A Pair of Jacks (Siren Publishing Ménage Amour) Read online

  “What are you thinking, Jack?”

  “Trust me. You don’t want to know, Marie.”

  “As a matter of fact, I do.”

  Jack sighed, wiping a hand across his face. No way would he tell her the truth.

  “How the hell did you get into undercover work being the President’s niece?”

  Marie hesitated. “It’s a long story. You sure you want to hear it?”

  He nodded, changing lanes to head westward out of the city.

  “My mom and the President were half-brother and sister. He didn’t know about me until after my mom died. I was already in government work before a background check revealed my connection to him. We had a somewhat…dysfunctional family.”

  “You didn’t know you were related to the President of the United States?”

  Marie grinned. “Can you believe it? I was an Army brat. My mom was career military. We moved from base to base when I was a kid. I never met my grandparents. We pretty much stayed on the move in foreign countries.”

  “What about your dad?” Jack asked with a little frown. He couldn’t picture Marie living anywhere but an upscale neighborhood. He wondered if she was telling the truth or giving him a cover story. Easy enough to check out, he decided, questioning why it mattered to him. He hoped she trusted him enough to tell the truth, because it would make his job a whole lot easier.

  Marie turned her face away, biting her lip before she answered. When she did reply, her voice was quiet and unemotional. “There wasn’t a daddy in the equation, at least none I can remember. I stopped asking about him when I was six years old. Mom refused to tell me anything, and when I got older, I realized it was because she didn’t know who he was.”

  “Sorry, I didn’t mean to pry.”

  Marie shrugged. “You might as well know if you’re going to protect me, Jack. By the time I graduated high school, I found out I was a surprise package from a weekend leave in Mom’s early years before she made the rank of Major and settled down.

  “We talked about it a little back then. She confessed she was a party animal in her younger days. My grandmother kicked her out of the house because she couldn’t control her. With no place to go, Mom joined the military. She excelled at it, so she stayed.”

  “And she never took you home to visit your grandparents?”

  Marie shook her head. “By the time I came along, my grandmother had been remarried several years and had another life. She had a second set of kids.” Marie folded her arms, leaning back in the seat, turning her attention to the traffic surrounding them. Jack noticed the rigid set of her shoulders even though she tried to look relaxed. Obviously, the subject of her family made her uncomfortable. “I guess Mom thought we wouldn’t be welcome.”

  “You must have been lonesome.”

  Marie’s eyes grew distant as she thought about it. “Yes and no. You can’t really miss what you’ve never had. Mom and I had a different relationship. She acted more like an older sister than a parent. We didn’t have any of that mother/daughter tug-of-war going on when I hit my teenage years. She told me I was responsible for myself, and if I made the wrong choices, I’d have to live with them. She gave me the wings of freedom, but I never flew too far from the nest. I had nothing to prove. She’d given me a vote of confidence by allowing me to run my own life. I guess I felt I owed it to her to live up to the challenge.”

  Jack tried to imagine the details Marie had left out. He couldn’t envision her living the life of an Army brat. She looked, and acted, like finishing schools and old family money. He wasn’t sure he believed her, but it would be simple enough to check her out when he had a free minute. “You said she died?”

  “In Iraq.” Marie studied her fingernails. “Friends were fleeting when I was growing up and I learned not to get too close to anyone. That way it didn’t hurt so much when we moved on to the next assignment. But she did teach me skills that were useful in other places. Xavier was a friend of my mother. He sort of adopted me after her death. That’s how I got into the agency.”

  Jack watched a silent tear track down Marie’s face. He reached over to wipe it off her cheek with the back of his hand, using his thumb to dry the moisture on her chin.

  “We’re almost there.”

  * * * *

  The rest stop on Interstate 66 was just a few miles outside of Manassas. Jack hit the first exit ramp, checking his mirrors to see if they were being followed. Apparently convinced no one trailed them, he pulled into the truck stop and drove behind the long block building. He parked the SUV in the shadow of several big rigs left idling while their drivers got food, took a shower, and called home.

