“That says it all.”
Shane grunted, “Exactly,” and I giggled. Something told me Jack and Jenn’s relationship was a lesson in patience between them both.
Jenn rolled her eyes and then turned from the stove, shouting, “Keller! Kaiden!” Moments later the music stopped and two identical dark-haired boys with matching grins ran into the room. They were the spitting image of their father with bright blue eyes filled with mirth.
“Did daddy get mad?” one said.
“We would know if he was mad, Keller. Daddy yells really loud,” Kaiden answered.
Jack’s eyes shot to Jenn’s and her grin widened.
“This is payback,” Jack growled.
“You think?” Jenn answered sarcastically, turning back to the stove.
Jack looked at Max and Mia, then to Shane and I. “Fair warning,” Jack said. “Women never let shit go, and payback is torture.”
When Jenn scoffed, he turned back and glared at her, crossing his arms for emphasis.
“Mia, Sage,” Jenn called out over her shoulder. “Fair warning . . . these brooding types will do whatever they think is necessary to get their way. I highly recommend you avoid police stations, jail cells in particular, without backup.”
“Sweetness, I can promise you that cell will become your permanent home if you involve yourself in another one of my investigations.”
I looked at Shane, smiling, thinking Jack was joking, but I found him nodding in agreement. Then I turned to Max in time to hear him mumble, “Damn straight.”
“Wait, are you saying Jack actually locked you in a cell?” I asked, amazed.
“Twice!” Jenn bit out, throwing two fingers into the air.
“Babe, you have your facts wrong. I locked you in there once. The boys locked you in there the second time.”
I snorted, thinking Jack was definitely kidding this time, but then I looked toward the twins. They were nodding their heads in agreement.
What on earth?
“Question,” I asked, looking back and forth between the twins and Jenn. “Why did the boys lock you in a cell?”
“They were mad because I left them behind when we flew to Alaska for Max and Mia’s wedding.”
“Nuh-uh!” one of the twins denied.
All eyes turned to the boys. “Then why did you do it?” Jenn asked.
Both boys looked at each other and scowled just like their father. “’Cause Daddy said if another man looked at Mommy’s ass, he’d lock her up and throw away the key.”
“Kaiden, don’t say ass,” Jenn corrected, glaring at Jack. “I think you boys were mistaken. Mr. Steele couldn’t see my a—my bottom since we were sitting the whole time.”
“Not the whole time,” Keller argued. “He watched you pick up your pen.”
Jenn paused to consider his explanation, then shook her head.
“How could you possibly know he looked at Mommy’s bottom all the way from the jungle gym?”
“He did the same thing Daddy does when you bend over.”
Jack leaned down and looked both boys in the eyes, his lips twitching as he stared at his clones. “What exactly do I do when Mommy bends over?”
In unison, and a tad bit eerie, if truth be told, the twins tilted their heads to the side like they were inspecting something and then bit their bottom lips.
Jenn sucked in her breath, and all three men grunted, “He looked at her ass.”
Mia and I burst out laughing when Jack looked back at Jenn with a smug look. Scowling when Jack raised his brows, Jenn grumbled, “Spare me from testosterone,” then turned off the stove and took the boys by the hand. “Come on, my little Neanderthals, Grandma Gunnison will be here soon to pick you up,” she explained as she led them down the hall.
“Who’s this Steele?” Max asked when he stood to get another cup of coffee.
“A dead man if he looks at Jenn’s ass again,” Jack answered with a hard edge, looking at his watch. “We better get a move on.”
All three men grabbed a mug of coffee before heading down the hall to change. I watched Shane as he left, ogling his ass the whole way. An ass, I reminded myself, I get to touch whenever I wanted and planned on doing often.
“So what are we doing while the men chase a madman?” I asked Mia as I settled in beside her at the table.
“Beats me, but Maxine used to live here so she’ll be able to show us around.”
Jenn came back into the kitchen carrying a file folder and dumped it on the table right as Maxine ended her call.
“Everything all right back home?” I asked.
“Gregor says they haven’t seen hide nor hair of Heller. All is quiet thankfully.”