are a species unto their own,” he said, shaking his head. “The idea of spending that much time under water gives me the heebies,” he admitted.

      “Seriously? I thought big tough Marines weren’t afraid of anything?”

      “I didn’t say I was afraid,” he corrected, puffing out his chest. “Just that I’m not particularly fond of the idea of being under several hundred feet of water.”

      “Ah, okay, I see the distinction,” she said.

      “Thank you.”

      She grinned and threw a grape at him, which he caught in his mouth.

      “So what about your brothers? I was sorry to read about Garrett losing his wife—how tragic,” she said, more serious.

      “It was beyond tragic. We weren’t sure he was going to make it through for a while,” Ely said, still feeling punched in the chest when he thought about his older brother’s loss. He’d liked Lainey a lot, too. It had been a loss for all of them.

      “And Jonas, Chance? They’re well? Married?”

      “Chance is Chance. I don’t think he’ll ever settle down, or find a woman who can put up with his need to jump off high things every other day,” he said, laughing. “But Jonas has been in tough shape.”

      Ely related the story of Jonas’s protection detail, and about the loss of his sight.

      “That’s terrible!” Chloe commiserated. “But he’ll get it back?”

      “So they say. No word yet.”

      “And you said he’s involved with Tessa Rose, James Rose’s daughter?” she asked in a tone that alerted Ely’s radar.

      “Well, it seemed that way, until he backed off big-time after the accident. But she keeps coming around. That’s like one determined lady,” he admitted. “Why?”

      He liked Tessa, actually, and thought it was high time his older brother found a steady woman, but Jonas was even more of a lone wolf than Ely had ever been.

      Even with his own brothers, Jonas had always held himself separate to some degree. When they were kids, Jonas was the one who spent more time doing his own thing rather than playing in a group, who spent more time in his room, reading or studying, than out partying in college.

      He’d become even more isolated after he left the police department, or so Garrett and Chance reported. Ely had been off to basic training back then, and had only heard of what happened to his brother.

      Jonas didn’t talk about what went down when he’d been caught in an undercover mess, but Ely knew it wasn’t the way the papers had painted it. After being in a war, he knew exactly how the media could spin things.

      Chloe shifted uncomfortably, taking another sip of her wine before she replied, and then he felt her reporter persona slip back in place, the distance reasserting itself.

      He was willing to bet she knew something about James Rose that she didn’t want to share.

      “What are you thinking about?” he asked.

      “There’s a huge story breaking in a few hours,” she said. “Rose’s office is one of the ones that will be implicated.”

      “For what?”

      “There’s an embezzlement ring on the Hill. Several aides have been using their resources to siphon off funds from campaign coffers, using it for all manner of criminal business. I was clued in, and it’s going to be a huge scandal,” she said, her eyes lighting up.

      “And Rose is in the middle of this?”

      “Not him directly—but his aide, yes. You can’t say anything about this, Ely, not until the story breaks. The arrests won’t happen until morning, right before.”

      Ely smiled at how her color rose and her eyes brightened at the prospect of a hot story. She was passionate about her work. It was one of the things he loved about her.

      “I won’t say a word, I promise.”

      Still, his mind went to his brother and Tessa. They weren’t together, but he hoped none of this would hurt the reputation of their agency.

      “I can’t say I’m surprised, and not even a little glad,” he said. “That guy, the aide, Howie Stanton, is a slug. He came to the hospital СКАЧАТЬ