Jennifer Morey - Armed and Famous

He started a skillet of hamburger going and began cutting up peppers and onions.

“What are you making?”

“‘Even the Kids Love It’ casserole.”

“A kid recipe?” She grinned wide, his relaxation strategy already going to work. “Are you a good cook?”

“I wouldn’t go that far.” He chuckled at the idea. Him, a good cook. Ha! “Casseroles are easy, and they taste good. My sister is a real pro at making them for me. She doesn’t know it, though.”

“Which of the eight is she?”

“Arizona. The youngest.” He smiled his fondness. It had been a while since she’d come over to play a board game with him.

“I can see you’re close. Are you that way with all your brothers and sisters?”

“No. Arizona and I are the closest, even though we’re the farthest apart in age. When she was a kid, I was the one she always came to when she was being bullied and, later, when she was older, when the press crawled a little too close.”

“Tough big brother, huh?”

“She’s always needed watching over.”

“Protective.” She mulled that over awhile, making him wonder what she was thinking. Was being protective a good thing or a bad thing to her? She struck him as very independent. Women like that didn’t appreciate being treated like a helpless damsel in distress.

Lincoln didn’t see it that way. Men were typically physically stronger than women. They could protect them.

“Arizona thinks she can do more than she actually can, or maybe it’s more than she has to do.”

“She goes above and beyond?”

“She lost a fiancé several years ago. He was kidnapped and killed, and she had a hard time getting over it.” He went to the sink to wash his hands. “Now she wants to start up an adventure organization for victimized people. Sort of like fear therapy.”

Remy moved farther into the kitchen toward the refrigerator. “That’s commendable. She sounds like a very brave woman.”

“Brave is a good word for her. And she’s got a good man in her life to keep her out of trouble. I don’t have to watch her so closely.” He grinned as he dried his hands with a paper towel.

“Good man? What is that?” Beginning to feel at home, she opened the refrigerator and took out a bottle of water. “Want one?”

“Sure.”

Dodging Maddie, whose nose was to the floor looking for fallen scraps, she opened the cap for him and set it by the cutting board he’d just taken out of the cabinet.

Leaning against the counter beside him, she asked, “What’s in a kid’s casserole?”

He moved to a lower cabinet and took out a kettle, greeted by Maddie’s cold, wet nose. “Noodles, peppers and onions, corn, burger, lots of cheese and some special ingredients.” Straightening, he filled the kettle with water.

“Secret ingredients?”

Putting the kettle on the stove and turning the burner to high, he went to the pantry and took out a can of cream-of-chicken soup and one of nacho sauce, holding them up for her inspection.

She laughed. “Okay, so you can’t cook.”

“Can you?”

“When I’m forced.”

Chuckling at their similarity, he dumped the onions and peppers into the burger and, after a few minutes, the noodles into the now-boiling water. When the onions and peppers were tender, he mixed everything together and put it into a casserole dish. A little cheese on top and into the oven.

Next, he went to the garage to get food for Maddie.

“You have dog food, too?” Remy watched him pour food into one of two bowls beside the refrigerator. There was already water there.

“I bought it just in case.” In case she needed someone to watch her dog. In case Wade proved to be too much brawn for her to handle. In case Maddie became a permanent resident in his house....

Maddie inspected the bowl of food. Unlike with her treats, she ate slowly. Munching away, looking around and up at them with the wag of her tail then going down for another dainty bite.

Remy smiled at Lincoln and then drank some water. She was relaxed, the way he wanted her to be. Now they could talk.

“Who’s Wade Nelson?” he asked.

Lowering the bottle of water, her smile faded, soft eyes guarded now. But she didn’t appear surprised by his question. She must have expected him to bring it up eventually.

When she didn’t say anything, he said, “I’ll find out whether you tell me or not.” He’d seen the man’s driver’s license, and he had a really good memory.

After a yielding sigh, she put the bottle of water on the kitchen counter. “He runs a OneDefense store here in Denver.”

“He sells guns?”

She folded her arms as though chilled. “Retail. Yes. OneDefense Corporation has lots of stores around the country.”

“I’ve heard of them. Why was he threatening you?”

She’d already said she couldn’t tell him. But he wasn’t going to let up until she did. As she met his eyes, she must have realized that.

“I’ve been watching him. I’ve suspected for a while that he was dealing in illegal gun sales, and I’ve been trying to gather evidence against him.”

“Why?”

“I want him out of my life.”

“Why is he in your life?”

Her eyes were steady on his. She was a crafty woman, strong and self-sufficient, but he suspected she wasn’t always that way. She was in survival mode. And she didn’t want to answer him.

“When I met him I didn’t know the kind of man he was.”

The kind involved in illegal gun sales? How had she gotten herself involved with someone like that? “How did you meet him?” It hadn’t been at the coffee shop. Like the detectives, he could tell she lied about that.

Her clear, beautiful green eyes stared up at him. Whatever had her tongue-tied was worse than anything that had occurred since she’d moved in. More dangerous than Wade’s fists. This was as dangerous as the dark-haired man who’d come to her house for the envelope.

She put her hands on the edge of the counter. It made her breasts rise a little, drawing his attention there. He was afraid when his eyes lifted they held too much heat. But when he saw an answer in hers, he didn’t stop it.

Stepping closer, he bent to bring his face right above hers and asked, “What was in the envelope?” His voice was gruff, unintentionally so.

She drew in a breath and began to sidle away. He stopped her with his arms, putting his hands on the counter and caging her.

Her gaze lowered to his mouth, as though the sound of his voice lulled her. Then she lifted her eyes. “Not enough. Just some paperwork from Wade’s store showing some missing inventory. Wade caught me before I could trace the illegal sales.”

“You were going to try to find out where the sales went?”

“I want to know the entire operation. Who’s involved. Sellers. Buyers.”

“Why not leave it up to the ATF? They could have gone in and done an inspection.”

She turned her head aside, avoiding him as much as she could while trapped by his arms. The sound of Maddie eating had a calming effect.

Not calming enough. Remy wasn’t answering him.

Cupping her chin gently, he brought her head facing him again, looking into her eyes.

She closed hers. When she opened them, she began. “OneDefense has fifty-some odd stores around the country. I want to know which of them are involved.”

Still hedging. “How did you meet Wade?”

She licked her lips and pursed them before they dropped open, sultry without even trying. “I can’t tell you.”

“You said yourself—they’re going to come after me now. I have a right to know.”

She didn’t reply, but seemed to struggle with how.

“Who sent those men to your house?” he helped her out by asking, his voice lower and deeper than he intended. He was too aware of her physically.