by Susan Stoker
“This is a bad idea,” Taylor whispered nervously to her empty apartment.
Then she jumped when a knock sounded at her door.
Her heart rate accelerated. This was it. She figured it was Eagle who was waiting for her to open the door, but it could also be a neighbor, a maintenance man, or anyone else. She literally wouldn’t know the difference between them.
Telling herself that it wouldn’t be the end of the world if she and Eagle didn’t click, if the connection they’d formed was only strong over the phone, Taylor walked over to her front door.
She looked through the peephole and saw a stranger standing there. Although, to be fair, everyone was a stranger to her. The man was tall, like Eagle, and had dirty-blond hair. He wore a dark-blue polo shirt, and she could just see some chest hair where it opened at his neck. He was cleanly shaven and had blue eyes.
“Who is it?” she asked through the closed door.
“Hey, Flower, it’s me, Eagle.”
The man didn’t have an identifying accent, and there was literally nothing about him that she could recognize from looking at him through the small security hole in the door. But then she remembered his vow to call her Flower when he saw her. There hadn’t been a need when they’d been talking on the phone.
Smiling at the memory of how confused Eagle had been when he’d tried to buy flour for his business, Taylor opened the door.
“Hi,” she said a little shyly.
“Hi, Flower,” Eagle replied, repeating their secret word. “I know this is outside your comfort zone, so thank you for agreeing to come to dinner with me at Silverstone.”
“Do you want to come in?” she asked, holding her door open wider.
“No. I’ll wait here. Unless you’ve changed your mind?” he asked, tilting his head in concern.
Taylor rushed to reassure him. “No, but . . . I admit that I’m really nervous about this.”
“It’s going to be fine. I hope it’s okay, but I told my friends about your condition. So you don’t have to get into any awkward explanations about it if you don’t want to. I’ll warn you, though, they’re pretty curious.” Eagle looked a little sheepish. “Much like I was when I first met you. But they’re harmless. If you’re uncomfortable, just say so. They’ll back off and won’t have any hard feelings. Promise.”
Taylor wasn’t sure about that. A lot of people got offended when she didn’t want to talk about her condition. They asked downright rude questions, and when she tried to change the subject, they got irritated. She didn’t admit that to Eagle.
But as she’d found over the last two weeks, he seemed to be on the same wavelength as she was anyway.
“You’ll see,” he told her. “Go on. I’ll wait here while you get whatever you need.”
Nodding, Taylor shut the door and went to get her purse. She trusted Eagle, but never leaving her door open was second nature to her now. It wasn’t until she’d gotten her purse and had reopened her door to see Eagle leaning against the wall across from her apartment—she was aware it was him because of the navy-blue shirt he was wearing—that she realized she’d probably been rude.
“Sorry,” she said with a small shrug. “Habit.”
“I approve,” he said, pushing off the wall and stepping toward her. “Ready?”
“Seriously, it was rude,” she insisted. “I shouldn’t have shut the door. It’s not that I don’t trust you, I just—”
“Taylor, it’s fine,” Eagle said firmly. “I wholeheartedly approve. I’m not offended, and I’m actually impressed. You should never leave your door open, even for someone like a delivery person or something. All it takes is a split second for someone to get inside and lock your door, then you’re stuck in your apartment with someone who might want to harm you. Our society is too concerned about being polite and not offending someone instead of concentrating on their own safety.”
That was exactly how Taylor felt. The connection she had with his man was almost scary. She gave him a small smile. She still felt a little off-kilter, which was normal for her. It always took her a bit of time to feel comfortable around someone she was already acquainted with, because while they looked like a stranger, inside, she was aware that they weren’t.
Of course, Eagle seemed to sense it, and he didn’t launch into awkward conversation or otherwise do anything to try to prove that she knew him. He simply gestured toward the hallway and walked next to her as they headed for the stairwell.
