by Susan Stoker
“Thanks. But that’s not cool. Maybe we could both do it? Take them to lunch or something?”
“That sounds awesome. And we can call Bryn together too.”
Mary shuddered. “That woman. I love her, but jeez, you know she’ll analyze the situation to death and then get sidetracked and want to know all about my cancer, what it’s like to have no boobs, and what the doctors said…in detail.”
Everyone chuckled. They all knew Bryn, and knew she’d do exactly that. Her curiosity was voracious and typically their phone calls always went off on a weird tangent because of the way Bryn’s mind worked. But she was refreshing and didn’t have a mean bone in her body.
“How long has it been?” Emily asked, one of her hands resting on her rounded tummy protectively. “What do you think is going on?”
Mary looked at her watch. “About fifteen minutes. I’m gonna call Truck back.” She stood and went over to the phone on the wall. She knew it was a risk. If he was in the middle of doing his Delta Force thing, he wouldn’t be able to answer, and she could even take his attention away from what he was doing, but she needed to know what was happening on the other side of the wall.
Besides, she was worried about Emily. Even if the other woman thought she was okay, she needed to see a doctor to make sure. Mary hadn’t been kidding when she said that she didn’t want to deliver a baby.
She dialed Truck’s number and he answered on the second ring.
“Mary?”
“Yeah, what’s happening?”
“Are you guys all right?”
“Yeah. We can’t hear a thing though. And Emily’s having some pain.”
“Shit. The cops are clearing the scene now. We should be able to get to you guys in about five minutes. Will she be okay until then?”
“Yeah. I think so. She seems to be all right at the moment. She’s lying down. Clearing the scene? So everyone is safe?”
Truck’s voice lowered, his tone calming her again, just as it had earlier. “Yeah. We got here at the same time as the cops, and luckily we knew them. They let us take point. Trigger’s team breached through the back door and we came in through the front. Those assholes didn’t even resist, simply dropped their weapons when they saw they were surrounded.”
“And all the customers?”
“They’re fine. Shaken up, but no one was hurt. The assholes were trying to get your manager to open the money vault, like you said. She was in the process of opening the vault when we rushed in. No one was hurt.”
“Thank God.”
“Yeah. Okay, four minutes and we’ll be there. I’ll get the code from the manager. You guys just stay back from the door. We’ll come to you. Tell Em to hang on, okay?”
“I will.”
“Mare?”
“Yeah, Truck?”
“Are you all right? I mean, you and Rayne haven’t exactly been getting along. Is everything okay?”
“Surprisingly, yeah.”
She heard Truck breathe a sigh of relief. “Good. See you soon, baby.”
“Bye.”
The endearment was surprising, but welcome. Truck usually called her Mare when he was being loving, but lately she hadn’t even heard that much. So hearing him call her baby made her heart swell.
She might’ve mended her relationship with her best friend, but she still had a ways to go with Truck.
She’d get there. She had to; the alternative was unthinkable.
She turned to the others. “Truck and the guys are on their way. They came in with that other Delta team and surrounded the robbers. They gave up without shooting anyone.”
“Yay!” Casey exclaimed, and everyone laughed.
“Emily, I know you heard me tell him that you were having some pain, so prepare yourself for going to the hospital,” Mary ordered.
“I wish you hadn’t said anything,” the other woman murmured. “I’m fine.”
“As if,” Mary said, rolling her eyes. “You’re going to the hospital and that’s that. Again, the last thing I want is poor Hank coming out in the bank.”
Everyone burst out laughing at the intentional rhyme.
Mary hadn’t felt as good as she did right this moment in months. She wasn’t sick, she had her best friend back, and she had a new mission…tell Truck that she wanted to change the nature of their relationship.
Four and a half minutes later, all four women turned to look at the door as it slowly opened. Before Mary could blink, Truck was there. He pulled her up from the floor where she’d been sitting, holding Emily’s hand, and had her in his embrace.
