by Desiree Holt
Beau was also spending time with a woman he’d met at the Huttons’. Slade had started to wonder if the JAG attorney and his wife were running a dating service. In any event, the woman currently front and center in Beau’s life was a reporter for a sports magazine based in San Antonio. To Slade’s way of thinking, that made her an excellent match for Beau who was a fanatic about almost any kind of athletics. But she was currently in San Francisco to interview a hot new baseball pitcher.
And Marc? Slade had done his best to draw Marc out of the darkness, but he was making very little headway. Teo reported that he’d had the man out riding horses every day, that he seemed to enjoy it but rarely said a word. Although Marc had asked to borrow the beat-up pickup they used to haul hay.
“Told me he didn’t need anything fancy,” Teo repeated to Slade.
“And no idea where he’s going?”
Teo shook his head.
“As long as he doesn’t get drunk and kill himself, let’s let him be.”
Sometimes Slade just wanted to smack Marc so hard that all that poison and resentment he was holding so tight inside himself would come spewing out and he could begin to heal.
He spent all Thursday and part of Friday with his team. On Thursday they took the four-wheeler to the far end of the ranch, to a pasture where he never ran cattle. There he had a shooting range set up, with targets tacked to bales of hay to catch the bullets. The men unloaded the folding metal tables they’d brought and lined them up in a row. Each of them mounted his own shooting station with their various guns and ammo. They practiced for the match until they used up all their ammunition.
“We done good, boss,” Beau joked. “We should shoot the numbers off the competition.”
“Like we did before,” Trey agreed.
Slade nodded. “I’d definitely say we’re good to go. Let’s load up and head back to the house.”
After stowing their firearms and gear, they congregated at the shaded patio table. Teo had already brought beer in a cooler and had set it up for them.
“Let’s talk about this weekend,” Slade said after a long swallow of the ice-cold liquid. “We’ll have guests here,” he reminded them. “Ladies, who need to be treated right.”
Beau laughed. “Speak for yourself. I think I’m doing just fine.”
“I mean about when everyone’s getting here, what we want to serve them to eat, and mostly about explaining the rules of the competition to them. Mostly about the rules and where they can stand to watch.”
“I’m good with whatever,” Marc said in his usually uninflected voice.
“Speaking for myself,” Beau put in, “I’m pretty excited to have a cheering section.” He winked. “Show off my skills to my lady.”
“Then let’s work out all the logistics. This will be our last chance to spend time with them before reporting back to base. I know it’s probably not the most romantic of weekends, but it’s part of who we are and they should know this. And at least we’ll have the time with them.”
Slade didn’t know the exact situation with Beau and Trey, but he knew what he and Kari had gone way beyond casual.
“When I asked Megan,” Beau said, “she told me ‘Hell, yeah!’ She wants to see the horses again too. Unfortunately she’s still in San Francisco getting an interview. Her plane won’t get in until late Friday night.”
“That’s a shame.” Slade eyed the other man. “You okay with that?”
Beau shrugged. “She’s okay with me going off for who knows how long to who knows where. I guess I have to be, right?”
“Seems as if.”
“She offered to get her car and drive herself out Friday night, but I put a stop to that.” He shook his head. “Call me crazy. She goes everywhere, all over hell and gone, by herself. I just don’t want her on the road by herself that late, even though she probably does it all the time, anyway.”
Kenzi and Kari would drive down in their own vehicles after work Friday afternoon.
Slade knew he probably drove Kari nuts as many times as he’d texted her Thursday night and Friday, just to reassure himself that she was okay. He spent a good part of Friday trying to figure out a way to be sure she was safe until he could get back in town again. The others got the message that he was preoccupied and steered clear of him. Trey found him at the kitchen table Friday morning with his cell phone and a notepad.
“We thought we’d haul Marc’s ass out of the house and do some four-wheeling again,” he said. “I can see you’ve got stuff to do.” He paused. “Whatever’s got your knickers in a twist, Shadow, it might go easier if you let us give you a hand.”
Slade shook his head. “If I need to I will, but I don’t think that would work.”
Trey lifted an eyebrow. “I thought there was nothing we couldn’t do, for ourselves and for others.”
Slade leaned back in his chair and raked his fingers through his hair. He knew these men would lay down their lives for him, as he would for them. But this wasn’t something he could bring them in on. At least not yet. They’d be half a world away with him and he was the one with the local contacts here.
“You’re right. And I may yet toss it out there. Right now I’m not there yet. Teo said Marc took the old pickup into town one night.”
“Yeah.” Beau replied. “He say where and for what?”
“I’m hoping he met someone at the party and just hasn’t mentioned it. You know how closemouthed he is, especially since the divorce.”
Beau nodded. “That’s for damn sure. I asked him, real casual, about it when he got home but you’d think his mouth was sewed shut. Still, he wasn’t drunk when he came back and he didn’t appear any the worse, so I could see that as some kind of progress.”
“No kidding, man.” Trey fixed himself a cup of coffee. “Slade, we need to take the four-wheeler, stick him in it and ride him around until we maybe shake his brains loose.”