He kept quiet as they walked across the parking lot toward his Wrangler. He held open her door and waited until she was situated before closing it and walking back around to the driver’s side.
It wasn’t until they were pulling out onto the road by her apartment that she spoke. “So, what did you want to tell me?” All last night and most of today, Taylor had been wondering about what he might want to say to her. She was extremely curious.
“Nope.”
“Nope what?” Taylor asked in confusion.
“I’m going to show you my business first. Introduce you to my friends. Then we’ll eat. Then we’ll shoot the shit with any drivers hanging around. I think Skylar—that’s Bull’s girlfriend—will be there at some point too. Then, once you’re relaxed and comfortable, we’ll talk.”
Taylor supposed she should be irritated at Eagle for orchestrating their entire night without asking what she wanted to do, but nothing he’d planned was out of line, so she simply nodded. “Okay.”
They talked the rest of the way to Silverstone Towing, and when he pulled onto a short driveway, Taylor could only stare in surprise at the complex in front of her. “Jeez, Eagle, you were right—it looks like a drug den or something. Razor wire on top of the fence, the tall weeds, the cameras . . . what are you hiding in there? Drugs? Gold?”
Eagle chuckled, not offended in the least. “Skylar said it looked like a motorcycle-gang clubhouse the first time she saw it.”
“Yeah, that too,” Taylor agreed.
She watched as Eagle lowered his window and leaned out to punch at least ten numbers onto a keypad. The gate in front of them opened surprisingly quickly, and when she looked behind them after they’d driven through, Taylor saw that it closed just as fast.
“It’s not smart to have a slow gate,” Eagle told her, obviously seeing where she was looking. “There’s a sensor that knows when the vehicle has gone by, and it triggers the gate to shut. Two cars can’t enter at the same time, and the fast motion of the gate is to try to prevent anyone from slipping in after a vehicle.”
Taylor nodded, but that was honestly something she’d never thought of before. As they drove toward the largest of the buildings, she noted that while there were tall weeds around the property, they seemed to be more strategic than out of control. The grass up against the buildings was neatly trimmed, and there were no big bushes anywhere.
Eagle parked his Jeep toward the back of the building, at the end of a row of other vehicles, and glanced at her when he’d turned off the engine. “So?” he asked with a raised eyebrow.
“Impressive,” Taylor told him honestly. “And you’re right, I probably would’ve freaked if I’d driven myself here.”
He smirked. “Yup. We purposely make this place look kind of shitty. Helps us fly under the radar in this neighborhood.”
“You could move,” she suggested.
“But the location is perfect,” Eagle countered. “We’re near the outer loop and I-65, and we can get downtown within ten minutes as well. Besides, a lot of our employees live not too far from here, and if we moved, that would inconvenience them.”
He turned to get out, but Taylor put a hand on his arm, stopping him. Eagle glanced back at her.
“Why would that matter?” she asked, genuinely curious to hear his answer.
“Because our employees are the lifeblood of Silverstone Towing. Without them, we’re nothing.” And with that, Eagle climbed out of the car.
Taylor shook her head in disbelief. She hadn’t met many business owners
who cared that much about their employees. For most, it was all about the bottom line. Money. If it made fiscal sense to change location, that was what was done, and the employees had to deal. Altering the outward appearance of their business to try to match its location was a smart business move. But she had a gut feeling not moving was more about their employees than being close to the interstates.
Her door opened, and Taylor jerked in surprise. As she climbed out, Eagle put his hand under her elbow to help her stand, letting go once she was steady on her feet. Her skin tingled where he’d touched her.
He’s your friend, she told herself. Relationships don’t work out for you, remember?
It was hard to remember that when so far everything Eagle had done impressed the hell out of her.
He punched in another long stream of numbers on a keypad next to the door, and it opened with a click.
“I’d bring you in the front door, but then we’d have to walk all the way around the building, which would be stupid. So you won’t get the full effect of the place, but I’ll show you the front entrance later.”
