“What’s going on?” Kat joined them in the kitchen. She reached for a piece of bacon then stopped after taking a good look at the charred mess in the pan.
“Sawyer was here this morning.” Jessie leaned back against the counter. Amusement filled her voice and that huge smile suggested she was having a bit too much fun with this topic.
Three of them in the small space suffocated Hailey. She grabbed a muffin and circled around to the barstool Sawyer had occupied just last night.
“You mean he stopped by,” Kat said.
“No.” Jessie dragged out the word to multiple syllables. “That’s not even close to what I mean.”
Kat’s mouth dropped open. “Seriously?”
“Nothing happened.” The muffin crumbled in Hailey’s hand. She didn’t even know she was squeezing until she held muffin dust.
“Ha!” Jessie shook her head. “From the stupid grin on his face when I opened the door this morning and the stunned one on yours, I think you’re lying.”
Kat and Jessie both started talking then. Hailey held up both hands in the hope of gaining some control over the runaway conversation again. “Okay, something happened. But the main event didn’t happen.”
“That’s disappointing,” Jessie mumbled as she reached for the dog treat container and threw a bone to Barkley.
“I’ve known the man about five days.” Not that there was a time limit for these types of things. Hailey wished there were a rule book of some sort, but no.
She’d put the brakes on to give her brain a chance to catch up with whatever was happening to her body whenever she saw Sawyer. She wanted to be smart and not get wrapped up in a weird mix of business and personal. Not when the business part loomed and there was no way for her to make him happy on that score.
She was not selling the property. Rob gave it to her. He’d split his assets between her and Kat and handed his company over to two of his partners. She had so little left of him. Thanks to Kat giving her blessing, Hailey decided she would keep this.
“That guy looked like he knew his way around a woman,” Jessie said.
“Did he do something wrong?” Kat asked right after.
The muffin eating and coffee drinking continued. Hailey tried to get lost in it but her friends clearly were in the mood for some gossip. “Like what?”
Kat shrugged. “Mention the property and tick you off enough to put your clothes back on.”
“Strip off his clothes while you were taking the chicken out of the oven and make a fumbling pass?” Jessie’s eyes gleamed.
“Neither.” Hailey pointed at Jessie. “And you need help.”
She rolled her eyes. “Just a question.”
“He was...” Hailey searched for the right word. “Fine.”
“Fine?” Kat sounded horrified at the idea.
When the staring continued Hailey gave in. “Great. Attentive. Hot. What do you want me to say?”
Jessie laughed. “Pretty much those.”
“Yeah, those sound good.” Kat finished her muffin and folded the wrapper into precise squares.
It would be so easy to get lost in all the things Sawyer did right. The sexy. The charming. He could hold a conversation and help out in the kitchen. So many impressive attributes. But this huge thing lingered. A barrier that overwhelmed everything else. “Never forget he’s sniffing around because of the property. And he’s a retired marine.”
“Same as he was before you had a night of not-quite-sex with him.”
Jessie’s logic was hard to beat. Hailey didn’t even try. She lowered her forehead to the counter and let the frustration and confusion flow through her. “Argh.”
Hailey felt a hand on her head and smelled Kat’s perfume. “It’s okay.”
“That’s quite a dramatic response you’ve got going there.” Jessie’s voice came from the other side of the kitchen.
“Maybe I could make him wear a hood.” Hailey was willing to try anything to break the attraction that pulsed between her and Sawyer.
Jessie shrugged. “If you’re into that.”
Hailey turned her head to the side and lifted slightly. “So I don’t see his face.”
“You’d still see his body.” Jessie shook her head as she headed to the pan and picked through the burnt bacon pieces.
Kat hummed. “The woman has a point.”
“You two are my friends. You’re supposed to talk me out of this.” Hailey sat the whole way up again. “Out of being into him.”
Jessie looked at Kat who shook her head. Then Jessie joined her. “I can’t think of a single argument.”
