10th Anniversary Collector's Edition: Undeniable Pleasures - Softcover

Jason Savage sat back in his office chair and closed the recruit candidate file in front of him. Finding new talent for Lazarus Security usually ranked as one of his favorite parts of his day. He enjoyed meeting kids fresh out of the military ready to use their training for civilian purposes.

But not today.

He rubbed his hands over his face and pushed the file tagged "Daryl Bennett" to the side of the desk.

He looked at the cell phone where he had it open and on speaker.

"Can you do it?" Partner and longtime friend Lincoln Williams asked.

While he'd been reviewing Daryl Bennett's resume and test results, Lincoln had called him about a separate matter. Namely, Linc wanted him to take a security assignment off his hands so he could stay in Maine with the woman he'd followed there.

"I can do it. The question is, will I?"

He imagined Linc's stony stare on the other end of the connection and chuckled.

"What's in it for me?" Jason continued.

"A ticket out of town—just what you're looking for."

"The job is in Denver. Denver is a suburb."

It was a joke they liked to share because so many viewed Colorado Springs as an adjunct to Denver, the larger city to the north.

"I'll help get things moving on your bid to open the Baltimore office earlier," Linc added.

Jason sat up in his chair. "Now we're talking." He'd been angling to push ahead with Lazarus Security's plans to open satellite offices on either coast, Baltimore being the first because of its close proximity to D.C. And although those plans weren't scheduled for execution until next year at the earliest…well, he had his reasons for wanting to get out of town, stat. And they were very good ones. "Give me the job details."

He jotted down the information Linc gave him. His subject was witness for the prosecution in a high–profile federal case. The job was difficult (two teams of Marshals had been pulled because of undisclosed problems). And the trial was two weeks away.

"Walk in the park," Jason said.

"Maybe. If said park is in an active area of Waziristan," Linc chuckled, referring to the mountainous region between Afghanistan and Pakistan where they'd seen the worst action during their tours of duty... and where they and their Lazarus partners had gone through hell and come out the other side lifetime friends. "The accused is motivated—he has a high price on her head and word has it every contract wannabe within a five–hundred radius has his sites set on her."

Her?

Jason realized he hadn't gotten the witness's name and took it now: Jordan Cosby.

His chair springs groaned as he sat back again. "Shit. Is this the case of that gun runner whose ex–girlfriend turned state's witness on him?"

"Rick Packard. The one and only."

"And Jordan is the ex–girlfriend..."

"That would be her."

He rubbed his face again thinking he needed a shave and more importantly, a good eight hours of uninterrupted sleep, something he hadn't seen in over a month. Which was the reason he wanted out of Colorado Springs. He had the sinking feeling nothing would ever go back to the way it was before. Not after what he'd done.

While he didn't particularly like the idea of watching over somebody's bimbo for two weeks, any excuse that got him out of town—and away from Lazarus—was a good one.

"When do I report?" he asked.

"Yesterday."

"Got it."

"Then what are you still doing on the phone with me?"

He stood up. "Funny, I was just asking myself the same question." He pressed Disconnect, closed the phone and then put it in his pocket, knowing that in some backwater town in Maine, Linc was grinning at least as wide as he was.

He checked his desk, picked up the files on the corner of it and then walked down the long corridor taking him to the front offices.

He explained the situation to Lisa Russo and Giulia Paw–ley, the two girls—pardon him, "women," as he was often reminded by female coworkers—that were the public face of the company along with receptionist Margie Hall. They were also the glue holding them together.

The front door opened and in walked the reason he needed to get out of there.

Hell.

Like Linc, he was friends with the other two partners, Megan McGowan and Darius Folsom: tight friends. Hell, he'd grown up with Dari. But he'd made a very bad error in judgment—poor choice of words: he'd fucked up majorly— by sleeping with Meg while Dari was deployed overseas two months ago.

It had seemed rational at the time: no–ties sex that both of them needed while on a remote assignment. Then Dari had returned early and the shit had hit the fan.

