Complicated Creatures: Part One Read online

  Jaime groaned. “Dear God.”

  “When are you gonna learn? God loves me.” Jack smirked.

  Jaime sighed, looking a little jealous. “When did she move in?”

  “Recently.”

  “Is she single?”

  Jack leveled him a look. “You saw her date last night.” He didn’t mention the other man he’d met. Carey. He tamped down on a flash of irrational irritation.

  “Evan wasn’t her date. They work together. I have a meeting with them this week,” Jaime informed him archly.

  “Really? What about?”

  Jaime took a swallow of coffee before answering. “Sam wants to develop a tracking app proprietary to Lennox Chase and its clients. We’ve both got a window Friday morning.”

  Jack nodded, saying nothing.

  Jaime peered at him. “And I thought I’d ask her out.”

  Jack put his coffee down so fast that it sloshed over the sides. He cursed, wiping it up.

  “I knew it! I knew you were into her!” Jaime crowed, pointing at him across the bar.

  Jack rolled his eyes, huffing.

  “You two generate enough static electricity to run a biomass heating system,” Jaime teased.

  “How the hell are you such a geek and related to me?” Jack responded mildly. “Besides, I thought we were going to take the boat out for the last time before we store it for winter?”

  “That’s why I wanted to ask Sam out,” Jaime nodded. “Thought she could join us. You two could get a little better acquainted.” He wagged his brows, clearly delighted with himself.

  “You get your meddling genes from Ma,” Jack murmured into his coffee, though he liked the idea. A lot. The idea of enjoying the boat on a pretty fall day with his family and Sam had him smiling. “You want me to pick up Maddie and take her to the boat first?”

  “That’d be perfect.”

  Jack picked up his fork.

  “Oh, and Jack?”

  He glanced up.

  “You’re welcome,” Jaime grinned.

  Chapter 5

  September—A week later

  Sam’s office in the Loop, Chicago

  S A M A N T H A

  It was a beautiful Friday morning, and the sun slanted in warmly, making Sam daydream about taking an uncharacteristic afternoon off to enjoy the end of summertime in Chicago. Perhaps she’d go for a drive in the Corvette. Let the wind whip through her hair.

  “You asked how we can leverage more mobile technology for tracking clients? We can set up a special trigger number that when dialed from any phone will automatically download the software like a Trojan and act as a GPS,” Jaime was explaining to her, Carey, and Rush in the seating area of her office. “Each client can be assigned their own number, so you know who might be triggering the emergency GPS, particularly if their own phone is lost or stolen.” He was drafting his thoughts on the tablet as he spoke.

  Jaime Roman was the younger, greyhound-lean version of Jack. He had the same dark hair and light eyes, though his features were narrower and more refined. And though he put on a good approximation of an outgoing personality, she suspected he was an introvert by nature. Where his brother was sex appeal, dynamic confidence, and in-your-face masculinity, Jaime was hyper-intellectual, amusingly endearing, and jumped from idea to idea with the hyperactive zing of a young man.

  “It would be more helpful if we had the ability to enhance that functionality of a locater app with a tracking device,” Carey pointed out.

  Jaime smiled. “So you want to be able to put an electronic leash on your clients in the field?” he asked, making more notes.

  “Christ Almighty,” Rush chuckled. “Carey here would put tags on all of us if he could.”

  “So you’d want to have a mobile app you and your team can access from anywhere to locate a client that’s not a SIM card?” Jaime thought about it for a moment. “The military makes high-grade chips you can inject under the skin, but I can’t imagine many of your clients would agree to that.” Jaime paused again, taking notes on his tablet before looking up at them. “The software is a non-issue. We can come up with some really good interfaces for you. We just need to think through the actual tracking devices and how to make them difficult to manipulate, remove, and detect.”

  “They’d also need to be able to be tracked over long distances,” Carey interjected. “Maybe leveraging wireless and mobile networks?”

  “Give me a couple weeks. I’ll come back with some initial ideas I think you’ll like,” Jaime replied.