“Yeah, do that.” Slade shook his head. “That woman really fucked him up good. Time we managed to get him past it. Maybe he already took that first step?”
“I’ll see what I can find out. Okay, we’ll be off, then. Beau said if you didn’t come along to tell you’d we’ll back in plenty of time to pretty ourselves up for dinner.”
Slade chuckled. “Appreciate it.”
He had made some contacts by the time the end of the day rolled around. Put out some feelers. Had some people to call back on Saturday when they got back from the meet, but at least he’d started the ball rolling. He’d even made a couple of calls that he was sure Kari would kick his ass for, but hell. His goal was to keep her safe and he’d do anything to accomplish that.
He wanted to make this weekend as special for her as he could, even if part of it would be spent watching men shoot. Saturday the women would go with them to the competition. He took their eagerness to watch a good sign. Then a relaxed dinner at the ranch and a long night together. He wasn’t necessarily looking for off-the-charts sex that night, which surprised him, since that was usually at the top of his list. But with Kari he felt a difference. They had a connection that had meaning, however they did it.
And Sunday it would all come to a crashing halt when they headed back to base. Slade had no idea what would happen in Beau’s and Trey’s situations, but for himself he had to figure out the best way to handle things. Kari was definitely what he’d want long term. Scratch that. Who he’d want long term. But he’d buried his relationship skills and he was still determined not to get into a situation where, if he got killed—which was way more than likely—he’d be leaving someone behind to deal with pain and sadness. Nope. He’d seen it too many times. Only, how was he going to walk away from everything this could be?
I am so fucked up.
By the time Friday evening got there, he had worn out his brain thinking about it. He wanted Kari with an unexpected fierceness, but that same desire wanted to keep her safe from pain. Crap. He tried to mellow out while waiting for her, hanging out on the porch with the res
t of the guys. He was sitting on the porch with the others—even Marc, who was a dark, silent presence—when he spotted Kari’s car turning onto the drive from the roadway. He set his beer down and headed off the porch.
“Here comes my lady, guys.” He spared a quick glance for the others. “Try to act civilized if possible.”
“Megan will be here soon,” Beau reminded them. “Try not to scare her off.”
It was obvious Kari had changed before she’d headed down here. When she climbed out of the car, she was wearing skinny jeans that made her legs seem a mile long and cupped her ass like loving hands. The T-shirt she wore was the exact color of her eyes. Her rich auburn hair was pulled up in a high ponytail, exposing her graceful neck and accenting her sculpted cheekbones and chin. Her lips looked so tempting with a light gloss slicked over them that he couldn’t help himself. He hauled her into his arms, bent his head and took her mouth in a hungry kiss.
Kari laughed against his lips, breaking the mood, and he lifted his head, frowning. “What—?”
She nodded toward the porch and he realized the others were treating them to a chorus of catcalls.
“Will you guys please grow up?” he growled. He peered down at Kari. “I apologize for them. They lost their manners someplace.”
“No problem.” She smiled again. “Really.”
“Let’s get your stuff inside. Then I can show you around.”
The men rose to their feet as she and Slade climbed the few steps to the porch.
“You’ll have to excuse us,” Trey said. “We don’t get to spend a lot of time with civilized people. But we’re very happy you’ll be watching us at the meet tomorrow.”
“Thank you.” She looked at them with a straight face. “I should tell you I’m a county prosecutor so if you irritate me, I can have you thrown in jail.”
They stared at her as if they hadn’t heard right.
Slade burst out laughing. “That ought to keep them on their toes.”
He was glad the master suite in the house was on the first floor, almost a separate wing, while the other rooms were upstairs. They’d have at least the semblance of privacy tonight. And he knew that his men, regardless of how rowdy they liked to act, would be very respectful of the women at all times. But it was important to him that Kari saw all aspects of his life and learned that outside Delta, the ranch was at the core.
Her reaction to the ranch was all he could have asked for.
“Oh, Slade. It’s beautiful. Absolutely gorgeous.” She stood in the yard and turned in a circle, taking everything in with wide eyes. “It totally takes my breath away. That house musty be a hundred years old and look how you’ve kept it in such good shape.” She turned back to him. “Now I want to see the horses.”
“Think I might make a cowgirl out of you?” He winked.
“You never know. These horses are gorgeous. The colors, the—what is it? conformation?—are incredible.”
She insisted on going from stall to stall with him and petting each one, giving each of them a sliver of the apple Slade had provided her with, holding it out flat on her open palm the way he’d shown her so she didn’t get her fingers nipped off. “I might have to hang with you just to get to come out here.”
He was thrilled to death with her reaction and wondered if this was some kind of a sign. Then he shut down that line of thinking. He knew what worked and long term wasn’t it. By the time they walked back out onto the porch, Kenzi had arrived.
Slade didn’t know what he’d expected, but not the petite woman with the cascade of black hair and the dimple in her chin. Her petite form showed off the skinny jeans and pink sleeveless top she wore. This was Trey’s corporate attorney? The shark he’d told them about?
Kenzi shook everyone’s hand, smiled at the group, winked at Trey and asked if she could help.
