Deadly Rivalry (Hardy Brothers Security Book 17) (3 page)

Mandy snickered. “How will you get work done?”

“Screw work, baby,” James said, grabbing her by the waist and tossing her toward the middle of the mattress. “We’ll live on love.”

“I think I can handle that.”

M
onday morning’s
arrival meant Mandy and James had to return to work. After an entire day without clothing – coupled with endless urges – they were both satiated and happy. In fact, while Mandy wasn’t completely back to her normal self, she was so much better James spent half the previous evening trying to figure out a way to get her to call in sick to work so they could repeat the experience Monday. He knew she wouldn’t, but it was a tantalizing thought.

“Hurry home from work tonight, baby,” James instructed, glancing over from his spot next to his Explorer so he could watch Mandy climb into her Focus. “I’ll pick up dinner so we can strip down the second we get inside.”

“I can barely walk as it is,” Mandy shot back, although the smile playing at the corner of her mouth was so cute James couldn’t stop himself from striding over and planting a huge kiss on her. Mandy returned it, and when they separated she was breathless. “What was that for?”

“I love you, wife,” James said, pressing a soft kiss to the corner of her mouth. “You have no idea how much I enjoyed yesterday.”

Mandy smirked. “We have a naked day every week.”

“Yesterday was perfect, though,” James said, brushing a strand of her flaxen hair away from her face. “I want tonight to be perfect, too, so don’t be late.”

“I won’t be late,” Mandy promised, giving his butt a firm squeeze before taking a step back. “Be good today.”

“I’m always good, baby,” James said, tipping an imaginary cowboy hat. “Since you’re not wearing underwear today, I’ll have a reason to get my work done early.”

James often convinced Mandy to go commando so he had something to fantasize about while doing computer work. She never put up a fight because his enjoyment was often contagious. Only the winter months proved difficult.

“I’ll send you a dirty photo in a text when I get back to my office after lunch,” Mandy offered, smiling.

James grabbed her face and studied her for a moment, love washing over him. “Thank you for being the best thing that ever happened to me.”

Mandy was taken aback by his fortitude. “Thank you for being the best husband in the world.”

“I’m going to get a cape that says that so when we play superheroes in our Underoos you’re going to have to bow down to my unbreakable power,” James said, gracing her with another sweet kiss before separating. “Now get to work … and don’t forget your McDonald’s breakfast sandwiches. I’m calling Heidi and she’ll tell me if you lie about eating them.”

Mandy made a face. “I’ll eat one sandwich.”

“You’ll eat one sandwich and a hash brown,” James said, enjoying the negotiation. “If I hear proof you’ve eaten both, I’ll … make it worth your while when you get home tonight.”

“A massage in the hot tub?”

James grinned. “While watching
Jaws
,” he added. “Go to work. I’ll be thinking about you all day.”

J
AMES
was
in a good mood when he got to the security building twenty minutes later, whistling the theme from
Jaws
under his breath as he maneuvered through the lobby. He pulled up short when Grady stepped in his path, blocking his way to his office.

“If you’re about to tell me something awful, turn around,” James said, twirling his finger for emphasis. “I don’t want any bad news today.”

“I’m glad you have the spring in your step back, but you’re not going to like what I’m about to tell you and I have no other option but to tell you,” Grady said.

“Fine. Tell me.”

“Madeline Stokes is in your office.”

James frowned, his stomach twisting. “No.”

“Yes.”

“No.”

“Saying ‘no’ doesn’t make it untrue,” Grady hissed. “She showed up an hour ago and wanted a meeting with you. She demanded that I call you, but I refused. She claims it’s business, but the only business she’s interested in is getting in your pants. That’s written all over your face.”

“Tell me how you really feel,” James deadpanned.

“What are you going to do?” Grady challenged. “I was considering pulling the fire alarm and then locking the door behind her when she got outside, but I don’t want Emma to panic.”

“We also don’t want to wake up the baby in case he’s sleeping,” James added, glancing at the ceiling. Emma and Finn took over his old apartment after he moved. It kept them safe – and offered Emma help with the baby should she need it.

“You don’t have to worry about the baby sleeping,” Finn replied, appearing at the bottom of the stairs with an alert Avery in his arms. “His mother
is
sleeping, however, and if you wake her I’m going to beat you both. I think it’s going to be easy because you won’t put up a fight when I’m holding a baby.”

