Shrimp and grits. Pecan pie. Shay Franklin.

She was definitely my favorite meal. My favorite entertainment. My favorite night life. If she could be wrapped up in a care package and sent overseas, my morale-and other things-would definitely rise.

"Shall we...uh, discuss the situation?" William asked. He offered Shay a chair that would probably get slammed over my head.

"We have nothing to discuss," she said.

William's nervous chuckle cracked under her stare. "Not so. There are quite a few pieces of property which will transfer to both your names, including your father's newly purchased estate." William dropped two house keys on his desk. "It might get pretty complicated."

"No, it's not complicated." A single curl of Shay's hair loosened from her tie. It bobbed in front of her face, just waiting for me to tuck it behind her ear. "He's not getting a G.o.dd.a.m.ned dime. And that's the end of it."

"Shay, this is a legal matter."

"No, this is a family matter."

I couldn't help but smile. "But we are family now."

"Don't start." Her eyes widened. Now she realized how badly we f.u.c.ked up by spending the night together. "We are not family. You're just an arrogant a.s.shole who thinks he struck it rich. I'm going to make sure you don't get one cent of my father's money."

I don't know why I did it, but rolling over an IED nearly a year ago gave me some confidence. "Our father's money."

Shay reached for her purse, either to beat me or storm out of the office. William leapt up, preventing her from leaving. He clapped his hands together.

"I'll get us some coffee. Really, now, this should be a time of celebration. Both of you have suffered a loss, but you're inheriting a life-changing amount of money. This might be the best thing that's ever happened to you two. Especially since you are family. Neither of you are alone anymore."

"I don't want his type of company," Shay said.

I grinned. "I thought we had a nice time together."

"Next time I'll drown in my drink."

"Wouldn't have been nearly as fun."

William faked a smile. "That's the spirit. I'll get us some coffee and let you two hash this out before we discuss the will."

I nodded. "Thank you, sir."

The door closed. I expected Shay to launch at my neck. She didn't. Instead, she stung me with a scowl that shamed me so much my mother would have blushed...if she weren't dead. Though, h.e.l.l, even when she was alive she botox'd her cheeks beyond human expression. Between the fake t.i.ts and whatever the h.e.l.l she injected in her a.s.s, my mom seduced Darnell Franklin and finally secured a man's fortune for herself just before the end.

But she did it. She married him, got the money for all the summer homes and prescription drugs she wanted, then died before they built the second home in the Hamptons. Everything pa.s.sed to me. Shay had every right to be p.i.s.sed.

I'd still take the money. I needed something to change my luck. This was it.

Shay said nothing. It was better than cursing me out, though I knew she could deliver every profanity she promised. I remembered her sweet and sultry words, teased from a tongue that had no business feeling as good as it did on my c.o.c.k.

I shouldn't have gotten hard again, but even angry, she was the s.e.xiest woman I ever saw.

"You..." She gritted her teeth. "You are going to move your a.s.s outta here. By the time you get to your car? You'll forget everything that my family's attorney said. This." She waved around the office. "Is none of your concern."

"I know you're mad."

"Mad? No. Na-uh. I'm not mad." She pointed me toward the door. "If I was mad, that'd mean I've give one G.o.dd.a.m.ned f.u.c.k about you."

"Last time we were together you gave quite a few f.u.c.ks about me."

"Are you serious?" Shay edged closer to me. "You think you get to smile and flirt and then take my father's money and skip out of here?"

She couldn't intimidate a swatting kitten, but I wasn't going to give her leverage over me. I stood, and my bulk towered over her.

I couldn't train while I was in the hospital, and my physical therapy didn't include a trip to the weight room. But after I recuperated, I didn't just get back in the saddle. I tamed a new horse and bought the f.u.c.king ranch. I trained better, worked harder, and it showed. My strength wasn't for bragging rights. It saved my a.s.s in the middle of Tikrit. And now I was bigger and badder than ever.

Shay Franklin didn't scare me, but she'd bring me to my knees for another reason.

"What's wrong, sis?" I asked. "We're family now. Cut me a break."

She hesitated, and I saw the wheels turning. She wondered if she could get away with saying something insulting. Her relationship with her father was no mystery, but I said nothing about my mother during our night together. She left the dead relatives out of our fight.

"So...are you just some big pervert then?" She asked.

"Pervert?"

"We had..." Shay covered her eyes. "Sweet Jesus, we might have committed a felony. I don't even know if what we did was legal. You're really sick, you know that?"

"No, I'm not."

"We slept together."

Best night of my life. "Yeah, so?"

"So?" Her voice shrilled. She clenched her fists. "Did you know?"

"Know what?"

Her kissable lips pouted. She had no idea how s.e.xy she was, even when poised to attack.

"Did you know that our parents got married?" She didn't let me answer. "Did you know I was your step-sister? Was this just some sick, twisted game?"

"It's not a game."

"Great. I'm a fetish then. You son of a b.i.t.c.h. You should come with a warning." She drew an imaginary square around my face. "You could be the poster child for the s.e.xual predator list."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa." I held my hands up. "I'm no predator."

