Bluegrass Undercover (Bluegrass Brothers)

stared at him for a moment in disbelief that he had disabled three attackers in less than twenty seconds. She looked at his large hand for a second and then placed hers in it. His hand was warm, strong, and she had to admit, she didn’t want to let it go.
    “Well, it’s nice to see you took my advice and learned some self-defense.”

Chapter Five
     
    Cade watched Annie set the takeout bag on the small kitchen table. The way her tight jeans hugged her hips was so sexy. Her fitted Miami Dolphins jersey showed off her curves in an understated way that made it very hard for him to think of anything but what she might look like naked. Her long red hair was loosely tied back in a ponytail that swung as she walked.
    Even through his lust haze, something was nagging at him. He watched as she stretched up and pulled down a plate from the cabinet for her dinner. That’s when it hit him. She was just acting normal ly. She wasn’t shaking. She wasn’t crying. She wasn’t scared at all. Nothing. She was acting like a mugging was no big deal. It was the same reaction he got from her after both physical altercations with Corey. He knew Miami was a tough place, but something didn’t seem right.
    “I am sorry about tonight. Keeneston doesn’t really have much crime. Certainly muggings do not normally happen. I didn’t r ecognize them or the car, so I’m guessing they were just punks from out of town trying to score some easy cash.” He certainly didn’t believe that, and by the “what, are you stupid ?” look she just shot him, she didn’t believe it either.
    “Um, yeah. I’ m pretty sure those are what are called gang members,” she said to him as if he was a total bozo. She set the plate on the table and headed back to the kitchen.
    “We don’t have gangs in Keeneston. The Rose sisters would never allow it.” He shot her a quick grin and was happy to see she momentarily returned it. He leaned his shoulder against the kitchen wall and put his hands in his front jean pockets.
    “You may not have in the past, but you do now. Don’t be so naive, Cade. Anywhere there are drugs there are gangs who sell those drugs. That was probably supposed to be a warning from the dealer who sells to those three kids on your team.”
    Annie tried not to suck in a hissing breath at her mistake. He hadn’t told her there were three kids who had tested positive for S2. She knew because she got a sneak peek at the test results before he got them. She turned her back on Cade to get some silverware and hoped that he hadn’t noticed her slip up.
    “It sure sounds like you know a lot about drugs and gangs. But, how did you know about three of my players testing positive for S2?”
    Annie set the silverware on the table and shrugged her shoulders. “Lee said something about it in the car.” She turned back around and found his gaze sharp and totally focused on her face. Something wasn’t right. That wasn’t the scrutinizing look of a high school biology teacher. And those had certainly not been a teacher’s moves against those gang members. What was up with this town? She really needed to get her computer hooked up, like now.
    “Well, I’m going to have dinner now. Would you like some coffee?” she asked, hoping he would leave so she could throw the dinner in the fridge and hook up her computer. She needed to run a background check on him to see if her gut was right.
    “No thank you. I need to get home and work on some lesson plans.” What he needed to do was get over to Marshall’s government computer and run a background check on this woman. Something was definitely off. “I have bee n so busy with football that I’m behind in getting my school work done.”
    “Well, thanks for an eventful night.” Annie smiled and leaned against the front door jam. Would he hurry up already and leave?
    “You’re welcome. I’m just glad you weren’t hurt. Make sure to lock your door.” She watched him walk down the stairs and did take a moment to enjoy the view before he turned to give her a wave good-bye. She returned it with a smile and watched him as he headed back towards the Café. He really was a nice guy.
    As soon as he was out of sight, she shut the door and ran into the living room. Against the far wall was a tower of unpacked boxes and somewhere in that stack was her computer. She searched for the box with her computer equipment in it, neatly at first, but when it became obvious it was hiding from her, she started