Tempting James (Mysterious Adventures Book 1) Read online

  Tempting James

  By Elizabeth Lennox

  Register for free stories at http://www.elizabethlennox.com/subscribe

  Follow me on Facebook: www.facebook.com/Author.Elizabeth.Lennox

  Or on Twitter: www.twitter.com/ElizabethLenno1

  Copyright 2022

  ISBN13: 9781950451456

  All rights reserved

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events, and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental. Any duplication of this material, either electronic or any other format, either currently in use or a future invention, is strictly prohibited, unless you have the direct consent of the author.

  Table of Contents

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Epilogue

  Excerpt from “Buck’s Promise”

  Chapter 1

  “Why are we meeting at this place again?” Buck demanded, sitting down at the table set off in one of the darker corners of the beach-front restaurant.

  James, the oldest of the group by a year, and who had already been at the restaurant for about an hour, ignored his friend and co-worker, pretending to peruse the menu even though he already knew what he wanted. From the corner of his eye, he watched as a vivacious, beautiful brunette walked from the dining area of the busy restaurant through the double doors to the kitchen.

  The third man on their team flipped a chair around, lowering his big, muscular body into it and snorted. “Because the food is excellent,” Diesel declared, taking one of the other menus.

  Jack, the fourth member of their illustrious team, grunted as he straddled the last chair. “Right. It’s because of the food.” His amusement was evident as he shot a glance at their still-silent team leader.

  James ignored them, pulling his hopeful gaze away from the kitchen doorway in order to contemplate the toppings he wanted on his burger today. But his attention wasn’t on the menu. James knew the instant she approached. Lifting his eyes, he watched as the gorgeous restaurant manager pushed through the kitchen doors. He relaxed slightly as he watched the woman weave her way through the other tables, heading towards their table in the corner.

  “Good evening gentlemen,” Jinx Bordeau greeted, smiling to each of the other men in turn, barely glancing at him. He didn’t mind her lack of attention. Glancing at her, he knew that she felt the zing of electricity spark across the space between them. Although, he very much minded when Jinx put her hand on Diesel’s shoulder. It was a casual gesture, but James felt it all the way down to his toes, as if she were touching him. He lifted his gaze to hers, saw the pink stain her cheeks. And although he wasn’t looking at her hand, he knew she moved her hand away back to her side.

  The tension in his shoulders eased, but he continued watching her, observing every emotion flit over her beautiful features. Some might call Jinx a free spirit with her dark locks curling around her jawline, teasing her shoulders. She wore big, silver hoops in her ears tonight instead of the chandelier earrings that she normally preferred. Her lipstick was a muted mauve, which enhanced her creamy complexion. But it was her eyes…those light blue eyes surrounded by long, dark lashes that captured his attention every time. Well, and her breasts. She had amazing breasts! Granted, she had a great ass as well, but it was her breasts…and her eyes…that he loved the most.

  “The usual tonight?” she asked.

  James suddenly realized that his friends had already put in their orders.

  “Yeah,” he replied smoothly, putting the menu back in the holder. “That’s fine.”

  Another frisson of awareness zapped between them. Time seemed to stand still, the noise of the other patrons disappeared. It was just Jinx and himself, those crystal blue eyes staring into his soul as if she knew that he wanted her with every fiber of his being. He could feel her pulse throbbing at her throat, could see the soft pink staining her cheeks. He could feel the heat from her lush body even from across the table. He watched as Jinx slowly carefully inhaled a deep breath, staring at him and he wondered…then Jinx jerkily nodded and walked away.

  “And that would be why we are always meeting here,” Jack teased, breaking the thick tension and pulling James’ attention away from Jinx to the three men sitting at the table with him.

  “Why don’t you just ask her out?” Buck demanded.

  Once again, James pulled his eyes away from Jinx’s very enticing retreat, looking at the three men, all of whom were staring at him. “What the hell are you talking about?”

  “Jinx?” Jack prompted, eyebrows raised. “The woman you’ve been lusting after for several months?”

  James looked at the other two men, wondering if they were going to back him up. But they were meaningfully eyeing him, waiting for an answer to Jack’s question.

  “She’s a lady,” he said, as if that explained everything.

  Diesel snorted, leaning back in his chair and crossing his arms over his chest. “She’s beautiful. If you’re not going to–”

  James didn’t let him finish his sentence. He had the man lifted out of his chair and pressed up against the wall. “The hell you will!” he snarled, menace in every syllable.

  The other three chuckled softly, Buck and Jack, both of whom had jumped up seconds after James had Diesel pinned against the wall, patting James on the shoulder in an effort to get him to calm down.

  “He’s kidding!” Jack explained softly. “We’re just trying to get a rise out of you.”

  James relaxed his hold on Diesel’s shirt, glaring at the laughing man. James shrugged his shoulders slightly, trying to shake off the unexpected fury. “Just keep your distance.”

