“Not yet but I will.”
Chapter Three
Hailey shut the door and took her time leaning the bat against the inside doorframe. After a deep inhale, she walked into the family room off to her right. And waited.
Conversation had ceased. She could feel two sets of eyes following her. She ignored the questioning stares and watched the wine pouring. Concentrated on the steady beat of the music playing in the background.
And continued to wait.
Less than a minute in she picked up the sound of a heavy sigh. Yeah, her friends didn’t disappoint. They’d listened to every word of her conversation with Sawyer and no doubt had opinions. She’d bet her life on it.
She reached over and poured herself a second glass of wine before sinking down sideways into the oversized chair with her legs curled over the armrest. “It must be killing you two to stay quiet. Let me have it.”
Jessica Mann sat there all blonde and beautiful as she twirled the liquid in her glass then skimmed her finger over the rim, did the whole fake-thinking thing. “So that was the infamous Sawyer Cain.”
As if she didn’t know that from all the eavesdropping. “Yep.”
“He sounded nice,” Kat Fleming said as she tucked her legs under her and let her long floral skirt flow over the front of the couch. She was older, wiser...and sitting on the edge of the cushion, half ready to fall off while she pretended disinterest but her body language said the exact opposite. She also petted the fluffy buff-colored part retriever slammed up against her side. “It sounded as if he’d met you before.”
Hailey couldn’t dodge that one, so she didn’t try. “Did I forget to mention that?”
“Is he hot?” Jessie asked. “He looked really hot but it was hard to see from here.”
Kat nodded. “The curtain is thicker than it looks. Blocked the view.”
“But I caught the broad shoulders.” Jessie started acting out her words with her open hand and the one with the glass in it. “And he looked tall and muscular and all He-Man like.”
“Okay. That’s probably enough.” Hailey knew she had to drop the hammer on this or the only topic of discussion for the rest of the night would be Sawyer Cain. It probably would be anyway.
God knew it would take her more than a few minutes to wipe his image out of her head. But that didn’t mean she wanted to deal with one more guy sniffing around, trying to get his hands on the property she’d inherited. She’d been dealing with a revolving door full of those types until her head hurt.
“I think we need to know more about this Sawyer. You should have dinner with him,” Jessie said.
Hailey’s mind kept wandering to his comment about tasting her. Property issue or not, she couldn’t believe how much she wanted that to happen. “You two aren’t even subtle.”
“Why bother pretending we don’t care when we clearly do?” Kat shrugged her shoulders as she smiled.
Jessie grabbed for the wine bottle. “At least answer the ‘hot’ question.”
That one wasn’t hard. He’d been hot in his uniform in all those older photos. Smokin’ in the bar as his deep voice washed over her. There was nothing pretty or cute about him. Between the scruff over his chin and the hint of bleakness in his eyes, he had a bit of a rough look to him, as if he’d lived long and hard.
Unfortunately, Hailey had limited defenses to that look. Forget guys in business suits with fancy shoes and expensive watches. Someone else could have the ones who pontificated for hours over fine dining and other nonsense she didn’t care that much about. And no surfer dudes¾ever.
She preferred practical with good hands that showed signs of performing real work. A guy who could tell the difference between a hammer and a wrench. One who at least had the capacity to read the directions on how to operate a chainsaw. And if he knew his way around a woman and could talk dirty while doing it, even better.
One look at Sawyer worked as a shot to her senses. If forced to say something, she’d use the word compelling to describe him...not that Hailey was going to admit any of that out loud. Friends or not, that information stayed top secret.
She shrugged, trying to telegraph a no-big-deal feel. “Sure, I guess he’s good-looking if you like the scruffy, could-lift-a-house military type.”
Jessie frowned. “Is there someone who doesn’t?”
“Maybe a few but why?” Kat asked.
