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He watched silently as she hurriedly pulled the shirt over the swollen mounds of her breasts and pushed theup quickly

A second later she was standing and sliding her feet back into the sandals she had soed to lose Or had pushed froo

"You don’t look stupid at all" Arching a brow, he strode to the chair across the roo boxer briefs over his legs and then the raging erection that refused to soften, he sat down, never taking his eyes from her, and pulled white socks over his feet

She wasn’t saying anything more

Her arms were crossed beneath her breasts in a classic defensive posture as he al, Jed picked up an ink pen froain

She always carried her date book, with a small sketch pad in it, with her At thecarryall she’d placed on the floor when she entered the roo, he pulled the five-by-seven leather-bound journal from the side pocket, flipped it open, then quickly scrawled his cell phone number in the back The sketch pad enclosed with it was filled with colorful sketches of clothing designs and scraith notes He would have loved to flip through the new designs he only glimpsed, but knew from experience she’d become immediately defensive

"What’s that for?" she questioned warily as he finished

Tucking the book back in place, Jed straightened and stared down at her with a sense of heavy disappointiveyou down, Piper, then give me a call" Yeah, he knew at least part of her probleant deter the pen, he tossed it to the bureau close to the bed, then turned andhe’d abandonedhim as he pulled on his jeans, secured the belt he’d already pushed through the belt loops, then pushed his ar-sleeved dress shirt he’d chosen to wear

White was for s; dark colors were for on the job And all of it was bullshit, despite the sense of fulfill from it Far more fulfillment than the daily lies and undercover crap he was forced to practice

"Why would I be afraid you could even cointo an amused little s more to this"--she waved her ar the chair once again, he sat down, pulled on his boots, and never took his eyes from her

"Let’s hope you were," he told her as he finished and rose to his feet once again "Because, trust ine"

There was the fear

It flashed in the bright green of her eyes and tightened her expression as she fought to hold back the response Hell, she was fighting to hide that fear from him, and he hated it

"Good Lord," she"I’m out of here Remind me to make daain"

"I wouldn’t put chains on you, Piper"

She paused, her hand on the doorknob, her face turned fro about" The edge of anger in her voice wasn’t nearly as well hidden as he was certain she would have liked

"Yeah, you do, Piper" He rejected the instant denial she gave the moment she turned her back on hiing your brother’s protectiveness for one far more permanent"

"My brother’s protectiveness? Is that what you call it?" She turned back to him then "TrustHe’s tenacious, and guards his territory like a junkyard dog And he sees every damned one of his sisters, as well as our mother, as his territory It wouldn’tover us like a daer or heat in the words, only a sense of regret and uncertainty In the past year, her life hadn’t exactly been her own, as her brother did everything in his power to ensure the danger that had threatened her older sister didn’t touch the younger ones

"Nevertheless," he said softly "I wouldn’t put ties on you I wouldn’t treat you as though you didn’t have the good sense to understand whether your life was in danger or not, and the intelligence to knohether you can live life as usual, sit tight, or just plain hide"

She watched hi, Rowdy, and Natches are" She finally informed him, and it was clear she believed it to the botto with human handcuffs"

God help hi her very soul It was in the weariness of her voice and the soul-deep certainty that filled it

"I would defend you with ht to a life, Piper When you decide you’re tired of being a frightened little girl rather than the independent woured out which you are, then we can resu"

Her shoulders tightened, defiance and denial i around to hear her argument or her reasons for her beliefs; they would just piss him the fuck off

He knew the past year had been hell on her and her younger sisters Eve, the eldest, had pranced from the suite she’d lived in for the past five years and ed to, perfectly content to fight her battles of independence and keep her opinions private within the secured houseboat they were currently living in at the lake

Eve had left her younger sisters to face the fallout with her brother and cousins Her sisters, though, had never been given a full explanation of why that overprotectiveness had suddenly increased, or when it would end Though he knew Piper had her suspicions

Jed couldn’t explain what had happened either, not yet, not until he knew Piper understood his intentions where she was concerned

But hell, in order to ure the was certain: He intended to have her in his bed And he sure as hell didn’t intend to let her go anytiine ever letting her go, period?

ONE

ONE MONTH LATER

She was going to cave