  “You’ll have very happy clients if you can make this happen,” Sam remarked, glancing at her watch. “And look at that—you still have the rest of the day to enjoy the weather,” she smiled, indicating the stretch of sunlit windows.

  Jaime nodded, slipping his tablet into his bag. “My brother and I were going to take the boat out for the afternoon with my daughter, Maddie. We haven’t gotten to enjoy it nearly as much as we wanted this summer. You guys are more than welcome to join us,” he told them, light eyes sparkling.

  Sam got the distinct feeling he was up to something, though the idea was incredibly appealing. It was the perfect day to be out on the water.

  “Do you fish?” Carey asked. “We were talking about heading up the coast, seeing if we could try our luck at some salmon or trout this weekend.”

  Jaime smiled. “Caught a twenty-pound rainbow trout last time we went out. My daughter made me throw it back, but I got a picture first.” He scrolled through his phone briefly before handing it over. A windswept and sunburnt Jaime and an adorable little girl in a life jacket and a pink fishing hat held up their trophy.

  “Throw it back?” Rush groaned dramatically. “Now that’s a crime. I haven’t gotten to go fishing since I moved up here,” he sighed wistfully.

  Sam narrowly restrained herself from rolling her eyes. Carey and Rush were getting ready to talk tackle, lures, and technique for the next two hours.

  Talon chose that exact moment to knock on her door and pop his head in. “Gentlemen.” He nodded at them before looking at her pointedly with pitch black eyes.

  Her brows lifted in question as he looked at her. “Please tell me you came to save me. Or did you hear this conversation from miles away and decide you couldn’t be left out?” she asked, nodding toward the other men.

  Intrigued, Talon stepped into her office. “Well, I was going to give you guys an update, but it sounds like you’re in need of saving.”

  Rush snorted. “Hardly. She’s just trying to figure out how to extract herself from a fishing expedition gracefully.”

  Talon’s dark eyes brightened. “Fishing? You going with, Boss?”

  Before she could shake her head, Jaime stood up, extending his hand to Talon. “Jaime Roman, and I’ve just invited these guys out on my boat this afternoon. Caught a beauty last time I was out.”

  “Lee Talon,” he responded, clasping the other man’s hand. “Yeah, we were talking about going up the coast to try our luck. What kind of boat?”

  “A forty-five-foot ketch,” Jaime answered. “Perfect for a day like today. Good breeze and an easy sail. If all goes to plan, I’ll be sipping a beer and throwing a cast out in about two hours. You guys should join us,” he said again, glancing around. His pale eyes landed on Sam.

  All her guys wore the same dreamy expression at the mere mention of a fishing trip. Carey would be waiting on her to say the word before he’d agree. She thought about begging off politely and urging them to go without her, but she knew Carey wouldn’t feel entirely comfortable with that scenario since the connection to Jaime was through her. She hated to deny her guys the rare pleasure of a leisurely afternoon.

  “Well, hell,” she smiled ruefully. “Jaime, you’ve officially ruined my team for work. Anything in particular you’d like us to bring?”

  Jaime smiled. “We keep her docked at Monroe Harbor in the summer. She’s fully stocked, but if you have a preferred beer, just bring that and your fishing gear. We pull out about noo
n. Look for the Evangelina.”

  *

  September—That afternoon

  Monroe Harbor, Lake Michigan

  J A C K

  “You’ll like them. They’re cool guys,” Jaime commented as they watched three men approaching portside.

  “At least Maddie will grow up knowing how to fish, pitch a fastball, and punch the lights out of someone with all the testosterone she’ll be used to having around,” Jack replied, sarcastic. He was not thrilled with the change in plans, but he recognized a package deal when he saw one. He recognized Carey and Evan, but the third guy was new. He was tall and sinewy, distinctly Native American, his long, black hair pulled back at the neck. All three were dressed casually in shorts and boat shoes, carrying coolers and fishing gear.

  “What’s tessoserone, Uncle Jack?” Maddie asked, coming up behind him to slip her little hand in his. She looked adorably ridiculous in her tiny pink life jacket, pink hat, flippers, and Hello Kitty arm floaties.

