Protected by a Hero

by Susan Stoker, Cristin Harber, Cora Seton, Lynn Raye Harris, Kaylea Cross, Katie Reus, Tessa Layne

  “I’m sorry.” Cass watched him pace the room. “Are you… are you a gambler too?”

  He shook his head. “Not like that. Not with money. I just take chances with my life. Part of the job description as a SEAL.”

  “That’s different, don’t you think?”

  “I don’t know.” He really didn’t. “What I do know is that I’ll do everything I can to make sure you don’t lose this ranch. I can’t give you your mother back, but I can do that much. I know what it feels like to lose your home, and I don’t want that for you.”

  Cass crossed the room, took his face in her hands and kissed him.

  “I’m sorry.” Cass backed away from Brian only moments after she’d begun the kiss. “I… I don’t know why I did that.” Emotion had gotten control of her again. Brian’s raw explanation of his past and his pledge to save her ranch had broken past all her defenses and tugged her right across the room.

  “Don’t be sorry.” Brian pursued her, caught her hand in his and hesitated. “I’m going to kiss you again.” He waited for her to stop him.

  But she didn’t. And when he leaned down and pressed his mouth against hers, she found herself up on her tiptoes to meet him. She kissed him back hungrily, desperate to prolong the connection his words had forged between them.

  She’d always wanted this kind of understanding from a man. She’d hoped Bob would bring it to their relationship, but he’d never been capable of it.

  Brian was. His hands slid under her hair as he deepened the kiss, and Cass strained up to be closer to him. Holding on to his wide shoulders, balancing on her toes, she experienced his touch with her whole body. She wanted more.

  So much more.

  She wanted this closeness to go on and on. Could she possibly allow Brian into her life?

  Could she marry him?

  She pulled back, breathing heavily. Brian stepped closer, dropped his hands to the small of her back and enclosed her in a true embrace, seeking her mouth again. She let him find it, loving the feel of his muscled arms around her. She was safe here. She could relax.

  She could let him tease her, igniting a burning hunger inside her she hoped someday he’d quench with his body.

  Cass knew she was sliding into the same dangerous territory she’d sworn she’d never enter again with any man, but she had no resistance to Brian. Maybe she’d been premature in promising to forego love forevermore. Brian was different than Bob.

  Different than any man she’d met before.

  And she wanted him.

  It was as simple as that. Life was complicated, and maybe she’d get hurt again, but she couldn’t help think the risk was worth it. Maybe if she knew ahead of time she’d end up disappointed she could simply enjoy the ride.

  Her heart told her that wasn’t likely, but Cass wasn’t willing to listen anymore. Lost in the sensations of Brian’s hands stroking her back, she simply let him kiss her, and enjoyed every minute of it.

  Part of her hoped he’d sweep her off her feet and carry her upstairs, but all too soon, Brian backed away. “It’s getting close to dinnertime,” he said, his voice husky. “Everyone will come home soon. I’ve got an idea. How about I pick up some pizzas and a movie? Think your sisters would like that?”

  Cass didn’t know. They rarely watched television and they never ordered in.

  “Leave it all to me,” he said and kissed her forehead. “Go relax for a minute. I’ll handle everything.”

  He urged her toward the stairs, and Cass did as she was told, her lips buzzing from that intoxicating kiss. Her life was changing whether she was ready or not.

  And she kind of liked it.

  Pizza. He needed pizza. And a good movie that would give him an excuse to cuddle Cass on the couch. A quick check of their TV told him streaming wasn’t an option. He needed to find a DVD somewhere—if they still existed. He made his way back to town, found a couple of movies at a run-down video store and picked up the pizzas he’d ordered on the way.

  Just as Brian suspected it might be, the take-out food was a big hit with the Reed women. “It’s not that we don’t eat out,” Alice explained, happily munching a slice after they took their customary places at the table. “It’s just that we never order in.”

  “And we don’t usually have someone to go get it for us,” Jo continued. “No one delivers out here.”

  They happily consumed the food and were sitting around the kitchen table in a post-carb hangover when someone knocked on the front door.

