UnderFire by Denise A. Agnew Page B

I feel as if there’s an undercurrent here I
don’t understand?” Patrick asked.
    “My brothers are complicated that way,” Rick said as he
tasted his diet cola. “But I’m not in the same boat they are.”
    Patrick’s blond eyebrows twitched again as he looked at his
buddies. “Oh yeah? You patch it up with Lena?”
    Rick smiled. “Not talking about it.”
    “Great, look at that shit-eating grin,” Jake said and tossed
a disgruntled look at Rick.
    “Okay, I suppose I shouldn’t ask this but Danelle was
nagging me for answers last night.” Patrick cleared his throat and took another
swig of beer. “Danelle’s worried about the girls. She thinks you’re going to
leave Melanie, Kathleen and Lena with broken hearts.”
    The guys groaned, including Jake.
    Jake headed in another direction, not wanting to think of
Kathleen’s beautiful face and sexy body dancing for him. “Can we talk about
sports or something else less complicated than women?”
    Rick’s smile widened to Cheshire cat status. “Women. Can’t
live with them, can’t live without them.”
    “We’ve lived without them pretty well up until this point,”
Matt said.
    “Nah, that’s not true.” Patrick shifted on his chair, as if
the whole conversation made him uncomfortable. “I love Danelle. I love her more
than life itself.”
    Jake felt that right in the heart, and the reason stunned
him. He wanted more with Kathleen, and leaving her the previous night had torn
him up. He’d come back to the hotel and dulled his brain on useless television.
A nightmare about losing Kathleen to the mall shooter had burned into his
brain.
    “All right. We’ve had a great week here for your wedding and
that’s what we should concentrate on,” Jake said.
    Patrick looked at each of them, turning the beer bottle
around and around on the table. “Yeah, you’re right. I just hope you aren’t
missing out on something good with Danelle’s friends because you’re going macho
on them.”
    Jake’s mouth dropped open and he saw surprise dart through
Matt’s and Rick’s expressions.
    Rick wasn’t having any of it. “Look, bro, Lena’s very
special to me. Like I said the other day, I wouldn’t hurt her. I resent being
needled about it.”
    Jake felt a tension growing in the air and worked to head it
off at the pass. “Uh, look, can we get back to drinking and telling dirty
jokes?”
    They did, and yet for the rest of the night Jake thought
about Kathleen, his need for her burning in his mind and body. He yearned to be
back in her arms. He hoped maybe one last dance with her tomorrow would do the
trick and he could purge himself of wanting her forever.

Chapter Six
     
    “This reception rocks.” The young woman standing next to
Jake batted her gunked-up blue eyes at him as the wedding reception burst into
full swing.
    The disc jockey put on a ballad but no one was dancing yet.
Jake knew he had to dance with Kathleen, and he was happy and sad about the
idea.
    The reception at the hotel had started twenty minutes ago
and he’d spent part of that time in a reception line with Kathleen next to him.
She’d spoken to him during the wedding, and walking down the aisle with her on
his arm had stirred unwanted feelings of possession. He wanted more time with Kathleen
McSwain, and she had barely given him the time of day. Oh she was pleasant
enough but her greeting lacked warmth and so did her gaze. She’d shut him out,
and he couldn’t blame her. Wasn’t it better this way?
    “I’m Talia Duncan.” The woman pushed back a long toss of
messy platinum-blonde hair.
    “Jake Frasier.” He held out his hand and shook hers. “You
didn’t go through the reception line.”
    “Nah. I was late. I’m the daughter of wedding planner. I’m
helping her out.”
    “Oh. I see.”
    He returned the woman’s grin and her cheeks went pink. She
looked all of twenty-one and she’d worn a low-necked, sleeveless pink dress
that was at least a size too small. It clung to