Merciless (Option Zero 1)

The décor was basic. Nothing extravagant or fancy, but extremely comfortable all the same. The oversize leather sofa, large fireplace with a giant flat-screen TV hanging above it, spoke of comfort and not a lot of flash. Definitely her style of living.

She could see herself staying here with him forever. The minute the idea flashed in her head, she squashed it. That kind of thinking was too dangerous to even contemplate. She knew what she wanted and where her heart lay, but she had no idea about Ash.

Not wanting to ruin what had so far been a truly spectacular day with what might happen in the future, she focused on the here and now, giving him her brightest smile.

“What are you grinning about?” Ash asked. “I won the battle.”

Pulling him down to her for another kiss, she whispered softly, “That’s because I let you.”

He raised his head. “Excuse me?”

“Ha! Gotcha!”

Laughing, he rolled her over onto her back again and kissed her. Ignoring the cold, ignoring the problems that faced her, Jules gave herself up to the sheer beauty of being in love for the first time in her life.

“That’s not even a word!”

Ash grinned at Jules’s indignation. When he was a kid, he and his mother had spent hours at the Scrabble board. It had been her favorite game. After his dad had finally gotten out of the picture, there had been a lot more laughter in the house. Playing word games had been one of her favorite ways to unwind after a long day at work. Ash would have done anything for her. She had sacrificed so much to keep him safe.

“It’s definitely a word.” He slid the dictionary across the table. “Read it and weep.”

Eyes narrowed with suspicion, she grabbed the dictionary and began to turn pages. Ash watched her face as she found the word. He’d noticed when she was concentrating, she got the cutest wrinkle right at the bridge of her nose.

Sighing, she slammed the book closed. “How on earth does anyone know that word?”

“What? I use it in conversations all the time.”

“Oh yeah? Give me a sentence using it.”

“No problem. I’m surprised to learn that, despite Juliet Stone’s obvious intelligence, she’s never heard the word absquatulate.”

Jules sputtered. “That’s cheating.”

“Hey, you asked me to use it in a sentence.”

“Very well.” She rearranged some tiles on her Scrabble tray and then placed them on the board. “I hate to get rough with you, Mr. Drake, but here you go.”

“Wabbit?” He eyed her carefully. “Isn’t that what Elmer Fudd calls Bugs Bunny?”

“Maybe.” Her lips twitched, telling him she was working hard not to laugh. “But it’s an actual word, too.”

“Okay, then you use it in a sentence.” He raised his hand. “And don’t use my sentence. I own that one.”

“After a long day of hunting down bad guys, Asher Drake was wabbit.”

“Like, I actually turned into one?”

She rolled her eyes. “It’s an adjective, not a noun.”

“Give me that dictionary.”

Glee twinkling in her eyes, she slid the book back across the table. “Now you read it and weep, Mr. Drake.”

He found the word easily enough. It was a Scottish word meaning exhausted. Putting the book down with one hand, he used his other hand to grab Jules’s wrist and pull her around to sit on his lap. “Asher Drake is not too wabbit for this.”

“Good, because I’d hate to have to absquatulate.”

“We’ve got three feet of snow at the door. No way could you absquatulate.”