WARRIOR (CROSSFIRE SEALS, #5) (3 page)

Normally, cupcakes weren’t his style. For one thing, they were often too small and sweet and gone in one bite. But damn if this particular cupcake didn’t taste fine. She wasn’t too small for just one taste either. She fitted his body fine too. He could think of a dozen naughty ways of fitting inside her and sinking his teeth into this delectable morsel.

She was kissing him back boldly. He liked that. In fact, he liked a lot about this woman so far. She had a saucy tongue and the way she’d joined in to help Lulu suggested someone who didn’t think too much before jumping into the fray of things. If that was true, the next couple of days looked very promising indeed.

He slid her hand down his chest, enjoying the feel of her nails scraping lightly across his skin. She made a sound in her throat and snuggled closer. His hand explored the curve of her back and moved lower. She arched against him. Oh yeah.

The sound of a door opening interrupted his amorous line of thought.

Damn, damn, damn. Not Aunt Clementine again.

“Ahem.” It was Mink. Then, a little louder, “ahem, ahem.”

With great reluctance, Lucas lifted his head. “I heard you the first time,” he said.

“Sorry,” Mink said, “but Lulu is coming out in a sec and I thought you’d better not tempt her to take another photo with her camera.”

Lucas cocked a brow. “Is the mission accomplished?”

“Oh, yeah. Deleted. Rechecked. And the perp properly punished.” Mink grinned his trademark flash of a smile, teeth white against his tan. “Very properly.”

Hmm. The few times they’d been together, he’d noticed Mink showing signs toward his sister. “I see,” Lucas said. “I hope you didn’t cross the line. You are, after all, in your underwear and were in a room with my sister.”

“I’m still in my underwear, aren’t I?” Mink pointed out solicitously.

A tap on his shoulder. Lucas looked down. “Yes, Cupcake?”

She frowned. “No, that’s what you are, remember?” She reminded him politely. “You’re the cupcake and I was invited to bite you.”

Oh yeah. He ignored Mink’s smirk. He had to remember the woman had a brother and probably knew many insidious ways to get back at men. And that brought back Mink’s warning. Lulu. He let go of Kit reluctantly.

“I’m doing this under duress,” he told her in a soft voice. “Another time, I’d insist on a bigger bite.”

Her face had a pretty flush, even though she rolled her eyes. Before she could answer, the door behind Mink opened and Lulu came out, looking defiant as she gathered her hair into a ponytail.

Lucas turned, crossed his arms and gave her his best big brother look. “Are we done playing?” he asked. “Because you know you’ve lost this one.”

“Oh, I’ll get another chance,” Lulu said airily. She gestured to Kit. “Come along. We have things to discuss.”

“Umm. Can I just go to sleep?” Kit asked, in a hopeful voice. “It
is
pretty late.”

“Traitor.”

Kit put up her hands in surrender. “Okay. Nighty-night. Not going to stand out here all night.”

“Yeah, you’re keeping Aunt Clementine awake,” Lucas chimed in.

His sister took the bait. “Oh no, you’re not making me to be the bad guy, brother. This was for what you did the last time and I’m going to tell Aunty Clementine all about it.”

Lucas grinned. The seeds of future vengeance had been planted. He turned to Kit. “Goodnight,” he said, letting his gaze do the talking.

He couldn’t see the exact shade, but her eyes were a pretty lighter color. There was amusement in them and then, she winked, as if she knew what he was up to.

“’Night.”

He sent Mink a look and they started down the stairs. Behind him, the girls were speaking softly.

“Traitor,” his sister reiterated, although she didn’t sound indignant. “You sided with my horrid frog brother.”

“Aw, he’s a cupcake.”

Lucas’ grinned widened. He was already hungry for breakfast. But first things first. The moment they were out of hearing, he casually asked, “Now, what did you do to my sister again?”

Mink scratched the back of his neck. That was usually a sign that he was skipping a few things in his story.

“I tackled her and snagged the camera. Then I sat on her while I deleted the photo.”

Lucas glanced at his friend briefly. “You know my sister can take down a man twice your size, right?”

Mink shrugged. “I sat on her hard.”

They reached the Pink Room. Lucas turned to Mink.

“I know she’s a grown-up now, but I feel obliged to give you that big brother warning, you know? Don’t mess with my sister’s feelings, man.”

