Garrett blinked his eyes open, unsure of what had woken him up exactly, and reached for Cora’s lithe little body. When he found her side of the bed empty and cold, he searched and found Milo standing next to the bed on his side, staring at him with owl eyes.

“Hey, squirt,” he said, unsure how he should proceed and wondering if Milo had ever seen a man in his mother’s bed before.

“You’re in Mama’s bed?”

“Yeah, I am.” He wiped a hand over his face, trying to come up with a valid excuse. His brain, hampered without an infusion of coffee, was coming up with nothing.

Milo asked, “Why? What happened to your clothes?”

“Uhhh.” Shit, he had no idea how to answer. If he said too much or the wrong thing, he would piss Cora off. It wasn’t like he was skilled in the art of replying to toddlers, especially impressionable toddlers who seemed to soak up every bit of information. Was this where he told Milo about his intentions toward his mother?

“Hey baby, what are you doing in here? Leave Garrett alone and let him wake up. It was really late when I got home from work, so he spent the night. Okay?” Cora explained with a sweet voice that held an edge of steel, daring Garrett to disagree or intervene.

“All right, Mama.” Milo turned a beaming face up toward Cora.

And Christ, but she took Garrett’s breath away. Her hair was damp and hung loose about her delicate shoulders. Her makeup was gone, her face freshly washed. The pale pink fluffy robe covered everything from her neck to her cute toes. And still she was the most beautiful woman he’d ever seen. Or maybe it was the fact that he was falling for her—and falling fast. He didn’t question what he felt, even with his less than stellar past where relationships were concerned, and even now as he was fighting to keep his past from harming his future. It was as if Garrett had been waiting, waiting for Cora to waltz into his life and turn it upside down. He’d always been rather succinct and a bit of a fatalist. That first time he’d been with her at the club, something inside him had recognized her as the one for him and had said: mine.

And those feelings had blossomed, deepened every time he held her in his arms, felt her surrender beneath him. It didn’t matter whether he was balls deep inside her sweet heat or sitting next to her at the rodeo. Deep down, he knew she was it for him.

And he was falling for Milo, too, the inquisitive, sharp little boy Garrett wanted to help Cora with. He wanted to teach him to play ball and ride a bike.

“Let’s get you ready to go play with all your friends,” she said, ushering Milo out of the room. She gave Garrett a pointed glance as she left. It said get up, get dressed, and get out. That was something they were going to have to work on. They were in this relationship together full time. Not just in the dead of night when no one else was watching. Because he didn’t want there to be explanations and excuses as to why he was in Cora’s bed come morning. He planned to be there permanently. Now all he had to do was convince her of that.

Garrett rose and collected his clothing. He dressed in a flash, not knowing precisely what Cora’s schedule was today. And he didn’t want to piss her off, especially since he had the feeling she was disgruntled over the fact that he’d inadvertently spent the night. Although, it wasn’t as if she had told him to leave. He wondered if she was having a hard time figuring out how to explain their relationship to her son. He’d bet money that was it. And it was something he would help her with, that they could figure out together. Shrugging his shirt on, he remembered how she had looked as he’d spanked her last night.

Fucking hot as hell. He wanted to take her to his private dungeon and see how she’d do with a flogger. Wincing as he zipped his jeans up, he shifted himself.

Jesus, he had to get ahold of himself. Little good it would do to head downstairs with morning wood and have Milo notice.

He grabbed his goody bag and headed down the stairs.

Milo was sitting at the kitchen table, happily eating pancakes and eggs.

“There’s a plate for you too,” Cora said, nodding toward a plate on the counter piled high with scrambled eggs and pancakes. The scent wafted over Garrett and his stomach growled. She’d just slipped the last of the pancakes onto another plate and put the frying pan on a back burner on the stove to cool off. The woman looked downright edible.