  Diesel lifted his hands in surrender as they settled back into their chairs. Thankfully, the restaurant wasn’t particularly busy and the other patrons had chosen to sit towards the front in the sunshine, closer to the beach and the crashing waves of the Atlantic Ocean.

  Taking a deep breath, James calmed down. “What’s going on with the fishing trip next week?” he asked. He wasn’t asking about an actual trip where they would go fishing. That was just their team’s code phrase for a mission. The agency they worked for had asked James and his team to find a terrorist that they’d code named “Jasper” because they didn’t know his real name. The guy was extremely effective at placing a bomb and making it look like something had gone wrong with the electrical wiring or a gas appliance. But there was always a target, and unfortunately, other people died in the man’s efforts. The agency had a vague picture of the person, but they couldn’t seem to catch him.

  As team leader, James had his team go through several iterations of every mission before they even boarded the plane. They worked on contingencies to their contingency plans, and then formulated backups to those plans. His team used to groan about James’ constant training and planning, but those backup plans had saved their lives plenty of times over the years. Which was why they respected James more than any other team lead they’d worked with, and why they each did massive research on every mission before leaving. By the time they boarded a plane to whatever nightmare scenario they were sent into, these men were prepared for just about anything.

  Biting her lip, Jinx peered through the small window in the kitchen doorway at the four men, her eyes repeatedly shifting to James. Yes, she knew their names and knew that they were discussing something super-secret. She had no idea what they did for a liv
ing, but just looking at them, one could safely assume it required strength and discipline. All four men were tall, buff and…hmmm, she couldn’t say “handsome”, although James and Jack were pretty hot. Diesel and Buck, on the other hand, were…attractive. Yes, all four men were attractive in their own way.

  Unfortunately, for her tender heart, it was James that called to her. “Unfortunately” because James was one of the most reserved men she’d ever met. He didn’t need a flashing sign over his head warning her away, his body language did it for him.

  “Order up,” Donny called out from the grill.

  “Thanks Donny,” Jinx replied, offering a smile as she loaded up the three platters filled with burgers and hot, spicy fries. With her free hand, she grabbed the special salad that she’d made, carrying all four meals out to the table.

  While she carried the meals to the only occupied table inside the restaurant, her eyes surveyed the area. Everything was set up and ready for the evening’s rush, which would begin in about an hour. The beach goers would wander in from the beaches, heading for the open air restaurants that allowed patrons to drink and laugh and enjoy good food without needing to change out of their bathing suits.

  Because it was slow at the moment, Donny, her favorite head cook, followed her out, wiping his hands on a clean dish towel.

  “Shouldn’t there be a blue cheese burger with that order?” Donny asked, tossing the white towel over his shoulder.

  Jinx lifted the salad plate slightly. “He ordered something different tonight.”

  Okay, that was a lie, but…well, the guy ate too many burgers. He was a big dude, needed his protein, and if those rock-hard muscles were any indication, he worked out like a demon.

  Jinx understood that James needed fuel, but he needed good fuel. She’d topped the salad with grilled chicken, so he would get protein. But she’d also loaded up the salad with lots of fresh, beautiful vegetables that filled the plate with color.

  Flicking her hair back over her shoulder, she carried the four meals to the table.

  “Here we are, gentlemen,” she announced, setting the plates in front of each man, remembering their orders perfectly. She didn’t need to see their faces to know that there was a bit of curiosity flying through the air. The men had clearly noticed the green, leafy salad as soon as she’d stepped out of the kitchen area.

  There was an almost painful silence when she set the salad down in front of James. “I’ll get ketchup and mustard. Anything else?” she asked cheerfully, hands on her hips as she tried to concentrate, tried to think. But James was looking at her, his dark eyes most likely shooting daggers at her.

  “I didn’t order this,” he said.

  Jinx smiled, not even slightly intimidated by his glare. “I know. But you’ve had too many burgers lately. I made that salad especially for you myself.”

  With that, she patted his shoulder and walked away, forcing herself to not look over her shoulder to find out how he was taking her defiance.

  “Don’t look back,” she whispered to herself. “Don’t. Look. Back!”

  She made it all the way to the swinging, double doors of the kitchen before she couldn’t take it any more. She glanced over her shoulder at the man. Sure enough, he was glaring at her, a knife in one hand and a fork in the other. She smiled slightly, wondering if he was contemplating using those utensils as weapons against her. He probably knew how, she thought as she pushed through the doors, vanishing in the kitchen.

  Leaning against the wall, she closed her eyes and took a deep breath.

  “He didn’t kill you then?” Donny teased, pouring himself a glass of ice water. “You’re a brave woman!”

  Jinx laughed as well, but she was dying to see if James was actually eating his salad, or if he was about to storm through the doors and demand his usual burger topped with blue cheese. He occasionally ordered something different, but he always returned to his old favorite.

  She liked that about him. He was loyal. James knew what he liked and, although he ventured out into uncharted territory, he always came back to his favorite.

