All Jacked Up (Rough Riders #8)(20)

She exhaled. “Okay. Try again.”


He set his hand on her knee. “Maybe we should start here.”


“See? I hardly flinched at all.”


“That’s heartening.” Jack lightly caressed the smooth skin. She didn’t object. This could work if he took baby steps.


Yeah, if you’re lucky maybe the prickly woman will let you hold her hand tomorrow.


The sexual cynic inside him laughed that only a hard-up moron became excited by stroking Keely’s cute kneecap.


Fuck. This was so not him. Waiting. Asking permission. He was large and in charge.


“Maybe we should start with you dousing me with tequila,” Keely muttered.


Jack scowled. “You have to get drunk just to talk to me?”


“You asked.”


“Can you not be contrary for one goddamn second?”


Keely opened her mouth, probably to fire off, I’m not contrary, but she snapped it shut.


Ah. Progress. While he waited for her to jumpstart the conversation, he lightly swept his thumb over the top of her knee.


“What should we chat about?” she intoned sweetly.


“Bring me up to speed on your family. You could talk about them all damn night.”


A small smile. “True. What do you want to know?”


“I imagine you spend significant time with your nephews since you have an entire closet filled with toys.”


“You noticed. Except I have nieces now too.”


“Who has girls?


“I’ve always counted Kade’s three daughters as my nieces since Kade is like my sixth brother. And Chassie has sweet little baby Sophia, but I’m talking about Cam and Domini’s girls, Oxsana and Liesl.”


“Huh. Carter told me they planned to adopt twins. A boy and a girl?”


“They did. Dimitri is Oxsana’s twin brother. When Cam and Domini were at the orphanage in Romania, Liesl, who was five at the time, began following them around, sharing Dimitri and Oxsana’s likes and dislikes.”


“Liesl spoke English?”


“I guess she learned from watching TV.”


He playfully bumped her with his shoulder. “See? TV’s not all bad.”


Keely’s beautiful, wistful smile appeared again. “According to Cam, Domini would’ve brought every kid in the orphanage home, so it’s ironic Cam was the one who pushed to adopt Liesl.”


“Why?” Jack’s hand inched higher on her leg.


“Cam, being nosy Cam, noticed Liesl limped, but she’d always shuffle away and hide whenever he asked her about it. When he grilled the orphanage caretakers, they told him her leg had been blown off by a land mine when she was two.”


“Holy shit. Seriously?”


“Yeah. She’d wandered away from her drug-addled parents into a freakin’ minefield. Then they abandoned her into state care. Luckily she got a prosthetic leg, which isn’t always the case, and actually, is out of the norm.”


“Why’s that?”


She shrugged. “Fittings are difficult for younger kids because they grow so much. Balance is always an issue. They constantly need new prosthetics and each one is expensive. You can imagine that isn’t a priority in what’s basically a third world orphanage.”


“Sounds like you know a lot about prosthetics,” he murmured.


“I learned tons helping Cam find the right one. Anyway, Cam was heartbroken no one wanted to adopt her due to her handicap. He understands probably better than anyone what it’s like to live with that embarrassment. That fear of being alone.” She paused. “He fought for her. He wouldn’t leave Romania without her, actually. So Liesl returned to the U.S. with them and the twins. Every day, for like three months after they brought her home, Liesl battled going to sleep at night. She was afraid she’d wake up and find her new life was all a dream.”



Keely’s voice broke and Jack squeezed her thigh.


“And now…I can’t imagine Liesl not being part of their family. Cam’s quiet life and pristine house is a thing of the past but he and Domini wouldn’t have it any other way.”


“Sounds like they should be canonized.”


“I suspect they’re not done adding to their brood. It’s funny. Cam was always ambivalent about being a parent. So it’s hysterical he’ll probably end up with the most kids out of any of my brothers. That said, God knows all my brother’s wives are in some freaky race to see who can pop out the most McKays. Jesus.


They’re all pregnant again. It’s an epidemic that makes me want to stay far, far away from their overactive uteruses.”


He gently stroked her soft skin, watching her closely. “They’re all pregnant?”


“Yep. Channing, AJ and Macie are knocked up. So’s India. And Chassie. And my cousin Quinn’s wife, Libby, is on baby number two. On the West side, Blake’s wife, Willow, is expecting their first. His brother Nick’s wife, Holly, is expecting their second.”


Jack whistled. “That’s some seriously scary reproductive mojo.”