  “Who is it?” Jo asked Alice.

  Alice stretched back and patted her stomach. “I’m far too full to get messages from the beyond.”

  “It’s probably for you,” Cass told Sadie. “Your customers miss you, you know. You’re so busy with Mark all the time you’re hardly around.”

  Sadie’s cheeks pinked. “I’ve caught up with all my orders.” She got up and answered the door. When she returned, she was followed by a tall, husky man. “Cab’s here for you,” she said to Lena.

  “Howdy, folks. Sorry to interrupt your meal,” the man said. Dressed in a sheriff’s uniform, he was an intimidating sight. Six foot four if he was an inch, Brian estimated. Well over two hundred pounds.

  “Sit down and have a slice, Sheriff.” Cass immediately rose to fetch a plate.

  “Don’t mind if I do.”

  Brian waited until the man had sat down to reach over the table and offer his hand. “Brian Lake. I’m visiting Two Willows.”

  “The General sent him,” Sadie explained. “He’s fixing our house.”

  “Good to meet you. I’m Cab Johnson. County sheriff.” The sheriff assessed him momentarily and Brian felt that he’d been categorized and summed up in that brief glance. Cab nodded, as if filing him away for future reference. He took the plate Cass handed him and helped himself to a slice. It was only after he’d taken a bite, chewed and swallowed that he addressed Lena. “Seen that boyfriend of yours lately?”

  “Not since yesterday.”

  “Picked a fight last night at the Boot. Hasn’t been seen since. I thought you might know where he is.”

  Brian watched the women take in this information. Cass looked angry. Jo studied her hands. Alice and Sadie exchanged a glance he couldn’t interpret.

  No one seemed surprised.

  “Like I said, I haven’t seen him.” Lena helped herself to another slice of pepperoni, unfazed.

  “Have you heard from him?”

  “No.” She took a bite, and washed it down with a swallow of milk.

  “How about you give him a call,” Cab said conversationally.

  “What if I don’t want to?” Lena was digging in, but Brian told himself not to get involved. The sheriff had things under control. He wouldn’t want to be interfered with.

  “I think you should anyway.”

  Brian had to hand it to Cab. He might not be a man you’d notice in a crowd except for his size, but he had presence when he wanted to. He could feel Lena’s desperation growing.

  “Fine.” Lena pulled out her phone, tapped it a few times and held it to her ear. “He’s not there,” she said a moment later and shoved her phone back in her pocket.

  Cab put his hand out. Lena stared it at a long time. Just when Brian thought she’d refuse, she pulled her phone out a second time, tapped in her code and passed it to the sheriff.

  Brian was impressed.

  Cab tapped it a few times. “Yeah. Strange he wouldn’t be at Tilly’s Odds and Ends, seeing as it closed about five years ago.” A couple more taps and Cab lifted it to his ear. “Yeah, hey baby to you, too, Scott. Get your ass down to the sheriff’s department. I’ve got a few things to talk over with you.” He paused. “I’m not asking; I’m telling. See you in an hour, or I’m going to start knocking on doors.” He ended the call and handed back the phone. “Thank you for your cooperation. And thank you for the pizza,” he said to Cass. “That hit the spot.”

  “Would you like a slice for the road, Sheriff?”

  “I
wouldn’t refuse it.”

  Cass wrapped another slice in several layers of paper towel. Cab nodded his appreciation. Brian stood up as he made to leave. “I’ll walk you out, Sheriff.”

  He waited until they were out front by the sheriff’s cruiser, with Two Willows’s front door shut firmly behind him. “This Scott character—he get into fights a lot?”

  “Scott Howell’s been in jail three times in the past two years. Not the best candidate for a boyfriend. Lena should show him the door.”

  “Maybe he’s had a couple of tough breaks?” Brian hedged.

  “He’s given out a couple of tough breaks, you mean. Howell likes to fight. He never throws the first punch—he knows better than that—but he draws trouble like sugar draws ants. He’ll go out to a bar, rile up some drunk cowboy, let the guy take a swing at him and then defend himself like a prizefighter at a championship. I sure as hell wouldn’t let him sniff around any lady friend of mine.”

