Wearing one of Chip’s old shirts, Joslynn sat on the floor, rubbing J.J.’s stomach, while he stood near the kitchen bar, watching them. Was it wrong of him to be jealous of the pup? He wanted to pick her up and carry her back to the bedroom so that her hands would land on him, not on the dog. He was never going to get enough of her.

Unable to stop himself, he sat his beer down and crossed the space between them. “Jos.”

“Yeah?” Tipping her head back to look up at him, he could see her own desire peeking through her dark brown eyes.

“Come shower with me.” He held out his hand to her.

“You just want to get me naked and wet again,” she teased, accepting his hand.

“Wet in a different way.” J.J. let out a bark, which Chip ignored. He didn’t care if the dog was unhappy she was being stolen away. He was alpha of the house and J.J. knew it. He pulled her close and slid his hands under her shirt. “I always want you naked.”

“You’re insatiable.” Even as she said the words, she slipped her hand down the front of his lounge pants and wrapped it around the length of his cock.

“For you, yes.” The shirt was nearly to her shoulders when the sound of a key in the door pulled his attention away from the beauty in front of him. J.J. stood, barking, between the door and them. On full alert, he pushed her behind him, moving quickly, with her still tucked behind him, to the gun in the box on the fireplace ledge.

“What’s going on?” Her voice was low, but the fear was evident.

“Take J.J. and—” He checked the gun, making sure it was loaded, as the door opened.

J.J. growled, launching toward the figure in the doorway.

“Wow, J.J.” a familiar voice called out as the dog pounced.

“Jack?” Even though he thought he recognized the voice, he hadn’t lowered the gun from the figure in the doorway.

“Yeah. Now call off your dog.”

“J.J.!” Chip hollered, the dog instantly reacting. When J.J. came to stand next to them, Chip lowered the gun. “What the hell are you doing here? You’re supposed to be in Iraq.”

“I’m on leave. I went to Joslynn’s but Annie said she was on a business trip. You were supposed to be out of town, too. She wouldn’t tell me what’s going on, but she seemed off.” Jack stepped into the house and dropped his bag by the door. His eyes widened. “Joslynn? What the fuck is going on?”

“Long story.” She stepped out from behind Chip and went to rub on J.J.’s head.

“Are you fucking my sister?” Jack’s gaze focused on Chip.

“Woah, now.” Joslynn took a step toward her brother, but Chip slipped his hand into hers, stopping her.

“This wasn’t how you were supposed to find out.”

“Joslynn, get in the car,” Jack ordered.

“No.” She took a deep breath. “Chip’s right. We didn’t want you to find out like this…”

“I’m out of the country and you just move in on her? What the hell?” Jack slammed the door behind him. “She’s my sister.”

“And I’m right here.” She snapped. “We’re adults. We know what we were doing.”

“You’re my best friend.” Jack still refused to look at her. “My sister.”

“None of this was meant to hurt you.” She let go of Chip’s hand and stepped toward her brother. “Hell, you and Annie are the reason we waited so long.”

“Why now?” Jack shook his head. “Fuck, man, I knew you had a thing for her. You never hid it well, but still I never thought you’d go behind my back like this. You betrayed me by keeping this from me.”

“It just happened,” she said.

“She’s right.” Chip stepped up behind her, his hand resting on her shoulder. “She was on a business trip with that asshole Sal in Ireland and there was an issue. I went to take care of it and well…”

“You couldn’t keep your dick in your pants.”

“Stop!” she screamed. “Jack, I knew you’d be upset but think about this. You trust Chip more than anyone—”

“And he does this.”

“Let me finish!” she snapped. “You trust him enough to watch your back. You should trust him enough to keep your sister safe. What other person could you have that level of trust with from the beginning? We didn’t do this to hurt you.”

“Joslynn…” Jack ran his hand over his face before looking at her again. “It’s you I’m worried about getting hurt.”

“Don’t.” She reached out and placed her hand on her brother’s arm. “Chip loves me, just as I love him. He’d never hurt me.”

“I’ll fucking kill you if you hurt her.” Jack stared past her to Chip.

“Wouldn’t expect anything less.” Chip nodded. “She means everything to both of us. Are you going to be okay with it?”

“Yeah.” Jack nodded.

Chip squeezed her shoulder before stepping back. “Since you’re on leave, I’m expecting you’ll want to stay here. You know where the guest room is.”

“I can stay with my parents.” Jack rolled his shoulders. “Kentucky is too far to travel back and forth for this short leave.”

“Don’t be silly.” Joslynn shot him a bright smile. “I want to spend as much time with you as I can. Since I’m unemployed, that won’t be a problem. This will be just like old times.”

“Except you’re sleeping with my best friend.” Jack let out a halfhearted laugh.

“Look at the bright side—she’s not with that asshole any longer,” Chip joked trying his best to ease the tension in the air. “Come sit down. We’ve got a lot to fill you in on.”

“You mean like how there’s an arrest warrant out for him?” Jack stared at his sister, shaking his head. “What kind of trouble have you gotten yourself into?”

“I’m taking care of it.” He pulled Jos back against him and wrapped his arms around her. “I’m taking care of her. Right, angel?”

“Right.” She tipped her head back to look up at him. “It’s all going to be fine.”

He’d make sure no danger came her way, not for as long as he was alive.