Quietly, Remmy asked, “Is it really over?”
“It is. And for now, unless you do something else stupid, you’re in the clear, so I suggest you get it together, and fast.”
“In the...” He rushed to catch up to Hunter. “How is that possible?”
“Jodi’s doing.” Hunter shot him a look. “And I agreed. You’ve been helpful. Don’t make me regret it.”
“But how?”
“She has connections. Now, leave it at that.”
Appearing dazed, Remmy bound a man’s wrists. “Who’s in the trees?”
“Her family.” Hunter moved to the other man. “And you do not want to be on their bad side.”
“I suppose they like you?”
“Maybe, but it doesn’t matter.” Hunter stood again and looked to where Jodi walked with state troopers, men that Parrish specifically knew and trusted. She was explaining the situation to them while gesturing to paramedics, all in all, taking charge and looking incredibly beautiful. “She’s mine. I love her. More importantly, she loves me.” He pinned Remmy with a hard stare. “You don’t have a chance.”
Remmy laughed. “I never did, I know. But I meant what I said. I’m glad she’s happy.”
“Me, too.” Hunter started back to her. “I plan to keep her that way.”
CHAPTER TWELVE
One week later...
“I CAN’T BELIEVE they want to set Remmy up as an operative.” Fresh from a shower, dressed in a loose T-shirt, pull-on shorts and nothing else, Jodi flopped onto the couch next to Hunter. “You know it’s because they think I’ll get into more trouble and they want someone to keep an eye on me.”
Hunter said, “I’ll be keeping both eyes on you.” And his hands. His mouth. Every available body part...
“Not the same,” Memphis said from the floor where he brushed Turbo. Supposedly, being left behind to watch over the dog the day they’d confronted King had unsettled not only Memphis but Turbo, too. Memphis had found the only way to occupy his thoughts and soothe Turbo was to groom him.
Using his own hairbrush, because he hadn’t known where Hunter kept the dog’s.
Turbo had enjoyed it so much, it had now become a nightly ritual.
He added to Jodi, “And you know you’ll find more trouble, hon. Or it’ll find you. Somehow, some way, we all know it’s going to happen.”
Jodi whipped a throw pillow at his head, but Memphis caught it and tossed it back, laughing.
Hunter pulled her into his side and kissed her forehead. “They love you.”
“I know that,” she grumbled.
“Aren’t you happy for Remmy? He’ll be better trained, so maybe next time I take a swing at him, he’ll have the good sense to duck.”
“There won’t be a next time.”
Hunter made no promise on that, especially since the guy would be hanging around. “He’ll have a legit job—”
“Sort of legit,” she corrected.
“—and he’ll be helping people when they need it.”
Groaning, Jodi dropped back dramatically across his lap and stared up at him. “You always see the best and I’m always bitching.”
That had to be a joke. He’d never seen anyone who complained less. “If you want to hear bitching, you should have heard me burning Memphis’s ears.”
“It’s true,” Memphis said. “Hunter was not too happy that his competition would be sticking around.”
“Competition?” Jodi turned her head to see Memphis. “Who?”
Hunter met Memphis’s gaze and they both laughed.
“You see?” Memphis said to him. “I told you there was nothing to worry about.”
“I wasn’t worried.” Hunter hauled Jodi up so that she sat on his lap instead of draped over it. With one hand on her thigh, the other at the back of her neck, he kissed her. “He’s definitely hung up on you. I almost feel sorry for him.”
Jodi snorted. “I’m not buying that. Remmy’s not hung up on any woman, especially not me. Besides, everyone knows I love you.”
She said it so casually, it took Hunter a moment to process the words, and once he did, he drew her in, taking her mouth in a voracious kiss that he meant to keep short, but couldn’t. He wanted to carry her off to his bedroom and hear her say it a hundred times more—while he made love to her.
Then he remembered his brother was sitting only a few feet away.
He lifted his head enough to look into her eyes, those beautiful eyes that had caught him from his first glimpse.
“Wow.” Jodi licked her lips. “What brought that on?”
Memphis snorted.
With her gaze going suspicious, she looked from his burning expression to Memphis’s sappy smile and then to Turbo, who watched them alertly, his tail giving three hard thumps on the floor.
“What?” she asked, frowning at all of them. “It’s not like it was a secret.”
“No, it wasn’t.” Hunter had known she loved him, because he knew her. He understood her and what motivated her, just as she understood him. With another, gentler kiss, he whispered, “I still wanted to hear it.”
She blinked at him. “I’ve told you before.”
“No, you haven’t.”
She turned to Memphis. “Haven’t I...?”
“The last week has been chaotic, hon, what with cops coming and going, your family dodging everyone, Worth recovering, and King’s men getting picked up left and right. Still, I’m pretty sure I would have noticed if you’d finally put my brother at ease.”
“Shut up, Memphis,” he said, because he was at ease. Jodi was staying with him. Every night, she slept wrapped around him, and every morning, she smiled when she opened her eyes. She hadn’t yet made it to the basement, but she no longer looked at the door with dread. He figured they had plenty of time to tackle life and all the issues. For now, he just wanted to love her. In a hundred different ways, she’d shown him how much she loved him, too.
But she hadn’t said the words—until now.
Her gaze softened, then dropped to his mouth. “I love you, Hunter Osborn. From now on, I’ll be sure to say it every single day.”
“How about twice a day?” He nuzzled her ear. “Maybe every hour?”