Grady hunkered down so he was at eye-level with Avery. “Hey, little man. I like that
Star Wars
onesie you’ve got going on there.”

Avery blinked at Grady but otherwise remained unmoved by the statement.

“Mandy bought it for Emma,” Finn said. “She won’t dress him in anything Mandy bought because she’s taking the fact that Mandy won’t hold him personally – like Mandy thinks he’s ugly or something. He’s a poop factory, though, and I didn’t want to do laundry so I grabbed the first onesie I saw.”

“Emma needs to give Mandy a break,” James chided. “She’s working through things. It’s not personal.”

“It doesn’t help that you won’t hold him,” Finn pointed out.

“He freaks me out until he can hold his head up,” James replied. “I’m sorry. I don’t want to break him. He still has that new car smell about him. You should be glad I’m refraining in case I accidentally hurt him. I’m sure I’ll be able to hold him soon.”

Finn sighed. “You’re being dramatic,” he said. “I was afraid to hold him at first, too. He’s warm and snuggly, though.”

Grady made a face as Avery spit up, but Finn wordlessly cleaned up the mess and didn’t let it distract him from the conversation.

“Just … can’t you try holding him for Emma the next time we’re all together?” Finn pressed.

“No,” James said, shaking his head. “When I see the kid holding up his own head and acting a little more … durable … I’ll hold him. I’m never changing him, though, so erase that thought from your head right now. He’s not spending alone time with Uncle James until he craps in a toilet.”

“Nice,” Finn said, although he couldn’t stop himself from laughing. “I heard Madeline is here, by the way.”

“Crappy news travels fast,” James said, making a disgusted face. “Speaking of that … I’ll give you fifty bucks if you take that kid in the office and let him throw up on Madeline.”

“If I could get him to do it on command I would,” Finn said. “He has a mind of his own.”

“That’s because he’s a Hardy,” Grady said. “You know, James, if you hold the baby you could use that as an excuse to get out of meeting with Madeline. We could say you have a babysitting emergency. That’s why we have the kid.”

“I thought we had him because we love him,” Finn said, glancing down at his son and making an exaggerated face. “I’m trying to get him to smile, but he won’t do it.”

“Is he supposed to be smiling?”

“Soon, but not yet,” Finn said. “I just know he’s going to smile at Ally first.”

“That will make her happy,” James said, glancing at the office. “Don’t worry about Madeline. I’ll handle her. She’s not going to get what she wants, so I have no idea why she would show up here.”

“How was Mandy after the charity event?” Grady asked. “She seemed a little … put out.”

“She’s fine,” James said. “We fought about her eating habits and Madeline and then we made up – like ten times. We had naked Sunday and she was cuddly and giggly the entire day. I’m calling it a win.”

“I’m glad,” Grady said earnestly. “I’ve been worried about her. Has she gone in the guesthouse yet?”

“Not yet,” James conceded. “When she’s ready she’ll do it. I refuse to push her.”

“Yes, but I want to see her face when she sees what we did with the saloon,” Grady said. “It’s not really a saloon anymore, is it? What should we call it?”

“I’ve ordered a sign,” James replied. “I’ll tell you what to call it when I hang it and Mandy finally sees it. Thanks for doing that, by the way. It looks nothing like it did before and that wall you left is a nice touch. She’s going to love painting a mural on that … eventually.”

“You seem like you’re more relaxed,” Finn said.

“That’s because they had sex like rabbits all day yesterday,” Grady supplied. “He was humming the theme song to
Jaws
this morning.”

Mandy’s love of all things sharks – especially the classic Steven Spielberg movie – was well known in the Hardy family. James wasn’t ashamed in the least. “She also ate a full takeout meal yesterday and is picking up McDonald’s for breakfast this morning. By the way, I need to be out of here at four. I promised I would pick up dinner and then we’re turning the rest of our night into naked Monday.”

Grady rolled his eyes. “I’m glad you’re back to being sick.”

“Me, too,” James said, shaking his head as he studied his office. “I need to get this out of the way. I’m probably going to end up being rude, so you might want to take Avery into the storeroom or back upstairs if you don’t want him to pick up his first swear word.”