  Marie put her hand on the door, preparing to exit the GMC for a bathroom break. Jack caught her other wrist, holding her firmly in the seat. “Not yet.” His gaze searched the shadows for any sign of trouble. Marie stayed put, admiring his fieldwork. He knew his stuff.

  Even though she was about to pee in her pants, she knew there would be no point in arguing with him to hurry. He’d get his own way. She couldn’t risk handcuffs. She really needed to use the facilities and get a cup of coffee. It had been hours since she’d had anything to eat. Once she debarked the plane from Paris, she caught a taxi straight to GSA headquarters without bothering to stop for lunch. It was well past dinner now.

  A tall man stepped out of the shadows, wearing nondescript street clothing—jeans, a blue button down shirt that hung loose over a dark tee and black tennis shoes. He looked like just another guy at a truck stop, except for the way he blended in with the night and moved with the stealthy grace of a tiger. Marie assumed he was Reno since Jack didn’t pick up the pistol lying in the console between them.

  The man walked to Marie’s side of the vehicle and Jack slid the window down. “Reno, this is Marie Maxwell. She’s going to be staying with us for a while.”

  Her heart gave a crazy little beat. Reno was the looker of the pair. Dark eyes surrounded by sinfully long eyelashes gave his dimpled face a quality of friendliness that was definitely missing in Jack Benson's. Running long fingers through his unruly black hair, he aimed a lazy grin at Marie, deepening the dimples in both of his cheeks. “Ready to get out? I know Jack’s effervescent personality can be a little overwhelming at times.”

  She laughed at the look of resignation on Jack’s face. Could two men possibly be more different? Reno opened the door, standing back for Marie to step out past him and she motioned toward the building. “I’d like to stand here and chat, but…”

  Without a word, both men closed in on either side of her, escorting Marie to the door of the ladies’ room. For a minute, she thought they might go inside, but Jack slipped the gun he’d taken from her earlier into the pocket of the uniform she still wore. “I want it back when you come out.”

  They were waiting in the corridor with coffee, donuts, and sandwiches when she returned. For a moment, Marie thought she’d seen Jack smile at something Reno said, but she chalked it up to a trick of the light. She couldn’t imagine him smiling about anything, especially under the circumstances. Jack looked like his face would break if he smiled.

  “You hungry?” Reno handed her a deli ham sandwich while Jack offered her a cup of coffee.

  “Starved.” She peeled the paper back and shamelessly wolfed down a bite before she fainted. “And can I get a change of clothes while we’re here?”

  Reno reached out to dab a bit of mustard off the side of Marie’s mouth. “We were just talking about that. There’s a western store next door.”

  “Western?”

  Shocked, Marie watched as he actually did it again. Stone faced Jack Benson grinned. He must find the thought of her wearing blue jeans funny. He had wonderful features when he smiled. The hardness left his face and his tight mouth relaxed into a kissable Cupid’s bow.

  The memory of his mouth on hers unfurled in her mind. Marie wanted to kiss him once again, just to be certain she hadn’t imagined how skillful he was with his tongue or how he could kiss with passi
on in the midst of anger.

  Reno glanced from Jack to Marie with a knowing look. “There’s some history between you two I don’t know about?”

  “No.” Jack wadded in the last of his sandwich while the smile vanished from his face. He gulped down the coffee like it wasn’t hot, and tossed the empty container in a nearby trashcan. Marie got the feeling he did everything with an economy of movement just in case he wouldn’t get another chance again soon. She thought he must have lived a hard life because it showed in every efficient movement he made.

  * * * *

  Twenty minutes later, Marie left the store dressed in jeans, cowboy boots, and a matching hat. She took time in the dressing room to take her hair out of the chignon, bushing it out with her fingers to let it fall across her shoulders. She stood transfixed, staring at herself in the mirror for a moment. She wondered if the sassy image staring back could really be her. How long had it been since she wore jeans and let her hair down? She thought she might like this new casually dressed woman staring back at her.

