She wanted him, no two ways about that. But she had her pride. Not knowing what Jackson felt kept her from being obvious about her own feelings. “He’s been here before, Jackson. He had no reason to be sneaky.”

“Yeah? Then why did he park down the street so far from your house?”

No way. Alani squeezed in front of Jackson’s broad chest to look for herself.

With his nose in her hair, he said, “That’s his car, right? Metallic gray Mercedes?”

“Yes,” Alani murmured, “that’s his car.”

Jackson nuzzled against her neck. “Not as rich as the BMW, but still pretty costly.”

Sure enough, Marc had parked several houses down, when usually he would have parked in the driveway. What was he up to? “Maybe he saw your car and…I don’t know. He guessed I was with another guy so he wanted to just…take a peek?”

That sounded lame even to her.

“You think he wanted to spy on you?” Slipping an arm around her, Jackson opened his hand over her belly. “I can buy that.”

Now that Marc was in his car ready to leave, she stepped back from the curtain. “What do you really think he was doing?”

“Besides being an ass?”

She couldn’t defend Marc; he had behaved horribly. “He wasn’t usually like that.”

“I don’t care what he was like, he still had his hands on you.” Jackson caught her wrists and turned her so that her back was to the wall beside the front window. With sensual intent—and a firm press of his hips—he pinned her there. “And he insulted you. Even though the dipshit didn’t make any real headway, I’ve got the urge to remove every thought of him from your memory.”

Not necessary. With Jackson around, how could she think of another man? But she had a feeling she’d appreciate his efforts all the same. Their banter throughout the day, all the kissing and touching, and especially Jackson’s outspoken desire, had worked against her.

Alive with need, Alani squirmed beneath his hold. “What do you suggest?”

His gaze brightened. He bent to kiss her, but the kiss didn’t last. “Soon, honey.”

Soon? But her brain—and her body—had already jumped ahead to what they would do. Now.

THE SETTING SUN sent streaks of pink, purple and orange across the graying sky. The temperature had cooled, but not enough. Mosquitoes feasted relentlessly.

So Jackson had a new girlfriend? Huh. Or maybe, given that most of the women didn’t last any longer than it took for him to bed them, this was his first real girlfriend.

The frail little blonde not only had him at her place, she had him facing off with another guy.

Interesting.

The binoculars were a great investment. They’d made it easy to see everything, even from a good distance away. It was a novel thing to see Jackson playing house, sitting down to a picnic table to eat. Of course, that hadn’t lasted long before he had the poor woman half dragged over the table so he could have at her mouth.

Jackson Savor had no sense of moderation.

Luckily the other guy had shown up, interrupting things just as they got nauseating.

Voices didn’t carry so far, but it didn’t take a genius to read the body language. Though he tried to hide it, Jackson didn’t like the other guy talking to her, touching her.

He wasn’t just protecting the woman. Nope, he’d staked a claim, guarding her like a prized possession.

Was he in love?

Love could be used against a person. Love was a most powerful weapon.

Plenty of trouble would be heading Jackson’s way.

Soon everyone would know just how equipped he was to deal with it.

DAMN, BUT IT WASN’T easy to turn his back on Alani, especially with her looking so…ready.

Finally.

If the delays had happened to anyone else, he’d find the situation hilarious.

Not so funny when he was the one suffering a perpetual boner.

But as much as he wanted to accommodate them both, he felt a menace—maybe Tobin, but maybe not. And damn it, he couldn’t chance her security.

He dug out his cell phone.

Breathless, all warmed up, Alani asked, “Who are you calling?”

He had to close his eyes against the urge to put off responsibility. “Your brother.”

She threw up her hands. “Great. By all means. Keep Trace apprised. I’ll just go put up our dinner mess.”

Jackson swung her around, kissed her hard and said against her mouth, “There’s nothing I want more than to get busy with you. You gotta know that.” He searched her gaze, willing her to understand. When she nodded, he kissed her again. “I’ll make it worth the wait, I promise.”

She curled her fingers over the front of his belt and gave a small tug. “I’m going to hold you to that.”

He stood there, horny as hell, as she walked away. When she went through the back door, he shook himself and trailed after her. Until he figured out what was going on, he wouldn’t let her out of his sight.

With the push of one button, he called Trace. Her brother answered on the first ring.

“Yeah?”

Alani carried a filled tray back into the house, and he followed. “You at my apartment?”

“Yup.” Trace sounded distracted. “Not finding too much, though.”

Damn. “I was afraid of that, but it was worth a shot.”

“That why you called?”

“No.” He tracked Alani’s movements as she began rinsing plates and sticking them in the dishwasher. “I know you’ve got your hands full, so is there any chance Chris can look into the whereabouts of Tobin?” As Dare’s friend and superassistant in all things, Chris had access to all kinds of information.