“The property.” But the reminder didn’t come out as forcefully that time. Hailey said the words but they fell flat even to her ears.
Jessie nodded. “Oh, sure. That. I think you’ve mentioned that was an issue.”
With a long sigh Hailey rubbed her hands over her face. “I can’t be attracted to him.”
This time Kat laughed. “Too late.”
Chapter Eleven
Sawyer came home to a double dose of the McAdams brothers. Marcus lounged on the couch with the newspaper spread out in front of him. He was probably the only guy who refused to get his news online. Showing up at the house with the paper and a coffee seemed to be his thing. And Jason. He stood bent over the kitchen counter on his elbows, studying something on his phone.
Jason looked up as soon as Sawyer shut the door. Dropping his phone, he stood up. “Where the hell have you been?”
The paper rustled and Marcus gave Sawyer a quick glance. “By the looks of it, getting lucky.”
If being lucky meant realizing that he’d already failed Hailey before they even met. She was looking for someone to blame for Rob’s death. She wanted it all to make sense and for the pieces to be clear. Life just didn’t work that way.
There was so much she didn’t know. A man had come into camp in Afghanistan, disguised and dangerous, and opened fire. He caused the bloodshed but the shooting never should have happened. The camp was supposed to be secure and Sawyer took responsibility for that. He’d failed. The name of the person she begged to know and blame was his.
The realization weighed on him until his whole body plunged into darkness. The guilt already ate at him every day. Seeing her would be a constant reminder. The secret would grow bigger and heavier as the days passed.
Just one more barrier that seemed insurmountable.
Sawyer spotted Jason and the arms folded across his chest. The closed stance matched his scowl. “What is wrong with you?”
Marcus didn’t even spare his brother a look. “He’s been pissing around ever since I got here.”
“Shut the fuck up.” Jason grumbled out the comment.
“See?” Marcus looked at Sawyer. “I’ve heard that ten times now.”
That didn’t explain anything and Sawyer didn’t really have time for whatever emotional unloading Jason needed. Still, the guy usually laughed and joked. The pissed-off versions tended to cover something else.
Sawyer decided to take five seconds and figure out what. He sat on the edge of the coffee table. “Did that blonde turn you down?”
Marcus’s head popped up. “What blonde?”
“No,” Jason said as he headed for the refrigerator.
“The one he met when he bought his phone.” Sawyer got the details directly from Jason five minutes after it happened.
The woman had followed Jason around the store then slipped him her number. After that, every time Jason mentioned the woman he changed her name because it seemed he had no idea what it really was. Sawyer couldn’t imagine that, but ever since Jason came home to legal papers and a wife ready to move on he’d been on a crusade to keep sex as strings-free as possible.
“The woman was just hanging out in the store?” Marcus asked.
Sounded like Jason hadn’t shared with Marcus, so Sawyer did. “She worked there.”
“Ah.” No judgment. Just a non-committal sound then back to the paper. Typical Marcus
.
Jason slammed the refrigerator door, as much as you could when the thing usually closed with a soft click. “What the hell does that mean?”
“Jesus, calm down.” Marcus folded the paper and sat up straight. “What is wrong with you?”
This was more than a bad day over an ex. Something had crawled up Jason’s ass. Sawyer didn’t really want to deal with the “what” and “why” of that but he did want the anger level to fall. “Yeah, just how bad was the sex last night?”
“I could ask you the same,” Jason said.
Now there was a nice bit of deflection. Sawyer would have been impressed if he hadn’t wanted answers. “I had a good night.”
The stress pulling at the corner of Jason’s mouth eased. “So, we’re a go on the property?”
Sawyer dodged that. “We didn’t talk about business.”
The tension ratcheted right back up to suffocation levels. The brothers looked at each other. Neither of them looked at Sawyer for a few seconds. Whatever silent communication they had put Sawyer right on the defensive. Something in his gut tightened.
