“Any updates on your brothers?” Mac asked Gabe between bites. “Are any of them looking for a job?”
“Brothers?” Gabe’s brows rose. “Or do you mean my brotherhood brothers?”
His boss shrugged. “All of them.”
“Well, as for my brothers, Josh and Tyler, you can forget about them,” Gabe said, reaching for his coffee. “They’re career military. Navy lifers. Sorry.”
Mac blew out a breath. “I know, but I’d be damn happy to have them if they ever changed their minds.”
Dex couldn’t see either of the sheriff’s brothers dropping their packets to work in the civilian world. One was a year younger than Dex, and the other a year older, and both lived and breathed Navy.
“As for my team brothers,” Gabe continued, setting his cup back on the table, “you’ve already got Coop signed on to start next week, right?”
Cooper Thompson was part of Gabe’s former SEAL team, set to join ESI after he finished out-processing. Dex looked forward to shooting pool with the squid again. It’d been a few years, but the two of them had made an unbeatable team with cue sticks in hand.
“Yeah.” Mac nodded. “He arrives on Wednesday, which is good, because I got a call this morning from one of our VIP clients who needs a detail next week, and I’ve already got another one lined up, so I could use an extra body.”
Dex turned to his boss. “Mr. Nakamori’s coming back?”
The tycoon from Japan was a regular client of ESI. They provided security for the man whenever he was in the states.
“Yes,” Mac replied. “He has some kind of upcoming emergency meeting in Houston.”
“So there’s enough time to get Cooper vetted,” Dex said.
Mac nodded. “Rylee’s already on it.”
Of course, she was. That woman was nothing, if not efficient…and she was a hell of a lot more than that.
But he wasn’t going there.
“Business is picking up,” Gabe observed, and once again, Mac nodded. “Then you’ll be glad to hear Dean is out-processing.”
“No way?” Dex stared at Gabe, that knot in his stomach reappearing. He’d pegged Dean as a Navy lifer, too. No way would the frogman willingly leave the teams. The injuries from his last op must’ve been more serious than they thought.
Mac’s gaze rounded. “What happened?”
Apprehension skittered through Gabe’s eyes. “Doctors can’t guarantee he’ll regain full use of his arm.”
“Damn.” Dex exhaled.
Mac pushed away his empty plate and shook his head. “That’s rough. I know he loved being a SEAL.”
“Yeah.” Gabe sat back in his chair and shook his head, disgust tightening his jaw. “It’s going to be a rough adjustment. That’s why I was hoping you might be able to help.”
“Absolutely,” Mac said without hesitation. “There’s always a place at ESI for your men. I just hope Dean understands his doctor will have to refer him to one here in Harland County, and that I’ll have to follow that doctor’s orders. I won’t put any of my employees in danger, including him if he’s not up to par. And I also won’t allow him to do anything he’s not cleared to do. I won’t be responsible for hindering his healing process.”
Gabe nodded. “Understood. I wouldn’t either. I also know Dean won’t like it, but he’ll do it.”
“Good.” Mac grinned. “Text me his contact information and I’ll get the ball rolling.”
“Roger that.” Gabe reached for his phone while Mac rose to his feet.
“Hate to eat and run, but I’ve got a consult in Houston,” his boss said. “Enjoy the rest of your breakfast. It’s my treat today.”
Dex nodded, sipping his coffee as he watched Mac pay their bill on his way out.
Normally, the prospect of being alone with Rylee for several hours at work would make his eye twitch, but thankfully, he had some routine maintenance to perform on one of the SUVs in their garage. No contact with Rylee necessary.
His body relaxed at that thought, and he finished the last mouthful of his breakfast right when Gabe’s phone started to ring. Dex glanced at the sheriff’s half-eaten plate of food and snorted.
Knew he wouldn’t get to finish it.
His buddy sighed and met his gaze. “Don’t say it.”
Chuckling, he held up his hands. “Wouldn’t dream of it. But, if you’re leaving, can I finish your biscuits and gravy?”
