by Lynn Stark
When they hadn’t been making love, Merck and Jace had held each other and talked. Then they had slept, woke to make love again, then talked some more. Actually, they had talked until sunlight had found its way through the narrow gaps between curtains and the windows. Jace wanted to know everything about Silver and the people who made it what it was. And Merck wanted to know everything about Jace and his past.
Merck found it a wondrous that he and Jace had connected immediately. Not just in a physical sense, which was beyond fantastic, but on a level where he believed someone understood him and what he needed deep down inside. He let Jace inside his head and heart, hiding nothing, believing it was the only way he could build a relationship with the other man.
It was a risk. But he would take it.
They agreed on many things, the most important of which was they needed to get to know Piper Barrows and convince her that they were the men for her. They suspected they would have to prove themselves more with her than they would with any other woman. She had been through so much. Merck couldn’t believe that her father had treated her in the manner he had.
Maybe it wasn’t physical abuse, but it had certainly been a kind of emotional abuse. And what was the excuse? Douglas Barrows wanted his daughter safe? Safe from what? He was keeping her from experiencing every aspect of life beyond basic existence.
Jace told him Piper had been like a tiny, beautiful bird in a gilded cage. He told him about the formal dinners every night, where she was no more than a body in a chair. Father, mother, and daughter rarely interacted. Then there was the house her father had built for her. It wasn’t in some wonderful location, like overlooking the ocean, or mountains. It was basically in the backyard almost butted up against the guesthouse. The things Jace told Merck, that Piper’s father hadn’t placed much value on his daughter as he should a child, but kept her as he would one of his many luxury cars in the huge garage, were unbelievable.
All these things made Merck furious. He wasn’t sure that he wouldn’t hit the man if he ever met Douglas Barrows. Jace had confessed that he’d been tempted a few times himself, but he valued his freedom and wanted to be sure to be there to watch over Piper.
Their sweet little woman, however, was at this moment being mauled by a sex fiend. Merck glared across the restaurant, willing Colt to stop sucking her face off and turn to look at him. Another second of it and he was going to go over and let his former friend get acquainted with his fist.
“Down, boy.” Jace chuckled, squeezing his hand. “As sexy as that growl is, you’re starting to make people look at you with more than a little concern. You’ll get hauled off any minute in a straightjacket.”
A moment later they were both watching as a smug Colt Redford ushered out a blushing Piper. She glanced in their direction, her gray eyes filled with something he couldn’t quite identify. He didn’t know if it was embarrassment or amusement. Maybe it was a little bit of both.
They were out of their chairs even as the server showed up with a large brown bag. “I took the liberty of making a doggie bag for you,” he told them, his lips twitching with amusement. “That’ll be thirty dollars and twenty-nine cents.”
Jace grabbed the bag and shoved a handful of bills into the man’s hand. Then they were off, tracking the pair who had already left the restaurant. There were several chuckles, a few snickers, and some outright laughter, but neither of them cared as they grabbed their coats and hats and headed out into the cold night air.
Fuck, it was the beginning of April, Merck thought with disgust as he pulled the front of his coat closed. When the hell was it going to warm up? Colt’s car passed them as they rounded the corner of the red brick building. His former friend honked the horn, openly mocking them. Jace’s truck was close. They ran and got into it, slamming the doors even as the engine roared to life. Tires chirped as the truck shot out of the parking lot.
They weren’t a block away from the Silver Garden Restaurant when there was a blast from a patrol car’s siren. Lights flashed and they both swore.
“I wonder what the fuck is wrong with Grayson this time.”
“How do you know it’s Grayson?”
“Because the man can be as much of a jerk as Colt is. Get your wallet out.”
“Why do I have to pay?”
“Because you’re driving.”
