by Anna Blakely
As he lay there, he found himself hoping this new job would be enough to distract him from the painful memories. Memories that—for reasons unbeknownst to him—had suddenly resurfaced.
Never again.
The words that had become his personal mantra whispered through him as Matt drifted off into a deep, drunken sleep.
The next morning, fueled with plenty of ibuprofen and coffee, Matt shuffled into R.I.S.C.’s downtown office. Oftentimes, they’d meet at Jake’s house, which would seem odd if it wasn’t so badass.
Sitting on over a hundred acres of highly-secured land, the place was set up with a fully-functional shooting range—both indoor and outdoor, an outdoor training course, and a private air strip, jet and hangar included. For obvious reasons, Matt and the guys preferred to hold their meetings at the ranch.
Right now, however, wasn’t the best time to invade their boss’s personal space. Jake’s wife, Olivia, was due with their first child in a little under two months. For her sake, Jake wanted to try and keep his house as calm and R.I.S.C.-free as possible until that time comes, which means all scheduled meetings were to be held here, in the public office.
Shoving the door open with his shoulder, Matt balanced the two coffees he’d gotten from across the street before coming over here. After his idiotic decision to drink too damn much last night, he’d woken up knowing it was going to be a two-coffee kind of day.
Entering the conference room at the end of the long hallway, Matt carefully set the two paper cups on the long, oval table before rolling out one of the empty, cushioned chairs. Taking a seat beside Kole, he slid his sunglasses to the top of his head, his eyes instantly squinting against the harsh, neon lights.
“Damn, man. What happened to you?” Zade asked from across the table.
Kole snorted. “Better yet, who happened to you?”
With a silent flip of the bird, Matt lifted one of the cups to his lips. He then proceeded to suck down as much of the hot, bitter liquid as he could without burning his throat.
“You good to go, Turner?” Gabe asked from the seat next to Zade’s.
“I’m fine. Just had some trouble sleeping.” When Kole opened his mouth to spout off yet another smartass comment, Matt shut him down, fast. “Alone, dickwad. I went home alone.”
“Oh. That’s…different. I don’t quite know how to respond to that.”
Not in the mood for this shit, Matt turned his head and glared at his friend. “Contrary to what you assholes think, I don’t sleep with a different fucking woman every goddamn night.”
A low throat cleared from behind him, and Matt didn’t have to turn around to know Jake had stepped into the room.
Great.
“Turner, I need to see you in my office. The rest of you, hang tight. This shouldn’t take long, and then we’ll go over everything you need to know together.”
Feeling as though he was being called into the principal’s office, Matt grabbed one of his coffees and stood. Though a lot worse had been said in that room—a hell of a lot worse—it was the only reason he could come up with that Jake would summons him to his private office…alone.
“Sorry about that, Boss,” he mumbled as he followed Jake down the hall. “The guys were giving me shit, and I wasn’t in the mood, and—”
“Relax, Turner.” Jake stopped in front of his closed door to face him. “This has nothing to do with that.” The dark-haired man shot him a look while shaking his head. “Jesus. When did I become such a dick to work for that you’d think cursing in the conference room would be grounds for a private ass-chewing?”
“You’re not a dick, Boss. What I said wasn’t very professional and the door was open, and…you know what? Never mind.” Matt decided to stop talking before he dug himself any deeper.
One of Jake’s dark brows rose in amusement. “Glad we got that cleared up. Come on.” He turned and reached for the knob. “I want you to meet our new client.”
As he followed the other man through the doorway, Matt had the fleeting thought that he was going to need something a helluva lot stronger than a cup of coffee to get him through this day. A second later, he realized just how right he was.
Stopping dead in his tracks, he couldn’t believe what he was seeing. There, standing in the middle of his boss’s office, was the one woman he’d spent a decade trying to forget.
It was the only goal in his life he’d ever failed to achieve. Christ, had he failed miserably.
The pretty teenager she was when he’d last seen her was gone, replaced by an even more beautiful, grown woman. She was still lean, but even beneath her dark jeans and plain, olive sweater, he could tell she’d developed delicious curves in all the right places.
The kind I’d like to—
Thankfully Jake’s voice broke through his thoughts before they could venture down that senseless path.
“Matt, I’d like you to meet—”
“Katherine Anderson,” Matt finished for his boss. It was the first time he’d uttered her married name aloud. He still couldn’t believe she’d left him and married some rich prick.
A swirling collage of memories assaulted him, both good and bad. Matt’s heart kicked the shit out of his chest as he stared back at the only person to have ever made him truly happy.
She was also the person who’d brought him more pain and misery than anyone or anything he’d ever known.
“Matt?”
Dark, round eyes grew wide, and she looked and sounded every bit as shocked to see him as he was her. Of course, she always was a good little actor, so there was that.
Despite his loathing for this woman, Matt felt his cock twitch inside his jeans. He wanted to punch the damn thing for choosing now…choosing her to respond to.
He crushed his molars together to the point of pain. Feeling as though he’d stepped into some sort of alternate universe—one he wanted to get the fuck out of—Matt glared at her from across the room.