The response sent a strange wave of sadness crashing over Hailey. She knew Kat hadn’t even looked at another man since Rob died. At hearing the news fifteen months ago, she’d fallen to her knees and rocked back and forth for what felt like hours. Wailed as an aching, pain-filled sound ripped out of her. Hailey had never heard anything like it and hoped never to again.
If anything, the memory reminded Hailey why military men should be off-limits. Rob had gotten out. Retired from active duty and started his own company. But the life called him back and sucked him in until he walked back into danger and this time, despite being older and wiser, didn’t come out. She’d become convinced the protector type could not fight that call and her heart could not stand more pain.
They were an interesting trio. Jessie fought to separate from a military guy who thought he owned her. Kat lost the love of her life in a place called Bala Murghab, somewhere in Afghanistan. Hailey didn’t want anything to do with the military. After a life filled with danger and deployments and death, she wanted off that ride.
Jessie rested her fluffy slippers on the edge of the ottoman that served as a makeshift coffee table. She flipped her foot from side to side and the pink cotton ball by her ankle bounced around. “What are you going to do with the property?”
“Live on it.” Hailey ended there because this conversation always made her uncomfortable.
Rob left the property to her, likely because she grew up there or he didn’t have time before he left on his trip to leave it to Kat or...who knew. When they all heard the estate provisions Hailey tried to hand the land over to Kat but she refused, saying she could never live there without Rob. But Hailey still felt a flash of guilt when discussing it in front of her. And they talked about the property all the time lately.
For months she’d been fielding offers and enduring fake sweet talk from businessmen thinking to win her over then hit her with a low per-square-foot price. The trespassing and constant stream of solicitors got so bad she’d paid to put in a fence. She wanted to electrify it but thought that might be too much.
That pink ball from those slippers kept bouncing. “You know what I’m asking.”
“Not really.” But Hailey did. Both Jessie and Kat had been on her about all the offers and lawyer calls. It felt as though everyone in the county except the two people in the room wanted a piece of her.
Jessie rolled her eyes in the way only a best friend could do and still live to talk about it. “There are acres you can’t fill with anything unless you go on a house-building binge and you have to protect and pay taxes on all of it.”
“That’s why I put up the big fence.”
“That worked well for you today.” Jessie took a long drink. “Sawyer walked right up to the door without a single alarm going off.”
“Clearly I need to get better at locking it, though I don’t think I was the last one in the house.” Hailey noticed neither of her friends gave her eye contact after that comment. Interesting. “Yeah, that’s what I thought.”
Not that she could justify a guilt trip. She hadn’t gotten used to living in lockdown either. She’d better soon. They all knew about the guy who’d pitched a tent and tried to make part of her property his permanent home. Then a week ago, thanks to temporarily living in the guest room, Jessie had a front row seat to the other stranger who knocked on the door at ten o’clock at night and scared the crap out of both of them.
“Sawyer specifically mentioned the property.” He didn’t fit neatly into the same categories as the other people asking about the property. But, like almost everyone else in her life right now, he had an
agenda that included the acreage, and Hailey hated that.
It was the one thing that managed to make him less attractive to her. Not by much, but still.
“Did he say what exactly he wanted or why he came today?” Kat asked as she continued to nurse the last half inch of wine in her glass.
“He couldn’t get that far because she threatened to hit him with the bat.” Jessie leaned forward and pushed the bowl of pretzels out of the way on her way to the opened bag of chips. She had it on her lap and her hand halfway inside a second later. “Men hate that kind of thing, by the way.”
“Not really.” When she realized she’d responded to the wrong part of the comment, Hailey waved her hand in front of her. “The bat, I mean. I just held it.”
Jessie stopped in mid-chip munching. “We heard you threaten him.”
Right. Time to talk to Kat. Hailey glanced over to her. “Did Rob ever mention Sawyer in relation to the property?”
Rob had mentioned everything else about Sawyer. Hailey called up the facts from memory. One sister, both raised by a single mom, led his marine company. Aced his special-ops training. She picked up on the other stuff—like how big those arms looked and the sexy USMC tattoo scrawled around his arm—on her own.
