A Perfect Storm
Page 101

On her back, grass in her hair and the sun in her eyes, Arizona fended off the dogs and laughed till her sides hurt. It was so much fun. She couldn’t recall the last time she’d…played.
Maybe she never had.
Shaking his head, Dare threw more grass at her while Tai and Sargie both tried to get in his lap. “I’ll concede that you have some skill, brat.”
“And just think.” Wearing a proud grin, Jackson stood over her, his hands on his hips. “If you lived close, I could work with you until you’re good.”
Ha! She looked up at him. “I’m already good.”
“Yeah, maybe.” His grin widened. “For a girl.”
Grabbing his ankle, Arizona jerked him off balance, and he ended up on his butt beside her. For a second, he sat in stunned silence while Trace and Dare chuckled and the women heckled him.
Then Jackson’s eyes narrowed with wicked intent. “Paybacks are hell, honey.”
Uh-oh! Snickering, Arizona shot to her feet, but she didn’t get far. She squealed again as Jackson easily brought her to the ground, but instead of grappling, he…tickled her.
Until that moment, she hadn’t realized she was so incredibly ticklish. She laughed and struggled, kicked and punched, and did her best to get away.
She was no match for Jackson.
He caught her wrists and pinned them down. “Cry uncle,” he insisted with unrelenting good humor.
“No, never!” Around her laughter, she said, “I’ll get you somehow. I’ll—”
Jackson contained both her wrists in one big hand. He half loomed over her, using one leg to trap hers in place.
Too late, Arizona realized her precarious position.
The laughter died; her heart started a mad drumming and her lungs compressed.
But no matter what she tried, she couldn’t get free of him.
* * *
LAUGHING SHRIEKS INTERRUPTED Chris’s efforts to distract Spencer by waxing on about the in-depth program. Not that he’d been able to concentrate much anyway. It had been clear to Spencer that the entire birthday celebration was difficult for Arizona, so he’d tried not to take her cutting remarks to heart.
But damn it, was she serious?
Send her to another man? Hell, no, he didn’t want to do that. Ever. The idea of her with someone else ate him up inside.
Long before he’d made love with her, he’d fought that internal battle over doing the right thing or being selfish.
“Is someone skinning the cats?” Grinning, Chris headed for the back door.
“That was Arizona.” Frowning, Spencer followed. He’d recognize Arizona’s voice anywhere, but shrieking? That was so unlike her. “Something’s wrong.”
“They’re probably just playing.”
Spencer hastened his step. He had hoped that eventually Arizona would realize how these people cared about her.
But he hadn’t expected it to happen today.
He drew up short at what he found.
He’d been inside less than twenty minutes—and somehow, in his absence, she’d ended up on the ground with Dare and Jackson both.
He’d heard her laughter…so why did he feel so uneasy now?
Chris, still holding a stack of printouts from the computer program, grinned when he saw the antics in the yard. “We’re missing all the fun.”
Spencer didn’t return the grin. The closer he got, the tighter his tension grew.
Finally, as Dare stood, Spencer got a good look at Jackson straddling Arizona’s hips. Her hair was now more out of the rubber band than in it. With one hand Jackson kept her arms over her head, and with the other he attempted to tickle her bare midriff while she twisted and turned.
Even more than that, Spencer saw her face. Pale, drawn. She fought silently, trying to free herself without giving away her terror at being under a man.
An anomalous emotion, blistering hot and explosive, coursed through Spencer. “Get the hell off her!”
“Whoa, subtle, dude,” Chris told him. “Real subtle.”
Not giving a damn what anyone thought, Spencer reached her in three long strides. Catching Jackson by the upper arm, he literally hauled him up and away from Arizona, freeing her from his hold.
In an instant, she was on her feet, sucking in much-needed air, still shaky but, again, trying her utmost to conceal it.
She kept one fist pressed to her stomach, the other stiff at her side.
Heaving beside her, Spencer marveled at her strength, her pride. He fought the urge to grab her close—and the urge to flatten Jackson. He wanted to hug her, to shield her against his body.
Everyone now stood around them, watchful, their gazes ripe with sudden understanding, concern and…sympathy.
Fuck.
Arizona would hate that. She’d rather suffer through the terror than have anyone look at her in pity. Any second now someone would reach out to her.
She looked as if she’d fracture if that happened.
As a distraction, Spencer turned to Jackson and crowded close to ask hotly, “Are you out of your mind?”
Slowly, his every movement precise, Jackson straightened to his full height, which remained a few inches short of Spencer’s near six and a half feet. His expression darkened, but he looked beyond Spencer to Arizona and then back again.
Spencer held his gaze, willing him to understand. Praying that he would.
And he did.
Though still edgy, Jackson pulled it together. “She’s good,” he quipped in a tone that was almost congenial. “Against an average guy, she just might hold her own.”