I rolled my eyes. “Or maybe we just need more who document it all for social media, including being caught having sex.” Although I couldn’t complain too much when it meant eating a mountain of food for the price of a hefty tip for Big Mama.
“Sounds like somebody needs to get laid,” he said and ducked out of the way of a balled up napkin I tossed at him. “Definitely needs to get laid,” he said again, not bothering to hide his smirk from me.
“I’ll file that under information I never, ever need to know.”
We both looked up at the sound of Janey’s voice and Preston, cultured golden boy that he was, somehow managed to suppress his groan. I, on the other hand, wasn’t cultured or anybody’s golden boy. “Good, since you just barged in on a private conversation.”
She frowned at my gruff tone, but Janey was one of the toughest chicks I knew—if anyone could handle it, she could. “Maybe you should save your dirty sex stories for a more private venue,” she shot back, daring me to press her.
Instead, I leaned back in my seat and folded my arms, grinning up at her like there was no one else I wanted to see in that moment. “What a surprise this is, Janey. What brings you by?”
Her green eyes narrowed in my direction and she folded her arms in a clear don’t screw with me pose. “I’m glad you asked,” she said as a wicked smile spread across her face. “I came to take advantage of your current popularity.”
“You mean search and rescue guys searching for tourists and rescuing them?” I snorted and Janey whipped out her camera, ignoring my sarcasm.
“Exactly.” She smiled and snapped a few photos. “I was hoping to get a few shots of you all dirty and rugged, looking like hot hometown heroes. The ladies buying these calendars will eat these photos up and, hopefully, buy a few more as gifts for their friends and family.” I was bothered by how giddy she was as she knelt down and snapped me and Preston from several angles. “Would it be pressing my luck to ask you guys to step outside for some photos in better lighting?” Her raven brows arched hopefully.
“Absolutely, it would,” I told her.
At the same time, Preston answered,
“Anything to help, Janey.” His smile widened when I glared in his direction.
“Hope your food is still here when you get back,” I told him. Not that I minded helping restore Tulip’s Tribute or being a Hometown Hero, but I was tired and filthy and hungry, and in no damn mood to brood for the camera.
“Come on, Nate. This is too good to pass up,” she pressed, waving at my dirty clothes and dirt-smudged face—we’d both skipped showering in the locker room before leaving work, more eager to be gone than to be clean.
“Your concern is overwhelming,” I told her in a deadpan which she once again ignored.
She waved off the words like they were no big deal. “There was never any doubt that you two would save the idiots and return to us, safe and sound.” Her confidence was sweet, but Janey always had an angle when it came to helping out and doing good, and I wasn’t swayed so easily. “Besides, you’ve been avoiding me, Callahan.”
“Yep,” I admitted because I had been ducking out of rooms and backyards for weeks whenever Janey showed up, armed with her expensive camera. “What kind of torture session do you have lined up for me?” I’d heard the horror stories from Preston and my brother, Ry, and even Antonio. They weren’t that bad, but each and every hero before had only said they survived.
She smiled, slow and mischievous. “None, yet. I just wanted you to know that you’re next on my list. Expect details soon, and don’t even think about trying to get out of it because I will find you.” She pointed her index and middle fingers from her eyes to mine and back. “That’s a promise, big guy.”
I nodded slowly. Reluctantly. “Consider me warned.”
“Good,” she said seriously, her green gaze bouncing from me and then to Preston, who stood beside her. A smile spread as she wrapped her arms around Preston’s waist and then my shoulders. “I’m glad you lug heads are all right.” Then, she was off, requests for outdoor photos totally forgotten.
Preston sat, looking as confused as I felt. “Well,” he said as if it were the start of a thought, but he never finished it, instead taking a long swig from the coffee mug Ginger sat in front of him. “Where’s Mikki been lately? I haven’t seen her anywhere.” Preston nodded towards the door and I turned just as she slid up to the counter with a stiff smile for Big Mama.
“No idea. Not her keeper.” She’d made her feelings about me pretty clear and even if she hadn’t, her absence from nearly all social events spoke volumes.