“Not to me,” Kat said. “But they were close. Rob talked all the time about how he wanted you to...”
Kat didn’t need to finish. Hailey got it. Anyone with half a brain would have picked up Rob’s signals. “Yeah, I know. He wanted me to end up with Sawyer, a man I never even met until today. Very romantic.”
For some reason Rob never understood how his matchmaking attempts almost guaranteed she’d dislike a guy. He’d spent most of her younger years chasing off boys and what felt like every hour of the last few trying to find her “the right man” to date. She refused to think about how Rob defined that term.
He’d been a good man, caring and decent. He took her in after the parents she barely remembered died in action. Operation Desert Storm, a fancy name for something that cost her so much. But at heart Rob was old-fashioned and wanted her protected and taken care of. Not bad things in general but when he used to say the words, she winced.
“Rob thought you and this Sawyer guy would make a good match,” Kat said.
Could be, but his mention of the property crossed him off the list. Not that Hailey had a list. “Instead, he’s just one more guy looking to get his hands on my acres of land.”
“Speaking of which, let’s get back to my question.” Jessie abandoned the chips in favor of more wine. “You’ve been offered huge money from developers, some nice and some not so nice. Why not sell?”
Her lawyer, scores of attorneys for interested parties and several accountants had asked her the same thing. Hailey now dreaded the question. “I just want to live here in peace.”
Kat cleared her throat. “On miles of open land.”
“With a bat,” Jessie added.
With that, Hailey swung her legs off the chair and sat up. Eyeing up the mix of crumpled bags and half-empty snacks bowls and the bottles littering the ottoman, she decided the party needed some work. “I think we need more wine.”
Kat picked up a pretzel then dropped it again. “I was going to suggest real food.”
“Wait a second.” Jessie’s wine glass clinked against the side table as her feet hit the floor. “Is this really the last time you’re going see that hottie Sawyer?”
It was tempting to lie but Hailey knew better than to even try with these two. “No.”
Kat’s eyes widened. “Really?”
“Did he strike you as a man who would take no for an answer?” Hailey knew from the minute after she closed the door that Sawyer would come around again. He was not the type of man to be ignored. “He likes the challenge.”
Even Kat sat up straighter. “Did you give him a hard time on purpose?”
“Because you’re interested?” Jessie sat on the edge of the cushion now.
Oh, hell. “What? No.”
Jessie nodded. “Hot damn. You totally are.”
Hailey sensed she’d taken a wrong turn right before Jessie piped up and tried to talk over her. Even treated her friend to an annoying finger wag. “I said no.”
Not to be outdone, Jessie ran her comment right over Hailey’s. “I think yes.”
“Because he seemed like a guy who gets what he wants without trouble,” Kat said.
Jessie nodded. “That’s also hot.”
Wine splashed out of the side of Hailey’s glass. If she held it any tighter it would crack in her hand.
“Stop using that word. Consider hot on the banned list from now on.” She’d somehow lost control of the conversation. Hailey saw that now. “My point is that whatever Sawyer’s proposition is, I think he should have to work for it.”
Jessie looked to Kat then back to Hailey again. “Are we still talking about the property or some other sort of proposition?”
“Of course the property.” Truth was Hailey didn’t even know anymore. The conversation had her head spinning.
Jessie turned to Kat. “Are you a betting woman? Twenty bucks says he’ll be here, at the house and sprawled on this couch, for a wine date within the week.”
“Not going to happen.” Clearly Sawyer was the beer type, but Hailey guessed that really wasn’t the point of the bet.
“She seems determined to ignore him,” Kat said to Jessie, acting as if Hailey wasn’t sitting right there.
Jessie shrugged. “She’s a big talker.”
“She is in the room.” Hailey thought it was a good idea to remind them of that, though neither seemed to care. The fact she owned the place and provided the wine seemed lost in the moment as well.