  “Thanks for the information.”

  “Now, don’t you go get into trouble sorting this out, either. I’d hate to throw you in jail on your first visit to Chance Creek.” The big man’s lazy smile had Brian thinking Cab might just look the other way if some of that so-called trouble happened.

  “I’ll do my best. Hey, have you ever heard of a guy named Mark Pendergrass?” Cass had been awfully worried about Sadie’s disappearances these past few days. Might as well learn what he could.

  “Well, shit.” Cab, who’d been leaning against the cruiser, straightened. “Don’t tell me one of the Reeds is dating him, too?”

  “Sadie. And she’s not home much these days.”

  Cab shook his head. “The General oughtta get home once in a while. I know he’s busy defending our sovereignty and all that, but a man’s got to pay attention to his daughters now and then.”

  “I’m in full agreement.” He was, now that he’d seen the way the wind blew at the ranch.

  Cab sighed. “Mark Pendergrass is one of the wiliest little shits I’ve come across in years. You want to go after the drug trade in this town, go after him. Hell, he is the drug trade, in a sense.”

  “Why don’t you stop him?”

  “Because the sucker’s smart, that’s why. He studied chemistry at Montana State. He knows how to stay one step ahead of the Feds. They outlaw one of these fancy new designer drugs and the chemists come up with a new one by tweaking the ingredients a little bit. Pendergrass is one of the best. By the time I have the ability to arrest him for something he’s distributing, he’s on to the next one.” Cab looked at Brian. “Are the Reeds getting into drugs?”

  He thought about Alice and Howie. Decided to hold off sharing that information just yet. “Not that I’ve seen. Nothing in their manner suggests any of them are using.”

  “You’d know the signs?”

  “Yeah.” He’d seen what drugs could do. He ran through everything he’d seen so far. “I’d be surprised to find they’re involved in any of it.” Especially now that he’d warned Alice away from Howie.

  “Then get them the hell away from Pendergrass.” Cab studied him. “You’ve got more questions. Lay them on me.”

  “What about Bob Finchley?”

  “Used to be the overseer here? Nothing I can pin on the man directly, but I’d keep an eye on him, too, if I were you.” He waited a beat. “His name has been linked with Cass, so that’s three of them. You’ve got two more. Who are Alice and Jo seeing these days?”

  “Alice let me know today she’s dumping Howie Warner.”

  “Damn good thing. Been hearing some rumors about him running errands at all hours.”

  “Yeah.” Since Cab already knew about him, he decided to come clean. “Seems he likes to borrow Alice’s car, too. He’s got it now.”

  “I’ll keep an eye out for it.”

  Brian racked his brain to remember the name of Jo’s boyfriend. He hadn’t ever seen the guy, though Lena had told him he was in and out of the house more than Cass suspected. “Sean. Sean Pittsville? I think that’s it. Jo’s boyfriend.”

  “Sean Pittson. Can’t say I’ve got any issues with him other than that she could do a hell of a lot better.”

  “So you’re saying none of them are any good?” Just as the General had suspected. Brian wondered if the sheriff was one of his sources.

  Cab chuckled sympathetically. “You have your work cut out for you, don’t you?” He narrowed his eyes. “You in the service?”

  “Navy SEAL.” It wasn’t something he normally announced, but he figured Cab would understand.

  Cab grinned. “The General knows what he’s doing.”

  Brian sure hoped so.

  “You need any help, you give me a holler. Don’t be fooled. Things might look two bit and ass-backward around here, but that doesn’t mean they can’t get dangerous.”

  “I’ll keep my eyes open.”

  “What is going on with Scott?” Cass asked Lena when the men had left the room.

  “I already said I don’t know.” Lena scooted her chair back and stood up, as if about to leave, but Jo stopped her.

  “Can’t we have one night without fighting—and without our boyfriends?” She sounded so wistful, Cass immediately regretted attacking Lena. “Brian told me he got us a couple of movies and I want to watch them—all of us together, like old times.”

