Deadly Storm Read Online Free PDF Page B

minds.”
    MacIntosh chuckled. “And, on that note … I will see you two in the courtroom in fifteen minutes. It’s a full docket, ladies. You should probably prepare yourselves.”
    Heidi waited until he was gone before unleashing her final argument. “I’ll bet if you strip naked and boil a pot of water James would consider that cooking and reward you appropriately.”
    Mandy had no doubt about that.
     
    “DID you and Mandy make up after we left?” Grady asked, slipping into the chair across from James’ desk and fixing his brother with a quizzical look.
    “We weren’t fighting,” James said, rolling his eyes.
    “You looked pissed off.”
    “I wasn’t pissed off,” James countered. “I was … scared. She could have been seriously hurt.”
    “No offense, man, but on the list of trouble Mandy’s found over the past year and a half, getting hit by a lawn chair during a storm is pretty minimal,” Grady said.
    James ignored him.
    “She’s been stalked, blown up, kidnapped, thrown into alligator-infested waters, and shot at,” Grady continued, obliviously ticking the items off on his fingers. “The storm doesn’t rate.”
    “One thing doesn’t get top billing over another,” James said. “I don’t want her hurt.”
    “She wasn’t hurt.”
    “She could’ve been.”
    “But she wasn’t.”
    “She could’ve been.”
    “She wasn’t.”
    “I’m going to beat you,” James snapped, scorching Grady with a harsh look. “She’s my wife. I don’t want her in danger. We didn’t fight. We’re fine.”
    “Of course you’re fine,” Grady scoffed. “I just figured you guys had one of your patented ragers and then made up with some kinky sex.”
    James rubbed the heel of his hand against his forehead, frustrated. “None of that happened.”
    “You didn’t make up?”
    “We were never fighting,” James said. “She scared me. That’s it.”
    “I think it’s more than that.”
    James growled, the sound loud enough to pique Jake and Finn’s interest as they walked into the room.
    “Is James being a bear today?” Finn asked.
    “He’s mad about something,” Grady said. “I thought he was still upset because he and Mandy didn’t make up last night – but he says that’s not the case.”
    “You guys didn’t make up?” Finn furrowed his brow. “You guys always make up.”
    “I’m not going to keep repeating myself,” James said. “We were not fighting. I was scared she was going to hurt herself. We never yelled. We never raised our voices.”
    “That’s not like you,” Finn said.
    James turned his attention to Jake. “What’s new with you?”
    “I want to know why you and Mandy are acting weird,” Jake said, shooting James a cheeky grin.
    “My sister has been a horrible influence on you,” James said.
    “I’m fine with that.” Jake was nonplussed. “Seriously, though, what’s going on? I’m not the most observant guy and even I noticed there was something off between the two of you yesterday.”
    James sighed and leaned back in his chair, tugging on his hair wearily as he tried to decide how much to tell his brothers and friend. “What exactly did you notice?”
    “I noticed that Mandy was sensitive about the cooking class and you kept watching her like she was going to explode,” Jake said. “I thought you were fighting at first, but then I realized you were more worried than anything else.”
    “I am worried,” James admitted, dropping his head into his hands. “I think I’m losing my wife.”
    Finn widened his eyes, Jake opened his mouth to say something and then snapped it shut, and Grady burst into hysterical gales of laughter. None of their reactions were what James was expecting.
    “I don’t think it’s funny,” James snapped.
    “I think you worrying about losing Mandy is funny,” Grady said. “She loves you as much as you love her. Why would you possibly think you’re losing her?”
    “I think it’s the cooking class,” Finn offered when