For the second time that night a huge smile spread across Kat’s face. “You’re on.”
Hailey shook her head. “There’s no bet.”
“My money is on Sawyer winning her over,” Jessie said. “It’s really only a question of how good he is.”
Hailey had a feeling she’d be pondering that question until the next time she saw him. And unless her male radar was way off that would happen soon.
* * *
The next morning Sawyer walked the property line. Stayed just on the other side of the fence from the acres Hailey owned as he studied the area he’d picked out for the gun range.
The idea had seemed so simple a few months ago when he pitched it to his friends and baby sister—get the land and the permits, purchase the weapons and work on a marketing plan. Open a gun range and personal security business. Build a life outside the military. Create a family of sorts and move forward. Finally lock up the demons that hounded him.
They all bought in and now one woman blocked their path. She had a right to. Rob’s will didn’t leave much doubt. Sawyer knew because he’d gone to the courthouse and checked. Hailey owned the land and if she knew about Rob’s promise to turn it over she wasn’t letting on.
“I’m starting to wonder if you have boundary issues.” She made the comment from right over his shoulder.
He fought off the flinch and forced his body to turn slowly instead of spin around. It was as if thinking about her conjured her up. Lost in thought, batting down the arguments bombarding his brain, he’d missed her approach. Pretty impressive. Not many people could sneak up on him. He had tens of thousands of dollars of government-sponsored training to ensure that sort of thing never happened.
“Hailey...or is it Sue?” He made a show of looking at her hands. “No bat, I see.”
“You can call me Hailey.” A smile tugged at the corner of her mouth. “Feel free to cut the sarcasm while you’re at it.”
Gone was the flat tone she used on her front porch. She didn’t quite return to the sexy flirting from the bar, but he considered this progress. And he’d venture into dick territory if he didn’t pull back. “Fair enough.”
She leaned her elbows on the fence post. “What are you doing out here?”
The tone sounded civil but he wasn’t
taking any chances. It might look like they were two cordial neighbors chatting over a property line, but they weren’t. “I’m not on your property.”
She shrugged. “Didn’t say you were.”
“But you’re not surprised to see me.” She’d cut out the threats and curt responses. He had no idea what that meant and wasn’t about to get sucked in until he figured out her strategy.
“You don’t strike me as a guy who slinks away without pushing for what he wants.” A breeze caught her hair. Whipped it around until she tucked the loose strands behind her ear.
Something about the move, so feminine, had his brain stuttering. So did the slim V-neck T-shirt and jeans. The woman looked better in jeans than almost every other woman he knew. Curvy with slim legs and a rounded ass. His favorite combination.
Which was the only explanation for his mouth running off while his common sense lingered behind. “Are we talking about the land or my proposal in the bar?”
Instead of batting him down, she leaned in. “That’s the thing, Sawyer. For me those are two different issues and need to stay that way.”
Jesus, he could smell her. Vanilla, cinnamon...some familiar scent that would likely have him getting a hard-on over cake for the next few weeks. But first he needed to make sure they were talking about the same thing. “You’re saying sex is off the table if I press you about the land.”
She winced. “I’d be more delicate, but¾“
“Why?”
She sighed. Shook her head. “The land has become this crazy business thing. I don’t want that seeping over into my private life.”
Yeah, she wasn’t getting his point at all. “I meant why would you be more delicate.”
This time she frowned. “What?”
“Sex. Hot and dirty. Bodies rubbing over each other. Tongues and hands. Ain’t nothing delicate about that.” Seemed simple to him. Things only got confused when people mixed in love and commitment and other crap that got in the way of fun.
He’d seen people pair off because of deployments and for religious reasons or family pressure. In Jason’s case, over a false pregnancy scare. Sawyer had yet to be convinced of a match that couldn’t benefit from more sex and fewer rules.
Chain of Command Page 3