“I know that,” Kellan said. “Which is why I have to be sure the attraction to Jade is real.”
“But she’s a knock-off for Lara.”
“Yeah. She is.” He picked up the picture and tucked it in his shirt pocket. “The truth is I might have stayed away because of the similarities. Then all that happened yesterday and suddenly I was protecting her and I realized Jade is nothing like Lara and in a weird way, I’m relieved. Still, there are certain things I don’t want to do and taking her virginity is one of them.”
“So what happened this morning?”
“Use your imagination but my cock wasn’t inside her if that’s what you want to know.”
“It is.” Reason sniffed. “So I have your blessing then?”
“I wouldn’t say that, but I’m not gonna damn you to hell or anything like that if you take what most men would be standing in line for.”
“She may be jerking you off, man. She’s probably had a lover or two before.”
“I don’t think so,” Kellan said. “But after this morning, I’m wondering why. I suspect there’s more to Jade than meets the eye.”
“Bad past?”
“No pictures hanging on the walls. None on the bedside table. She’s either running from something or—”
“Or working with someone.” Madden reentered the heart of the club and stood before them. “Gentleman, we may have a mole on the Baldini payroll. And my money is on Miss Jade Summers.”
Kellan’s entire demeanor changed. “Why do you think Jade’s your girl?”
Reason crossed his arms and studied Kellan closer. “Let me guess. Scratch everything you said before now?”
“I wouldn’t go that far.” Kellan glanced at Madden. “You’re sure?”
“Can’t put my money on Jade yet, but yes, we have a mole. Cartwell was planning to take Nory to North Carolina. If he’d crossed that mountain, he would’ve run into more problems than even he can escape.”
“Care to elaborate?” Kellan asked.
“Sarsarone’s men were waiting at the overlook. Eight SUVs loaded down with guns and a lot of fellas who knew how to use them.”
“Fuck,” Kellan muttered.
“We definitely had a leak,” Madden said.
“It’s not Jade.” Kellan seemed certain.
“How soon before we know?” Reason asked.
“Few days,” Madden replied. “She’s deep undercover if it’s her, man.”
“Then start peeling back the layers. I want to know exactly who she is.”
Kellan wasn’t the only one. Reason wanted answers and he wanted them before he ended up in between one sexy lady’s legs. Then again, he didn’t exactly mind thrusting for information, particularly if Jade had been playing Kellan all along.
Chapter Seven
“Hmm … yum. I pull up a chair expecting one of my favorite bartenders and look what I found. If you’re not the kind of man a woman could wrap her mouth around, I’ve yet to meet one.”
“Hear that, Graham?” Elliott Killian slapped his brother on the back in passing. He was hanging Graham out to dry.
Ansley Cartwell, one of Clink’s owners, popped her head up, suddenly uninterested in whatever she was trying to find in the oblong coolers. “Excuse me, but were you talking to him?” She thumbed one of her four husbands.
Reason kept mixing drinks, pretending not to notice the brewing trouble. It was bad enough that Ansley had to work the front of the house, too. The last thing they’d needed was a packed club and an inebriated Katherine Andes going head to head with the more verbal Cartwell.