Jason shook his head as he stared at the floor. “Oh, shit.”
“I told you,” Marcus said in a flat tone.
Looked like the brothers had finally found common ground. Unfortunately for Sawyer, it was against him. “What?”
Jason’s head shot up and he glared at Sawyer. “Your priorities are going to get messed up.”
“We should start looking for another parcel.” Marcus stood up. “I, for one, am in favor of working and earning a paycheck.”
Their lack of trust bordered on overkill. It sure pissed Sawyer off, but he sat there and tried not to let it show. “I’ve got it handled.”
Marcus moved around the couch to stand near Jason. “How exactly?”
Admittedly, the details were a bit fuzzy but Sawyer thought about the end game, closure, every day. Her refusal to talk about the property, Rob’s death. The attraction neither of them seemed eager to ignore. The issues kept piling between them. “We’re getting to know each other.”
Silence fell over the room. It lasted all of a second before Jason jumped in. “Meaning?”
“Hailey is reasonable. I can figure out what her concerns are and take care of them for her.” So long as she never found out about his role in Rob’s death. He would have to keep that quiet. Shouldn’t be hard since except for the investigators and a few ordered sessions with a shrink Sawyer hadn’t told anyone. He’d actually been ordered not to talk.
Jason’s eyes narrowed. “We’re dead.”
With an exaggerated exhale, Marcus went over to the kitchen table and started sorting through the file folders stacked there. “I’m going to search the maps for other land.”
Their reactions had Sawyer ready to kick them out of his house. “I’m serious. I’ve got this.”
“Did she aim the bat at you this time?” Marcus asked as he shuffled papers.
“Never even touched it.”
“That’s progress.” Marcus grabbed a stack of folders. Keys jangled as he scooped them off the corner of the table. “I guess.”
When he started toward the door, Sawyer gave up trying to analyze both brothers. “Where are you going?”
“I already told you.”
The property. Yeah, Sawyer got the message loud and clear. “You could trust me.”
“I do.” Marcus shoved his wallet in his pocket and opened the front door. “It’s your women skills I’m worried about.”
Then he slipped out. Sawyer continued to sit there, not sure what happened over the last few minutes. Maybe he should have just stayed at Hailey’s house.
He pushed to his feet and tried to figure out if he had time for a shower before heading out. “Your brother is a pain in the ass.”
“That’s not news.”
Sawyer couldn’t spend another second arguing about the property or Hailey or anything else. “I have to get to Pendleton.”
“Speaking of family—”
Jason’s cryptic comment stopped Sawyer in the doorway to the hallway. “Were we?”
“Have you talked with Molly this morning?”
Sawyer didn’t like where this was going at all. “Why?”
Those two had been at each other for months. They used to get along. Now they bickered and fought. It got old. Then there was the problem with the way Jason looked at Molly. Sawyer had noticed. Hell, anyone with eyes would notice. Sawyer loved the guy but he could not just add Molly to his list of faceless conquests and expect to live.
Jason shrugged. “Just asking.”
“What did you do?” The lack of eye contact couldn’t be good. “Because I’ll kill you if it’s what I’m thinking you want to do to her.”
“You’ve made that clear.”
The tone, the dragging around. The whole whipped-and-confused look. Sawyer didn’t like any of it. “You sure everything is okay?”
“I just need some sleep.”
Some of the tension seeped out of the room. “We need to get you a life of your own.”
Jason’s smile faded. “Yeah, tell me about it.”
* * *
Hailey walked into The Bakery a little after two that afternoon. She’d planned to stay home and ignore the newest round of property proposals her lawyer had sent over. Every property developer on the west coast had checked in. Or so it felt like.
Kat stopped in the act of wiping down the counter. “What are you doing here?”
The next few minutes could go really badly. Hailey was prepared for that, but she couldn’t ignore the anxiety spinning around inside her. “Where’s Barkley? I need to borrow him for a few hours.”