Jace pulled his wallet out and rolled down the window. It wasn’t Grayson, but Cherry Preston. She had been with the sheriff’s department for a while now. Merck really liked her, but he couldn’t figure out how she put up with her four jerk husbands. Mick, Jake, Cody, and Collin were great guys, but still jerks. He believed that her female partner, Gracie, made up for a lot of the crap she had to deal with from them. Gracie was a sweetheart.
“Hi, guys,” she greeted them, the beam of her flashlight blinding first Jace and them him. He blinked and jerked his head away. “What seems to be the problem? You seem to be in too much of a hurry. Is there an emergency?”
Merck got the feeling she was all but openly laughing at them. Everyone in Silver was warped. Despite the annoying delay, he loved most of the residents.
“No, ma’am,” Jace told her in a respectful tone. “We were trying to catch up to some friends.”
“You need to slow it down. This isn’t the big city. A kid or a dog could run out in front of you at any given moment. Hell, a moose could wander across the street. Now, that’ll be twenty-five dollars.”
Jace handed her the money. As Cherry was writing out the receipt a low-slung black car rolled past. Colt waved at them, grinning, and then drove away with a short burst of speed.
“Aren’t you going to do anything about that? He’s clearly speeding.”
“Don’t worry about what Mr. Redford’s doing. I’ll talk to him. Now, please slow down. We don’t need you rowdies tearing up the place.”
They heard her laughing as she walked back to her cruiser. After she got in they heard the engine of the cruiser roar to life. She hit the siren and did a U-turn in the street. They followed, without making the illegal turn. Two minutes later they were passing the spot where Cherry had stopped Colt and was collecting the fine from him. Jace hit the horn once as they made their way to the man’s house.
It wasn’t long before Colt was pulling into his driveway. The door to his garage slid up and he drove inside. It slid down even as they got out of the truck.
“What are we doing here? You know she’s just going to send us packing again.” Jace’s voice held a note of laughter. Then he was sobering. “Not that I blame her. Both of us represent the past for her.”
“We need to get some answers. And after we’ve done that, we’ll let Miss Piper Barrows know that we’re her men.”
“Yeah, I can see that going over well.”
Colt met them at the front door, another smirk on his handsome face. Merck wanted to make it a little less pretty. “What do the two of you want?”
“We want to talk to Piper.”
“Why?”
“Colt, stop being a fuckhead and let us in. It’s fucking freezing out here.”
Merck and Jace walked into the house and shed their coats. They were planning on staying a while, even if it irritated Colt, which it obviously did. Good. Merck looked around and saw no sign of Piper. He’d been in his friend’s house before. Colt often gave parties and he made certain friends were never left out, though he had so many friends that they were rotated regularly. Nobody minded.
“Where’s Piper?”
“She’ll be out in a few minutes. She’s taking care of her pets.”
Merck had all but forgotten about her “silly monkeys” from the day before. How, he had no clue. They were such an odd little trio. A cat shot out from where he knew the laundry room was located. It ran around the living room, shooting from one side to the other, before coming to a stop in the center of the room. It stared at Jace, flicking its long, fluffy tail in a jerking manner, obviously an indicator of displeasure.
“You let
the cat run loose in your house?” Merck asked, amazed. He knew how fussy Colt was. Hell, lint didn’t even stick to the man.
Piper came in holding the tiny poodle in her arms. The dog snuggled close as she went to sit down in a chair which was essentially angled in a corner. It was a defensive position. She couldn’t be “attacked” from any side. She stared at them, her displeasure clear in her gray eyes.
“Why are you here this time?”
That was a good question. Now that they’d gotten in, Merck was at a loss. He wasn’t much of a lady’s man. Oh, he had dated. And he’d slept with both women and men. But to sit and have a conversation with someone he planned on sharing the rest of his life with? His mind went blank. The hours talking to Jace didn’t count.
