Redeeming Justice (4 page)

Her green eyes twinkled with merriment when she answered. “Yep! Miss Dalton’s Piano
School for Young Ladies. Took lessons until I was in high school.”

She had one of those happy smiles that could light up a room. Alex was suddenly very,
very glad Meghan O’Brien had come to visit.

As she turned slowly taking in every angle of the grand Spanish villa, he checked
her out as well. Alex’s primitive side tightened as he appreciated her striking figure.
Wearing a short wrap dress with a fluttery hem, the simple style accentuated her tiny
waist and curvy hips. When she swung away and he saw her backside for the first time,
the generous bounty of her ass caught him off guard. Choking back a groan, Alex didn’t
know whether to curse or thank whatever power in the universe put such a tempting
sight within arm’s reach.

He loved bare skin, especially legs, and she didn’t disappoint. Hers were long and
well toned. He glimpsed painted toes on feet slid into a pair of kitten heel sandals.
Judging by the way she moved and held herself, he suspected Pilates. Or maybe dance.
A riot of rich auburn curls rolled across her shoulders standing in stark contrast
to her pale complexion.

Far and away though it was her breasts that melted his brain. Men lost their shit
over boobs like the ones he was leering at. Each sexy globe was a hearty handful plus
some. He didn’t doubt they were real. There was something natural and enticing about
the way they swayed and shifted with her movements. In her pretty dress, the bouncing
tits, tiny waist, and seductive hips were an invitation to a good case of thundering
lust.

“Alex,” she murmured, cutting through his intense perusal earning her his attention.
The green in her eyes was disarming up close. He smiled. “Would you mind if I took
some pictures while I’m here? It’s sort of a hobby,” she told him. “Your home is just
so beautiful. I’d like to remember the moment.”

He was bemused by the request but nodded graciously in permission. “Let’s head onto
the patio.” Stepping into her personal space, Alex gently guided her by the elbow
toward the back of the house. Being so close, he smelled the vanilla and blackberry
again and remembered thinking that she’d taste sweet. The fingers of the hand against
her elbow drifted up her arm teasing the soft skin he found. It was just a quick touch
but enough to fire up his libido in a very big way.

“Holy crap!” he heard her gasp as their route took them through the enormous custom
kitchen. “How many people do you feed with a kitchen this big?” she laughed. Her fingers
drifted across the beautiful granite countertops the same way they had touched the
piano. She was a sensualist. The realization sent shockwaves racing along his spine.

Tearing his eyes from her face, Alex looked around as if seeing the space for the
first time. “It
is
kind of over the top, huh?” He smirked and shook his head. “Know that saying,
Go Big or Go Home
? Well, my designer came from that school of thought. There’s a separate cookhouse
and dining room for the compound. This bad boy,” he gestured with his chin, “is a
rich man’s indulgence. Besides, I believe the kitchen is the heart of the home. It’s
where families gather. I wanted something that made a statement.”

Meghan snorted out a hearty laugh. “Well, statement received. Loud and clear!”

Stepping with her through a tiled archway onto an outdoor patio, his guest gasped
again and came to a halt. Next to his tech cave and pool, this was Alex’s favorite
spot. The interior patio had a massive stone fireplace along one wall while the rest
of the space was dotted with windows into the various rooms of the Villa. Comfortable
seating areas with large padded loungers were clustered here and there under an enormous
pergola. In the middle hung a sweeping fan that kept the air moving on the hot summer
day. Everything about the outdoor room screamed of his ancestral roots. It was Spanish
influenced grace and comfort at its best.

He felt a surge of satisfaction that she was visibly moved by his home. Large earthenware
pots and stoneware bowls planted with an abundance of greenery and colorful blooms
gave the space a special vibe. Dark terracotta curved Spanish tiles on the roof mirrored
those on single story sections of the hacienda while the ground was covered with beautiful
stone slabs. Olive trees flanked the ornate, carved fireplace surround while all around
the space were lanterns of every size and shape holding massive candles.

“This is unbelievably beautiful, Alex,” she told him as a dreamy look softened her
expression. “I love the Southwest.” Walking ahead of him she took a few steps then
turned back, genuine delight shining from her green eyes. “It’s so different from
Boston. Worlds apart.”

She was still beaming into his face when Alex detected a sound coming from inside
the house. “I think my housekeeper is about to make an appearance,” he told her with
a wry grin. Shooing Meghan along under the pergola cover to shade her from the mid-day
sun, he got her seated comfortably at an enormous wood table a second before the woman
who ran his home came onto the patio.

“Hola, M
eee
ster Alex,” the older woman trilled in accented English as she approached them holding
a tray laden with glasses and a pitcher of something icy cold.

Plopping it onto the big table the woman fixed him with a smug grin as she eyed up
his guest. At that second Alex realized his visit with a woman, a fucking
beautiful
woman, would be the talk of the compound in supersonic time.

“Thanks,” he muttered feeling quickly out-of-sorts. He didn’t relish having his personal
life discussed. Drae and Cam would be in his face within a nanosecond if they discovered
just who his visitor actually was. He was sure learning he was entertaining the fiancée
of a dead soldier they all had known would open the floodgates.

Unfailingly polite when he needed to be, Alex knew his mother would be proud at how
fast he recovered his manners.

“Meghan O’Brien, this is my housekeeper, Carmen.”

Meghan smiled and put out her hand in greeting.

“Carmen, this is the guest I told you about, Miss O’Brien.” Carmen took Meghan’s hand
and greeted her effusively.

“Welcome, welcome M
eee
z O’Brien! I hope you like lemonade from scratch,” she told his guest as she went
to pour them a glass. “There is mint from our garden as well, if you’d like to add
some to your glass.”

