“I wouldn’t have missed this for the world.” He grinned. “We’re just getting ready to have some fun, baby. Where’s your sense of adventure?”
Before she could answer him he was drawing away from her and moving from the room. The bedroom door opened and he disappeared through it, closing it behind him with a decisive snap.
There was definitely something to be said for the days when he spent more time trying to ignore her than to seduce her, she thought with a sigh.
At least then the knowledge of her future hadn’t been so clear-cut.
Now, she was certain, no other man but Jordan would do, which meant that after he was gone, she was looking at a very lonely existence.
But she wouldn’t have missed it for the world.
* * *
“There you are.” Travis Caine was preparing to knock on the bedroom door when it opened.
Stepping through, he was ready to close the door when Travis stopped him and handed him a small cellophane pack.
“Flash bandages,” he informed Jordan. “Covers the wound and hides it. Lilly thought she might need it with the strapless gown. And there’s enough for several uses there.”
Jordan frowned back at him. “Those are damned hard to come by, Travis.” And he knew they were; they were items he’d had problems acquiring even during his time as Elite Ops commander. He was right though, Tehya would more than appreciate it.
“Thanks, Travis.” He nodded back to him. “I appreciate it.”
“Eh, thank Lilly, she thought of it.” He inclined his head back toward his wife.
“I should have known that,” Jordan quipped before crossing the room to where the others were waiting.
Jordan faced the men awaiting him in the parlor of the suite, his gaze narrowed, any amusement or sense of fun that he may have given Tehya evaporating.
Getting the team back together hadn’t been hard. The moment they had known Tehya was in danger they had come running, several of them with their very dangerous wives in tow. Those wives were there now, in full party dress, like goddesses of beauty sent to tempt mortal men.
“What do we have?” He glanced at his nephew, his unofficial second in command.
“Everyone has received their guest lists and everyone’s buzzing. Hell, Jordan, maybe we should socialize more,” Noah reported, his darker eyes amused at the knowledge that others were excited at the prospect of a Malone being in town. A testament to Riordan Malone Sr.’s popularity when he was younger. “The Taites are fairly quiet, though Lauren, Stephen’s wife, has extended a lunch invitation to the Malone party.” His lips quirked mockingly. “Speculation is going wild over the identity of your guest, Teylor Johnson, though. Even the Taites are making inquiries. Within hours, they were aware of the fact that you were indeed the same Jordan Malone that refuses to sell the Malone property in Ireland, that they’re so desperate to acquire.”
Jordan had been aware of that for years. Unfortunately for them, he had no intentions of selling the Malone family properties. Not in Ireland, nor in America.
“And they’re normally the ones to care the least,” Lilly Harrington Caine, the daughter of an English lord spoke up. “The Taites abstain from gossip mongering and concentrate instead on their various charities and on family. To have them asking anything about anyone is a major coup.” There was no sarcasm in the words, simply a statement of fact.
“It’s Jordan’s charm.” Noah grinned. “They simply crave having Jordan tell them ‘No’.”
Jordan almost grinned. The Taites were persistent if nothing else. A trait Tehya had definitely inherited.
“We’ll see if they bring it up face-to-face,” Jordan said. “Perhaps they’ll believe me when I say it isn’t for sale this time.”
“Stephen Taite believes everything is for sale,” Lilly cut in at that point. “He’s quite determined to own that castle, Jordan. He learned Travis perhaps knew you, within hours of his arrival in the states this week. He’s already contacted us again this morning, wondering if we could arrange a m
eeting for him. We’ve declined, by the way.”
Jordan snorted at her cheeky grin.
“He only wants it because it’s something he’s been refused,” he growled as he moved across the room to the bar.
“You’ve picked up tails here at the hotel.” Nik changed the direction of the conversation. “Tenneyson and Arthur and their backup team are dividing their time between here and the Taites’. We believe they have the Taites’ rented estate bugged, but we’re not certain yet.”
“Of course it’s bugged.” Jordan knew he would have had it bugged if he were Tenneyson and Arthurs. The electronic listening devices would allow the team to easily split their time while still being assured no potential players slipped past them.
“We haven’t learned who’s hired them yet,” Noah said. “We’re still working on it.”