“We’re here to be sure you’re doing okay,” Jace told her, patting Merck on the shoulder. They moved further into the living room. The cat jumped onto a chair which had a protective covering over it, to watch them suspiciously. “I wish you had said something to me, Piper. I could have helped you out.” Jace had told Merck how terrified he’d been when he had woken in the middle of the night, feeling as if something wasn’t quite right. When he had gone through the darkened house to investigate, and seen the front door open, he had nearly lost it. Piper stared at him now as if he thought she was stupid. “We could have figured something out. It was dangerous for you to go sneaking out in the middle of the night. Anything could have happened.”
Piper’s small chin came up and a defiant light filled her gray eyes. “I had to get out before the place was crisscrossed with motion detectors. Cripes, it was getting like living in a maximum security prison! And having a camera in my own backyard? Having someone watching while I’m doing nothing more than playing with my pets? That’s just plain creepy. And you were a part of it.”
Merck could see that Jace didn’t handle that accusation well. He reached out and touched his lover on the arm. Jace turned to give him a small, reassuring smile. “The most important part of my job was to protect you. Yes, I knew about the camera in the backyard. I was told not to point it out. And I figured as long as you weren’t trying to dance naked in the moonlight, I couldn’t find a reason to protest its placement.”
Sweet lips tightened into a line of displeasure. “I’m here now and I’m staying here, so you can just call my father and tell him that.”
“I told you I no longer work for your father. I was fired the minute they discovered you were gone.” Jace laughed without humor. “Actually, I believe he thinks I had something to do with it. That’s why it took me so long to get here. I had to be sure I wasn’t being followed. As it was, I had to lose a GPS that had been attached to my truck. Hopefully they followed it halfway to Alabama before realizing I’d tricked them.” Watching as what Jace was telling her began to sink in, Merck saw a change in her expression. It softened a little, her eyes less wary.
It was as if she was finally beginning to believe Jace wasn’t still working as part of her father’s security team. Then there was a small smile and a chuckle.
“What did you do with the GPS? Did you really put it on someone else’s car?”
Jace nodded. “It was someone from Alabama. They were obviously on vacation. Their car was filled with camping equipment. I tucked it in, and then left, hoping they were relying on it to pinpoint my location rather than visual.”
Still feeling the tension in the man seated beside him on the long leather couch, Merck slid his hand down Jace’s arm until he could link their fingers together. He gave it a reassuring squeeze.
Jace returned the firm squeeze to his hand. Merck was good support and he instinctively knew he could count on the man through thick and thin. Knowing people was a skill he had honed while in the military. You knew which men and women you could count on when you needed them most. Merck was someone he could count on.
Seeing Piper’s gaze drop to their linked hands then return to his face, he gave her a gentle smile. She returned it and he saw that as a good sign toward forgiveness and acceptance. It wouldn’t be good if she couldn’t accept his and Merck’s budding relationship. He hadn’t been looking for another lover. All he had been able to think about for weeks was Piper and how much her sweetness and her beauty stirred all kinds of new and strange feelings deep inside him. Then he had met Merck and wow, hadn’t that just shot his life off into another direction. A very good one, he hoped.
Being in Silver, however, seemed just short of arriving on another plane of existence, it was so different. While he probably shouldn’t have taken a lover until he discovered whether he had any chance with Piper, he couldn’t regret it. A fantasy was one thing. The reality of what he had experienced with Merck was a whole other thing altogether. It was raw and wild and touched some part of him he had never known before. As much as he wanted Piper, he wouldn’t regret what he had found with Merck. Even if it meant he couldn’t have her.
“Merck and I want you to know we’re here for you. If you need anything, just call us.”
“Why? I have Colt now and the sheriff’s department. My father can’t just come in here and take me.”
“The more support you have,” Jace argued reasonably, “the better it will be for you.”
A bump to the shoulder made him look at Merck. “Tell her the other part.”
“What other part?”
It wasn’t the time, but Jace guessed they might as well get it out there, give Piper time to adjust to the idea. “We want you to go out with us.”
A frown pulled her delicate eyebrows together. “Why would I want to do that?”
