No, no, maybe he didn’t.
Just…say it! “I love you,” Ali blurted.
Silence. The words seem to have fallen hard into the quiet bar.
Chapter Seventeen
I love you. Ali’s words rang in Jinx’s ears. He even shook his head, convinced that he’d imagined them. When you wanted something so badly, sometimes, your mind could start playing tricks on you.
“I haven’t confused good sex with love. I remember our rules.” Her lush mouth tightened. “We have great sex. Phenomenal. But what I feel for you is completely separate from that.”
War had come down the stairs. Jinx had been conscious of his approach. He’d heard the creak of the fourth stair and knew that War was coming to see what the hell was keeping them. War had arranged the meeting, and Jinx had no doubt that his buddy had watched them arrive from one of the windows upstairs. When too much time had passed and they hadn’t appeared, War had come looking for them.
Ali’s shoulders tensed. She’d obviously heard that little creak, too. “War,” she whispered.
Jinx nodded.
“So…” War’s steps approached them quickly. “It’s not just a problem that Jinx has. You both like to overshare about your sex life.”
Jinx glared at him. Would it have killed War to have turned around and taken his ass back up the stairs? Could he not tell that he was interrupting a major moment? Because Jinx thought it was more than damn obvious. “Go,” he mouthed to his buddy.
War held his ground. “I’m not the only one waiting up there.” He looked up. “Landon wants to brief you. He’s the one who wanted to come down first, but I volunteered for duty instead. Figured you’d rather have me interrupt than him.”
Yes, War had figured correctly. “And Odin?”
“He’s running down leads. He’ll meet up with us later—”
Even as War said that, the front door to Armageddon swung open. Jinx whirled around, battle-ready tension filling him, but the person in the doorway…it was Rose, War’s wife.
She held up her keys. “Thought it was fine if I let myself in.” Her sharp gaze took in the scene inside the bar. “Things certainly seem tense in here.”
War hurried to her side. “Baby, this isn’t a good time for a visit.”
No, it was a shit time. Jinx glanced back at Ali. He didn’t think she’d met Rose yet.
But Ali’s eyes weren’t on Rose. They were on him.
Jinx needed her to understand…Voice low, he promised, “We are going to finish this talk when we’re alone.”
She licked her lower lip.
He fought the urge to kiss her. Fought the need to pull her close and demand that she give him those three utterly amazing words one more time.
I love you.
Could it be true? Could something that good have finally happened to him? And to think, all he’d had to do was lie and cheat in order to get her…
“War, I feel terrible!” Rose’s voice was strained. “I’m the one who brought Imari into our lives! I’m the one who pushed you to give her a job! I had no idea that she was working undercover to bring down Ramsey Hyde.”
At the mention of Ramsey’s name, Jinx had to look back at her once more.
Rose’s face showed her concern. “I didn’t even know that you had dealings with Ramsey,” she told War.
Dealings? That was an interesting word.
“I trusted her,” she added as she gazed up at her husband. “Because of that trust, I put you and your friends in—”
War kissed her. Leaned down and gently brushed his lips over hers. “It’s okay,” he said, voice as tender as his kiss had been. “We all knew she was a cop or a Fed the minute she walked through the door.”
She pushed against his shoulders. Her narrow-eyed glance darted from him to Jinx to Ali.
“Hi,” Ali said, tucking a lock of hair behind her ear. “I’m Ali, and, yes, we all knew.”
Rose’s gaping mouth closed. Her attention flew back to War. “So I’m feeling guilty for nothing?”
“No, it’s something,” Jinx assured her.
Ali elbowed him.
Since she’d said she loved him, he chose to ignore the elbow to the ribs.
“Where is your friend?” Jinx asked. Because he’d love to have a chat with Imari.
“I don’t know.” Rose’s heels tapped on the floor as she paced toward him. “She stopped answering my calls. I went by her place, but it’s been cleared out. It’s like she’s just vanished.”
Now that was interesting.
“She was certainly far from pleased when she got the call telling her to pull back at Ramsey’s place,” Ali said thoughtfully. “Maybe her orders weren’t just to let him go. Maybe she was supposed to pack up and end the entire investigation.”
Right. About Imari and everything that had gone down at Ramsey’s bar… “We are really going to need to have a long talk,” Jinx began. Jeez, this was gonna be awkward. “Just remember that when we have that talk, you love me. You said the words. Can’t go taking them back.”
“Jinx!” Her cheeks flushed.
Oh, what? Why the blush? What was embarrassing about her loving him? “You love me,” he repeated, voice more definite. Harder. She wasn’t gonna take that back. Not after he’d worked so hard.
She cast a glance toward War and Rose. But they were back to whispering to each other. And then Rose was darting out the door.
That had certainly been a fast visit.
“She had a few more leads to follow up on,” War rumbled. “A couple of other spots where she wants to search for Imari.” He pointed upstairs. “And we have Landon waiting. If it’s all the same to you, how about we get up there fast? Because I don’t like the idea of Landon being unattended in my office.”
That comment made Ali’s brow furrow. “Don’t you trust him?”
War made his way past them and toward the stairwell. “I trust Rose—I’d trust her with my life. I trust Odin. I trust Jinx. And I trust you.” He looked back at her. “No one else is in that special circle just yet, though Odin’s lady is working her way real close…” He faced forward again, and a moment later, his steps thudded up the stairs. This time, he was being plenty loud.
Ali moved to follow him.
Jinx reached for her hand. “Who is in your circle of trust, sweets?”
“Isn’t it obvious? Though I don’t know if it’s a circle, so much as a very short line. You’re the only one I’ve ever told all my secrets. You’re first.”
His heart wasn’t going to be able to handle many more of her confessions.
“You, Odin, and War. Cy used to be on that list but…” Her words trailed away. She straightened her shoulders. “Like I said, my list is pretty short and sweet.”
“Aw, Ali, you think I’m sweet?” He grinned at her. Despite all the madness happening, he felt happier than he’d felt in…
Hell if I know how long.
“Your smile always makes me want to jump you,” she confessed. “But this is not the time.”