“In the back sleeping. I think Jessie gave him a whole box of biscuits.” Kat’s eyes narrowed. “Why?”
“I went for a walk this morning after Sawyer and you guys left, and found an opening in the fence. Looked like a few of the boards were broken.” She’d gone into full panic mode a second later. She hadn’t seen anything or heard anyone, but the idea of another person living on her land made her shaky. “I need to check the entire perimeter.”
She’d bring her gun and the dog. Have her cell ready and be prepared to scream her head off. She suspected she wouldn’t find anything but this was really about control. She hated feeling vulnerable and the only way she knew to conquer that was with strength.
Kat delivered desserts to a couple a few seats down then came back. “You should call the police.”
Hailey had done that three times before. Every call resulted in officers coming to the house and questions. They’d blame vagrants or animals then look at her as if she’d had some weird bout of hysteria.
“I can’t prove someone got in. The damage could be from anything.” She come up with that excuse and kept repeating it in her head. Maybe at some point she’d believe it.
Kat poured two cups of coffee and set one in front of each of them. “Then you could call Sawyer.”
“That’s your answer for everything.” Hailey had actually moved him onto her favorites list so she could call him fast, if needed. She even toyed with the idea of telling him, but the property was such a sensitive subject between them.
“For you? Yeah, it is.”
Hailey slid her fingers over the handle of the mug. “He’s not law enforcement.”
“But he’s big and he apparently knows how to use a gun.”
Nothing was a secret, including the whole gun range thing. “Jessie told you.”
“The second after I left your house.” Kat tapped the pocket with her cell outlined in it. “Text.”
“Yeah, well, the last thing I need is Sawyer walking around shooting at things.” But the idea of calling him in did sound good. She thought about him, those hands and that face, and the nerves jumping around inside her went quiet. “He’ll get arrested and I’ll have to bail him out.”
Kat smiled over the rim of her mug. “How sweet.”
“Why are you so pro-Sawyer?”
That question trumped everything else buzzing around Hailey. The intoxicating scent of sugar and baked goods. The vanilla Kat always added to her coffee. She couldn’t concentrate on any of it until she knew.
Slowly and with great deliberation, Kat returned her mug to the counter. The ceramic clicked against the wood. As some of the amusement left her smile. “Rob liked him. Trusted him.”
Such a simple response but it said so much. And there was no way Hailey could argue against it. “That’s almost an unfair response.”
“Then try this one.” Kat reached across the counter and grabbed Hailey’s hand. “You deserve to be happy.”
“I am.” Hailey said it more out of habit that anything else.
“You’re holding back.”
“That’s not true.” She wasn’t even in the game. Or she hadn’t been. Sawyer made her want to jump in and take risks. To forget all the problems that came along with trusting him.
“You’ve been dealt a lot of loss and now you date safe. Boring. Guys that don’t hold your attention.”
Talk about an understatement. Hailey had tried intellectuals and blue collar types. None of them rang her bell. None until Sawyer.
“Sounds smart.” The lack of energy behind her words made it hard for Hailey to convince herself.
“The word you’re looking for is lonely.”
The bell above the door chimed as the front door to The Bakery swung open. The force sounded out of context for a place that sold cookies. Hailey glanced over her shoulder in time to see Pete stomp his way up the aisle toward her.
As usual, he wore his uniform. Maybe it was required, but Hailey would bet it was more likely he did it to gain attention. The guy never understood that respect had to be earned and honor went beyond a uniform.
He stopped right next to her. “I’ve been looking for you.”
“Pete.” She reached for her mug but pulled her hand back when she decided she might need her hands free for this unwanted meeting.
He looked around at the five occupied tables in the place. “This time your guard dog isn’t here.”
“I can call Barkley.” Kat moved toward the door marked PRIVATE.
Not knowing what the guy had planned, Hailey stopped her friend. This scene called for de-escalation. “He means Sawyer.”
Chain of Command Page 11