Such a loaded question. He could make plenty of suggestions. He wouldn’t mind holding her again, feeling the slight curves of her body, the softness she’d likely deny. Tasting that mulish mouth of hers would be nice, too.
If she didn’t bite.
With Jodi, he never knew quite what to expect.
He’d also enjoy talking with her more, learning details to go with the startlingly tragic background, but he understood the need to ease into things. She’d shared a lot, far more than he’d expected, and he wouldn’t push for more.
Trust, he reminded himself. Mostly what he wanted with her was trust.
While they stood there staring at each other, likely sharing very disparate thoughts, the house suddenly hummed to life. Turbo raised his head, listened, decided it was okay and flopped back down to sleep.
“Wow. Power came back quicker than I expected.”
“Don’t count on it staying on—at least, not until the storm blows over.” Going to the wall by the door, he flipped a switch and a dim overhead light came on. He eyed it. “You bought some indoor fixtures, too, right?”
“Yeah, but I’ve still been researching how to replace them.”
“I can take care of that.”
She gave him a long, assessing frown before relenting with a slight grin. “You’re a handy guy to have around, Hunter.”
“That’s what I keep telling you.”
An hour later, Hunter was up on a stepladder in her bedroom, replacing that light also, when his cell phone buzzed. It rang five times before he finished his task and could answer it.
Memphis greeted him with, “Dare I hope I interrupted something?”
“Installing a light.”
“Damn, that’s not nearly as hot as I hoped.”
Instead of being annoyed by the comment, as he’d have been in the recent past, Hunter replied, “With the way your mind works, nothing ever is.”
Silence, and then, “By God, brother, was that a joke? It was, wasn’t it?” More solemn, Memphis said, “Welcome back.”
Damn, had he really been such an ogre? Most likely. “Memphis, listen...”
“No apologies necessary. Just tell me if it’s the mysterious Jodi Bentley who caused the change.”
Hedging, because he couldn’t talk freely here, Hunter said, “I’m at my neighbor’s house right now, helping her with a few things. We’re stuck inside—”
“Together?”
“—because it’s been storming like crazy. We’ll be heading out soon, though. Have a few errands to run.”
Again, with a little more incredulity, Memphis asked, “Together?”
Making his annoyance plain, Hunter blew out a long breath. “Did you have something to share besides astonishment?”
“Yeah, I mean... Way to go, bro. That’s all.” More earnest now, Memphis said, “There are probably a few things you should know about this girl.”
“Woman,” he corrected. Why the hell does everyone refer to her as a girl? Probably had something to do with her size, but the distinction was important to him. Lowering his voice in the hopes Jodi wouldn’t hear, he explained, “She’s midtwenties.”
“Okay, yeah, whatever. She has deep connections.”
“I figured that out on my own.” Hunter stared at her locked closet as he came down off the ladder. Where does she keep the key?
“Whoever it is, he’s been hacking into your security cameras.”
“She, not he, and I knew about that, too.”
Another long silence before Memphis remarked, “You’re taking it awfully well.”
“I changed my passwords, but I doubt that accomplished much.”
“It didn’t.”
Hunter didn’t question Memphis. Whatever tech skills Jodi’s friends had, Memphis could likely counter. He was something of a phenom with his ability.
How to explain to his brother. Walking closer to the closet, Hunter lifted the heavy lock and realized it was as complicated as Jodi. Both biometric and keyed, meaning it would take her longer to open it, but also make it harder to hack. “Jodi has very few people in her life, but the ones who know her want to look out for her.”
“You included?”
“Yes.”
“Then I should probably tell you, she doesn’t need much help. In fact, she’s a dangerous woman to be around.”
Yeah, Hunter had figured that as well. “Examples?”
“Shit was buried, so it took me longer than usual to find it, and now it sounds like my warnings might come too late. Not that I’m ungrateful to her for bringing you back around—”
“Memphis.”
With a grin in his tone, his brother said, “I think our gal has used herself as bait to lure a few men into her trap. She’s a vigilante—or at least she used to be a few years ago. And from what I could uncover, the men she targeted were due some tough justice. The thing is, you’re not.”
Knowing where this would go, Hunter said, “Don’t—” but got no further before Memphis spoke over him.
“So help me, Hunter, I will show up there tomorrow and whoop your ass if you don’t listen to me.”
His brows lifted. So did the corners of his mouth. “Threatening me, Memphis?”
“Damn straight.” With more urgency, Memphis said, “You’re back, Hunter. I can feel it. Okay, maybe not all the way back, but it’s happening, and you should know, when I meet this girl—woman, whatever—I’m going to kiss her.”
Too much time had passed since he’d last tussled with his brother. He missed it.
He missed Memphis, too. And his parents. Hell, he was starting to miss a lot, so yeah, maybe he was coming back. “She’d probably kick your ass if you tried, and so we’re clear, she won’t go easy on you like I always have.”
“Ha! I like her more and more. But that doesn’t change the facts. She has a history of luring in guys and delivering her own brand of justice. If she doesn’t know the whole story with you, she might think you’re in their league. You know how shitty rumors go.”
“I don’t think Jodi puts much stock in rumors.” At least, he hoped not.
“Those guys you destroyed... No reason to rehash it, except to say you were never in the wrong for that. You survived, and I’m damn glad.”
Yeah, Hunter was starting to be grateful, too. “Break it down for me, Memphis. What exactly has she done?”