  “Nothing you need to worry about for many, many years, Maddie,” Jack answered before redirecting his overly curious niece’s attention. “Why are you wearing your flippers and floaties, micina cara? We aren’t swimming yet,” he teased, poking one of the inflatables around her arm.

  “Cause I want to be ready,” she responded seriously.

  “I promise we’ll go swimming,” Jack told her, lifting her up in his arms and removing her flippers to toss them into a storage bin on the deck. “But no walking around in those on the deck. You’ll trip and hurt yourself,” he chided, softening the reprimand with a kiss to her cheek.

  “Here’s her sunblock,” Jaime said, fishing into her bag. “She’ll wiggle around, but make sure she gets plenty on.” He turned to greet the guys on the deck. “Hey! Welcome aboard. I see you guys came prepared,” Jaime said with a laugh, helping take the coolers and gear before making introductions.

  Maddie was alternately mesmerized by Carey’s size and Talon’s hair as Jaime introduced her. Her little head bobbed back and forth between the two men as they smiled down at her and shook her hand in greeting.

  “Miss Maddie, I have the perfect lure to add to that hat,” Evan declared when he met her. He opened a tackle box and pulled out a bright yellow lure. Maddie, not easily won over, inspected the lure before nodding at Evan, giving him silent permission to attach it to her hat. He laughed, threaded it in, and stuck some clay on the ends so she wouldn’t prick herself if she touched it.

  “Where’s Sam?” Jaime asked while helping the guys get their gear situated on the deck.

  “Probably thinking of ways to get out of fishing,” Carey joked, carrying one of the coolers down into the galley. “Great boat. If I had this, I’d be hard-pressed to leave it.”

  “I feel the same,” he agreed. “It’s terrible we have to store her for most of the winter, but when the weather is perfect like this, I could stay out on her for months.”

  Jack was putting on Maddie’s sunblock when he heard a low whistle from the dock. He looked up and saw Samantha wearing a white linen shirt and her cut offs, that thick, dark hair twisted up in a loose knot, aviators perched on her nose. She smiled up at him from the dock. “Figures you have the finest-looking sailboat in all of Chicago,” she complimented, running her hand along the navy blue hull. She admired the boat with unabashed pleasure, fingers running gently along the side. “She’s a bona fide beauty.”

  Jack found himself unaccountably happy to see her. A pressure valve released in his chest, as if he’d been holding his breath until she’d arrived. She looked happy and relaxed to be there, and that made him feel… incredible.

  “Thank you,” Jack acknowledged. “She’s been in the family a long time. We had her restored a few years ago, so you can’t tell her age, but Jaime and I grew up on her during our summers,” he told her, extending his hand to help her aboard.

  She thanked him, pulling her hand from his warm clasp as she introduced herself to Maddie.

  “You’re pretty,” Maddie told her shyly.

  “Not a pretty as you, sweet thing,” Samantha replied with a grin. “Where’s your daddy?”

  Jaime popped up from the galley at that moment, talking with Carey behind him.

  “I think this boat is a good candidate for testing out the tracking software. I volunteer to steal it, and you all can go about trying to find me,” Carey was telling him as he scanned the lake’s horizon with a smile.

  “That ain’t far from the truth,” Evan piped up, coming up from the stern. “One of these days, Carey’ll just up and disappear, and that’s how we’ll know he retired.”

  “Well, that and the postcard he sends us from Tahiti,” Talon remarked. He glanced at Samantha. “Now that Sam’s here, we ready to launch? There are fish waiting to get caught.” He laughed, the sun glinting off an even, white smile.

  Within minutes, the Evangelina was slicing through the dark blue waters of Lake Michigan, her sails picking up the wind so easily, they were able to shut down the engine shortly after leaving the marina.

  Samantha sat up at the bow on a bed of navy striped cushions next to Carey, sipping a beer and enjoying the breeze, her dark hair whipping around her. Jaime steered, chatting with Talon while Evan helped with the jibs. Jack explained what Evan was doing to the ever-curious Maddie while they sat on a wide cushioned bench behind the skipper’s chair.

