Free Breanna by Karen Nichols Page A

hidden.
    “That’s seven months from now,” came the flat answer, her glare unwavering.
    “Your birthday,” Jase offered, his eyes lowered to papers he’d been reading through.
    “Two months ago. You are not listening to me.”
    “We heard everything you said, Brea. We can afford it. You don’t have anything,” Jase looked up, one brow arched high. “Of course, if you’d rather run around the house naked because all your meager closet is in the washing machine, who are we to argue?”
    “Duck,” Nick suggested with a low chuckle. Watching when Jase looked toward him and didn’t duck. The pillow hit him in the back of the head, bounced and landed behind him. The sound of a slamming door came next. “Our kitten has a temper.”
    “And a damn good throw,” Jase chuckled, printing out questions in the margin of an application and tossing it to the reject pile.
    They worked quietly for several minutes before the familiar beep had them both up and moving down the hall in time to see a pair of very brief running shorts and a lycra half-top take off down the path behind the house. They stood silent, watching the ponytail moving and the long, long legs taking lengthy strides. They watched the 72
    bouncing behind that finally made them both groan when she was out of sight.
    “Damn.”
    “No shit. I think I’ve had a hard-on since we found her,” Nick commented with a low breath pushed between his lips.
    “Thanks for the visual.”
    “And you haven’t?” He snorted.
    “I’m just choosing not to share the visual.” Nick reached for the doorknob only to come up short when Jase’s hand closed over his wrist. He looked back to see the shaking head.
    “We can’t cage her, Nick. We’ll lose her.” He watched his friend weigh his words.
    “We talked about the fence and the alarms. I asked her not to use her own debit or credit cards for a week until we’re sure someone isn’t tracking her. Since we shopped in Aftport and she talked to one of her friends, it’s going to trickle through that she’s alive and well. I told her about the paths running the property, so I think we have to let her behave as normally as we can until we have this mess figured out. We need to find a way to put a tracer on her. What does she wear all the time?”
    “That bright neon green watch,” Nick said after picturing her in his mind. “I’ve got just the thing for the band. Will you tell her?”
    “We’ll both tell her.” Jase pulled his palm back and rubbed his neck. “Have you looked at the things she planted?”
    “Yeah….four inches of growth on seeds just put in and watered. Definitely Fae.”
    “Do we know anyone in the breed?” He watched Nick close one eye.

    73
    “Your mom knows a lot of them in that pottery guild thing she belongs to,” Nick listened to the groan from Jase as they walked back toward their office. Jase continued on to fill a cup with fresh coffee.
    “You know she’ll ask questions,” Jase finally said, carrying the coffee back to his desk and meeting Nick’s gaze.
    “Until we have something permanent and we talk to Brea about how she wants it handled, you can be vague. A friend of a friend,” he watched the grey eyes roll back.
    “Oh, yeah, that always works with my mother. Mention female and the word friend in the same sentence and it’s like radar takes over,” Jase said flatly. He let his head fall back before lifting the headset to their home phone and tapping in the number. The expected exuberant greeting didn’t fail to make him smile.
    “Jase! This is a nice surprise at the end of the work week,” Annie Bishop smiled broadly as she manipulated the fine brush over the inlaid design on the plates she was working on for a client.
    “Why do you always make it sound like I never call?”
    “Hmm…testy…..and even a little evasive,” Annie stared at the design and chose another color. “So tell me how the business is going? I heard from several friends who love the