Page 41

Reagan’s eyes bugged out of her head. “Mom! Please don’t talk like that. I called you because I was in crisis, and you’re trying to play matchmaker.”

“I’m trying to talk sense to you. You’ve come all this way to Fire Creek. At the very least, you should hear English out and say what you want to say when you know he’s listening. And you should trust the boys, especially Jackson. Open yourself up a little. You might be surprised how it turns out.”

Traci Dunlap had always been a romantic despite her rocky relationship with English. Reagan wasn’t in the frame of mind for romance. Maybe she was afraid of change, but she was also in love with her life. She worked hard and did well for herself. When she needed to blow off steam, she had friends to call on to show her a good time. Her life was full. English and his boys couldn’t provide anything to make her life any better.

Jackson stepped around the corner, but instead of giving her privacy when he saw her on the phone, he waited with his back resting against the wall. Her heart tripped to see him there. His expression was unreadable, but she felt sure he knew exactly what she and her mother had been talking about based on the sheepish look she wore on her face.

He looked good, too, damn him. His jeans hugged his muscular thighs like a second skin, and his signature T-shirt was a burnt orange and made his tanned skin seem more golden. The eyes watching her were deep and molten and would haunt her dreams long after she returned home.

“Mom, I should go. Are you and Dad coming to the hospital?”

“The boys thought it was better for us to stay here, but if you need me there, I’ll be there. You come first for me. You know that.”

Reagan closed her eyes as a fierce love for her mother flowed through her. “I would like you here. I could use someone to lean on right now.”

“Don’t you worry, sweetheart. Randall and I will be there.”

“Thanks, Mom. Talk to you soon.”

Reagan ended the call and forced herself to meet Jackson’s gaze. “Everything alright?”

“You tell me.” Jackson pushed off the wall and approached her like a panther approaching its prey. “Why would you run off? And how did you do it without anyone knowing where you went?”

She started to tell him to mind his own business, but after the conversation with her mother, she decided he deserved an explanation. “Your brothers were preoccupied with why you stormed out and which one was going after you. I saw Ben switch off the alarm system around the property before chasing after you. Everyone thought I went to one of the rooms to cool off. I left after Ben, walked down the drive until I saw a neighbor’s house, and went inside to ask if I could wait for my ride to show up since my car broke down. I called a ride share service which brought me here.”

“Must have cost a pretty penny.”

Reagan twisted her face ruefully. “You have no idea. I’m sorry I worried you. I was careful that we weren’t followed, and I came in a side entrance along with a group of church goers here to visit one of their members. They were kind enough to share that with me while we rode the elevator. Once I was inside, I knew Alex or his employees would be here, so I was perfectly safe.”

“It was foolish and dangerous.”

“I get that you can’t understand, but I had to do this. I had some things to say, and I didn’t want to lose the chance to say them. Not that it made any difference.”

“It did. Gish wants to see you. He said you had unfinished business.”

Reagan shook her head. “I don’t want to see him. Nothing he says will change anything. He made his choice. It is what it is.”

Jackson took a step closer, crowding her personal space. “And what is it?”

“He chose you. And Luke and Ben and Easton. The last thing he wanted was a daughter tying him down. He wanted sons, and he got them. Good ones, I might add. You’re all such good men. It’s hard for me to imagine you being raised by English. I’ve never considered him a good man.”

“He’s not sometimes. He has his moments like the rest of us, even you. Everything he does, though, is to protect other people. That’s why he took us in. Our home lives were awful, and he protected us from it and taught us how to protect ourselves, so we never had to be victims again. He was protecting you, too, and your mother. Things didn’t turn out the way he planned, but he tried. Can’t you give him credit for trying?”

“I don’t know that I can. Once he left the CIA, he could have come back. He could have explained, but he didn’t because he didn’t want me.”

“Would it matter if he did want you? Would it change anything after all this time?”

She didn’t answer right away. She wasn’t expecting to have this heavy of a conversation with Jackson. She figured they’d argue. They always argued, and she’d made him mad by running off without a bodyguard. He also had to know by now that she’d given English a piece of her mind, and he couldn’t be happy about that either. But serious Jackson was more disconcerting than angry Jackson, and she fought the yearning to confide in him.

She finally shook her head. “I’m not having this conversation with you.” She started to turn away, but he sidestepped to stop her retreat.

“What conversation do you want to have? We can talk about your next book, or about the person who’s trying to kill you. Or, hey, what about last night, when we were all over each other? If you don’t remember, I can show you the scratches you left on my back.”

He shifted so fast into angry Jackson that she had to take a moment to process what happened. Once she did, she matched him, fury to fury.

“I can show you my foot in your ass. Or better yet my knee to your balls, you chauvinistic—”

He cradled her face in his hands. The large palms made her feel petite, and the gesture made her feel cherished, an emotion completely at war with the rage she felt.