Once the waitress returned his credit card, Buck stood and helped Regina into her coat before pulling on his own. It took them a good ten or fifteen minutes to get out of there, since several people stopped one or the other, or both, to talk on their way to the door. Red came from around the bar to give Regina another hug and to shake hands with Buck. When they finally exited to the parking lot, a cold breeze wrapped around them. The temperature had dropped from around fifty-eight degrees during the day, to just above freezing, hours after the sun had set.
Regina tugged her peacoat tighter around her torso, and Buck glanced down at her feet. Her shoes were sexy and added about three inches to her height, but they weren’t ideal for cold weather. She wasn’t a southern transplant who didn’t know any better, so had she worn them for him? Heat pooled in his groin and caused his dick to twitch at the thought, despite the cold weather.
Like the gentleman his parents had raised, he escorted Regina to her vehicle. She used a key fob to unlock the SUV, and he opened the driver’s door for her. Before she climbed in, she turned to face him. “Thank you, again, for last night. You helped me avoid a total panic attack.”
“It was my pleasure,” he said truthfully as he gazed into her dark-blue eyes. Hell, he could stare at her all day and night and never get tired of it.
The wind lifted her beautiful, black hair, scattering a few strands, and he reached over and tucked them behind her ear. “It was also nice to catch up with you. I’ve missed you, Gi.” Her eyes widened at his unexpected confession, and she licked her lips, drawing his attention to them. They were plump and pink and looked so damn kissable.
Aw, hell. He couldn’t help himself. Lowering his head, he kept his gaze on her delectable mouth. He was barely an inch away from kissing her, when she shoved against his chest, backing him up a few steps. Fire flared in her eyes, and her face hardened. “No. You don’t get to do that again, Buck. You didn’t like it last time, remember? You apologized and ran without an explanation. Was I that bad of a kisser?” His mouth dropped, and she held up a hand. “You know what? Don’t answer that because I really don’t want to know if that was the reason.”
“What the hell? How could you think . . .” Before he could finish his question, she spun around and started to climb into the driver’s seat. Oh, hell no.
Grasping her upper arm, he pulled until she crashed into his own body. Taking her other arm, he helped her get her balance before he stepped forward and pinned her against the rear passenger door. She gaped at him as he got into her face. “Is that what you think? That I left because you were a bad kisser? Seriously, Gi?”
Not waiting for an answer, he cupped her jaw and crushed his mouth down on hers. He melded their lips together and took advantage of her open mouth, sweeping his tongue inside to duel with hers. She was rigid at first, but then she melted. Her arms went around his neck, and her fingers brushed against the hair just above his nape.
Bad kisser? Hell no. She was a freaking amazing kisser, at least she was with him. Christ, it was even better than he remembered. Regina gave as much as he offered. He cursed the fact they were standing in a parking lot and not someplace where he could strip her naked and worship her body the way it deserved to be.
A car pulled into the lot, casting its headlights over them for a brief moment. Buck slowed the kiss until he finally lifted his head just far enough to look into her eyes, which were filled with shock, passion, and need. “Me walking out like an ass, without an explanation, had nothing to do with how you kissed me, Gi, and everything to do with the fact you were nineteen and naive, with your whole life ahead of you. I was twenty-six and trying to come to terms with the things I’d done and seen in the Middle East. I was already damaged and couldn’t let that damage touch you. You were a bright light, and the last thing I wanted to do was to extinguish that light with the darkness inside me. I’m sorry I hurt you.”
Her gaze dropped to his chest. “You didn’t hurt me,” she mumbled.
“Liar.”
Her chin lifted, and anger filled her face for the second time tonight. She pushed against his chest, this time forcing him back a step. Damn it, he’d fucked up—again.
