Easton's Claim (Colebrook Siblings Trilogy Book 3) (8 page)

Easton wanted her. And not just as a friend.

Her eyes widened in the instant it took for him to lean down and gently press his lips to hers. She gasped, a dangerous tide of hunger and need eroding the shock.

She told herself to pull away but couldn’t move, and he shifted his grip to her jaw, kissing her more firmly. A slow, lingering kiss that set off a dangerous burst of heat deep inside her.

She jerked away and stared up at him, her heart hammering, emotions in total chaos.

Gazing down into her eyes, he swept a thumb over her chin in a gentle caress, the warmth of his breath ghosting across her damp lips. “You have no idea how damn long I’ve wanted to do that,” he murmured.

Piper could only stare.
What. The. Hell.
“Easton…” She trailed off at the shocking, molten hunger burning in his eyes, her mouth going dry.

Holy shit.

“What?” he whispered.

At first she didn’t know what to say, then everything came out at once. “But…what… I’m so much older than you.”

He laughed softly. “Of all the things you could have said, that’s the first one that came to mind?”

Her face heated, her brain struggling to catch up. “I’m six years older than you. And we’ve been friends forever.”

“Five and three-quarters. And yeah, we have.”

“I used to
babysit
you,” she protested, aghast. This was wrong. So very wrong.

So why does it feel so damn good then?

He snorted, as if that didn’t matter to him in the slightest. “My dad asked you to hang around the house while he and the others were at work, just to make sure I didn’t burn the place down.”

“Yeah, and the first day you came back with a broken arm after riding your bike into a ditch.”

“Didn’t burn the place down though, did I?”

This was too crazy. She shook her head, blurted out more. “We’re too different. You date a lot of women and you’re gone all the time with your job. And I used to date your
brother
.” The last thought was so mortifying she stepped back and put her hands to her hot cheeks. Oh my God, what was wrong with her, lusting after Wyatt’s little brother?

Easton lowered his hand and stood there watching her for a long moment. “I haven’t seen anyone since long before I found out you were getting a divorce.”

That stunned her. “You haven’t?” Her voice sounded so small.

He shook his head. “No, because I don’t want anyone but you.” When she simply stared at him in stunned silence, he continued. “Does the rest of that stuff really matter to you? Yeah, I’m gone a lot with my job and I can’t help that, but I’m hoping that doesn’t put me out of the running.”

Out of the running? With
her
? This was too bizarre. She barely resisted the urge to run past him and upstairs to hide in Charlie’s room.

“As for you and Wyatt, you guys dated a hundred years ago, for just a couple weeks. It wasn’t serious, and you never slept together.”

She nearly choked. “You asked him that? Back
then
? You were thirteen!” There was no way he could have had those kinds of feelings for her back then.

“Yeah. And I was insanely jealous of Wyatt for a long time after you guys broke up, because I had a serious crush on you, even back then. I told him then that I thought he was the dumbest shit in the universe for letting you go, but I’m glad you guys broke up when you did.”

She couldn’t even believe what she was hearing. It was so hard to accept what he was saying, his words throwing her entire world off kilter. “You mean…all along, all this time…?”

He nodded once, his eyes somber. “But especially the past ten years or so.”

Ten years. Oh my God.

She took a step backward, reached behind her to feel for the porch swing because her legs were about to give out. She sat with an ungraceful plop and stared at him, feeling like she was seeing him for the first time.

And what a view it was, his tall, muscular form silhouetted by the porch light. He was the kind of man who could have any woman he wanted. Yet he wanted her, and had for more than a decade? Did she understand that right?

“I had no idea,” she managed, trying to ignore the way her body was going haywire. It was forbidden. She couldn’t act on it. Wouldn’t.

“Yeah, I noticed.” His voice held an ironic edge.

Bewildered, she shook her head. “You never gave a single indication that you were interested in me before now.”

“Yeah, because by the time I was old enough for you to see me as something besides Wyatt’s little brother, you were engaged. And then you got married.”

Her heart was racing, her body caught in a wild mix of euphoria and disbelief. “Wow,” was all she could say.