“What the hell are you doing here?” he growled, not bothering to hide his disdain for her.
Round, dark eyes blinked at his harsh tone. “I-I…um…”
With his blue eyes bouncing back and forth between them, Jake sounded less surprised than Matt would expect when he said, “I take it you two know each other.”
“Used to,” Matt answered for them both. With a casual shrug, he added, “It was nothing.”
A brief flash of pain crossed behind those damning eyes, but Katherine collected herself before looking to Jake. “It was a long time ago.”
Jake looked over at Matt and back to her. “I see. Well, I should give you two a minute to catch up before we get started.”
“Okay,” she said with a smile Matt knew was forced.
At the exact same time, he practically blurted out, “No.” When Jake gave him an odd look, he did his best to recover. “I mean, we should probably get on with whatever this is. I know you’re busy, and I still have to finish up my portion of the paperwork from that last bodyguard gig, and…”
“Gracie already took care of it all before she and Nate left.”
Well, didn’t that blow a huge fucking hole in his reason why they shouldn’t be left alone.
“She did?” Matt was genuinely surprised to find that out but not enough to complain. Right now, he would be happy to talk about anything other than the hundred-thirty-pound beauty in the room. “Why’d she do that?”
“She wanted to. Which, as it turns out, is a good thing, because I need you on this.”
Matt slid his cold eyes to Kat before focusing on Jake once more. “Need me on what?”
“Your next assignment.”
With his jaw muscles working overtime, Matt begrudgingly asked, “And what is that, exactly?”
Don’t say it. Please, God, don’t say it.
“Dr. Marsh needs protection.”
“Dr. Marsh?” Matt looked back at her. “Didn’t realize you’d become a doctor. Of course, I also thought you were married, so…”
In a moment of weakness about two years after they split, Matt had a buddy search her through his social media account. The fact that she’d married someone else shouldn’t have surprised him, but it had. What didn’t surprise him was how wealthy the asshole was.
Actually, if Matt were being honest—which, he wasn’t—it had completely fucking devastated him. Which is why he never bothered looking her up again.
Genuine sadness filled her pretty eyes. “I got my Ph.D. a few years ago. As for being married, I was. I’m not anymore.”
If she’d been any other woman, Matt would’ve stored that bit of information away for future use. But he didn’t want to keep it. Didn’t want to know a damn thing about her life, now.
Even so, he couldn’t help but go for the dig. “What happened? Hubby run out of money?
“Turner,” Jake said his last name as a warning.
Kat drew in a deep breath. “Brian died sixyears ago.”
Eight years, and she hasn’t remarried? Not that he cared.
“Dr. Marsh was sent to us because she needs our protection.”
Making a snorting sound he didn’t bother trying to cover up, Matt nearly rolled his eyes when he asked, “From what?”
Surprising him—because apparently it was Let’s Surprise the Ever-Loving Fuck out of Matt Day—Katherine straightened her shoulders and lifted her chin.
Looking him square in the eye, she said, “From whoever’s trying to kill me.”
Chapter 2
Matthew. Freaking. Turner.
Of course he’d work here. After all, that was par for the course with how her life was going lately.
Damn it, Kat. Why didn’t you check this place out more thoroughly?
Oh, that’s right. She’d been too busy running for her life.
Wanting to crawl into a hole and disappear, Kat did everything she could not to show the reaction she was having from seeing him again. Not that he’d bothered hiding his feelings about her being here.
One look at his face and she knew Matt would rather be anywhere but in this room with her. It had been in his cold, uncaring eyes.
As soon as he recovered from seeing her again, he’d looked back at her as though she were a stranger. Worse than that. An enemy.
Kat had become dizzy with shock when she’d found herself staring back at the only man she’d truly loved, and when he spoke? God, just hearing his voice again after all this time had damn near brought her to her knees.
Then it turned cold, like his expression. And he’d spit his next words out as if they were a curse.
It was nothing.
Though she deserved it, Katherine had to fight to breathe for the pain still spreading inside her chest. To her, what they’d shared was everything.
It shouldn’t still hurt this much. Not after so many years apart. Too bad no one had passed that particular memo to her heart.
Over the years, she’d forced herself to imagine him a hundred pounds overweight and balding to help ease the pain of having lost him. With no social media accounts she could find—and she’d searched them all more times than she could count—Kat had almost convinced herself that’s how he looked now.
Not. Even. Close.
In some ways, he looked exactly the same. In others, he looked even better.
His dark hair was still short, but much longer than the military-buzz he’d had the last time they were together. She could still remember the way it felt beneath her fingertips when she’d run her hands over it.
The scruff covering his strong, chiseled jaw was sexier than it should’ve been, and his lean, youthful body had filled out in the most delicious way.
Kat’s fingers itched to touch him as she continued her covert assessment. Especially where his white button-up stretched across his large, well-defined chest and biceps.
Her gaze lowered to where the material loosened around his narrow waist, her mouthwatering from the way his thick thighs pressed against the denim covering his lower body. A memory of him pressing his legs against hers as they made love flew through her mind, and she had to clear her throat against the moan threatening to escape.