Gabe glanced at his phone and grinned. “Looks like I’ll be finishing my own breakfast, grunt. This is my sister.” He waved the ringing phone at Dex before answering.
Damn.
He was looking forward to a second helping of Annie’s food.
“Hey, Rylee,” Gabe said, making a show of shoving a forkful of food in his mouth while holding Dex’s gaze.
Idiot.
Dex laughed. That was why they got on so well.
“No. Don’t do anything else.” Gabe set his fork down and frowned. “I’ll fix it. I’m at Annie’s having breakfast. I’ll be right over.”
“Everything okay?” he felt compelled to ask once his buddy hung up.
“Yeah. I—” The phone rang again. Gabe glanced down and sighed, before answering. “Sheriff Bryson. He got lose again? Okay. I’m on my way.”
Dex scratched the bridge of his nose, trying to keep his smile reined in. “Charlie?” he asked when Gabe hung up.
“Yeah.” His buddy shook his head. “I swear that horse is Houdini reincarnated.”
The old boy was older than sin and just as mischievous.
“He’s probably visiting Napoleon,” Dex said.
It was no secret the horse and mini donkey were buddies. Charlie belonged to the older man who lived next to Dex’s, and the horse was often spotted lumbering across Dex’s land, then Mac’s, on his way to the ranch on the other side. It was owned by the local veterinarian who also owned the donkey.
“No rest for the weary,” Dex said.
Gabe stood and shoved the phone in his pocket. “True, and you’re one of them.”
“How so?”
“I need you to go help my sister fix her leaky kitchen faucet before she messes up her shoulder.”
His stomach hit the floor. Damn. He’d rather go find Charlie.
The old horse was ornery.
Rylee was worse.
Chapter Two
Rylee Bryson hated Mondays, especially ones that started with water pooling on the floor in front of her kitchen sink. But she was a go-getter—a doer—so she jumped right in to fix the problem. After viewing a few videos on the internet and a trip to the local hardware store, she had the old pipes off and most of the new ones replaced. Too bad there was an island across from the sink. It cut into her leg room, forcing her to work at an odd angle, which aggravated her stupid shoulder.
Pain shot down her back, and her muscles burned with an intensity that stole her breath.
Dammit.
She was almost done, too.
Gritting her teeth, she wiggled her hips to try to get out from under the sink, but the pain increased, so she stilled her body and drew in slow, steady breathes. Great. Her brother was due any second and he’d take one look at her and jump into his “I-told-you-so” speech that he spouted whenever she paid the price for trying to do something on her own.
Thing was, she did a lot on her own without incurring issues. She was so tired of him and the rest of her family treating her like a porcelain doll. She fought that battle at every turn. Her detriments were in the past.
Bending her legs, she planted her feet flat on the floor and suffered through the sharp twinges stabbing at her right shoulder blade.
Well, mostly in the past. It just sucked that he was going to catch her in one of the few situations that bit her in the butt. A growl rumbled up her throat, sounding as helpless and frustrated as she felt.
Why had she called Gabe?
Oh, right, because her only other choice was the traitor currently bird-sitting across the street.
&nb
sp; No, thank you.
She’d rather suffer through her brother’s lecture than ask Dexter Wright for help. The jerk had helped her enough. He’d helped her right out of a fiancé.
Even though she’d moved on since her failed engagement, Rylee still wondered what she’d done wrong and what, exactly, Dex had said to Evan to make him leave her. She closed her eyes and blew out a breath. That wasn’t important right now. Those pains were in the past, too. She had enough pain right now to deal with it.
And her brother…who was going to have to help her get out from under the sink. She opened her eyes and swallowed back a curse. This situation couldn’t get any worse.
A knock sounded at the door.
Please don’t let me be wrong.
“Come in,” she called as loud as possible and breathed a sigh of relief when she heard the door open. “I’m in the kitchen…kind of stuck…”
The pain of admitting that out loud paled in comparison to the absolute discomfort brought on by the sight of biker boots and jean-clad legs. Not the standard sheriff uniform, therefore her brother was not the person towering over her.