“Thanks.” A grin tugged at the corners of his mouth. He was getting to her. They were making progress. In order to speed things up a bit—and frankly because he craved a taste of her, not to mention it would erase the awkwardness rippling off her in waves—Garrett closed the distance between them, yanked her supple body into his arms and kissed her. It was all tongue and teeth, but he felt her surrender, felt her resistance melt. God, the woman could kiss. She was all soft, pliant femininity in his arms, her fingers digging in to his chest. Then he lifted his mouth and took a step back. He had to, otherwise her kid would get quite the education.

Garrett glanced at Milo. The tow-headed boy was clutching his fork, a piece of pancake speared on it and dripping maple syrup. The owl eyes were back, and his mouth formed a nearly perfect circle.

Diffusing the tension, Garrett lifted his plate, grabbed a cup of coffee sitting by the pot, then carried them over to the kitchen table. He sat at the head of the table, right by Milo. Garrett acted calm and collected, pouring some syrup over his pancakes and said, “So, bud, I know you just saw me kissing your mom.”

Milo nodded.

“I plan on doing that a lot.”

“Why?” Milo tilted his head to the side and looked earnestly at him. And the look reminded him of Cora.

“Because I happen to like your mom quite a bit and I want to make sure that’s okay with you. Since you’re the man the of the house and all. It means I will be here at your house a lot.”

“Mmm, yep.” And then Milo went back to eating his pancakes. Shoveling them in was the more accurate description. But the kid didn’t seem fazed by him kissing Cora.

Cora, on the other hand, was giving Garrett the stink eye as she sat across from him. She’d come around. He ate breakfast with them as if they were already a family. And hell, he wanted it, them, with a fierceness that gripped his very soul.

What would Cora think if she knew he wanted her beyond a few nights of fun and was looking at forever? “I want you both to come have dinner at my place tonight.”

“Garrett, I’m not sure. With the dog…” Cora was deflecting and trying to avoid her feelings for him. And she did have feelings for him, he’d felt them in her touch and in the way she’d clung to him last night.

“You can bring Elmo. I have plenty of space, so he’ll be fine.” At his name Elmo rushed in, yapping and panting in excitement.

“I’ll come pick you guys up and drive you home. It’s just dinner, Cora. I’m sure Milo would love to come to my place.” He hated that he was playing dirty when Milo got all excited. Cora narrowed her eyes.

He’d deal with it later. He wanted her in his world completely.

Garrett took his empty plate over to the sink and rinsed it before setting the dish in the dishwasher, proving that he was housebroken. Then he walked over and kissed Cora again, which Milo thought was hilarious and tossed his little head back, cackling in glee.

“Thanks for breakfast. I’ll see you guys tonight at five.” He left Cora’s house with a spring in his step. He planned to show her exactly what he had to offer beyond the bedroom.

Garrett stowed his goody bag in the back seat before climbing into the cab of his truck. With a last glance at her two-story condo, the gray siding and stone structure, he reversed out of her drive.

If he was going to host them for dinner tonight, he’d have to stop by the grocery store and pick some things up. It might not hurt to grab some puppy chow and dog bowls either. Then at some point today, he had to contact Sasha and check on how the resort was running without him there.

Garrett wasn’t used to this much inactivity. Not to mention that he was hiding from Gail and his past. That wasn’t like him. He’d joined the army because he had needed to escape his mother’s condescension over Gail and the fallout that it had caused within his life. His father had wanted him to go work as the head of their European division in London until things calmed down a bit in the aftermath. He’d opted to forge his own destiny instead of the one ascribed to him.

It was, in a roundabout way, how he’d met Spencer, ended up here in Jackson Hole building his own hotel from the ground up, and it had all led to meeting Cora.

His cell phone blared. Noting the name that popped up on the screen, he answered.

“Jack, what’s up?” Please let it be good news. He needed the shenanigans with Gail to conclude.

“Can you stop by the station?”

“Sure. I’m already in town, so it shouldn’t take me long.” Garrett changed lanes and took a left, driving in the opposite direction of the grocery store.

“You are, huh? This wouldn’t have anything to do with Spencer’s cousin, would it?” Jack asked, chuckling.