Both men turned their heads in her direction, and she scrambled for an excuse. “Sorry. Had a tickle in my throat.”
A tickle? Kat mentally sighed at herself. For a genius, she could be a real idiot sometimes.
As if she needed further proof, the man standing three feet away from her was it. Out of all the private security companies in Texas, she’d chosen this one.
See? Idiot.
“Why don’t we go into the conference room where the rest of the team is waiting.” Mr. McQueen’s deep voice interrupted the self-deprecating thoughts. “We’ll go over everything in detail and figure out a more precise game plan.”
Realizing he was speaking to her, Kat nodded and said, “Okay.” Because really…what other choice did she have?
The intense man led the way, immediately followed by Matt. He didn’t even look at her when he passed by, which was almost worse than if he’d given her the death stare.
Taking up the rear, Kat kept a safe distance between them, trying hard to not pay attention to the way his rear looked in those jeans. Like with everything else, lately, she failed miserably.
Matt had always had a nice ass, but damn. The man was seriously perfect, in every single way. Too bad he hated her.
“We’re in here.” McQueen stopped at the doorway to let them by.
Kat’s eyes shot up with the same speed as her pulse. Though he didn’t say anything, she had a sneaking suspicion Matt’s boss had caught her checking out his employee’s ass.
Pretending as if nothing had happened, she forced a smile as she entered the room. That same smile dropped in an instant when she saw the others staring back at her.
Sitting around the table were three very intimidating men. They were also extremely handsome in their own rights.
The one directly across from where she stood was a little older, probably forties, with a very sexy head full of short, salt and pepper hair. The guy was big and built, and the term silver fox immediately came to mind.
Sitting next to him was a younger man with light brown hair and gorgeous brown eyes. Closer to her age, Kat noticed he was built a lot like Matt. They both had that ‘runner’ look. Muscular, for sure, but in a leaner, more streamlined way than the fox.
Spinning around, the third man looked up at her. He was also younger and lean, his light brown hair cut much shorter than the others.
“Hey.” He stood and smiled at her. “I’m Kole.”
Shaking his outstretched hand, she smiled. “Katherine Marsh.”
“Nice to meet you.”
Kole returned to his seat while Matt inadvertently brushed against hers as he slid behind her. Without a word, he made his way to the empty chair at the farthest end of the table. The farthest one away from her.
As she sat in the seat to the right of Kole, Mr. McQueen introduced her to the other two men.
Pointing to the larger of the two, Jake said, “Dr. Marsh, this is Gabe Dawson, Bravo Team’s team leader.”
With a tip of his head, the formidable man said, “Nice to meet you.”
“Next to him is Zade King, one of Bravo’s two snipers. He also specializes in hand-to-hand combat.”
Like Gabe, Zade offered a tip of his head and a friendly smile. “Dr. Marsh.”
“Please.” Kat looked at the three Bravo Team members before turning to Jake. “Call me Kat or Katherine. I answer to both.”
Nodding, Jake’s lips curled into a small smile. “Kat, it is. And you can call me Jake.” He glanced to Matt and the man next to her. “Of course, you already know Matt, and you’ve met Kole.”
Not looking in Matt’s direction was one of the hardest things she’d ever had to do. For years, she’d dreamed of seeing him again. Now that she had, Kat knew she could stare at him for hours and never get her fill.
“Matt is Bravo’s medic and Kole is their lead sniper.”
“There’s also a fifth member of the team,” Zade spoke from across the table. “But Nate’s on his honeymoon, so…”
A honeymoon. She’d never had one of those. Not that it would’ve been a real one, anyway.
Shaking those thoughts off, Kat looked to Jake for direction. It didn’t take long for him to give it.
Pulling out the chair at the head of the room, he sat down and rested his elbows on the table. With his fingers linked together, he said, “Dr.…. uh…Kat was sent to us by way of referral because she needs our protection.”
“From who?” Gabe asked.
“I don’t know.”
The next question came from Kole, and it was obvious he didn’t understand. That makes two of us.
“Wait. Just so I’m clear, you think you need protection, but you don’t know who you need protection from?”
“It’s…complicated.”
“So, uncomplicate it.” Matt’s deep voice sounded clipped.
She did look at him then, but the second their eyes met, she wished she hadn’t. Thankfully, Jake chimed back in.
“Why don’t you start by explaining what it is you do for a living,” Jake prompted her. “Then, we’ll go from there.”
“Okay.” Kat looked at him before glancing at the others. “I work for a company called Anderson Biomeds.”
“Anderson, huh?” Matt’s gaze was knowing.
Confirming his suspicions, she said, “Yes. It’s owned by Sloane Anderson, my former father-in-law.”
“What do they do?” Gabe asked her, ignoring Matt’s smug smirk.
“It’s a biologics company specializing in the development and distribution of various types of drugs.”
“And what is your role?” Kole turned his gaze to hers.
“I’m the lead biomedical engineer for our Specialization Department.”
Seeing the blank look on his face reminded Kat most people had absolutely no idea what that meant. She tried again.
“My department is in charge of developing formulas that can be used to help protect or strengthen the innerworkings of the human body at the molecular and cellular levels.”