Awareness skittered through her cramped body. Dammit. She recognized that pinging. Her body only ever attacked itself from within whenever a certain traitor was in her midst.
“Dex?” she all but ground out. “What are you doing here?”
He squatted down and met her gaze with a raised brow. “Gabe sent me. He got a call. What’s this about you being stuck?” Concern trickled through his brown eyes.
She didn’t want his concern. Or his help. It was bad enough she’d swallowed her pride and called her brother. It was much worse to be indebted to Dex.
No way.
Gritting her teeth against the impending pain, she grasped the edge of the cupboard, shifted her hips and tried to shimmy out again, but she’d misjudged the severity of the pain now shooting up her spine, straight into her shoulder blade. And because this just wasn’t her day, she couldn’t hold back her gasp.
Dex muttered an oath. “Sorry, I know this is going to hurt,” he muttered, but before his words got through to her pain-fogged brain, two large hands encircled her hips and tugged her out from her under-the-sink prison.
A second later, she was on her feet staring into that dark, concerned gaze of his while she waited for strength to return to her legs.
Were his eyes always the color of espresso?
Maybe. And maybe her strength was turning traitor too, because there wasn’t enough to keep her upright. Great. Reaching out with her left hand, she clutched the broad shoulder in front of her while her right arm hung by her side, tingling and prickling the whole time.
“I’ve got you,” he said, his hands once again on her hips, tugging her close, supporting her with his body.
A body of muscles. Solid, hard, sexy muscles.
For an infinitesimal moment, she remained that way while the room righted itself and she caught her breath. The sharp pain dissipated as fast as it had appeared, leaving an intense throbbing and fierce burning in its wake.
But they were manageable. Standing in Dex’s arms was not.
Mainly because she was shocked to discover she enjoyed it.
What the heck? Now her body was betraying her too? What was next? Her mouth?
Uncaring if her legs would hold her, Rylee pushed out of his arms and mumbled her thanks, relieved to find the island behind her to lean against.
For five weeks now, she’d barely spoken to the guy and managed to avoid being in the same room with him, other than morning briefings. This…rescue…sink fix wasn’t going to change things. She just wanted to get it over with and move on with the day.
That espresso gaze lingered on her for a moment, before Dex turned his attention to the sink. “What are you having trouble with?”
It was on the tip of her tongue to say, “You” but she caught herself just in time. “The drain leaked. I replaced it, but still need to attach the elbow.” Rubbing her shoulder, she watched, more than a little envious of how he managed to fold his large body into such a small space with ease.
“I can take care of that, no problem,” he said from under the sink.
But he was wrong. There was a problem.
A big one.
The way his shirt rode up, exposing washboard abs and the top of a sexy vee had her involuntarily visualizing lean hips, well-defined external obliques, and the reason for the creases in his jeans…
What was she doing?
Her mind currently lacked enough brain cells to form an answer.
“That should do it.” He began to back out from under the sink.
Rylee shook her head to clear it and stupidly lifted her right hand to hook a clump of hair behind her ear. Another round of burning pain reignited and gripped her shoulder. Dammit. Inhaling sharply, she silently called Dex a not-so-nice name since it was his fault her darn brain wasn’t working right.
“Rylee?”
Squeezing her eyes shut, she tried to remember how to breathe. All she could manage were short, shallow breaths while she clutched at her aching shoulder with her other hand.
She hadn’t had this bad of a flare-up in over a year.
Maybe it was a good thing Gabe wasn’t here. He’d probably insist she move in with him so she wouldn’t have to worry about home maintenance anymore. Next, he’d order bubble wrap and cover her in it.
With her eyes still closed, she choked out a laugh at that sad—but probably true—thought and continued to dig her fingers in her tight muscles.
“Turn around. Let me see.”
She did neither. This was her problem. She’d deal with it. “I’m good. You can go,” she said between clenched teeth.