Taylor wondered what was up with the front entrance, but didn’t have time to ask, because Eagle led her down a hall and into a large absolutely beautiful great room. The ceiling was high, and the room looked extremely homey and comfortable.
There were leather couches and chairs in the living area along with a huge television. A delicious smell permeated the room, coming from the fanciest kitchen she’d ever seen against the far wall. There were two huge refrigerators, a six-burner gas stove, and a granite bar that had at least a dozen stools pushed up under it.
“Welcome to Silverstone Towing,” Eagle said softly.
Taylor turned to him with huge eyes. “I . . . this is hard to believe,” she stammered.
Eagle chuckled. “I know. The outside looks like nothing special, but we wanted the inside to be a home away from home for everyone.”
“You’ve succeeded. Wow,” Taylor said.
“Hey, Eagle!” a man called out as he entered from a hallway on the other side of the room.
“Hey, Robert,” Eagle returned. Then he put his hand on the small of Taylor’s back and gently urged her forward.
Her belly rolled, but she pasted a smile on her face as they walked toward the man.
Eagle reached out and shook Robert’s hand, then turned to her. “Taylor, this is Robert. He’s one of our drivers.”
Robert nodded at her. “It’s nice to meet you.”
“Busy tonight?” Eagle asked the man.
“Not so far. I’m just on a quick break for dinner. I was here when Archer was making the sauce earlier. I thought it smelled good then, but damn, now it’s like an Italian restaurant in here.”
Taylor couldn’t argue with him.
“Who else is here?” Eagle asked.
“Bull, Smoke, and Gramps are downstairs in your room; Christine’s in dispatch; Jose doesn’t go on duty for another hour, but he’s taking a nap in one of the rooms; and I think Thomas is on his way for lasagna too.”
“Jose’s baby is still colicky?” Eagle guessed.
“Yeah. His mother-in-law is here right now. His wife went out with friends for a break, and her mom kicked him out, told him to get some sleep before his shift,” Robert said.
“Good,” Eagle said with a satisfied smile.
Taylor could only listen in awe.
“Well, it was great meeting you,” Robert told her. “But I need to get dinner before I’m called back on duty. Hope to see you around.”
“Same,” Taylor said, watching as the man made a beeline for the kitchen.
“You want a tour, or do you want to eat first?” Eagle asked her.
“Tour,” Taylor said immediately. She couldn’t wait to see more of the building.
Eagle smiled and held out his hand, indicating she should precede him. She walked through the large room and into the hallway Robert had come out of. She peered into a few of the rooms, seeing both small bedrooms as well as spaces set up so people could watch TV or play video games. There was a huge bathroom at the end of the hallway as well, complete with showers.
“I heard Robert say Christine was working dispatch, but I only see one bathroom . . .” She trailed off, not knowing how to ask her question without being disrespectful.
But Eagle understood what she wanted to know without her having to ask. “There’s a private bathroom and shower downstairs for anyone who isn’t comfortable using the communal one up here. We try very hard to be tolerant and accepting around here,” Eagle told her. “As long as everyone’s respectful of each other, we all get along fine. We’re happy to make accommodations as needed too.”
“Like the private shower,” Taylor said.
“Exactly. When Leigh was first hired here, she said she absolutely couldn’t pee or shower in the same room with a guy. She’d been assaulted and raped in the past. So we had the private shower and bathroom put in downstairs. It was the right thing to do.”
Taylor liked that. No, she freaking loved how accommodating Eagle and his friends were.
“Come on, I’ll take you downstairs,” Eagle said.
They went down the stairway into another huge room. This looked more like a place people came to play rather than relax. There were more comfy chairs around the space, but also a Ping-Pong table, a few foosball tables, and video games. Taylor’s fingers itched to play the pinball machine she saw in the corner, but she followed Eagle across the room instead.
He smiled when he saw where her eyes kept going. “I’ll let you play a few games later,” he told her.
