Close Cover (Masters and Mercenaries #16)(73)

“She’s not,” he replied quickly. “I thought she might be at first, but now I honestly think she might be looking for something to build. She didn’t like her office job, but she might like this. She’s good with people and she’s smart. This job might keep her on her toes. And I know damn straight she needs someone who’ll keep her out of trouble. It follows her around.”

Could he use this very place he’d thought she would run from to catch her in his web? She’d loved the fair the night before. It was the kind of thing that couldn’t be replicated in a big city. Oh, the big-city fair had more rides and attractions, but it didn’t have the same sense of being a family party. They would be talking about the Lisa/Josette takedown for the next twenty years.

“Are you sure you want to leave?” Somehow the thought of losing his cousin just as they were starting to be honest with each other hurt. He hadn’t understood the tension between them all those years ago. He’d thought it was about the wharf and their management styles. He hadn’t realized it had all been about a woman.

“I have to,” Jean-Claude said quietly. “If I don’t, I’m going to end up bitter and I don’t want that. You move her in. Keep the old place up for me if you can’t accept it as a gift. I’m going to work for that conglomerate. Yeah, the horrible one that almost took our town down.”

“Is that why you were in New Orleans? Sera mentioned it, but she thought you were making a deal behind my back.”

His cousin frowned. “No, I was interviewing, and your sister is a menace. She’s the worst gossip in town, and that’s saying something. But yes, I took a job with them. It’s going to take me around the world for the next several years. At the end, when I’ve seen something outside this town, maybe I’ll want to come back, but I doubt it. You got to see the world. Now it’s my turn.”

What the hell was he talking about? “I got to see Afghanistan and Iraq. I got to see some shitty places in the jungle, and even then it wasn’t a vacation. I got dropped in, someone shot at me, we collected the target or blew some shit up, and we went home.”

A smile crossed Jean-Claude’s face. “Well, then, I’m way smarter than you because I’ll be in Paris tomorrow. Good-bye, cos. I wish you well, and call me if you can’t find something, although Meredith knows where everything is.” He held out a hand. “She’s been my girl Friday for a couple of years. If only I could have loved her. I’ve got a plane to catch, cousin. You watch out for that girl of yours.”

“I will.” He shook Jean-Claude’s hand.

“You know Zep is even right now sneaking into your room to get a look at her, right?” Jean-Claude started for the door. “Good luck with that.”

A feminine scream split the air and Jean-Claude laughed as he walked away. Zep suddenly showed up on the stairs, trying to ward off a pillow attack from Remy’s surprisingly feral-looking girl. Lisa was wearing a tank top and a pair of Remy’s boxers. She looked sexy and slightly vicious.

“I’m sorry,” Zep said, rushing down the stairs. “I just wanted to say hi. Your girl is mean. So mean.”

He was going to kill his brother. Well, if Lisa didn’t first.





Lisa came awake with a groan.

Her brain seemed to have been replaced with a heavy bowling ball that kind of rolled against her skull. In a loud as hell way. She stared up at the ceiling. It wasn’t her hospital room or her bedroom. There was a ceiling fan making a slow rotation around and around.

Oh, what had happened to her?

“I think it was Rene’s strawberry wine,” a masculine voice said. “From what I heard, you had quite a bit of it.”

Shit. She sat straight up, hugging the blanket to her breasts. At least it looked like she was properly covered. She seemed to be wearing one of her tanks and Remy’s boxers. How had she gotten into those? One minute she’d been swearing she wouldn’t talk to the man again and a few tiny cups of wine later and she was wearing his shorts. Okay, they’d been rather large glasses. Still, she hadn’t realized she was such a lightweight.

And now she had a strange man in her room.

“Many a bad decision has been made while downing that wine. I myself prefer a nice beer, but there are days when nothing else will do,” the man was saying. He was a tall, slightly lankier version of Remy. A bit younger, but those years and maturity made all the difference for Lisa. Though she did like the longer hair.

Not that she would talk to Remy about growing out his hair because that wasn’t any of her business. It wasn’t her right to run her hands through that hair and feel it tickle her body as he kissed his way down.

Except…something played at the back of her head. Something she’d done. How had she broken that nail? And there was a rocking bruise on the knuckles of her right hand. She didn’t remember any of that. She chose to deal with the problem at hand. “Why are you here? You’re Zep, right? Remy’s brother. You look a little like him.”

“Although I’m considered the handsome one in my family. Zéphirin Guidry, at your service.” He gave her a jaunty bow and a smile that didn’t quite meet his eyes. “Tell me something, Lisa almost Guidry. If you’re engaged to my brother, why is he sleeping on the couch?”

Oh god. The night flooded back in. The Ferris wheel. She’d almost kissed him. When they’d reached the top, the wind had been chilly and she’d snuggled against him. She’d giggled as he won her a tiny teddy bear that only cost him an hour of his life and forty bucks.