Love Shouldn't Hurt

by Dixie Lynn Dwyer

  Her comment both upset her and then made her sigh knowing that York was the only person who knew about Harper’s relationship with the Dortry men. “Not a clue. Could be days, weeks, hell, hours.”

  “Well, now I know why you seem a bit tired, but the bad attitude? Not sure why, considering you’ve been getting some, and with four men multiple times. You should be singing and dancing and in a great mood.”

  “Very funny, York. How about you? Did Finn tuck you in?” Harper teased.

  “Oh please. Like that would happen.”

  “He would have if you invited him to.”

  “I can’t and you know why. He’s a lot older than I am and way more experienced. Do you know that Cassidy Ray slept with him?”

  “No. Where did you hear that?” Harper asked.

  “From around the bar. A couple of those sluts she hangs out with were at a table I was serving, and I overheard them talking.”

  “York, I wouldn’t believe that. Did you think for a second that maybe they said that on purpose because you were there, and they know Finn and his brothers have a thing for you?”

  York shook her head. “Doesn’t matter. The last thing I need is a relationship with four men like them. Older, more experienced, and in law enforcement and the military. I don’t have a great past.”

  “We all make mistakes, and you had no choice when your dad made you work for him. He used you because he knew you wouldn’t get time.”

  “I can’t. I guess true love isn’t in the cards for me.”

  “Not for me either, so we might as well just enjoy ourselves.”

  “Harper?” She heard her name and turned around to see Anderson Hayes, one of her brothers’ good friends.

  “Oh my God, Anderson,” she said, and he pulled her into his arms and hugged her tight. She had a crush on him years ago, but he always seemed to look at her like a little sister. When she felt him slide his hand along her ass, she tightened up, felt the attraction, and then she felt guilty. She pulled back and he smiled wide, then licked his lips and looked at her outfit.

  “You look incredible, honey. I spotted you the moment I walked into the place, which by the way, looks awesome. Can’t wait for the guys to get here.”

  She held onto his arms and smiled wide. “Who is coming?” she asked, and Anderson looked over at York. Harper totally forgot she was standing right there. “Oh God, meet York, she’s my good friend and my manager,” Harper told him, and Anderson reached his hand out for York to shake.

  York, of course, gave a friendly hello and then winked at Harper. “I’ll get back to work. You linger, boss, you deserve it,” York said with a smile and then walked away.

  Harper held onto Anderson’s arm. “What are you drinking?” she asked, and turned toward the bar.

  “A nice cold Bud will do for now,” he said and looked down at her. He slid his hand to her waist as she leaned against the bar looking way up at him. Anderson was a good-looking guy, close to her age, and flirtatious, too.

  “Here ya go, boss,” Ade said to her, and looked at Anderson with a firm expression.

  “Ade, meet Anderson, he’s a good friend of my family,” she said, introducing him, and Ade’s expression softened, only slightly. Ade kind of took the role of protector around here and especially over her. He then went back to work.

  Anderson stroked her ribs. “So how have you been?”

  “Busy, and same ole same ole’. You know how it is?”

  He reached up and stroked a stray hair from her cheek. The way he looked down into her eyes sort of affected her. “I miss seeing you. Old times hanging out at the house and stuff with the gang.” She smiled. “Those were good times.”

  “I have just one regret though.”

  “What’s that?”

  “Getting a chance to sneak up into the loft with you, like Brian did.”

  Her cheeks flushed and she laughed, lowered her eyes and reached for the drink Ade put down for her. She sort of wished for something stronger right now at this flirtatious comment. “Your brother tends to exaggerate.”

  Anderson eyed over her breasts and slid his palm a little lower over her ass. “I think he shared the good parts. The things that make a man feel good, and keep him warm at night.”

  She gave his chest a light tap, and he grabbed her hand and held it close. “You sure are in a flirtatious mood tonight. A soldier feeling lonely and looking for some attention? I can steer you in the right direction,” she said, and turned to look, but he slid his arm around her waist and pulled her close.

  He whispered close to her ear and neck, right where the love bite was. She wondered if he could see it. “I’m looking in the right direction, Harper. Hoping to spend some time with you and talk a bit. Some things are changing, honey.” He pressed his lips to her neck, and she closed her eyes and gripped him tight. He was so much better of a choice for her then the Dortry men were. He would give her full attention, make her feel catered to and loved, hell, put her at the top of his list. She felt guilty for thinking like that. Then she remembered he was a soldier and was on active duty. She would be in the same boat with him and his brother. Waiting like some foolish woman with her heart on a string. She was always attracted to Anderson and Brian, but life got in the way and their paths didn’t cross like that. She was feeling badly, lonely now that four days passed since she saw the Dortry men. Had sex with them. Had that conversation with Broaden that basically confirmed the relationship was based on sex and sex alone. Ferrion had told her in the beginning that she was free to see other people, but when they came around, she was to focus on them. What a fool she had been to accept that. The tough, I need no one business owner and woman. Who was she kidding? Her heart was constantly aching, and she was tired of it.