“None of your business. What does it matter anyway?” Although, deep down, Garrett knew he’d never acted this way with any of the other subs or any of the women he had dated throughout the years. Cora was different.

“Never thought I’d live to see the day.”

“What are you talking about?”

“You with Spencer’s cousin. She got to you. Don’t deny it because I know you too damn well. Gotta go, I’ll see you in a few,” Jack said, disconnecting the call.

She had gotten to him. There was no denying that fact. Cora had entered his life and upended all his carefully held control. At times with her, he felt like a stripling youth with his first crush. But it went far deeper than a mere crush.

It only took Garrett ten minutes to reach the police station. It was a squat, tan building without any unique identifiers other than the clock tower standing sentinel at the entrance. Inside he gave his name to the front desk clerk, an Officer Johnston, a young, fresh-faced uniform officer with his black hair in a short buzz cut who looked fresh from the academy. At least until you looked into the guy’s eyes, because there was a depth and weariness there Garrett had seen in Jack’s eyes. It was the tired and burned out resignation of members of law enforcement who had the knowledge of just how horrendous humanity could be.

When Jack arrived at the door to let him in, Garrett almost didn’t recognize him. Gone was his standard black, military style dress uniform. Now that he had made detective, he wore dark blue jeans with a light blue dress shirt and his black Stetson. The only thing that distinguished him as an officer was his gun belt with his standard issue Glock in the holster at his hip, and his badge on a chain that hung around his neck to his mid-chest.

“Glad you came. We have a lot to talk about,” Jack said, shaking his hand. Then he led Garrett through the maze of desks in the main room that was comprised of both uniformed officers and plain clothes detectives. It looked like any corporate office building—well, except for the fact that every single individual was packing a firearm.

“You’re being rather cryptic, Jack, what’s going on?” Garrett asked.

“I think we caught a break. It seems you are not the only one she’s ever blackmailed. My contact at the FBI was able to hack her computer email and located correspondence with another man, a Mike Wyatt, from whom she was able to syphon five million with the same method she used on you. That she had damning video footage of the two of them during intercourse and if he didn’t pay up, she would take it to the authorities and the press.”

“She got to Mike too?” Their families had moved in the same social circles. Mike’s dad owned one of the big brokerage firms in Manhattan.

“You know him?” Jack asked with a raised brow as they walked past his desk and down one of the hallways.

“I did, before I enlisted in the army. It’s been years since I even thought of him. But yeah, his family ran in the same circles as mine did.” And that meant that Garrett hadn’t been the only one Gail had been fucking when they were together. It didn’t surprise him as it should have, because he was learning just how much of a foolish schmuck he’d been where Gail had been concerned.

“Where are you taking me?” he asked Jack as they took the stairs up to the second floor.

“The DA’s office. We have a plan of attack,” Jack explained, pushing open the door to the second floor and holding it for him.

“Well, that’s good to hear,” Garrett said as they walked the short distance to the first office on the right and entered the room. Jack didn’t knock, which meant the district attorney knew they were coming. The office was half the size of Garrett’s at the resort but you wouldn’t realize you were in a police station here. It was more sedate. At least, until you spied a stack of case files on the credenza and crime scene photos pinned to a whiteboard on the left-hand wall.

Beside the glossy mahogany desk stood a middle-aged guy, perhaps ten years older than Garrett. His dark, trimmed hair was laced with gray. His skin was darker, a bronzed gold sheen, that displayed his Native American ancestry. And he was half a foot shorter but no less in control, judging by the firm set to his dark brown eyes.

“Garrett Brooks, I would like you to meet our District Attorney, Joe Avery,” Jack said, making the introductions.

He shook the man’s hand. Joe had a firm grip and his gaze never wavered. “Pleasure.”

“Likewise, Mr. Brooks. I must say, I didn’t realize we had the heir to the Brooks Hotels living here in Jackson.”

