“Devlin Prescott. Good to meet you.”
“Is Jonas still having car trouble?” I asked as I motioned to the car.
“No. He picked up a nail in his tire so I decided I’d change it for him just to be on the safe side.”
I nodded and watched as he began tightening the lug nuts.
“Daddy?”
“Over here, Ryan,” Devlin called.
A young boy in his early teens at best appeared and gave me a quick wave as he circled around me. “Mom says the pilot needs to talk to you about tomorrow.”
“Uh, yeah,” Devlin murmured as he glanced at the tire and then his son.
“Go, I’ll finish up,” I offered.
Devlin hesitated and then said, “You sure?”
“Yeah, absolutely.”
“Thanks,” Devlin said as he handed me the tire iron. I watched him follow his son into the house and then turned my attention to the car. I began tightening one of the lug nuts but as I moved to the next one, I lost my grip on the tire iron and it shifted upwards and hit the inside of the top of the wheel well. Before I could even check for damage, I heard a clicking sound and looked down to see a round, black object fall to the ground beside the tire. I picked it up and turned it over in my hand and then froze when I realized what it was.
I’d seen more than my share of tracking devices but I couldn’t even begin to fathom what the hell it was doing on Jonas’s car. His car was an older model that didn’t come with GPS but it wouldn’t make sense for a civilian to use this type of device as a stand in for a LoJack system.
“Cole?”
Jonas’s voice had me tucking the tracker into my jacket pocket. It was clear that someone was keeping tabs on Jonas but I didn’t want to freak him out until I knew more. I was already making a plan in my head when he appeared.
“Hey, what are you doing?” Jonas asked.
“I offered to finish putting on your tire so Devlin could take a call,” I responded as I tightened the last lug nut.
“I told Devlin not to worry about it,” Jonas said as he glanced atthe tire. Then his eyes met mine and he said, “Thank you.” His smile did something to my insides and I had the insane urge to touch him.
“It’s no problem,” I said as I brushed past him, ignoring the way my body responded when my chest came into contact with his arm. I put the tire iron in the back of the car and closed it.
“Thanks for coming,” Jonas said as we began walking towards the house. “I know Casey didn’t really give you a choice.”
I was saved from having to answer by the sound of an engine coming up the driveway and I automatically stiffened as Mace’s van pulled up and parked next to my car. The man had been uncharacteristically quiet yesterday during Casey’s visit to the gallery, but today he looked stiff and unyielding. He reminded me of a soldier going into battle. His grim features barely shifted at Jonas’s greeting and I felt the urge to kick his ass when I saw Jonas shrink back.
The house was surprisingly chaotic considering there were only a few people in attendance. Jonas made the introductions and besides Casey, Devlin and their two kids, there were several dogs and cats running around including a huge Mastiff that nearly knocked me to my knees when it came to check me out. The atmosphere was friendly and relaxed and not at all what I would have expected for such a well-off family. And watching the way they treated Jonas, I could tell he was definitely a part of the family. While most of Jonas’s time was monopolized by twelve-year-old Ryan and eight-year-old Isabel, Devlin and Casey spent much of their time interacting with me and Mace. Mace managed to hold up his end of the conversation but I didn’t miss how his eyes kept shifting back to Jonas. I knew Mace had an interest in Jonas beyond their professional relationship, but I couldn’t tell if he’d acted on it.
As much as I enjoyed watching the happy-go-lucky Jonas who blossomed in the presence of his family, I started feeling the pang of my own loss as the evening went on, and I ended up excusing myself shortly after dinner on the pretense of checking my messages. I found my way to the back of the house and went to stand out on the massive deck that stretched the length of most of the back of the house. The salty ocean air felt good against my skinand I started walking towards the beach to explore a bit when I heard a horse whinny. I glanced to my right and saw a small barn with several large paddocks around it. A gray horse stood in the paddock closest to the barn. I could tell there were two other animals in the enclosure but I wasn’t sure what they were so I began walking that direction. It wasn’t until I reached the fence that I realized they were donkeys. Both came up to greet me at the fence but the horse stayed where it was, its dark eyes fixed on me.
“That’s Jack.”
I turned to see Jonas walking towards me and I felt a ripple of desire go through me. Jonas’s lean body nearly touched mine as he stood next to me and draped his arms over the fence. “And this is Judy and Dot,” he added as he began petting the donkeys. “You guys hungry?” he asked the docile animals as they began sniffing his hands expectantly. “What do you say, big guy?” he said to Jack. “Dinnertime?”
I followed Jonas into the barn and watched as he went to a bin at the end of the aisle and began scooping grain from it. “You mind opening the doors?” Jonas asked as he motioned to the doors at the back of each stall that presumably led out into the paddock that the horse and donkeys were in. I did as he asked and then watched as he finished feeding the donkeys which had each entered a stall. Jack was the only one that remained in the paddock even though I’d opened his door. I leaned against the outer stall door and watched Jonas as he stood by the inner door and began talking softly to Jack. It took a couple of minutes but the horse finally entered the stall. But instead of eating, it stood tentatively before Jonas for several long seconds before it finally stepped forward and pressed its head against his chest. I didn’t say anything as I watched Jonas’s fingers ghost over the horse’s face. He soothed the animal for several minutes before leading it to the bucket where the grain was waiting. I was surprised to see him wiping at his eyes when he exited the stall and closed the door.
“Sorry,” he said with a little laugh. “I still haven’t gotten used to it.”
“What?” I asked gently. I hadn’t even realized I’d moved closerto him until I felt his body bump mine as he turned to latch the door.
“He never used to let me touch him,” Jonas said, motioning to the horse. “Casey was the only one who could handle him and even that took months of her gaining his trust after he arrived at the shelter.”
“Shelter?”