  Jinx rolled her eyes and pushed away from the wall. “You’re silly,” she told herself, looking over the other orders that had come in. There were only two members of the wait-staff working right now, but in about thirty minutes, a team of ten more wait personnel and five additional cooks would arrive. She had one bartender on duty at the moment, but four more would be here in an hour. By five o’clock, the restaurant would be hopping and she grinned in anticipation. She loved making people happy and food always made people happy. In an ideal world, Jinx would have a special man to spoil and cook for every night. Someone she could pamper as soon as he walked through the door at night. A man who needed his broad, muscular shoulders rubbed as he told her about his day.

  Alas, James didn’t seem like the kind of man who wanted to be spoiled. Which was such a shame, because Jinx was pretty darn good at spoiling the people she cared about.

  As the restaurant filled up with patrons, the four men finished their meal, paid their tab, and headed out, agreeing to meet the following day at “the office”.

  James left a large tip for Jinx, and slipped his sunglasses on. It was sunny Florida, after all. People wore sunglasses pretty much constantly.

  The man in the brown jacket caught his attention, but James continued down the sidewalk. It was close to eighty-five degrees in the shade, so a man wearing a jacket immediately caught his eye. Turning right, he rounded the corner and headed nonchalantly towards a street vendor, grabbing a newspaper and, although he hated the idea, a bottle of water. Normally, he wouldn’t buy bottled water because of the impact to the environment, but in this case, depending on how long he’d need to watch the guy, he might need it.

  Finding a perch, he sat down on a bench in the shade of a wide tree, flipped open the newspaper and started “reading”. In reality, he was watching the guy in the brown jacket. The idiot didn’t move, and as the evening continued, the stranger started to look more and more nervous. He argued with someone on his phone a few times, hands waving in the air.

  James shook his head in disgust, wishing that the guy would at least give him a challenge.

  Finally, the guy walked away and James followed him, blending in with the other beach goers. It wasn’t easy because he was about a head taller than most of the crowd walking around, but he’d also had years of experience blending in.

  Thankfully, the guy in the brown jacket was too caught up in his thoughts to notice a six foot, three inch guy following him. When the man ducked into a shabby hotel further down the street, James made note of the address, then turned and headed back to his condo, which was only a few blocks away from Jinx’s restaurant.

  Oh, he knew that she didn’t own the place, although she should. She was a fantastic manager. She was friendly to the employees, knew how to train them so that everything ran smoothly. Even better, she’d created an environment where it was a hip place to work and the staff had to work hard to maintain their jobs. The customers adored her, and she was excellent at fixing issues before they blew up, which happened often when heat and alcohol were combined with a party atmosphere.

  James figured that he had about three hours before the man took his chances and headed out again. Heading home, he changed into running clothes and went out for an hour’s run, coming back to shower and do a little work on his computer before he changed into dark jeans and a black tee-shirt. He knew the type and, now that the sun had set, it was Mr. Brown Jacket’s time to act.

  “Thanks everyone!” Jinx called out, waving to the staff as they walked out the back door of the restaurant. She watched for several minutes, making sure that no one walked alone as they made their way to their cars. When everyone had safely driven away, she pulled the metal security door closed, then did a final walk-through of the kitchen and dining areas. The food was prepped for the breakfast rush, the tables were sparkling, floors mopped, the doors locked, and the entire place quiet except for the h
um of the refrigerators.

  This was the sad part of every night. Restaurants were made to be joyful places, filled with noise and energy. When things were quiet like this, Jinx always thought that the place was waiting expectantly, almost angry with her for forcing it to be quiet.

  “They’ll be back, honey,” she told the sulky silence, running a hand along the metal countertop of the prep counter as she made her way to the office. “I promise that all of your friends will be back.”

  For the next hour, Jinx worked on the administrative issues required of her role as the general manager. She checked the work schedule for the next day, put in online orders for food supplies, checked the alcohol inventory, and then settled in to do the cash and count up the receipts.

  By the time she was finished, Jinx was yawning and more than ready to call it a night. She’d just finished counting out the cash for the bank drop, which was her final task of the night. She stuffed the money into a special security bag and tucked it into her purse, wishing for the millionth time that her boss, the restaurant owner, would hire a security company to pick up the cash each night. When she’d first started working here, the bank drop hadn’t been an issue because there hadn’t been large amounts of cash coming through the place. In fact, there were some nights, at the beginning, when there hadn’t been enough money to do a bank deposit. But over time, and with her careful attention, she’d grown the place into a thriving, hip place to come after the tourists left the beach.

  The downside to the restaurant’s success was that she carried a great deal of money to the bank every night, which simply wasn’t safe. Tomorrow, she would look into hiring a company, one of those companies with the big, armored trucks, to collect the cash. Carrying several thousand dollars every night was too dangerous.

  Slinging her purse over her shoulder, Jinx grabbed her car keys and the can of pepper spray. It was her normal departure routine, but the pepper spray and extra lights in the parking lot no longer helped her feel safe. Not with this amount of cash on her. Thankfully, most of the patrons paid by credit card now. But enough customers paid with cash that there was a significant risk.