He sat next to her again but didn’t crowd her this time, leaving a space between them, and he didn’t try to touch her. She appreciated that he didn’t push because she was struggling to make the mental adjustment between friends and way more than friends and one more move from him would have sent her running.

“So have I read you wrong?” he asked. “Is it just one-sided on my part?”

Her face flamed hotter. There was no way she was going to admit her change of feelings toward him right now. “We can’t.”

“Why not?”

“Because we’re friends, Easton.”

“And us being together is going to change that?”

“It could,” she fired back. It probably would. And if anything went wrong, she risked losing not just him, but her surrogate family as well. “It could ruin everything.” God, she wished he’d never kissed her or told her any of this.

“I know this is a shock to you,” he allowed, “but I would never do anything to jeopardize—”

“I’m moving to Minnesota,” she said in desperation, trying to get through to him. This would never work. They were too different, and their lives weren’t compatible.

“If that’s what you really want, if the job means that much to you, then we’ll work it out.”

He wasn’t listening. “You’re the wild child of the family. I’m straight-laced and that’s not going to change.” How would that even work between them?

He gave her a slow smile that made hot tingles explode in her abdomen. “I’ve grown up a lot over the years, in case you haven’t noticed. Not nearly as wild as I used to be. Any other objections?” He took her hand, curled his long, strong fingers around hers.

“You’re just going to shoot them down one by one no matter what I say, aren’t you?” she said in exasperation, every nerve ending in her body clamoring for his touch.

“Yes, ma’am. So. What else you got?” He settled back against the porch swing. “I’m ready. Shoot.”

It was impossible to think clearly with him touching her, even just her hand. All she could focus on was what it would be like to shed her inhibitions and go for the opportunity he’d offered. To give into the guilty cravings she’d indulged in over the past few months.

Her gaze strayed to the windows at the front of the house, mind racing. “What about your family? It would be so weird for them.” Yeah, she was grasping at straws now, but she was desperate to make him see reason and cringed at the thought of making things awkward for his family.

“Don’t care if it was, but no, I think after the initial surprise, they’d be happy for us. And I know you, so I know you’re already worrying about what other people in town will say. Don’t. I don’t care what anybody else thinks except you. All that matters is whether you feel anything for me beyond friendship. I know I’ve dated a lot of women in the past, but none of them mattered to me.”

She met his gaze again, heart thudding, damn near holding her breath as she waited to hear what he said next.

With gentle fingers he brushed a lock of hair away from her cheek, skimmed his fingertips over the edge of her face, the touch light as a sigh but she felt it all the way to her bones. “Because none of them were you. And once I found out you were single last time I was home, you were all I could think about. I’m not interested in anyone else. I only want you.”

Jesus.

Her pulse drummed in her ears, his words echoing in her head. She was terrified to admit she wanted him too, but he was experienced enough to know that her reaction to the kiss had already told him the truth.
Crap.
“We just can’t,” she whispered finally, stricken.

Rather than get upset, one side of his mouth lifted in a sexy grin that made her toes curl in her flip-flops. He cupped the side of her face again, leaned in to brush a gentle kiss over her parted lips. “Just sleep on it.”

With that he pushed up from the swing and went into the house as though nothing out of the ordinary had happened, when in reality he’d just turned her entire world upside down.

Piper closed her eyes and buried her face in her hands. She was in hell. The sooner she sold her place and left Sugar Hollow, the better.

“Piper Greenlee. She went back to her maiden name when she left him.”

Brandon nodded and poured himself a few inches of vodka over some ice. In prison he’d been denied every luxury and he planned to make up for lost time. “That’s what I figured. What else?” He hadn’t been able to dig into Greg’s ex-wife’s life until now because he’d been in jail until just a few days ago, so he had his guys out doing it for him.

“She’s a local real estate agent. Word is she’s been spotted around town with this guy since yesterday.”

Brandon took the man’s phone and stared at the photo. Recognition flared in his gut. He knew that face. Brandon had seen him before, just couldn’t place him. “What’s his name?”

The man blinked at him. “You know him?”

Brandon nodded. “Don’t know from where. Who is he?”