  “Are you okay?” he asked her and stroked her neck.

  “Hmm, yes, sorry. You were saying?”

  He held her gaze and continued to stroke her neck.

  “I’m out. Retired from the service. Brian, too,” he told her, and she was shocked.

  She pulled back. “Seriously, Anderson?” she asked, her heart racing.

  He stared at her lips and held her gaze. “Dead serious, honey. We’re done, and looking to maybe settle down nearby.”

  She hugged him tight. “I’m so happy for you. I bet mom and the dads are happy, too,” she said, referring to his parents she had known for years.

  “Sure are. Looking forward to doing dinner this weekend, and you got an invite, too.”

  She pulled back. “Me?”

  “Hell yeah. We’re getting a bunch of us together. Tell me you’ll come with me. I’ll pick you up at your place around four?”

  “Tomorrow?”

  “Yes.”

  She looked around them, her eyes landing on some guy who was staring at her but then looked away. She kind of got the creeps. It was so weird, but then Anderson pulled her closer and caressed her back.

  “I missed you, honey. The family does, too. Come and hang out with us, have a good time and relax a little.” He stroked her cheek. “You look a bit tired, or like something is on your mind. I know I haven’t been here in a while, but I’m here now. We’re more than friends.” He looked at her lips.

  That guilty feeling hit her before she did something stupid like Anderson kiss her. She smiled. “Family. That’s what we’ll always be. Now let me see if I can pull off tomorrow at four,” she said, but then gasped as he used a strong arm and wrapped it around her waist from behind, and his lips hit her neck. Anderson smiled wide, and she realized instantly it was his brother Brian.

  “God damn, I knew I recognized this sexy body. I missed you, Harper,” he said, and then kissed her neck and squeezed her tight. She couldn’t help the tears in her eyes. She missed him, too. These men were more like brothers to her, but she had a feeling something changed. There was no need for her to feel guilty either. The Dortry men weren’t making any commitments. In the beginning, Ferrion said to date other people and not hold back if she was at
tracted to someone. She had been hurt by his comment, and all twisted up inside because when they had sex, he would say she was his woman, that she belonged to them, and ordered her to behave. She hoped and wondered if he was falling in love with her like she had already fallen in love with them? But then they would disappear, and when they came back, they came back for sex and nothing more. No dinner invites, no holding hands in public, no being labeled a soldier’s woman who waited lovingly at home for them between tours. No, they gave her nothing more, and she wanted more. Wanted love, wanted to not feel sadness, loss, or feeling like an object. Perhaps she needed to let go and move on? Maybe with Anderson and Brian? Especially since Ferrion reminded her about the rules only the other night in bed.

  “Let me get a look at you, woman,” Brian said, and turned her around in his arms. He looked her over. “I missed you. Did you tell her the good news?” he asked his brother, but then pulled her into an embrace again and hugged her.

  She hugged him back. Absorbed the emotions he emitted through that hug, the sincerity in missing her, thinking about her, perhaps wanting her. Was it just for sex? Shit, just because that was all Ferrion and his brothers offered, didn’t mean it was what Brian and Anderson would want from her. Their families were close, and they all knew one another pretty well. Except they didn’t know she was having sex with four men, and had been for the last two years, and stupidly fell in love with them.

  Brian squinted at her and she quickly pulled the negative thoughts from her head. “What are you drinking, soldier?”

  He wrapped his arm around her waist and Anderson pressed close. “A cold beer, and you are joining us. I want to hear all about how Harper’s is doing, what’s new in Cherry Hill, and make some plans to hang out. Hey, you invited her to the house tomorrow, right?” he asked Anderson.

  “Sure did, and she’s coming,” Anderson said, and winked.

  “I said I need to work things out first.”

  “Work them out, but I’ll be by to pick you up at four either here or at your house,” Anderson said very seriously, and then winked.

  Brian caressed her back to her hip. “We can’t wait to spend time with you, talk about old times and hey, a bunch of the other guys are going to stop by, too. It will be a great night,” Brian said to her.

  She smiled. “Okay. I’ll be ready, and will work things out here.”