"Then what was the other night? You deliberately found me. Don't tell me I was some random notch on your bedpost."

I chuckled. "Baby, you broke my bedpost."

"Screw. You."

And she was off again. I stepped in front of her before she made it to the door, careful to keep my namesake out of range of her kick.

"Do you want to know what I was thinking that night?" I asked.

Shay really wasn't in a conversational mood, but she wasn't holding anything sharp. No clear and present danger. Unfortunately, the most pa.s.sionate woman I ever met was armed, locked, and loaded with her sights aimed for our family jewels or the s.p.a.ce between my eyes.

"I came to the bar and saw a beautiful woman who looked upset and alone," I said. "I thought someone stood you up. I really only hoped I'd grab your number."

Her arched eyebrow said more than she revealed, but at least I could imagine her unspoken words were polite. She crossed her arms.

"Can you look me in the eyes and say you didn't know I was your step-sister?"

"Yes, ma'am."

"Oh, don't sa.s.s me. I'm not in the mood."

"Shay, I didn't realize you were my sister. Not until..."

I didn't mean to say that, but I stumbled headfirst into the enemy trenches. She bristled.

"Until...?"

I flashed the dimples. "...Until I was b.a.l.l.s deep in you. But who in their right mind would stop then?"

She didn't implode on the spot. A good sign.

"That is exactly my point." Shay poked at my chest. I was sure she imagined the abs she accidentally stroked beneath. "Who in their right mind would...would..." Her hands covered her face again. "Oh my G.o.d, I had s.e.x with my brother."

"Step-brother."

"I'll let you do the talking when we're crashing outside the pearly gates."

I sighed. "Come on, Shay. Harmless mistake."

"Which time?"

Uh-oh. "Which time what?"

"You and Sergeant Hard were b.a.l.l.s deep plenty of times that night. When did you realize who I was?"

Once, I navigated through hostile territory with no radio communication, ammunition, or GPS while under heavy fire. That was less dangerous than her question. I rubbed my head.

"Uh." No sense lying. "The first time."

"The first-the first time?" Shay fell silent. Her eyes-the most perfect mocha darkness-stared at me, wide-eyed. "You...we...spent all night together! And you didn't tell me! You didn't even try. G.o.d, you're a pig! I can't believe I ever let you touch me."

She moved to escape. I made the reckless decision to grab her hand. She spun to slap, but I took that hand too, pulling her close.

Today, she smelled of lilacs. Another lock of ebony hair slipped from her pony tail and caressed her soft cheek. She fumed, practically shaking from anger, but the heat pooling in me transferred to her. I leaned in and lowered my lips to hers so that I might have whispered an apology or stolen another sin.

"A piece of paper says we're family," I said. "Just a stupid marriage license. You're still you, I'm still me. We had a good time. Don't ruin it with guilt."

"I'm not guilty, I'm p.i.s.sed."

"Don't be p.i.s.sed either. We had fun."

She didn't believe me, but, Christ, did I want to prove it to her. It'd be too easy for me to haul her up, wrap her legs around my waist, and slam her against the wall.

And she'd love it. Beneath the anger? I recognized a girl more ashamed of her s.e.xual inhibition than anything a marriage certificate dictated about our formal relationship. Her hint of shame-the embarra.s.sment of a good girl who never went home with strangers, never let them kiss and lick and f.u.c.k her, never believed she'd have the night of her life grinding against a c.o.c.k harder than steel-that drove me f.u.c.king wild.

I wanted that Shay back. I wanted the voracious, pa.s.sionate, beautiful woman who wasn't afraid to tell me where to touch, how hard to thrust, and how deep to push.

But she wasn't playing.

"Let go of me." Shay shook free of my grasp. "You can't call it fun anymore. You can't call it anything. What we did was wrong." She shoved away before she leaned any closer to my lips. "What you did was wrong. You should have told me who you were."

"It wouldn't have mattered."

"You stand to inherit half of my father's fortune. Half, and I don't even know you. You are a complete and total stranger to me, and, somehow, you managed to steal from me, from my family, and from the memory of my father. You're a monster."

"Not fair."

"You're right. It isn't fair." Shay returned to William's desk and grabbed both sets of keys. She pocketed them both and scowled. "If you think you're getting anything from me, you're wrong. Enjoy the memory of that night, Zach, because the next time I f.u.c.k you over? You won't like it so much."

"At least there'll be a next time," I grinned.

"Not going to happen, Zach. This is the last time you ever see me."

I wasn't a betting man, but I'd stake all my newly inherited fortune on her being wrong. I'd give her the money, park the cars, and never set foot in the estate if it meant I'd have another shot to get back with her.

One night wasn't enough. s.e.x with Shay was a religious conversion, and I was a zealot without a temple.

No need p.i.s.sing her off. I surrendered, my hands in the air.

"You stay," I said. "You and William probably have a lot to discuss."

I winked at her, heading to the door. The attorney could email me whatever papers I had to initial. For a chance at Shay, I was prepared to sign my life, soul, and c.o.c.k away.

Shay fumed, but I laughed, imagining those pouty lips used for something so much better than a frown.

"I'll see you around, sis."

Chapter Five Shay.