She looked great, the way she always did, but her skin was pale and those hazel eyes looked worried, even from across the diner. I was on edge right away, wondering what was going on with her. She was usually dressed like she was going to a party, in a pretty flirty dress with heels that made a man think about stripping her down to nothing but those sexy little shoes. Today, though, she had on a jeans and a t-shirt—and that, combined with her pale skin, was enough to have me on my feet and walking towards her despite the furious shake of her head.
“Mikki, what’s wrong?” I grabbed her arm to get her to turn around and look at me, but she yanked out of my grasp and turned with a glare.
“Nothing.” Glancing back to Big Mama with a sigh, she placed an order. “I’ll have a grilled cheese with tomato soup. Make that two.”
Two? Did she have a date? “Mikki.” I don’t know what in the hell possessed me to keep pushing—maybe it was exhaustion from the last day and a half, or maybe it was something about this woman that had actually gotten under my skin. “Talk to me.”
“I don’t want to talk to you, Nate.”
“Too bad. Something is clearly wrong.” Everything about her screamed that she needed help, she was apparently too stubborn to ask for it. “Maybe I can help.”
Her gaze never left Big Mama’s, but her words were meant for me. “Maybe I don’t want or need your help.”
“Mikki, quit being so damn stubborn.” I was too tired for this shit, but I knew I’d brought it on myself, so I sat there and waited for her to respond.
This time, she whirled on me and poked her index finger into my chest. “I am not being stubborn, Nate, but you aren’t the person I would confide in, if I had something to confide. Now, please,” she growled, much louder than necessary. Loud enough to draw stares from the few diners still eating. “Have enough respect for me to trust that I know when I need help and that I know who I can depend on to provide that damn help!” She pushed off the countertop and whirled away, storming out of the diner and leaving me standing there looking like a fool.
“Women,” I quipped, trying for a light tone but failing miserably as everyone’s eyes swam with judgment. “What can you do?”
Big Mama leaned forward. “Try listening once in a while. And don’t you go anywhere before getting that girl’s order and taking it to her, since its your fault she left without her food.” Then she smacked the receipt on the counter and walked off.
Leaving me holding the bill. How appropriate.
Mikki
Nate Callahan was a damn frustrating man. Who in the heck did he think he was, anyway, ambling towards me in that slow, steady gait like an old-timey cowboy? Looking better than a man had any right to, especially when he was butting into my business. Like he had a right to know my business. “Who does he think he is?” It was a pointless question I muttered to myself as I marched around the back of the building where my shop was located and got into my car.
Only the father of your baby, my conscience belatedly answered and I let out a long, stressed out sigh because, yeah, Nate Callahan, the infuriating man himself, was indeed the father of the child currently growing in my belly. And making me sick all day long. The doctor confirmed it last week, but I still hadn’t shared the news with anyone. Not my sister and certainly not Nate. So maybe that was why I’d overreacted back there in the diner, but it was my right to act a little crazy
with all these hormones flooding my body.
How could someone I barely knew get me so good and mad? It was a question I couldn’t answer, and instead channeled my energy into stomping up the stairs and slamming the door behind me as hard as I could. Pretending to be all concerned with those big green eyes hidden behind a face half-covered by fiery facial hair.
I kicked off my shoes and went to the kitchen in search of food, since I’d walked out of the diner before my order was ready. Of course, there was nothing in the fridge, because that’s what had prompted the trip to the diner in the first place. “Damn you, Nate Callahan.” All I could find was half a head of lettuce, blueberry yogurt, and some cheese of unknown origin—so, nothing edible.
The phone rang and since I hadn’t spoken to Rocky in more than a week, I picked up with a shaky smile. “So you are alive?” Her laugh was a good pick-me-up and brought a real smile to my face.
“Alive and well,” I assured her. “How have you been?”
She sighed down the line. “Good. Exhausted, but good. How about you?”