“Maybe because you’ll discover we’re two completely loveable and charming guys?” Merck put in smoothly when his own mind went blank. Jace squeezed his hand.
The frown deepened. “Well, I don’t know. Colt and I have this thing going on.”
Their eyes went to Colt at once and saw the much-hated smirk in place. The man was so damned smug. Jace ground his teeth in frustration. Merck really liked this guy? He couldn’t see how. Looking back at Piper, he saw her glance from them to Colt, then back again. He could see something going on there, but he didn’t know quite what it was.
“What kind of thing?”
“I’m thinking about sleeping with him.”
“No fucking way are you sleeping with Colt!” Jace shouted, which made the cat launch itself off the back of the chair. It dashed out of the living room and into the kitchen area. “You’re ours. Merck’s been thinking about you for months. He even tried to call you, but no one would put his call through.”
Piper sat up straight in her chair. Her gray eyes glittered as they narrowed on him. “I don’t belong to anybody. As flattered as I am that you tried to call,” she said to Merck, “I’m not looking for a relationship right now.”
Jace leaned toward her, pinning her with his gaze. “I thought you just said you were thinking about sleeping with Colt.”
One corner of her mouth tilted upwards. She had such a sweet mouth. His cock stirred at what he would like to see her do with it. “Having sex with someone is not a relationship. I just think he’d be very good at it.”
“Well, we’re good at it,” Merck told her. “Forget Colt. Unless you’re really into being chained to a bed by an old guy, of course.”
“Now, now,” Colt said smoothly, a brow arching upward. “I rarely use chains on novices. I have silk scarves in a wide variety of colors for such a purpose.” He looked at Piper and smiled gently. “I have a set of lavender scarves I believe would suit her perfectly.”
“Stop that,” Merck growled, body tensing beside Jace. “Stop being you.”
Colt laughed. “Merck, you are just too easy. When are you going to get it through your thick skull that I don’t want her?”
“What’s wrong with you?”
Jace turned his head to look at his lover. He stared. “What’s wrong with you? He just told you he didn’t want her and you get angry?”
“Well, she’s beautiful, sweet, and sexy a
s hell. Why doesn’t he want her?”
“Colt doesn’t want me because we’re best friends. There’s nothing more between us. Now, do you really believe I’m sexy?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Well, because you are.”
Finding his lover’s floundering rather endearing, Jace chuckled. “You’ll have to excuse him. Neither of us thought beyond getting through the door to see you. We just wanted you to know that we’re here to help you. If you need something, give us a call.”
Piper nodded, but she didn’t speak. Her small hand caressed the dog in her arms. Jace began glancing around. “Where’s Sparkle?”
“She’s probably getting into trouble somewhere.”
At that moment a movement caught his attention. Since he could see into the kitchen from where he was seated, he was able to see when the door to the refrigerator eased open. It swept back a few inches, then tried to close, only to be blocked by what he suspected was Sparkle’s little head. It was a trick she had done in her own home often enough, as she tried to raid the vegetable bin.
“You’re right about that. She’s looking for veggies.”
Piper jumped up and ran into the kitchen. “Bad pig!” she scolded. She pushed the door closed, which earned her a scolding from the tiny swine. “You know better. Now, come in here and be a good pig.”
The good pig wasn’t a very happy pig. She trotted into the living room and looked at each human. She bumped Jace’s leg, acknowledging him, before he reached down to scratch her on the back. She squealed and trotted away, only to return to nibble at Merck’s pant leg. When he reached down to pet her she nipped his hand and ran to Piper.
“Oh, you’re a bad pig! Bad, bad, Sparkle. I’m so sorry, Merck.”
Piper was trying to appear sorry, but there was laughter in her gray eyes and her lips were twitching tellingly. Jace winked at her when she glanced at him, which made her eyes open wide in surprise. She also blushed, which he thought made her even prettier. He idly wondered what else would make her blush.