  With a slow curl of her lips, Marie turned around to look at her ass in the mirror. Not bad. The jeans hugged her like a second skin, accenting the roundness of her hips and the curve of her waist. Not that she could ever pass as a fashion model. She had too many curves for that, but she was happy with herself. She’d never be the type to starve her body into a shapeless toothpick.

  Leaving the uniform on the bench of the dressing room, she walked out the door to where Jack and Reno waited for her. Her mouth dropped open. Three words immediately came to her mind, ‘Drop dead gorgeous,’ quickly followed by ‘Sex on the hoof’. And any other number of tired clichés she could think of. The two men had transformed into cowboys with the blink of an eye, a pair of quite delicious looking cowboys.

  “You look ravishing, darlin’,” Reno drawled, giving Marie a roguish wink.

  Jack said nothing, but he looked her over from head to toe. He did a slow perusal of Marie’s body, lingering on the spots that interested him long enough to bring a blush of color to her cheeks. When he met her stare again, his eyes held a heat that nearly melted her bones.

  “Let’s get on the road.” Jack gave Marie one more glance before resolutely turning away, but not before he could hide the stiff bulge in the front of his tight jeans from her appreciative eyes.

  She watched him walk in front of her, the cowboy boots giving him a cocky swagger that the flat dress shoes didn’t. Marie thought she could really do with a piece of that. But she didn’t think he would be easy. Reno, on the other hand, was a player. From the confident way he handled women, to the sexy dimples in his cheeks, he had seduction written all over him. He knew how to seduce a woman, and she bet he was damn good at it.

  Marie wasn’t sure which of them would need protecting the most before this assignment ended, her or the men.

  Chapter Three

  “You want to climb in the back and take a nap?” Reno asked, opening the rear door of the SUV for Marie. “We’ve got a long drive ahead of us.”

  “Really?” she asked, feigning innocence. “Where are we headed?”

  “Ghost Moon Ranch, Wyoming.”

  Marie shot Jack a smirk of triumph before turning back to Reno with what she hoped was an innocent grin. “Sure, I’ll get in the back.” She knew he was onto her when he winked conspiratorially before shutting the door.

  On the road, Marie found herself nodding off, despite her intention to stay awake. She wondered belatedly if one of them had slipped something in her coffee, or the food, but she decided there was no reason for them to do so. Giving in to her tiredness, she slept. When she woke again, they were pulling into the graveled parking lot of a small private airstrip.

  A dying moon hung in the pre-dawn darkness. Reno turned off the driving lights and sat for several minutes before edging the car around the end of a concrete hanger housing four or five small planes.

  “Which one?” Reno asked, glancing over at Jack.

  “Cessna.”

  Reno nodded his agreement.

  Marie watched the interaction between them curiously. They’d worked a lot of missions together if their easy camaraderie was any indication. She’d noticed how the pair could communicate without words. A nod, or a flick of the eye, and they responded immediately. Marie wondered what it would be like to have that sort of bond with another human.

  “Earth to Marie,” Reno said in her ear. She jumped half out of the seat, muttering a curse under her breath. She berated herself because that kind of inattention would get her killed in a hostile environment. She needed to quit thinking about the men and focus on staying alive. Yuri was out there somewhere looking for her, and she didn’t think he’d stop until he found her.

  “Which one of you is the pilot?” she asked, placing her bets on Jack.

  “Both of us have a pilot’s license,” Reno answered. He stowed their gear in the back of the tiny plane while Jack made a pre-flight check of the aircraft. “But Jack says I fly like a stunt pilot.” He gave Marie a dazzling grin. “He has no sense of adventure.”

  Jack rolled his eyes. “Get in the plane, Reno. I said you fly like a drunken crop duster. A stunt pilot has some finesse.”

  Marie laughed, until she felt Jack’s hands around her waist. Without warning, she found it difficult to get her breath. Looking into his blue eyes, she wondered how she ever thought they were cold. With a wink, he lifted her onto the wing, balancing her until she stepped inside the small cabin and settled herself in the backseat.

  Reno turned around to face her, pretending to yawn. “Get settled in for the most boring flight you’ve ever experienced.”