“I don’t have any quarters,” she said.
His grin grew. “Don’t need any. They’re all set to free.”
Of course they were. Taylor should’ve guessed. She saw a few doors and assumed one was probably the private shower Eagle had talked about, and the others were maybe some closets.
Eagle headed straight for a very formidable-looking door tucked away in the corner. Instead of a keypad next to this one, there was a biometric reader of some sort. Eagle put his thumb on a little black square, and she heard a lock disengage.
For a second, she thought about one of the romance books she’d proofread where the bad guys had gotten past the biometric lock by chopping off the guard’s hand after they’d killed him and holding it up to the reader.
But her inane thoughts dissipated the second she walked into the large room, where three men stood as they entered. Taylor swallowed hard, feeling completely out of her element. She had no doubt these were Eagle’s friends.
There was a round table to the left, as well as computers, a small kitchen, and a bathroom in the back, which Taylor could see because the door was open. She had no idea what Eagle and his friends talked about in this room, but it was more than obvious to her that it wasn’t just a regular meeting space.
“Eagle,” one of the men called out. He walked toward them and gave Eagle one of those man-hugs where they slapped each other on the back really hard instead of actually embracing.
“Hey, Smoke.” Then he turned to the others and gave them a chin lift. “Bull. Gramps.”
The other men returned the greeting.
“Everyone, this is Taylor. Taylor, these are the best friends a man could ever have. This is Smoke,” he said, gesturing to the man who’d greeted them at the door. He was around the same height as Eagle, with dark-brown hair.
“The tall asshole is Gramps, and the guy with black hair is Bull.”
Taylor appreciated Eagle pointing out the features of his friends. She didn’t always remember what color hair people had, but it went a long way toward helping her keep the four men straight in her head.
“Hi,” she said quietly, giving them a lame little wave.
“Come sit,” Gramps said, gesturing to both her and Eagle.
Taylor did her best to memorize as much about the men as she could as she approached them. Gramps was indeed the tallest. He and Smoke both had shortish brown
hair, so that wouldn’t help her distinguish them, but their height would. Bull was also the only one of the three who didn’t have brown hair; that would help her as well. Bull was wearing a red shirt, which would be easy for tonight, as the color reminded her of bullfights and waving red capes. Smoke was the only one wearing a pair of cargo pants, so that would distinguish him.
She nodded to herself, pretty confident that she’d be able to tell the four men apart. But when she saw them again—if she saw them again—it would be trickier since they’d be wearing different clothes.
“What’d you come up with?” Smoke asked when they’d all sat down at the table.
“What?” Taylor asked.
At the same time, Eagle said a little menacingly, “Careful.”
“I was just wondering how she decided to tell us apart,” Smoke said easily.
“Was it that obvious?” Taylor asked.
Smoke shrugged. “We’re an observant bunch,” he hedged.
Since she didn’t hear any morbid curiosity in his tone, and the other men simply looked interested, she decided, What the hell. “I should be good for tonight, but after you change, I won’t know you from Robert or Thomas or anyone else. But Bull’s wearing red, like a bullfighter’s cape, and has black hair; Gramps, you’re the tallest; and Smoke, you’ve got different pants on than everyone else.”
All three men nodded, as if in approval.
“She’s not a fucking carnival sideshow,” Eagle grumbled.
“What was the name of the woman who was in that car accident three weeks ago?” Bull asked. “You know, the one in the minivan with all the kids?”
“Meredith Oxgarden. Why?” Eagle asked.
“Didn’t she have like five kids with her?” Gramps asked, smiling.
“Yeah. Billy, Carly, Riley, Aaron, and Christopher. Again, what does she have to do with anything?” Eagle asked impatiently.
Taylor tried to hide her grin. She knew what his friends were doing. She put her hand on Eagle’s arm. “They’re just curious,” she said softly. “It’s fine.”