He buried his face in her hair and backed away from Fletch, Ghost, and Beatle as they reached for their own women.
Mary’s feet weren’t touching the floor, but the only thing she could concentrate on was Truck and the way he felt and smelled. His arms were like steel bands around her back. With a flash of insight, Mary realized that there was nowhere in the world she felt safer than right here in Truck’s embrace. When he held her, she felt as if nothing and no one could hurt her. The epiphany was a bit late, considering how long she’d been living with him, but it was no less heartfelt.
He smelled amazing too. The body wash he used was nothing fancy, but it permeated every inch of his apartment, even his sheets. Mary frequently switched his pillow with hers right before he came to bed so she could have his scent in her nostrils as she fell asleep.
“Are you sure you’re okay?” Truck murmured in her ear.
Mary nodded. “The second I realized something was going on, I got all of us in here and closed the door.”
He eased her away from him and put her back on her feet. Mary felt a twinge of remorse at losing his arms around her, but he grabbed her hands and held on as they talked, making her feel a bit better. “How did you know to come in here?”
“Training,” Mary said immediately. “We’ve had a few security experts come in and teach us the best things to do and what not to do in case of a robbery. Corporate had this vault outfitted with an external phone line. The expert said it was an almost perfect place to hole up since it has its own climate control, soundproofing, and phone line.”
“Thank you,” Ghost said from next to them, obviously overhearing her explanation. “I don’t know what I’d do without Rayne.” He looked down at her and squeezed her waist affectionately.
“And my thanks too,” Beatle piped in from next to Casey. “You thought fast, and I’m grateful.”
Embarrassed now, and not used to people praising her, especially not lately, Mary simply nodded.
“I told you, I’m fine,” Emily complained from the floor behind them. Everyone turned in time to see Fletch pick her up as if she weighed as much as a child, rather than a seven-months-pregnant woman.
“And I heard you, but you’re still going to the hospital,” Fletch countered.
Emily rolled her eyes, but didn’t complain further as her husband carted her out of the vault and into the bank on his way to an ambulance.
“You want to meet the other Delta team?” Truck asked Mary.
“Hell yeah!” she exclaimed. Mary was fascinated by the dynamics of the Special Forces teams. The men were the best of the best and they were extremely loyal. To each other and the Army. She’d never pass up the chance to meet more men like Truck.
They walked hand in hand through the lobby of the bank, which looked remarkably normal. There were only a few papers on the floor and a couple of handbags, but otherwise it could’ve been any other day. Mary didn’t see any of her coworkers or her boss.
Seeing her confused look, Truck informed her, “Most of the employees and some of the customers were taken to the hospital. They seem to be okay, but some had elevated blood pressure and the paramedics just wanted to be sure they didn’t have anything else going on.”
“And my boss?”
“She went too.”
“Oh. Okay. I should stay and lock up then…I guess,” Mary said.
Truck kissed the side of her head. �
�No, the manager called in someone from corporate. I think that’s him over there.” He motioned to a man in an expensive three-piece suit standing next to a group of police officers.
“Already? That was fast,” Mary commented.
“I guess when your bank gets held up by armed thugs, damage control is implemented immediately,” Truck said dryly.
Mary shrugged. “I guess.”
“Come on, the others are over here.”
Mary let Truck lead her through the parking lot toward a group of men standing on the outskirts. As she got closer, she snorted in disbelief.
“What?” Truck asked.
“Seriously?”
“What?” he repeated patiently.
“They’re all hot. I mean, really hot. What is it with you Special Forces people? Are you all good-looking?”
Truck chuckled. “I don’t know about that, but we’re all in shape. We kinda have to be, considering what we do for a living.”
“It’s not just your muscles,” Mary protested. “It’s everything. You’re all tall, handsome, and built. Shit, you could all be movie stars.”
“Present company excluded,” Truck said, gesturing toward his face.