  “I think I could use some boring in my life right about now,” Marie said, smiling at Jack.

  He gave a small grin in return, taxiing the plane onto the short runway. Just as the sun popped over the horizon, he leveled the plane westward in the direction of Wyoming.

  * * * *

  Jack set the plane down on a private landing strip in the most beautiful country Marie had ever seen. She pressed her face against the window wanting to take it all in. After years of living in a crowded metropolis filled with pollution, this unspoiled land, with its endless blue sky, seemed like paradise.

  Rolling green meadows filled with wildflowers ran along a wide stream to the nearby bluffs jutting into mountains high enough to still have snow on their peaks. She could smell the fresh scent of pine and the spice of wild herbs mixed with evergreen shrubbery when Reno opened the passenger’s door.

  As the plane touched down, she noticed a tan jeep sitting off to the side of the runway with a sole occupant wearing what looked like a battered Stetson. As soon as Reno stepped out of the doorway, the jeep came closer. A tall, middle-aged Native American stepped out of the vehicle, doffing his hat in greeting.

  He had gray hair pulled back in a ponytail that nearly reached his waist. His faded jeans, denim shirt, and scuffed boots with their silver toe protectors looked worn and comfortable. He was a workingman and it showed.

  Reno held up his hand to help Marie out of the plane. As soon as her boots hit the ground, he turned her in the direction of the driver. “This is Walter Eagleman. He takes care of the ranch while we’re gone.”

  Holding out her hand to Walter, she watched him engulf her hand with his big rawboned fist. His skin felt rough from years of hard work, but his touch was surprisingly gentle. Marie could picture him breaking horses and mending fences like cowboys in the Old West.

  Jack came around the side of the plane, giving Walter a genuine smile and a quick hug. He looked up toward the sky, drinking it in, his face suddenly relaxing like a man who had come home to a place he felt safe and secure. “Good to be back, Walt.”

  “Been too long, Jack. Ranger’s waiting for you.”

  “I’ll take him for a ride after dinner.”

  Marie studied Jack with unabashed curiosity. He seemed different here, relaxed and comfortable with himself. She had never imagined him the type to hav
e an attachment to any living thing. Yet, there was an obvious and deep friendship between he and Walter Eagleman. And there must be a favorite horse waiting for him to ride. If she wasn't careful, she’d think Jack Benson was capable of harboring real feelings for someone other than himself.

  Now you’re being unfair. Just because Jack takes his job seriously doesn’t mean he’s a cold-hearted bastard. So he didn’t show a lot of emotion. Come to think of it, her mom hadn’t either, but she’d been a compassionate and loving person. Marie decided it all came down to her lack of experience dealing with people. She had trouble determining coldness from natural reserve.

  They piled into Walter’s jeep, heading across the meadow, heedless of the riot of colorful flowers he crushed under the knobby off-road tires. Marie winced at the waste of such beauty, remembering that she had paid a small fortune to buy flowers from street vendors in Paris, and none were as pretty as any of the flowers growing in the meadows they traveled through.

  The closer to the mountains they got, more rocks dotted the soil, replacing the beautiful vegetation. The hardy tall stems growing here resembled blooming weeds more than flowers. The terrain grew rugged with a wild beauty of its own. Two picturesque wood fences came into view, making a large corral with an inner ring for horse training. A huge two story wooden barn sat at the far end of the fence.

  Nestled against the bluffs was a rustic cabin with a tin roof and wide porch filled with handmade furniture. Marie’s gaze settled on the swing, and she wondered what it would be like to sit between the pair of Jacks on a cool mountain night with a full moon playing hide and seek behind the bluffs. Just the thought brought a blush to her cheeks and a rush of warmth to her pussy. Which one would she choose? Or did she want her cake and to eat it, too?

  Chapter Four

  Walter showed Marie to her room. It had a full sized bed with loads of lace pillows propped against the headboard and a homemade pink flannel comforter that looked thick and inviting. A wide double paned window looked out over the meadow and stream toward the bluffs that seemed close enough to touch.