Mink shook his head. He turned the door knob. “Hey, I’m taking it as slow as she wants, dude.”

Lucas put out a hand, stopping the door from opening wider. “Gotcha,” he said. “You
have
been messing around with my sister.”

Mink shrugged. “Your sister is a fine woman and I wouldn’t just mess around with her.” The light streaming out of the Pink Room caught the gleam in his eyes. “Is that the right answer?”

“Hey, you two having a secret pow-wow outside the door or what?” Dirk called out. “It’s freaking cold on this fucking giant bed without you two to cuddle next to. And the pink’s slowly killing me here.”

Lucas shook his head and let go of the door. “God help me and all lonely SEALs,” he said as he walked in. “Can we turn off the lights and get some shut eye now? Then we won’t see the pink till morning.”

“Sure, you two had your fun and I’m the lonely stooge cuddling up to the cherubs in here,” Dirk complained in a mournful voice.

“We’ll find you a real angel,” Mink promised.

“Lights out,” Lucas ordered.

“Hey, Cuke,” Mink said, in the darkness.

Lucas gave a loud sigh. He had hoped for some reprieve. But these were his buddies and he knew what was coming.

“Cupcake is a cutie,” Mink said.

“Cupcake?” Dirk asked.

“Yeah, he called her Cupcake.”

“Cucumber and Cupcake. Sounds like a fucking tea party.”

Ignoring the male chuckles, Lucas closed his eyes and stretched. Life was either hell or a party. Either way, he always had his best friends with him.

––––––––

I
t was just a kiss. A very nice one, with a very hot-looking guy. That was all.

Kit tried to put it out of her mind as she got ready the next morning, but it was tough when Lulu kept teasing her about last night.

“So, what do you think of my brother?” She asked.

“Big dude. Moving furniture should be a piece of cake,” Kit answered, keeping her voice level.

“Uh-huh. He’s single and as far as I know, has no girlfriend. And you’re single too. Lucas is much better than that clueless guy you dated a month ago.”

Lord. The Bransons did not skirt around a topic.

Kit stuck out her tongue. “Are you trying to set me up with your brother now?”

“Hey, I’ve been trying to give him away since forever. Want him?”

“No, thanks. I have my own big brother to fight with.”

“Yeah, you two were fighting last night.” Lulu laughed as she ducked the pillow Kit threw at her.

Breakfast was going to be a noisy affair. Aunt Clementine kept everything very informal and the guests usually showed up between 7am and 10am for a buffet style Continental breakfast which was included with their stay. With five extra mouths, though, Kit and Lulu came down early to help in the kitchen, but Mrs. Talbot, the longtime cook, had everything under control. All they needed to do was set the tables outside and make sure there was enough fresh coffee made.

“My brother loves coffee. A dash of cream,” Lulu told her, as they moved around the tables in the dining room.

“And you’re giving me this tidbit of information why?” Kit asked, as she placed the cups on the serving platter.

“For your file, you know, the one you’re keeping for your project about military men.”

Kit snorted. “You’re just jealous I’m going off to spend some time researching about military stuff.”

“Oh, is that what we’re calling it now?” Lulu mocked, putting the vase of fresh cut flowers by the window.

Although she aimed for informal, Miss Clementine wanted an Old World feel, so there were no plastic platters or containers, no paper napkins, nothing that “looked too modern.” The only concession she’d made were the very modern coffee pots sitting on the hot plates, but even those had pretty pink dollies underneath them.

Kit grinned. Miss Clementine must love pink.

Sounds of male voices carried down the corridor into the dining area. Even from here, she could guess to whom they belonged. They came in, looking disgustingly male—clean shaven, hair slicked back, alert eyes taking in their surroundings.

She studied the tallest of them surreptitiously. Okay, it was tough to be surreptitious when the specimen was at least six foot three and was standing only a few feet away. He was just as impressive-looking in daylight. Dark-haired, strong-jawed, tee shirt stretched to display broad chest, muscular arms and a narrow waist, followed by those memorable long legs in fitting jeans. It wasn’t just the good looks, but the whole impact of his absolute maleness—in his prime, strong, dominant. One couldn’t help but stare at the darn man. Nobody should look this delicious. Especially for breakfast.

To her chagrin—and secret delight—Lucas Branson was looking straight at her, with that unsettling intent-filled gaze from the night before. She made herself look busy, turning nonchalantly to Lulu to ask a question, but her girlfriend, it seemed, had eyes only for that other SEAL, Mink.