Her muscles were spasming and wouldn’t stop no matter what she did.
“Rylee, look at me.” His voice was stern and commanding, and in another place and…reality, she probably would’ve found it sexy.
The pain was making her delirious. It had to be. Why else would she harbor that stupid thought or open her eyes to stare at Dex?
Unlike his tone, his gaze was warm with compassion. “You can’t reach it. Let me.”
Circling back to that delirious scenario, she also blamed it as the reason she turned around to offer him her shoulder blade. Something she’d never done. Ever. Not even to members of her family.
“Lean on the island,” he said, stepping close…so close she was aware of his body from head to toe.
It was the strangest thing to feel goose bumps spreading through her uncooperative muscles. But then his hands were on her, massaging, squeezing, digging into her back, bringing tears to her eyes.
“Relax,” he murmured, relentlessly working through her tight muscles.
Fighting through the pain, she gripped the counter with her left hand and clenched her jaw, willing those muscles to listen to Dex. He must’ve been very persuasive, because before long, the tightness blessedly began to recede. The more he dug in there, the more the muscles loosened, giving agony less to hold onto.
She inhaled deeply, then blew out a slow breath, feeling the fist of pain completely uncurl. Relief sent a fresh round of tears down her face, and it wasn’t lost on Rylee that Dex had also been the reason behind the last time she’d cried. Memories of that time brought back her disdain.
“Thanks. That feels much better,” she told him, since it was the truth. Too bad he didn’t know the meaning of the word. She swiped the wetness from her face and moved to the other side of the island. “And thanks for finishing the plumbing.”
“No problem.” He narrowed his gaze. “Is there a reason you called Gabe instead of your landlord? I’m sure Mr. Crowley would’ve had it fixed.”
She lifted her chin, not thrilled with the condescension creeping into his tone. “Mr. Crowley just had knee replacement surgery yesterday. No need to disturb his recovery with something I can handle myself.”
Dex lifted a brow. “How’d that work out for you?”
Why tha
t…
Clamping her mouth shut, she counted to five because that was about how much damn she gave to this conversation. Or him. “Thanks again for your help. Don’t let the door hit you on your way out.”
He blew out a breath and shook his head. “I didn’t mean to piss you off, but if that’s what it takes to get you take better care of yourself, then so be it.”
Before she could reply, he marched out her door.
Darn. It didn’t hit him.
She wanted to. Which was not at all in her character. That jerk always made her think and do things out of her norm. And it pissed her off.
Fifteen minutes later, after swapping her jeans and T-shirt for a comfortable dress, Rylee was still stewing when she knocked on the back door of the beauty salon owned by her friend, Abby. The two of them had met almost five years ago when their brothers had worked on a joint military operation. Half the reason Rylee moved to Harland County was because her friend lived here. The other half was because, other than Gabe, her family didn’t. She loved her family dearly, she really did…their overprotectiveness not so much.
“Hey, Rylee.” The epitome of the “California Girl” smiled at her. With long, silky blonde hair, startling blue eyes, and sun-kissed skin, Abby Sharp could bring a grown man to his knees with a single bat of her lashes. But the sweet-natured woman wasn’t a man-eater and didn’t possess a cunning bone in her slim body. “Perfect timing as usual.” The stunning woman opened the door wide and stood back. “Stefanie just got here with donuts, and the coffee is almost done.”
“Morning,” she told them both, stepping inside. “No Christa?”
The single mother worked for Mel, and like Rylee, she was also new in town.
“No,” Stef replied over her shoulder as she set the donuts down next to the coffee maker on the small table in the corner. “Dillan has a doctor’s appointment this morning.”
She frowned. “Nothing serious, I hope.” The little boy was such a cutie and very smart.
“No, Christa said it was just routine,” Stef replied, then pointed at the donuts. “Come on. Dig in.”
“Mmm…I could use one right about now,” she said, heading toward the open box of deliciousness beckoning from across the room.
Dex (HC Heroes Book 3) Page 2