“Same,” I told her honestly. “Things are going well at the shop and online sales are still picking up. I’m planning a trip to the city soon to look at some inventory. How are classes?”
“Good.” Her words said good, but her tone held deeper meaning. “I’m learning a lot and one of my professors has been encouraging me to look into a few places up in New York.” And the reason for her distress was now crystal clear.
“It’s your life, Rocky. Make the choice that’s best for your career, or whatever you decide is most important to you. Don’t wait like I did.” It had been a hard lesson to learn, and one I hoped my little sister didn’t have to learn the same way.
“I hear you, Mikki. It’s just hard with Mama and Daddy in my ear all the time.”
“I understand, I really do. But if you’re gonna be miserable, then let it be your own doin’.” The bell rang and I froze, almost instinctively knowing trouble was on the other side of that door. “Hang on, Rocky.”
“You expecting company?” The humor in her voice was as clear as the day outside the door, which I crept to slowly like there was a crazed killer on the other side.
It wasn’t, I knew that. It was something far worse. “Nope, but this is a small town, which means you should always expect company as long as the hour is decent.” I pulled the door open and groaned. “Nate. What are you doing here?”
“Nate? Who is Nate? Is he sexy? How does he sound?”
I rolled my eyes hard, enough for my sister’s ridiculous questions and Nate’s appearance on my doorstep. “I’ll call you back.”
“Wait, just tell me what he looks—”
I ended the call and shoved the phone in my back pocket, turning my attention to the gruff redhead looking down at me with quirked eyebrows and a barely suppressed grin. “Well?”
He held up the familiar red and white bag from Big Mama’s Diner, his smile transforming from merely amused to dark and sultry. Appealing as hell. “I brought your food.”
At Big Mama’s insistence, I was sure, but that didn’t matter. I leaned over, keeping my feet inside the house, and grabbed the bag. “Thanks.” The smell of the roasted garlic and tomato soup did little to ease the low-level nausea that had been plaguing me all day, and I needed some distance. I tried to shut the door, but Nate’s big, beefy hand reached out to stop it from closing. “What is it?”
“Is that all you have to say?” His auburn brows dipped in confusion, but it was the anger burning in those green eyes that trapped me.
I stared at him, taking in the dirt on his uniform and smudged on his face. “What happened to you?”
“You didn’t hear?” When I shook my head, Nate leaned in with a flirtatious smile. “Let me in and I’ll tell you all about it.”
Ah, of course. “Not happening. Thanks for the food.” I put a hand to his chest and gave a light shove—not enough to actually move him if he didn’t want to be moved, but enough so that he got the hint.
He stood tall and folded thick arms over his wide chest, giving me his best scowl. “Is that all you have to say to me?”
His words brought my heart to a stop, momentarily. Did he know? He doesn’t, dummy. Of course Nate didn’t know, how could he? The only people who knew were me and my doctor. “Is there something else you want me to say to you?”
“I want you to tell me what the hell is wrong with you—and don’t say nothing, because I have two working eyes that say otherwise. They say you look like hell.”
Wow. Okay. “Well, thanks for that, sugar, but I don’t recall askin’ your opinion.” I mustered all the false bravado I had as another wave of nausea swept over me, the smell of the garlic becoming too much to bear. I set the bag down and shoved it to the side before turning my attention back to Nate. “Well?”
“Are you sick?”
I laughed. “Is this your version of concern, Nate? Because I gotta tell you, it’s a piss-poor attempt.” I knew that wouldn’t be enough, so I tossed him a bone. “Not that it’s any of your business, but I had a bit of a cold and it’s taken a few days to recover. Okay?” Not that it mattered if he was okay with that answer or not, he didn’t have the right to question me.
He leaned forward, forearms braced on the door frame, his scent for some strange reason not triggering my nausea. Of course. “Why do I get the feeling you’re lying to me, Mikki?”
Damn, he smelled really good, but that wasn’t what was important right now. “Because you’re operating under the assumption that I owe you something when I don’t.”
“You haven’t been around much,” he pointed out, switching topics on a whim.