“Lulu,” Kit said. “Where are the smaller plates?”

Lulu blinked. “Oh. Umm, yeah. Let me get them.” She hurried off, leaving Kit alone with three hungry guys.

“Good morning,” Lucas greeted, a slow smile forming. “How was your night?”

“Good,” Kit replied. “Breakfast is buffet-style, so just get whatever you need, boys. Miss Clementine had an extra batch made just for you all. She said she knows how much you eat.”

Lucas sniffed the air appreciatively. “Yeah. We tend to eat a lot. Are you joining us?”

“In a bit.”

“Good. You look nice in pants too, even though I prefer last night’s outfit.”

Not as nice as he looked in shorts..
“Don’t you ever stop flirting?” Kit asked, handing him a plate from the stack.

“I don’t flirt. I just state it like it is. Don’t I, boys?”

“Yeah,” Dirk agreed, as he scooped scrambled eggs onto his plate. “Lucas is all about statements.”

“Lucas’ statements are like bumper stickers,” Mink said, blowing on his coffee. “Every statement has style.”

Kit sniffed. “Did you take a shower? You two are full of it already and it’s still early.”

“Hey, now, we smell good!” Dirk sniffed at his shoulder. “Mink squirted me with some pink...what was that stuff you sprayed on me, bro?”

“French toilet water,” Mink said helpfully. “Pink French toilet water.”

The two of them laughed.

“Be careful, boys, she has Ranger brothers,” Lulu said, as she came in, arms loaded down with plates.

Mink got up and went to help her. “Yeah, we heard. That’s why your friend keeps sniffing so suspiciously. Rangers are notoriously smelly.”

Kit grinned. She was going to have some great lines for her brother when he got home. “No wonder he calls you guys cupcakes. Afraid of a little dirt.”

“What? I’ll have you know...”

“Remind me to let you smell my...”

“I’ll show him my cupcakes...”

The men all protested together after that and Lulu and she exchanged grins as they rolled their eyes.

“So easy,” Lulu mouthed. Aloud, she said, “Aunty Clementine said to join in and eat, Kit. Everything’s been taken care of already.”

Kit went to serve herself. Honestly, this place ran like clockwork and there wasn’t much she could do to help out. The hard work would come when they started moving the furniture. Lucas pulled out a chair across from where he was seated.

“Thank you,” she said. “How’s breakfast?”

“Good,” He helped scoot her chair in, leaned down and continued, “I like the tattoo on your lower back. How did you get it and what do you do for fun?”

His tone was low and intimate. It made her heart go pitter-patter. There was no polite back-and-forth inane conversation with this guy. “You know, there’s such a thing as social niceties,” she said and secretly grimaced at how prim she sounded.

“48 hours don’t allow for social niceties.” He leaned closer. “I want to get to know you better. That’s being nice, right?”

Kit spooned sugar into her coffee. “Nope. I call that rude. Desperate, even. Are you a desperate man, Lucas?”

“Sometimes.” He went back to his seat. “But I’m not there yet.”

She studied him as she took a sip. He gazed back at her, a serious expression betrayed only by the tiny quirk of his lips. Most women would find that directness very unsettling, but it was a refreshing change for her. Her job required her to use words carefully, to interpret what others meant when they said things a certain way. There were no such games with this man.

“Forty-eight hours?” she asked. “I thought you were in town for three days.” Lulu had supplied that piece of information.

The small quirk of his lips was now an amused curve. “It was my secret weapon. I was keeping the third day for desperate measures.”

She laughed and took a bite of her bagel. “Or maybe you’d be resting up, tired out by all the moving.”

His smile widened even more. He had beautiful straight teeth. “It depends on how much moving we do.”

Gulp.

Thankfully, Lulu appeared with a tray and sat next to her. She deposited some toast onto her brother’s plate, then turned to Kim.

“The trick is to keep his mouth occupied at all times. Then he can’t bother you with inane conversation.”

“You know, Mink tells me the same thing about you,” Lucas said.

Mink was drinking his coffee and started choking. Dirk helpfully thumped his back. Lulu tossed all three of them a glare, daring them to continue the conversation, but Lucas just ignored her, catching Kit’s amused gaze with his. Laughter lines crinkling the corner of his eyes betrayed his enjoyment of his sister’s discomfiture.