He grimaced. “I’m not the only heir and, in truth, it will be my sister who will run the empire even more than she does now, once my father decides to step down.”

“It’s curious that you would snub your inheritance that way,” Joe Avery replied, sizing Garrett up and taking his measure with a glance.

Garrett rarely talked about his family. He loved them and they him; even his mother did, regardless of the strain of their relationship. But at the end of the day, he’d had to go in his own direction. Garrett shrugged. “I’ve preferred making my own way in life. Carving out something that is mine, free and unfettered by family expectations.”

“I can see that,” Joe stated, releasing his hand and moving around to the black leather chair behind his desk. It was a power move, Garrett recognized, in the way he unbuttoned his dark gray sport coat and sat.

Garrett felt like he was under a microscope.

“Well, have a seat.” Joe Avery indicated with a wave of his hand toward the chairs in front of his desk and waited until he and Jack did his bidding before he continued, “As Detective Stone might have mentioned, with a contact of his at the Bureau we’ve been able to locate another individual the suspect Gail Ambrose has blackmailed.”

“Yes, he did mention it,” Garrett commented, but he didn’t feel like it was enough.

“I’ve reviewed the tape you made in your office. Because of the delicate nature of it, this is a need to know only operation. In coordination with the Bureau, we need to get a confession from the suspect or get her to agree to a confession.”

“What I was able to glean in my office wasn’t enough then?” Garrett asked as the knot of dread tightened in his chest. He had no idea how they were going to stop Gail from destroying his life.

“She never says outright that you didn’t rape her, for one, only that she will go public with the tape. As far as I know, the FBI is still mining the files they found on her cloud service. What you need is a confession where she says you never raped her and she was taping you so that she could hold it over you later to blackmail you with.”

Oh, was that all? Why didn’t Joe just ask him to catch a falling star? It would be one hell of a lot easier to do. “How the hell do you expect me to get her to squawk like that?”

“I think I might have an idea. It’s a bad one, and one we’d need to call Spencer in on,” Jack chimed in with a resolute expression in his hazel gaze. Garrett trusted Jack. They were the best of friends but Gail’s betrayal had affected him more than he realized. It made him wonder about a person’s ulterior motives, even those he held most dear.

Garrett glanced between both men, unsure about the steps to take, but he needed Gail out of his life for good. If he wanted a chance with Cora and Milo, he needed this finished. Whatever had to be done to ensure Cora and Milo’s safety and that none of this touched them, he would do, so he’d have to take a leap of faith here. “Bring in Spencer, and then I hope like hell you can explain it to me.”

“It’s something I think might work. The technique of course is unusual, but I find myself intrigued by the methods Detective Stone suggested. And my office will supply the operation with whatever recording devices are needed,” Joe Avery stated.

Dread shivered through Garrett. “And what did the detective recommend?”

Jack stared, his face unyielding. “We get her to confess using a Dom trick.”

“What?” Garrett chewed out, his voice harsh as a cold fury descended over him.

Jack held his hands up, attempting to diffuse his anger. “Look, just hear me out. We set up one of the private rooms in the club with recording equipment. You lure her into the room, getting her consent to the scene on tape, then proceed to get her into subspace. Once she’s in subspace, have her confess her transgression. From there, once we have the confession on tape, we can use that to get a formal, legal, signed confession from her.”

“I won’t touch her.” He couldn’t. If Cora found out, she’d kick him out of her life so quickly there would be skid marks. Not to mention the mere thought of touching that viper once again made his dick shrivel up.

“You won’t, you’ll just be in the room,” Jack said, with Joe silently studying the entire interaction.

At the loud knock on the door, Garrett turned to find Spencer standing there. He was back to looking like a businessman in black dress slacks and a royal blue dress shirt. But even though Spencer had a classy sheen to him, he was the guy you wanted in a dog fight. He was okay with blurring the lines a bit to suit his means. And, in truth, there was no one Garrett would rather have at his back.

“They dragged you in on this?” Garrett asked as some of the initial anger faded.