“I’ve been busy,” I told him with a shrug.
“Busy avoiding me, more like,” he mumbled. “Isn’t that right?” I opened my mouth to tell him where he could shove his opinion, but the annoying man kept right on talking. “Clearly, you’re more upset than you want me to believe about how things went down between us. If you weren’t—”
“No, stop,” I put a hand up to stop the ridiculous, egotistical tirade I knew he was about to unleash. “I am not upset about a damn thing, Nate. But since you went and got drunk and decided to complain about getting exactly what you want to your brother and my friend, I decided it would be best for everyone if I made myself scarce. Happy?” I didn’t care one bit if he was happy or not, but I did feel a small thrill run through me at the stunned look on his face. Taking advantage of his momentary shock, I stepped back and slammed the door, locking it for good measure.
“Dammit, Mikki,” he smacked a fist against the door, angry he wasn’t getting his way. “This isn’t over.”
It was, he just didn’t realize it. As soon as I told him about the baby and relieved him of the obligation he clearly didn’t want, he would be happy to be rid of me.
A sad but ultimately true thought, which was exactly why I refused to let myself give in to any thoughts of changing men and happy families. Nope, not going there.
Tried, failed, and got the internal scars to prove it.
Nate
It probably wasn’t the smartest idea to leave Mikki’s place and come back to this place to do exactly what she’d just accused me of doing, but here I was, standing on the faded wood porch of Bo’s cabin. Banging on the door like the house was on fire, because I was furious. Angry at myself for getting drunk and emotional in front of other people and furious at Bo for telling my business.
“What did you say to Mikki?” I growled the question at her as soon as the door opened to reveal those all-seeing blue eyes that weren’t afraid or surprised.
Unperturbed, that was how she looked. “Hey, Nate. I’m good, how are you?” Bo folded her arms, leaving the screen door locked between us to show she wasn’t impressed by my tone. “I say a lot to Mikki, because she’s my friend. Want to be more specific?”
“You know damn well what I’m talking about, Bo. Don’t play cute with me. You told Mikki about the night I cam
e here and drank too much.” And I wanted to know exactly what she’d revealed.
“You mean, when you barged in on my night with Jase and got drunk and spent the next nine-hundred hours complaining about Mikki? My friend Mikki? Yeah, I did tell her about that night.”
“Why?” Why in the hell would she think that was okay?
She held up a hand, annoyance burning behind those big blue eyes. “First of all, I’d advise to watch your tone.” Then she took a step back and shook her head, disappearing down the hall.
I found Bo in the kitchen, pulling two bottles of beer from the fridge. “Why did you say anything to her at all?”
Bo popped the cap from her beer and took a swig, forcing me to cross the kitchen to grab the other bottle and open it myself. Typical Bo. “I didn’t give her any details, I just asked what she did to break you. To make you show up and get drunk. And complain. Nonstop.”
Shit. When she laid it all out like that, did I even have a right to be pissed? It didn’t matter if I had a right to or if I was in the wrong, all that mattered was that I was pissed. And betrayed. “Okay. And, what else?”
“And nothing,” Bo countered with a shrug, taking another sip from the bottle. “She said she didn’t want things to be tense when everyone got together, which we do a lot, and suggested she keep her distance since you and I are ‘practically family.’” I could’ve done without the air quotes and the eyeroll, but this was Bo and she was nothing if not honest. Brutally honest.
“And you agreed to that nonsense?” The thought of Mikki, so lively and so vibrant and colorful, sitting at home alone instead of being out and mixing it up with others, was enough to make me sick to my stomach. “What in the ever-lovin’ hell, Bo?”
She glared at me, hands braced on the countertop, beer all but forgotten. “You know damn well I didn’t agree to that. I like Mikki, but she’s as stubborn as I am. As you are. And she’s a grown woman, perfectly capable of making her decisions no matter what I say or do. Or you, Nate.” She picked up the bottle and took another long pull, letting out a deep, satisfied sigh. “I guess this means you two have finally spoken?”
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