Jack drove with one hand on the wheel, elbow resting on the open window. The air was cold, but bracing, and Piper didn’t mind it. She guessed he was a looker, all the Trainer males were, but to her he was still that annoying cousin she’d come to live with many years ago. He’d been angry like Luke and Joe then. Angry and ready to rebel. Her mother had nipped that in the bud, but she hadn’t been able to stop Joe derailing... or Piper, for that matter.

“What?”

“I think Dylan Howard has you bent out of shape.”

“Ha, funny guy.”

He sent her a look, and suddenly he was no longer Jack the laid-back Trainer. Not many people saw this side to him, the man who didn’t take any crap from anybody and would protect what was his with everything at his disposal.

“Not so funny, actually. I’m a watcher, Pip, and I’ve been watching you when he’s around. Two weeks he’s been here, give or take a day or two, and I’ve noticed he makes you uncomfortable and edgy. You’re aware of him, just as he is you.”

When she’d first come to live with her cousins, Piper had learned fast that they were protective of their own, and when she became one of them, suddenly that protection widened and tightened. Especially because she was the only girl, the sister they’d never had. She’d also learned to hide what she felt and evade the truth where necessary, but still, like she knew them, they also knew her.

“He’s hot, no secret there.”

“He’s a closed book, and a cold fish. Nothing like you.”

“Awww, that’s so sweet.”

“Don’t try that shit with me, I’ve known you for years.”

“What shit?” Piper looked out the window. It didn’t take long to get anywhere in Ryker, yet the short trip to the courts was taking an age today.

“Evading the issue. I don’t have a handle on Dylan Howard yet, but I will, and until then you keep your distance.”

“What? You’re not seriously telling me to stay away from someone?” She would have laughed if she wasn’t angry. Because since she’d turned down a night of sex with Dylan Howard she hadn’t been able to get him or his hot body out of her head.

“That’s exactly what I’m saying. Luke and Joe like him, but I’m not sure yet.”

“Jesus, Jack. I can take care of myself, and while we’re on that subject, you need to stay away from that Jessica Lamont. She’s trouble.”

“The hell you say?”

“She just wants to add you to her list of conquests.”

“Sounds like my kind of woman.”

“Don’t you get sick of that?”

“That being?” He raised a brow.

“Man whore.”