  As Jaime steered them along the coast, the group was lulled into relaxation by the rhythmic roll of the hull on the water while the sails undulated in the warm, humid wind. Jack took a deep breath, filling his lungs with sun-warmed air and cool mist, closing his eyes behind his sunglasses in pure pleasure.

  “It’s a near perfect day,” Talon sighed as he sat down next to Maddie, handing Jack and the girl bottles of water.

  “What’s missing?” Jack asked, taking a sip.

  “Ask me that after we’re done fishing,” Talon answered. “I saw you’ve got a grill on this boat. Let’s see if we can catch dinner.”

  “You eat the fish?” Maddie asked. “I make Daddy throw it back.”

  “Catch and release is a good thing sometimes,” Talon agreed. “But on my reservation, I grew up living on the land, and we only took what we needed for dinner. So I’ll make you a deal. If we get lucky fishing today, we’ll keep enough to eat and throw back the rest. Okay, little feather?”

  Maddie thought about that before nodding, clinking her little water bottle against his beer when he toasted to their deal.

  “Which tribe is your family from?” Jack asked.

  “Chippewa. In northern Michigan,” Talon answered. “You could steer this boat right into the dock near our reservation.”

  “You’re pretty close to home,” Jack nodded. “How long have you been living in Chicago?”

  “Couple years now. Rush convinced me to move here after I was finished with my service. It was close to home, and I’ve always liked the city, so…” Talon shrugged.

  “Were you guys all in the service together?” Jack asked.

  Talon took another sip of his beer and looked out over the water. “You could say that,” he answered.

  “Jaime and I grew up here in Chicago. We used to spend as much time as we could on Lake Michigan in the summers, but these days…” Jack sighed. “There’s just never enough time to come out, it seems.”

  “Hey, can you help me lower a couple of the sails so we can anchor and have lunch?” Jaime asked.

  “I’ll do it,” Talon offered, moving up to bow with Evan.

  Jack picked Maddie up, carrying her down to the galley so he could work on getting the lunch together. He was surprised to find Carey and Samantha already in there, pulling gourmet sandwiches, cheeses, and fruit from the picnic baskets the yacht club at the marina had packed. He watched for a moment as Carey and Samantha moved around the small space easily, movements economical and fluid, as if they were used to working in confined spaces around each other.

  “You two are making me look like a bad host.”
Jack grinned, accepting the plates of food to take up the deck.

  “We’re just pulling our weight,” Carey responded. “Besides, Sam and I are used to mother henning our crew. Old habits die hard.”

  “Rush and Talon are spoilt brats,” Samantha joked, her affection obvious. “That or we’re enablers.”

  “Don’t forget to give Talon extra pickles,” Carey responded distractedly as he arranged condiments onto a tray.

  “Do we have any Dijon? Rush’ll want Dijon,” Samantha commented, adding napkins to the spread.

  “You’re definitely enablers,” Jack teased, shaking his head as he accepted the tray from Carey.

  “It’s to make up for all the surf torture I put them through back when they were rookies,” Carey chuckled.

  Lunch was a laidback affair. Evan entertained the group with funny stories of growing up on a farm in South Carolina. Jaime and Talon teased Maddie with animal sounds as Evan told her about his pet pig, BBQ, and his pet chicken, Micky. Jack wasn’t entirely clear on his naming convention for the chicken, but the pig probably had it coming.

  Samantha sat between him and Carey, her bare legs tucked underneath her. She sipped on a beer, her orange blossom and jasmine scent driving Jack wild with each gentle breeze.

  “She’s not with Carey, if that’s what you’re wondering,” Jaime told him when the guys moved to the stern to set up the fishing equipment, and Samantha disappeared below to get into her swimsuit. “They grew up together.”

  “And how do you know that?” Jack asked.

  “Evan told me. They’re like siblings.”

  “He sure as hell nags me like a brother sometimes,” Samantha said from behind them. She looked lithe and athletic in a white, one-piece halter. Jack could feel himself staring, thankful for his sunglasses.

  “Why do you ask?” she said casually as she slung a towel onto the cushions and proceeded to rub her legs down with suntan lotion. Jack saw Jaime swallow out of the corner of his eye.