Secrets. Cynthia Eden

froze, her head bare millimeters from her target. Her gaze jerked to the door. Brodie stood there, clad in a pair of jeans, his chest heaving, his eyes glaring—at the man who held her in a too-tight grip.

      “What the hell is happening?” Brodie demanded as he rushed into the room. “Davis, get your hands off her!”

      Davis? Her gaze jerked back to her attacker and Jennifer’s breath caught in her throat. The man she was staring up at—he had Brodie’s face. Brodie’s unforgettable eyes.

      “Just trying to stop her from ripping off my head,” the man—Davis—muttered.

      Davis’s hair was a little longer than Brodie’s, and, though their eye color was the exact same, Davis looked...harder, rougher than Brodie. There was something there, a darkness that lingered in the depths of his eyes.

      “If I let you go...” Davis drawled, his Texas accent a bit more pronounced than Brodie’s, “do you promise not to throw another lamp at me?”

      She wasn’t going to make a promise she couldn’t keep. “How about you just promise not to try sneaking into my room during the middle of the night?”

      “Davis.” Brodie grabbed his brother’s arm and yanked him away from Jennifer. “Why are you in here? With her?” He took up a protective position right next to Jennifer.

      Davis rolled his shoulders and exhaled on a long sigh. “I’ve been up for over thirty hours, bro. I just got in town an hour ago. I stumbled home, and all I wanted to do was crash.”

      “Your room,” Brodie snapped, “is on the other side of the house.”

      Jennifer glanced over at Davis once more, and she found his gaze sliding over her body. Appreciation was in his stare. “The view on this side of the house is much better.”

      Swearing, Brodie put his body in front of hers. “She’s not an option for you. Forget that now. Go find your room. Crash there and make sure you stay away from her.”

      Jennifer craned her head and saw Davis put his hands up as he backed away. “Easy. I didn’t realize you had a girlfriend spending the night.”

      Brodie stiffened. “She’s not my girlfriend.”

      For some reason, those words stung a bit. But he was right. She wasn’t his girlfriend. Former lover? Was he about to reveal—

      “She’s a client, and she’s here so she can have protection, not so she can be terrified by you in the middle of the night.”

      Davis stopped his retreat. “I didn’t know.” His voice was a rumble. “Sorry, ma’am. Didn’t mean to scare you.”

      Her breath rushed out. “I...” What? “It’s fine,” she mumbled.

      “Go, Davis,” Brodie ordered.

      Davis went, but he did cast one last look back at them, a guarded, measuring glance, before he left the room.

      When the door shut behind Davis, Brodie whirled toward her. “I’m sorry. My twin brother can be—hell, difficult.”

      “I...I didn’t realize you two were identical twins.” For some reason, she hadn’t expected to find a carbon copy of Brodie at that ranch. Fraternal twins, sure. Why had she thought that? When she’d been researching Brodie, she’d come across a reference to his twin, but she hadn’t thought the guy was his identical match.

      “We’re only alike on the outside.” He flashed her a grin, and his dimples winked. “I’m the easygoing twin.”

      Was she really supposed to believe that? There wasn’t a whole lot that was “easy” about the former SEAL standing in front of her.

      Brodie’s gaze dropped to her body.

      Her pretty much unclothed body.

      A muscle jerked in his jaw, right before he spun around, presenting her with the broad expanse of his back.

      She hurried to grab her shirt. Jennifer went to yank it on and—

      Brodie lifted her up into his arms. “Be careful,” he whispered. “You almost cut yourself.”

      The shattered lamp.

      He carried her back toward the bed. Eased her to her feet. But didn’t let her go.

      She should tell him to let go.

      She really shouldn’t enjoy his touch so much.

      “I wanted you to feel safe here.” His voice seemed to vibrate around her. “I’m sorry that my brother frightened you. It won’t happen again.” He dropped his hold and stepped back. “I’ll clean up the mess and—”

      Her hand caught his. “Do you know what scared me the most?”

      He looked at her hand wrapped around his wrist, and then his gaze slowly rose to her face.

      Her lips pressed together; then she admitted, “I knew that...in order to get to me, my stalker would have to take you out first. I was afraid he’d hurt you.”

      When she’d decided to seek out Brodie, she hadn’t thought of the danger that she’d put him in. She’d been selfish, too scared, and now Jennifer had to face the ramifications of what she’d done.

      His hand lifted and curved under her chin. “I’m an ex-SEAL. I can take care of myself.”

      Then his lips brushed against hers. The kiss seemed bittersweet. She found herself leaning toward him, wanting to just hold him tight and sink into him.

      I should have stayed away. But when a woman had no options, she tended to act desperately.

      His lips rose from hers. “You’ll always be safe with me,” he promised her. Then he turned away.

      She believed he meant those words. Deep at his core, Brodie was the true-hero type. She’d known that...counted on it.

      But...

      Would he always be safe with her?

      * * *

      BRODIE PULLED THE guest room door shut behind him. He paused a minute, his mind still on Jennifer.

      And on ripping his brother’s head off.

      “I thought you’d stay in there longer.” Davis’s voice came from just down the hallway.

      Brodie glared at his brother. “Shouldn’t you be crashing somewhere?” Somewhere on the other side of the house.

      Davis’s eyes slid back to the closed door. “She really a client?”

      She was more than that.

      “Because I saw the way you looked at her, and I also saw how close you were to swinging a punch at me.”

      Davis had been drinking her in with his eyes. Everyone thought that Brodie was the one with the love-em-and-leave-em reputation. They didn’t know the truth. Davis was the one who could seduce so easily. “She’s not for you,” Brodie said flatly even as his hands clenched into fists.

      Davis cocked his head to the side. “If she’s for you, then why are you out here with me? Instead of being back in that room with the woman your eyes seemed to be devouring?”

      Because he was trying not to scare the woman. Brodie closed the distance between him and his brother. “Someone is stalking her. Terrifying her. Our job—” and, yeah, he stressed the our because everyone at McGuire Securities would be working to keep Jennifer safe “—is to protect her.”

      Davis gave a slow nod. “You know you can count on me.”

      He did. He knew that his brother would have his back, always. The man might infuriate him, but Davis was the one person he trusted above all others in the world.

      They’d