That had been nearly nine weeks ago...and they still hadn't recovered from it. Not completely. Oh, on the surface it appeared everything was all right. But lightly scratch it, and fresh pus leached from the wound.

"Hey, Savage," Dari said as he accepted his messages from Margie.

Meg stepped up beside him. He immediately stiffened. in more ways than one.

And cursed himself for the involuntary reaction.

He grimaced as he handed the files he'd brought with him to Lisa.

"Mr. Bennett is waiting in the other room."

Jason raised a brow. He'd finished his interview with the never–would–be agent, if Jason had anything to say about it, an hour ago.

"He said he wanted to wait to have another word with you. I thought I'd make him wait a little longer before buzzing to let you know."

"Fine. I'll see to him on my way out. You know how to contact me."

"Jason?"

Megan's voice stopped him in his tracks. "I spoke to Jax again yesterday. Any chance you'll reconsider your position?"

"Not in hell," he said.

He continued walking toward the waiting room off to the left.

His younger brother Jackson, or Jax as he was known, wanted to work for Lazarus so badly he could taste it. And for that reason alone Jason never intended to let him put it in his mouth.

That and he wished the kid would go back to school like he wanted. Learn something useful. Become a doctor or a lawyer. Anything that was completely different from what he was doing.

Jason hadn't been able to stop Jax from following him into the military. But he could stop him from working for Lazarus.

He opened the waiting–room door and crossed to where Daryl Bennett barely had time to get to his feet before he stopped in front of him and shook his hand. "Thank you for coming, Daryl, but this isn't going to work out."

The kid blinked at him, his thin, pale face going from open hopefulness to flushing to disappointment within a blink. "I don't understand, Mr. Savage. I did really well on all the tests."

Yes, he had aced all the physical tests. He was in amazing shape considering he topped six feet and likely didn't weight a pound over a buck–fifty.

The psychological tests on the other hand... "You neglected to mention what happened during your very brief stint in the military."

"Yes, but—"

"Like I said, thank you. And good luck with your job search."

"Mr. Savage!" The kid tried following him.

Jason closed the door behind him that locked automatically for security reasons, the room having a separate public exit so he wouldn't have to confront the guy again.

For God's sake, the kid had shot his commanding officer in the knee when he'd been ordered to drop and give a hundred. And for a screwup, Daryl had admitted responsibility for.

Whack job. Pure and simple. There was no place for him at Lazarus.

Just like there was no place for his brother Jax, albeit for different reasons.

Jason retraced his steps through the corridor to where his SUV was parked in the back, thinking about his younger brother. About how they always seemed to butt heads at every turn. How their grandmother doted on Jax and then turned around and gave Jason an earful every time he drove out to the farm for dinner.

He thought about the ways he might yet convince his brother to use the money their parents had left them to continue his education. It was enough to occupy his time and then some during the sixty–plus–mile drive north to Denver, where he then navigated the city to the address Linc had given him.

He still hadn't come up with a persuasive argument he hadn't already voiced a thousand times by the time he passed through the heightened building security and rode the elevator up to the apartment he was looking for.

"Hey." He flashed his ID to the two government stiffs flanking the front door of Jordan Cosby's apartment. "I'm your relief."

"It's about time," said the guy on the right while the agent on the left communicated with command via his earpiece and hidden transmitter. Then the two men gladly left their posts and headed toward the elevator. "Good luck. You're going to need it."

Jason knew they weren't going far. They would likely keep post on a slightly more removed perimeter. But from here on in, he would be in charge of personal security.

He knocked on the door. A moment later it was opened... and he found himself staring at one of the most strikingly beautiful women he'd ever seen. And she was wearing next to nothing.

Jordan Cosby was wet, rushed and fully prepared to give the morons outside her door what–for when she opened the door and found it saw not the two suits but a really hot guy in jeans and a black T–shirt. She stuck her head through the doorway finding neither of the U.S. Marshals there.

She finished buttoning the oversize white men's shirt she'd pulled on when she climbed from the ...