  “Maybe pack an overnight bag. Things could get rowdy,” Anderson said, and winked.

  She shyly looked away and locked onto Ade’s eyes who heard the whole conversation. “She could use a night out. Don’t think she ever relaxes,” Ade told them.

  She introduced Brian to Ade, and they shook hands and started talking about the Marine Corps. She listened, and both Anderson and Brian kept her between them, using every opportunity to touch her, caress her hair or back, and slowly she just started enjoying herself. Maybe it was best to put the Dortry men out of her head for good, she thought, but then felt a pain to her stomach and that ache to her heart that she was really getting tired of having. She deserved more. She wasn’t getting any younger, and in no time, she could wind up single and alone, or worse.

  “What do you think?” Myer asked Flask as they exited Harper’s.

  “I’m so fucking confused. Either she’s important to the Dortry men, or she’s the town whore to soldiers coming back between missions. I just don’t fucking know.”

  “She could be just that good in the sack,” Myer said to him.

  “You saw her, there’s definitely something about her that catches your interest,” Flask said.

  “She’s fucking hot is what you mean, so of course there’s something about her that catches your eyes. Blonde hair, blue eyes, big tits, and a nice round ass, slim thighs, hell, she’s like a model but there’s a toughness about her,” Myer said.

  “Could be the whole family military thing, four brothers, she’s the only girl, the youngest, runs this bar by herself. I could see our boss taking a huge interest.”

  “Van Buren definitely would want to fuck her, but Hyzen? He would test her toughness in ways I don’t even want to think about.”

  “Well, we don’t have to really, Myer, because the boss just wants to hurt the Dortry men any way he can. She could be the one. Could be the bait to get them where he needs them so they get taken out.”

  “He wants the men to suffer for what they did to his brother, to the operation in Germany they destroyed.”

  “I guess killing the other men who helped the Dortry men wasn’t enough?” Myer asked.

  “No, nor was taking Watson’s sister, obviously, considering he helped the American soldiers anyway. Let’s use what we have, keep eyes on the blonde and see if she’s worth the trouble and would make good bait. Right now, I’m not too confident in that. She wasn’t exactly pushing away those two men who came in to see her.”

  “Soldiers, definitely. Should we look into them, too?” Myer asked.

  “Not yet. Our eyes are on Harper. Let’s see if this leads to what we are after.”

  Chapter 2

  “It’s midnight and she still isn’t home. She either left Harper’s early or she didn’t go in. I checked the house and nothing,” Broaden said into his phone.

  “She knows we would come over again tonight. As often as we can while we’re back,” Snipe replied over the phone.

  “I’m telling you she’s tired of waiting. She’s seeing someone else,” Broaden said.

  “Ferrion said head home. We asked for a non-committal relationship and she’s living her life. It will work out fine,” Snipe said just as a truck came down the road.

  Broaden was hidden and parked between two other trucks down the block in the opposite direction. “Hold up,” he said as he watched the truck pull into Harper’s driveway.

  “What is it? Who is she with?” Snipe asked, and he could hear Lextin asking what was going on in the background.

  “Fuck,” Broaden said as he watched two big guys, younger guys, get out of the truck. One helped her as she stumbled, and they laughed. “She’s drunk. Two men.” He gave them a play by play as he gripped the steering wheel and felt his chest tighten and his heart ache. This was supposed to be a non-committal relationship, yet he was fucking jealous, wanted more, and right now was ready to tear the two assholes limb from limb. He watched the one guy slide his arm around her waist, his hand to her ass. She reached back and covered his hand and said something to him as the other guy unlocked her front door. Before the door closed, he saw the guy hug her and it appeared like his mouth was against her neck.

  “Holy fuck they want her. Want to fuck her. She’s doing what Ferrion said and living her life. I don’t want her to live her life. I want her to be ours. Only ours,” he said firmly.

  “Calm the fuck down and don’t do anything stupid.”

  “Stupid? Like what?”

  “Like break down the door and beat the crap out of two guys,” Snipe said.

  Broaden was breathing heavily and feeling like he was going to freak out if he didn’t do anything. The thought of Harper with any other man or men made him insane with jealousy.

  “Broaden, stand down. Ferrion said stand—"

  He ended the call. Shoved open the truck door and headed straight toward the house. I’m in love with her. There has to be a way to work this out. To hold onto her until we can explain, and until we can end the situation at work and be free from it all. Fuck.

  Harper tried to pull from Anderson’s arms, but he wouldn’t let her go. His mouth was on her neck, and he used his palm to caress her ass. “Tonight was so much fun,” he said to her, and slightly pulled back.