Mary stopped abruptly and put her hands on her hips as she scolded him. “Don’t. That scar on your face does nothing to take away from how hot you are, Ford Laughlin.”
Instead of frowning at her, Truck smiled indulgently.
“And don’t laugh at me!” Mary told him huffily.
“I can’t help it. You’re so fucking cute,” Truck told her.
“Whatever. I am not.”
“You’re right. You’re not. You’re hot. Beautiful. Gorgeous. Not cute.”
Now Mary knew she was blushing. “Hush. I thought you were going to introduce me.”
“I was. Now I don’t think I will. Not when you think they’re all hot,” Truck told her, turning to walk back the way they came.
Mary grabbed his arm and looked up at him, expecting to see him smiling at her.
But he wasn’t smiling at all. He looked completely serious.
Mary spoke without thinking, wanting only to reassure him. “I don’t have eyes for anyone but you, Truck. The first time I saw you, I knew you were trouble. That you could be the man to break me.”
“I don’t want to break you, Mare,” Truck said quietly.
“I know.” She reached up and put her hand on his scarred cheek. “I don’t want anyone but you,” she said softly, opening herself up, just a tiny bit, for the first time.
He understood exactly how much her words meant too, because his eyes got heavy and one hand came up to rest on her nape. “Yeah?”
Mary nodded. “I’m scared.”
“Of me?”
“Yes.” When he frowned, she quickly said, “But not how you think. I haven’t told anyone other than Rayne that I loved them since I was sixteen years old. And believe me when I say, that didn’t go so well. It’s hard for me…but I’m trying.”
Truck closed his eyes and rested his forehead on hers. “Thank you, baby. You have no idea how much that means to me.”
They stood like that for a moment longer, before Truck straightened and took her hand in his once more. “Come on. I’ll introduce you and then take you home.”
“Don’t you have to get back to post and report in or something?”
“I do, but that can wait until I get you settled and make sure you’re okay.”
“I’m okay.”
“Humor me, Mare. Let me take care of you. Hearing you say that you were in the bank when it was being held up by men with guns knocked me for a loop. I need to make sure you’re home safe and sound before I get back to work.”
What could she do other than nod?
With that, he started toward the group of men once more. They all turned to face them as they approached.
“Hey, guys. I’d like you to meet my wife, Mary.”
She startled at that. It was the first time Truck had introduced her that way to anyone. They’d been keeping it a secret for so long, she hadn’t thought about the fact that, now that everyone knew, they didn’t have to keep their relationship on the down low any longer.
One by one, she shook the seven men’s hands. They were all tall, as she’d observed, and good-looking. She could tell they were muscular even though they were wearing their long-sleeve BDUs.
Their nicknames were just as crazy as those in Truck’s group, but she didn’t comment on it. Trigger, Lefty, Oz, Grover, Lucky, Brain, and Doc. They greeted her warmly, and Mary’s head swam trying to keep them all straight.
“So you guys are headed off at the end of the week too, huh?” she asked, trying to make conversation.
“Yup,” Trigger said with a wink. “Truck and his team decided they needed us to show them how things are done.”
Mary rolled her eyes. She knew he was teasing but couldn’t resist messing with the other man. “Yeah, Truck mentioned that. Said they needed someone to flush out the bad guys. You know, like when hunting dogs run into the field and make the birds scatter so the hunters can shoot them?”
Lefty and Oz—at least she thought that was their names—threw their heads back and laughed, while the others simply smirked at her.
Feeling uncomfortable, like maybe she shouldn’t have shown her snarky side immediately upon meeting the other men, Mary did her best to smile gamely back at them. Truck pulled her against him and kissed the side of her head once more.
“Here’s some advice, Trigger. Don’t go up against my wife in a game of wits. She’ll win every fucking time.”
“She thinks we’re the dogs,” Lefty said between chuckles. “But you’re the ugliest dog out of all of us.”