Spencer waltzed into the room as if he owned the place and took a seat. “This was kind of my idea, dude.”

“I won’t touch that viper. Cora would hate me for it if she ever found out.” He was having a difficult enough time keeping this whole thing from her. Especially after the promise he’d made her. He squashed the guilt simmering underneath. Once this was all in the past, he would confess everything to her, but he hoped by then she would care for him and wouldn’t shun him or shut him out of her life.

“And then I’d have to kill you for hurting her.” Spencer never minced words, even if you’d rather he not be as blunt.

“Um, guys, we are in a police station. No threatening to kill each other in front of the district attorney, please. You’re making me look bad,” Jack said with a pained grimace.

Joe Avery waved the comment away. “It’s all right Jack. I understand their positions. But let’s get down to the nitty gritty on how we’re going to catch the little blackmailer.”

They spent the next two hours discussing how Garrett was going to lure Gail to the club and entice her into what she would believe was going to be a threesome with him and Spencer. It would be Spencer administering the flogging and doing the touching, not Garrett. His dick withered at the mere thought of touching her.

At the same time, Jack and Joe would be in Spencer’s office with the video feed. They also arranged for Jack to go to the hotel the following day to get his hands on her tablet computer in coordination with Sasha.

Once everything was in place, with some of what he would be forced to do set in stone, Garrett felt better than he had since Gail’s advent back into his life.

With that, he and Spencer left the police station together.

“You sure about this, Spencer?” he asked at the door to his truck.

Spencer had slid his sunglasses over his eyes when they emerged outdoors. But he pushed his hands into his pockets, glanced down for a minute, and then said with a shrug, “Look, neither of us is actually going to fuck her. If I have to be the one doing all the touching to flog her and get her into subspace in order to force a confession, so be it. I’ll take one for the team.”

“While I appreciate the sentiment, I hate to make you a part of this.”

“No one is making me. I’m doing this because I want you to have your chance with Cora. I think you guys fit. And since you’ve been around, she’s been smiling more than she has since her husband died,” Spencer said, staring at him through his sunglasses.

“What was he like?” It was something he hadn’t asked Cora, was afraid to ask her just yet.

“Jeff? Hardworking, a bit of a partier, and a daredevil, which was why firefighting fit him like a glove. But he was a decent sort, treated Cora well. He and Cora were good together. And I know my cousin loved him.”

“But?” What wasn’t Spencer saying?

“Not to speak ill of the dead, but I’m not sure they would have lasted. Cora was settling down, getting pregnant, and he was still pulling stunts. Promising her that he would stay out of danger and then breaking that promise to wade into the thick of the action. It’s what killed him in the end. He traded places with another member of his station, went in first, and bam, a steel beam from the warehouse ceiling fell on him. As much as she loved him, I think a part of her has hated him, too, for leaving her the way he did, for breaking his promises to her.”

Well, fuck.

Garrett hadn’t questioned agreeing to her condition, had thought it was rather cute and innocent. But then again, he had wanted her and hadn’t been able to see past the haze of his desire for her. So he’d gone and promised he wouldn’t lie to her even though he’d known he was holding back from her. He decided he’d tell her as much as he could about his past without involving her in this sting operation. It wasn’t exactly a lie but an omission. He just needed a bit more time and then he would confess all.

Besides, he wasn’t certain enough of her feelings for him to confess everything just yet.

“Well, you don’t have to worry about that with me. I haven’t been a daredevil since Iraq.”

“Yeah, well, keep it that way. Because I think Cora and Milo need you, and you need them just as much. I’ll run to the club and start making preparations, including giving my cousin the night off on Friday.”

“Thanks, dude. Call me,” Garrett said, and Spencer saluted him with a smirk and the middle finger. That was exactly what he would be if things went south with Cora. Well and truly fucked.

In a few days, Gail would be out of his life for good. And hopefully, if he played his cards right, he would be starting the next chapter—with Cora.

Now he just had to keep her away from the resort and the club.