  “Do you even remember the old times?” Lena asked her. Cass wanted to smack her. These days Jo was so caught up in Sean, Cass rarely got to spend time with her, and she couldn’t remember the last time they’d done something as a family.

  Oh, Mom, she thought. I’ve really been letting you down, haven’t I? She vowed right then and there she’d make the evening one to remember. Which meant no fighting.

  And no boyfriends.

  Why Brian’s face slid into her mind at that moment, Cass didn’t know. He wasn’t anyone’s boyfriend. Certainly not hers, despite all that kissing earlier.

  “I’m good with that,” Sadie said, interrupting the crazy permutations of her thoughts.

  “Me, too,” Alice said.

  “Lena?” Jo asked hopefully.

  “Sure. Whatever.”

  “All right.” Cass began to gather up the plates. “But Lena—please be careful around Scott. I couldn’t stand it if you got hurt.” Breaking her vow already, she thought grimly. He was out of control these days, though.

  “He’s never said boo to me,” Lena assured her. “He’s just hot tempered. He likes to throw down once in a while.”

  “That’s not normal,” Cass said.

  “Isn’t it? It’s what the General does, right? Except when he throws down, thousands of lives are at stake.”

  Cass frowned. That wasn’t the same thing at all. As much as the General infuriated her with the way he treated them, she knew he was good at his job—maybe one of the best. “The difference is, the General doesn’t start the wars he’s in. He does what he does to keep our country safe,” she said hotly.

  “I’ve talked to Scott, okay? I’ve told him he has to cool it down,” Lena told her.

  “Tell him again.”

  “We just agreed to have a night in which we don’t fight about our boyfriends,” Jo complained.

  “All right, I’ve had my say,” Cass told her. “We’ll forget all about men and watch the show.”

  “I’ll forget about Scott,” Lena said with a smart-aleck grin. “But will you be able to forget about Brian? Got a ring on your finger yet?”

  Cass tossed a crust of pizza at her. Lena ducked, and it fell at Brian’s feet as he walked into the room. Lena stuck her tongue out at Cass and went back to clearing the table, but she was chuckling, and Cass itched with the desire to toss another crust her way.

  Brian scooped the food off the floor and placed it on a dirty plate. “Let’s pitch in and get these dishes done. Jo, you make the popcorn. Cass, do you have a blender? I’ll get the margaritas going.”

  “Margaritas?”

  “That’s right.” As
soon as she fetched the blender, Brian took over, pulled out the drink mixings he’d bought in town and started whipping up the drinks.

  “Are popcorn and margaritas a thing?” Cass asked him when she’d run a sink of soapy water.

  “They’re our thing now,” he told her.

  When they were done in the kitchen, they all staked their places on the couch and easy chairs around the television, and Brian set up the movie. The first one was a Hollywood crime thriller that thoroughly engrossed Cass, as much because of the romantic tension between the male and female leads as the complicated twists and turns of the plot. Once she noticed Alice was following the action on screen with wide, troubled eyes, but then she got sucked into the story again and forgot her sister’s focus.

  She didn’t like the scenes that depicted the drug trade in a small town—she doubted any of them did—but the film was so fast-paced it didn’t give her time to dwell on that, and besides, the romance was the main thing.

  As they drank, ate, laughed and called out comments at the screen, Cass relaxed for the first time in ages. Even Lena seemed to get into the movie, although she kept checking her phone. Brian had taken a spot next to Cass and when their hands touched as they both reached into their bowl of popcorn, a little thrill sparked through her. She decided to stop thinking about all her problems for a few hours and enjoy the evening thoroughly.

  After they’d glutted themselves on popcorn, Brian placed the bowl they’d shared on the table, took her hand and stroked her palm with his thumb. The margarita she was sipping mellowed her out. Warm and comfortable, happy in the company of her sisters, Cass allowed him to ease closer. Everywhere they touched—their thighs, hips and shoulders, she was so aware of him, her nerves tingled.

  It was still early when the first movie ended, and Jo immediately cried, “Let’s watch the other one!” In the rush to refill drinks, take turns in the bathroom and load up the second film, Cass didn’t notice Sadie’s absence until it started.