Slade had to swallow a chuckle as he watched Trey roll up his tongue. He tried to speak then just gave it up and pulled Kenzi in for a tight hug. She molded herself to Trey’s side, leaning into him although she barely came to his shoulder. He didn’t think it mattered though, as besotted as Trey seemed. Another winner, he thought. Smart, sassy, sexy. And looking at Trey as if he was the answer to all her prayers.
How had this happened so fast? Was he the only one questioning everything? Afraid to take a chance? He thought about Marc and his heart pinched at the thought of ending up that bitter and depressed. It was definitely time for an attitude adjustment, and quick, before he lost the best thing to walk into his life.
Teo had the steaks grilling and everyone else pitched in to get dinner and drinks set out on the patio table. The meal seemed to mellow them all out. By the time they’d finished, Slade was shocked to realize how relaxed everyone was. And in most cases, coupled up. He finally reached over, lifted Kari and deposited her on his lap, loving the feel of her firm ass on his thighs. Kenzi sat in Trey’s lap while everyone chatted, leaning into him as his hand idly caressed her back. They discovered she had a wicked sense of humor and Slade couldn’t remember the last time he’d laughed this much.
If there was one fly in the ointment, it was the sadness and bitterness that continued to surround Marc like a cloak. Although, Slade noticed that tonight the clouds weren’t as dark as usual, and Marc actually joined in the conversation. Beau looked at Slade and cocked an eyebrow, but Slade just shrugged. He had no details to give them.
They sat outside long after dinner was over, in comfortable conversation. Somehow, with the wide variety of personalities and new people thrown into the mix, they still managed to fall into a relaxed, easy situation. Then Beau left to pick up Megan and the rest of them cleaned up the debris from the meal.
“I don’t think Beau and Megan need us to wait up for them,” Slade murmured to Kari as she loaded the last of the dishes in the dishwasher. “Trey and Kenzi slipped out a few minutes ago.”
Kari turned and looped her arms around his neck. “I think you’re right. What did you have in mind?”
He was hard at once and slid his hands down to cup her ass, pressing her against him.
“Does that give you a clue?”
Her lips curved in the smile that heated his blood. “It seems you have a problem that needs taking care of.”
He squeezed the cheeks of her buttocks. “Are you offering to take care of it?”
She nodded and stood on tiptoe so her mouth was closer to his ear. “Just so you know, I’ve never been like this…in bed…with anyone else. Ever.”
Oh, Jesus! Was it possible to get any harder?
“Do you know how great that makes me feel?”
“I mean…” She blew out a soft breath, tickling the skin of his neck. “I know we had the incredible night in Chicago. I’d never been that wild and uninhibited in my life. Ever. And now here we are again. You seem to bring that out in me.”
He licked her lower lip, one soft and gentle swipe of his tongue. “And that’s the way I want it to stay. That work for you?”
“You mean…?”
“I mean, exclusive.” He really hadn’t wanted to have this discussion right now, but he also didn’t want to leave this kind of thread dangling. “We need at some point, some time, to have a serious talk about the kind of life I lead, darlin’. Strong women have given up on men like me.”
She tilted her head back and looked up at him. A tiny frown creased her forehead. “Are you saying yes, exclusive, but no, because of your job? I’m confused here.”
A rough chuckle rumbled in his throat. “No more than I am. Yes, exclusive. I want this with you, Kari, whatever this turns out to be. I just want to make sure you know what you’re getting into. I still can’t make myself believe I can saddle someone with the fallout from what I do, or that I have the ability for a full, emotional relationship.”
She took so long to answer he was afraid she was going to shut the whole thing down.
“Two things. One, you’re right. This isn’t the time or place for this discussion, not when you’re going
off to God knows where to do God knows what and you need your head clear. No distractions. Two, I can deal with anything as long as the man is faithful. The rest of it? Just let me worry about it. For now.”
“That’s one thing you’d never have to worry about.” He tried to put every bit of feeling into his words. “I promise you.”
“Then let’s table the rest of this for the moment. Right now let’s just be together. And let’s get to sleep so you can be on your game for the competition tomorrow.”
Slade laughed. “Maybe not sleep but at least to bed.”
He lifted her and carried her down the short hallway to his room. He was used to getting by on very little sleep and tonight he wasn’t going to waste time when he had something more important in mind.
Chapter Twelve
Kari enjoyed the day way more than she’d expected. Watching the men compete with different firearms, shooting at a range of targets from different distances, had been eye-opening. Four men at a time had lined up behind bales to shoot in each stage. Their targets had been retrieved and scores awarded according to the target areas they’d hit. The four guys swept all the competitions, with top honors going to their sniper, Beau.
“You guys ever gonna give the rest of us a chance to win, Slade?” one of the men joked. “Maybe you guys could shoot with blindfolds, or one-handed.”
Slade grinned, knowing the men expected to lose to them but felt honored to compete against them. “We’ll think about it.”
Back at the ranch, they gathered at the patio table where Teo had provided a variety of drinks.
“I think we need a toast to the champs.” Megan lifted her wine glass and the other women followed suit.