“He doesn’t know what his nose is yet,” Finn said. “I think he’ll survive.”

“Let’s hope I survive,” James grumbled, squaring his shoulders. “If I’m not out of there in ten minutes, I need one of you to interrupt with a fake emergency.”

Grady snickered. “Do I get to make up the emergency?”

“Knock yourself out,” James answered. “Just make sure it’s bad enough to get her out of my office.”

“Consider it done.”

M
ADELINE
glanced
up when James pushed his office door open and stepped into the enclosed space. He kept his face neutral as he shuffled toward his desk, sitting in the chair before fixing his expressive eyes on his former flame.

“What do you want?”

Madeline scowled. “Is that any way to treat a potential customer?”

James arched a dubious eyebrow. “Is that what you are? I’m sorry. I thought you were a jilted girlfriend. I’m sure you can understand my confusion since my ex-girlfriends don’t often hire me.”

“Jilted?” Madeline’s expression was momentarily hateful. “You know, I’m not going to pretend like I handled things well when we broke up. You hurt me. I was crushed. I lashed out in extremely stupid ways. You’re not innocent in it, though. You led me on and treated me poorly. You should take some responsibility for what happened.”

James rested his elbows on his desk and steepled his fingers. “That’s a fair point,” he said. “I did treat you poorly. I thought the relationship would naturally run its course. When I realized you expected more from me … well … I ran. I took the coward’s way out. For that I am sorry.”

“Are you sorry you left?” Madeline’s question was tinged with hope.

“No,” James replied, not missing a beat. “I didn’t love you. That relationship was going nowhere. I knew that. I thought you knew it, too. I was in it for fun and the lack of emotional attachment.” His words were blunt – bordering on rude – but he needed her to be very clear about where they stood.

“And you didn’t have that problem with your wife?”

“No,” James answered. “I knew the moment I saw her that things were different. I didn’t know what it was at the time, but there was a spark of energy between us. I was in love with her within two weeks. I knew I was going to propose three months in. Once we were together I couldn’t imagine being with anyone else.”

“I see,” Madeline said, her tone cold. “Well, I guess I know where you stand.”

“That is exactly where I stand,” James said. “Mandy is my life. We are happy. Nothing is going to get between us. So, if that’s all … .”

“Believe it or not, I’m not here to sleep with you,” Madeline said. “I have need of your other … services.”

James pressed his lips together and faked a cough to give himself time to adjust to the request. “I’m not sure that’s a good idea.”

“If you say you’re in love with your wife, I don’t see what the problem is,” Madeline said. “I’m not going after you. I don’t go after married men.”

“That’s not how you made it sound last night,” James pointed out.

“That’s because I thought you were messing with me,” Madeline replied. “I thought you told me you were married because you wanted to play a game. I was wrong. You’re married. You’re happy. We can move on with no regrets or embarrassment.”

She was suddenly all business and that made James suspicious. “And what job do you have?”

“I need a security system for my office,” Madeline said. “It’s a day spa in Clinton Township. I just opened it.”

James frowned. He was familiar with day spas. Mandy and Ally would live in one if they had their way. “Why does a day spa need our brand of security?”

“I need cameras on each floor, proper computer equipment, adequate lighting and coverage in the parking lot, and a search system built into my desk computer to run background checks on my customers,” Madeline answered. “I’m willing to pay fifty percent over your normal rate if you can start this week.”

“You didn’t answer my question,” James pressed. “Why would a day spa need our brand of security?”

Madeline shrugged. “Tell me if you’re interested,” she said. “If you are, we’ll go out to lunch this afternoon and I’ll tell you a story. If not, I need to get going now so I can find someone else to handle my problem. It’s up to you.”

James was conflicted. Ever since he laid down the law with Madeline she’d been professional and courteous. The day spa would be an easy job – and a nice chunk of change – so he wasn’t keen on turning it down. He also wasn’t keen on putting up with Madeline if she started playing games.

“If you say one word about my wife – if you try one thing that I don’t like – I’ll end this job before you have a chance to think up a lie to cover your ass,” James warned.

“I’ve already told you I’m not interested in someone else’s husband,” Madeline said. “Do you want the job or not?”

“Sure,” James said.