And just like that, Mary’s humor vanished. She stepped out of Truck’s light hold and marched up to the other man. She poked him in the chest, punctuating each word with a finger to his sternum. “That’s not funny.”
“Hey,” Lefty said, taking a step away from the pissed-off woman and holding up his hands in capitulation. “I didn’t mean nothin’.”
“Then why’d you say it? Truck has a scar. Big fucking deal. It’s not okay to make fun of him for it. If Brain over there lost his leg, would you start calling him Crip instead? No. You’d respect him and everything he went through. Don’t make fun of the way Truck looks. It doesn’t make you cool. It makes you an asshole.”
Everyone was silent for a second, before Mary heard chuckles erupt all around her, which pissed her off even more. She spun, ready to tell off the others, but Truck was there. He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her against his chest. He hugged her close and lowered his head so he was speaking right into her ear. “Easy, Mare. He didn’t mean anything by it, and I didn’t take offense.”
“Well, you should,” Mary protested, squirming in his arms. “It’s not cool. You got injured serving your country and they should respect you for it, not make fun of you.”
“We do respect him,” Trigger interjected. “But more than that, we respect you for coming to his defense.”
Mary blinked and stopped struggling to get away from Truck. She stared at Trigger then met the eyes of the other men. They were all looking at her with expressions that ranged from humor to admiration.
Suddenly she blushed. Shit, she’d done it again, spoken without thinking. It would be a miracle if the men didn’t think she was a raging bitch.
She forced a smile on her face and grabbed hold of Truck’s forearm, digging her nails in to try to ground herself. “All right then. Now that that’s settled. Thank you for coming over and helping out today.”
Everyone nodded at her and mumbled various renditions of “of course” and “wouldn’t have it any other way.”
Truck kissed the top of her head and stepped to her side as a paramedic sauntered up to them. She was tall and slender with long brown hair, which was currently up in a ponytail on the back of her head.
Mary smiled, thinking she was coming to make sure she was oka
y—but instead the woman went up to Truck and smiled flirtatiously.
“My name is Ruth, and I wanted to make sure you were okay. Reports said that there were shots fired. Were you hit?”
Mary blinked at the woman. Shots fired? She hadn’t heard anything, but then again, she’d been inside the vault. The paramedic didn’t look at any of the other men standing around, and she certainly didn’t look at Mary. She only had eyes for Truck.
“I’m fine,” Truck told Mary, seeing her concern. “A piece of the door we busted down broke off as we were breaching the building.”
“Are you sure?” Ruth asked, ignoring the fact Truck wasn’t talking to her. “You have some dried blood on your head.” And with that observation, Ruth reached up and touched his temple with her fingertips.
Truck reacted instantly. He jerked away and glared at her with a look so intense, Mary would’ve stepped backward if she didn’t know Truck as well as she did. He looked like he was about two seconds away from hauling off and slugging the pretty paramedic.
Deciding she needed to do damage control, pronto, Mary stepped into Truck’s side and put an arm around his waist and looked at Ruth. “He’s okay. I’ll be sure to check him over when we get home.”
For once, the words didn’t come out snarky. It was obvious the other woman was attracted to Truck, but for some reason, Mary wasn’t intimidated by her. She felt kinda sorry for her. Truck was hot, and she couldn’t blame the other woman for flirting with him. But Truck was hers. He’d made that more than clear time after time.
“He should be checked out by a professional,” Ruth pushed. She fluttered her eyes up at Truck. “It won’t take long at all. We can just go over to the ambulance and I’ll take care of you.”
Mary felt Truck tense under her, and before she could run interference again, he spoke.
“Are you insane?”
Ruth blinked. “What?”
“Are. You. Insane? I’m standing here with my woman, who was inside the bank when those assholes decided to start waving guns around, and you come up to me, bold as you please, and hit on me?”
“Truck, it’s okay,” Mary soothed.
“It’s not okay,” he countered. “We’re obviously together. You’re in my arms, and she has the nerve to come on to me?”