“They wanted reassurances,” Memphis explained. “I gave them. I suppose they’ll be keeping tabs, but otherwise, you kids can carry on.”
Shaking his head, Hunter couldn’t withhold a short laugh. It was all so over-the-top and absurd, but he had a feeling Jodi was worth it.
As Memphis had said, she had him living again, instead of just existing.
“Thanks for handling things, Memphis.”
“What good is a techie younger brother if he can’t deal with the most mysterious and philanthropic organization this side of the country has ever known?”
“They’re good people,” Jodi assured them. “And they really are generous, often to a fault.”
“Jodi?” Memphis said.
“Yeah?”
“Whatever is in your past, whatever you’ve done, I’ve always found my brother to be a good sounding board. Just remember that, okay? If things get rough, or you need someone to talk with who isn’t playing as a mythical god, Hunter’s a little more real.”
Her smile stretched into a grin. “Each and every one of them could be Zeus, so I get the analogy.” Her golden gaze lifted to meet Hunter’s. “Someone a little more real has to be easier.”
“Awesome. Either of you need me, hit me up. Otherwise, I’ll give you some time before I drop in to visit.”
Drop in to... Hunter straightened. “Wait—what?”
“Gotta run, brother. Keep it real!” And with that, Memphis disconnected the call.
“Damn it.” Hunter stuck the phone back in his pocket. “Where is my dog?”
“Sawing logs in the front room, why?”
“It’s not raining, I’m done here, and I assume you’ve finished in the utility room, so how about we go scope out King, then do some shopping?”
Jodi’s alert gaze probed his, looking for answers and more. “You’re really not scared off?”
“What?”
She gestured at his phone. “You heard your brother. You know the people I’m associated with.”
“Good people, from what I understand.”
“God, yes, they’re good. They’re amazing. And powerful. Few people want them for an enemy.”
“I’m not their enemy,” he said quietly.
“Whatever’s in your past—”
“Is none of their damn business.” He wouldn’t discuss that—at least, not now. Eventually... Hunter shook his head, but he knew the truth. Sooner or later, he’d have to tell Jodi—before someone else did.
In disbelief, she laughed. “You’re not dense, Hunter. You know they’re already digging out of some misguided idea of protecting me.”
“Protecting you is not misguided.” He had to wonder, were they also digging into King? Remmy? Worth? Did they know that Jodi racked up the wrong kind of attention on a daily basis?
She looked away with a short laugh. “Yeah, well, you might not think so, but then, you don’t know enough about them. If they see you as a threat, they’ll deal with it.”
“I don’t scare easy,” he promised. Not when something, or someone, really mattered.
“Just so you know, I told them to back off, too.”
“Will they?”
She snorted.
That got Hunter smiling. “The important thing is that they care about you.” And so do I. “So what do you say we put your snoopy family and my snoopy brother on the back burner for now and go about our day?”
“I say...” She considered it, considered him, and finally gave in. “Sure, why not? Stow your tools while I wash my hands. I’ll be ready in five.”
Watching her walk away, Hunter realized that the more he learned, the more he understood and the more he was drawn to her. He’d never come about wanting a woman by first being shocked by her manner, then impressed by her fortitude, pitying her for her past, wanting to protect her, astounded at what she’d survived, and finally, craving her like he’d never craved another woman ever. He wanted everything, every part of Jodi, the good and the bad, the carefree and the troubled.
It wasn’t the easiest path, but this time, easy didn’t really factor in.
CHAPTER SIX
SMOOSHED AGAINST THE passenger door with Turbo slumped against her, Jodi took in the towering trees still dripping from the rain. “That must be it.”
“Damn.” Hunter slowly approached the drive leading to the ornate gated entry of Russ King’s sprawling, private estate. The tires of his truck made a quiet hiss on the wet pavement. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen a home that big.”
“It’s nice,” Jodi agreed. The decorative iron gates connected to two stone pillars, each topped by security lights, shining amber against the gloomy day. “Parrish owns a bigger spread. It’s like this massive structure that hugs the mountain with rooms that go on forever. I used to wonder why anyone wanted a home that big.” She observed King’s house, and the surrounding grounds, with a critical eye. “Parrish has his set up like a fortress.”
“You sound impressed.”
“With Parrish, yeah. King? No idea what his twisted motives might be, but I know it’d take me three days to do all that yard work, even without breaks.”
Hunter said nothing as he coasted past a well-lit, occupied guard shack. Somehow he’d shifted from easygoing Hunter to on-alert Hunter...and seriously, they were both pretty darned exciting. It stumped Jodi, because she’d never found a guy exciting before. She tended to see men in pretty simplistic terms. Harmless or a threat. Good or bad. Kind or selfish. Disgusting or...well, after meeting Parrish, Reyes and the rest, she acknowledged that some men were exceptional.
She’d never met a guy who was good and somewhat tarnished, kind but disgruntled about it, never disgusting but, oh yeah, very exceptional, at least to her senses, so no matter what, she couldn’t seem to put him from her mind.
Turbo, not caring that the bench seat was crowded and he was already giving her no room, flopped his head in her lap and wriggled closer to get more comfortable. “You big goof.” Drawn away from her inspection of King’s property, which, yeah, seemed to go on for a bit, she told Hunter, “Turn around when you can so we can drive by again.”
“I don’t like it.”
“Right, I know. Your mood is stormier than the sky.”
He ignored the taunt to mutter, “It feels off.”
“Big-time, I know.” On one side of the road was King’s property, strongly fortified and protected, and on the other, nothing but aspen trees closest to the road, backed by pine, spruce and fir trees that created an impenetrable wall.