“Easton Colebrook.”

Colebrook… Something sparked in his memory. Images swirled through his brain like a movie on fast forward. Of the night of the sting when he’d been arrested. A cop? “What have you got on him?”

“His dad has a big spread of property outside of town. Horse farm. Well-respected family. Three sons, one daughter, and the old man had a stroke a few years ago. He and the sons all served in the Marines.”

Brandon stared at the picture, frustration building inside him. He knew he’d met this man the night of his arrest.

He sucked in a breath as recognition hit him. “He’s a fucking DEA agent.”

The man’s eyebrows shot up. “What? Are you sure?”

“Yeah, I’m fucking sure. I met him during a deal two weeks before I was busted, didn’t realize he was an undercover agent. Christ. I didn’t find out who he was until I talked to another guy in the joint who’d been arrested that same night.” He shoved the phone back at him and paced away, dragged a hand through his hair. “What the hell’s she doing with a DEA agent?”

“I don’t know, but we’ve been working on his profile all afternoon and haven’t found shit.”

“Because his info is classified, obviously,” Brandon muttered. Hell, this was more complicated than he’d imagined. “How close is she to him?”

The man shrugged. “From what I can tell, she’s just a friend of his family.”

“Nothing more to it?”

“Don’t think so.”

Didn’t feel right to Brandon. Greg’s ex suddenly hanging with the same DEA agent who had brought Brandon down? Way too much of a coincidence. “Any chance he’s dirty? Can we get him for the right price?”

“Doubtful. From what I heard, the Colebrooks are pillars of the community-type people.”

Brandon shot him a sideways glance. “Sheriff Greg Rutland used to be too.”

“True, but if she’s a friend of the family, Colebrook’s not gonna turn on her or risk her safety.”

“Where is she staying?”

“We don’t know yet. We’re checking local hotels, but she may be staying with relatives or friends. Possibly the Colebrooks.”

He spun around and aimed a lethal glare at the guy. “Find her.”

“Yessir,” he murmured, lowering his eyes before he turned and rushed from the room.

Brandon tamped down his anger and absorbed the stillness surrounding him. A goddamn undercover DEA agent. It was almost funny. Except it wasn’t.

But maybe…maybe there was a silver lining here.

He strode through the mansion’s game room and out through the leaded glass French doors that led onto the back patio. The large, rectangular-shaped pool glowed a bright turquoise in the darkness. Tall, wrought-iron lamp posts ringed the flagstone patio, casting pools of yellow light over the neatly trimmed boxwood hedges surrounding the private backyard, and the lush green grass of the lawn.

An old trafficker friend had loaned him the place for the next week, if he stayed that long. This place suited Brandon. When he made it into the upper echelons of the cartel, he was going to have a place even better than this. Somewhere out of the States, maybe in the Caribbean or Mexico. He would live like a fucking king, and no one would dare cross him. He’d be rich enough to buy his freedom, even from the goddamn DEA.

He needed to beef up the plan he’d devised while behind bars, and capitalize on this opportunity. If he killed Colebrook in addition to Greg and the ex-wife, it would be one hell of a statement. Everyone would see he wasn’t intimidated by the feds or any other government agency.

That kind of coup would satisfy his need for revenge in addition to salvaging his reputation. It might even propel him into a nice position of power within the cartel once word of what he’d done spread to the right people.

He sipped at the vodka, enjoying the mellow burn as it slid down his throat. “Go wake up our prisoner,” he said to the other man standing watch out on the deck. This time he wasn’t taking chances with his personal security. “Find out what he knows about Colebrook.” There had to be an opportunity here. He’d kill three birds with one stone, rather than two.

Easton Colebrook was now in his crosshairs. Brandon was going to make sure the DEA agent died with the other two.

****

Easton let out a deep exhale and walked through the cabin’s living room out to the screen porch with a mug of coffee. It was still dark out, the first streaks of light barely visible over the tops of the Blue Ridge Mountains. He loved this quiet time before the sun came up. Overseas, darkness meant danger. Here at home, it meant peace and a chance to gather his thoughts.