Alex felt peeved as the two women began debating the many uses of organic mint as
they fell into conversation like they were old friends. He had to admit Carmen’s lemonade
was in fact, to die for, but that didn’t stop him from wanting his housekeeper gone
so he could have all of Meghan’s attention again. Jesus. When did he turn into such
a pussy?

“Oh God, yes!” He heard her laugh in a throaty chuckle that set his nerves on edge.
“In Boston, it’s all about the sweet tea. My mom makes gallons of the stuff in the
summer.”

“Maybe you can show me how to make a big batch?” Carmen asked. “The crew at the compound
would love it. I can pass the recipe on to Ria, who does all the cooking around here.”

Oh, for fuck’s sake
, he groaned inwardly. Really? Zero to exchanging recipes in less than five minutes?
He would never understand women and how their minds worked. When Carmen turned her
attention back to him he caught the smug grin again and made a lame attempt to stare
her down. She knew him too well.

“I’ll let you two have your visit. Let me know if you need anything. Ria will be here
soon with lunch. Nice try, M
eee
ster Alex,” she whispered so only he would hear, touching his arm as she turned from
them.

Alex lowered into a chair alongside his guest and watched her as she sipped the tall
glass of lemonade. His eyes took in a thousand tiny details. The way condensation
on the outside of the ice filled glass dripped onto the table. How her lips opened
as she lifted the drink to her mouth. When she brushed a mass of curls over her shoulder
he spied simple pearl earrings and noted her nails were painted with a soft shade
of polish. She wore no rings but had a delicate gold chain around her wrist with a
small heart-shaped charm. The pretty necklace she wore, another delicate chain hung
with a tiny half-moon, was just long enough to kiss the top of her cleavage. And speaking
of cleavage. Holy God, hers really was magnificent.

Meghan wasn’t sure where to look. Her senses were inundated with so much input that
she was having a hard time keeping up. The beauty and charm of the Spanish hacienda
had affected her deeply. It was old worldly elegant and homey at the same time. A
little like the Major himself. She’d expected a curmudgeon of a man, some caricature
of how she supposed a commanding officer should be, not a sexy, slightly patrician
Don of an old Spanish family. Why had she envisioned someone all buttoned up tight
with a military buzz cut in the first place?

He was nothing like she expected.
Nothing.
First of all, the man was friggin’ huge. Like football player huge. No one should
have a chest that broad, she thought. It invited all sorts of thoughts like how wonderful
it must feel to snuggle into it.
Oh good lord
, she silently groaned.

And secondly, this was no boy she was looking at. The thought made tingling sparks
of awareness shoot along her nerve endings. Used to younger guys, they all seemed
like men-in-waiting compared to him.

Dressed in a button-down shirt with the sleeves rolled back that stretched perfectly
across his shoulders and molded to his massive chest, it disappeared into a pair of
charcoal grey trousers that made his trim waist, flat stomach, and muscled thighs
gloriously obvious.

As if a body that would make a supermodel swoon wasn’t enough, he had a face that
horny teenage girls dreamed of. Rugged looking and hot as hell, Alex Marquez had brown
eyes sparkling with a devilish glint of wickedness in a face covered with a beard
that wasn’t sure if it was a week without shaving or actual facial hair that was there
to stay. The hair on his head was longish and adorably messy, like he’d just run his
hands through it a moment before he opened the door. She wanted to lean into his massive
body and run her fingers through his tousled hair.
Uh oh.

Ordinarily, it pissed her off when guys stared at her breasts. She’d developed a mocking
leer for those who had the gall to ogle her publicly. But there was something spine
tingling about the Major’s bold gaze that made her panties damp. He certainly wasn’t
making any effort to hide his appreciation of her ample bosom. Shockingly, Meghan
felt her nipples harden as she fought back a telltale groan.

Luckily, the lemonade his housekeeper made was super yummy and just what her parched
throat and idle hands needed. After a couple of good slugs of the icy treat, she put
her glass down and tried to pull her wayward thoughts back in line. She was here to
check off an item of closure on her to-do list, not get all moony-eyed and giggly
over a hot guy.

“Thanks again for agreeing to see me, Alex.” Crap. Could she sound any lamer? She
was a teacher, goddammit! Nothing scared her, not a gym full of teenage testosterone
or a Latin Hercules.
Get your act together
, she chided silently.
Stop acting like a twit.

The devilish twinkle in his eyes wrecked her brain when he smiled. “It’s been a long
time coming, wouldn’t you say?”

Did he just ask if she took a long time coming? Wait. No, that’s not at all what he
said. Oh my God. She was losing it. Meghan sat back in the chair and crossed her legs
earning her bare limbs an appreciative glance from the man who was scattering her
thoughts.

And then the dynamic shifted. The reminder of how they knew each other and the long
years between their initial contact and this beautiful sunny day settled around them.
Meghan could feel the anguish rolling off him the minute he remembered. She didn’t
feel the torment quite like she used to. But then again, she hadn’t been there that
day when a bomb-carrying civilian had killed so many and sent others, Alex included,
to the hospital. That’s why she was here. Time to put things in perspective and finally
leave the past where it belonged. The past.

She hadn’t planned what to say preferring to let the moment unfold as it was meant
to. All she hoped to bring was the authenticity of her feelings.

“Your letter saved me, y’know. Really. It did,” she added when she saw his jaw clench
and the twinkle disappear from his eyes. “David’s parents were distraught and I didn’t
know what to do to ease their suffering. You see, he was an only child. Not only was
he not coming home but the family they prayed he’d have waiting for him would never
be. I think that was the hardest part for them. They already treated me like a daughter.
Knowing all their hopes and dreams were crushed tore me up.”

“What about you?” he asked somberly. “What about your hopes and dreams? Losing the
man you were going to marry must have been devastating.”