“Go to hell, Buck.” She climbed into her vehicle, and this time he let her. Without another word, she closed the door, started the engine, and raced out of the parking lot. As he watched the taillights disappear around a bend in the road, his gut clenched. Like an idiot, he’d hurt her once more, but, this time, he wasn’t going to wait seven years to make it up to her and, ultimately, kiss her again. Because . . . shit . . . because he was still fucking in love with her after all that time.
“Hey, what are you doing here?” Buck asked Justin as he strolled into the garage attached to the maintenance building where Ryan’s office was. Justin had the hood of his Chevy Silverado up and was bent over the engine, tinkering with it.
“Giving the truck a tune-up. Changing the filters and oil and stuff. Not going to have much time to do it in another week or so.”
“Yeah, I was planning on doing mine one night this week too.”
He leaned against the front quarter panel and watched his friend work for a few minutes. Justin lifted a brow at him. “What’s on your mind?”
“What makes you think anything is?”
“Because, dude, you’re standing there, not saying a word, and watching me change a fan belt like it’s the most interesting thing in the world. Now, fess up. What’s going on?”
He shrugged. “I need some advice.”
Standing erect, Justin pulled a rag out of the back pocket of his jeans and wiped his hands. “Shoot.”
Buck hesitated a moment, trying to figure out how to explain his dilemma without giving his friend too much information. “There’s this girl . . . woman, who I’ve known for a while, and I really like her. Like she’s all I can think about now, and I’m scared to start anything with her.”
“Why’s that?”
“This PTSD crap. I’m afraid I’m going to have a flashback when I’m with her and freak out. I mean, shit, what if I wake up from a nightmare swinging and I hurt her?”
Justin eyed him. “When was the last time you slept with a woman? I mean, actually slept with one?”
His gaze dropped to the floor, and he shuffled his feet in embarrassment. “It’s been a while. A long while. I don’t want to hurt anyone.”
“I can understand that. I’ve woken a few times, not sure where I was and who I was with.” He crossed his arms and leaned his hip against the front of the truck. “Does this chick know you have PTSD?”
“It came up in a conversation, but she doesn’t know the full extent of it. And she’s not a chick.”
The corners of his mouth raised. “Sorry. Okay, so this woman knows about your PTSD. Was she sympathetic and understanding or did she blow it off like it was probably just all in your head and it wasn’t real?”
Buck thought back to the talk he’d had with Regina the night the power had gone out. “No, she definitely got it. Didn’t blow it off at all.”
“That’s a plus. Listen, Buck, you can’t spend your life alone. If you care for this woman and want something more than a one- or two-night stand with her, then you’re going to have to take a step forward and see if she can handle your PTSD. If she’s the one for you, she’ll stand by you through thick and thin—flashbacks, nightmares, and all. And if she’s not, you’ll know it soon enough. The one thing I learned about losing Noah the way we did was to make sure when it’s your time to go, don’t have any regrets about chances you never took.”
Sticking his hands into the front pockets of his jeans, Buck asked, “Do you think he had regrets?”
Justin lifted a shoulder. “I don’t know. I’d like to think he didn’t, but only he and our maker know the answer to that. I just hope I don’t have any down the line, and I hope you and Ryan don’t either.”
Inhaling deeply, he let out the breath slowly. There were a lot of things in his adult life he regretted—am
ong them, not being able to say goodbye to his father when the old man had suffered a massive heart attack and passed away, the blood on his hands from combat, and running out on Regina all those years ago. “I already have a bunch of regrets—some I can’t do anything about—but maybe I can turn at least one of them around.”
“So, you’re gonna ask her out?”
A smile spread across his face. “Yeah, I think I will.”
“Good.” Justin stuck his head under the hood again and began unscrewing the top to the air filter housing. “Hand me that new filter over there.”
Glancing around, Buck saw a box sitting on top of a large, red toolbox and stepped over to grab it. He opened it and handed the filter to Justin. “Thanks. So, when are you going to tell Ryan that you want to date his sister?”
Taken aback, he froze as his eyes grew to the size of saucers. “Shit, how did you know it was Gi I was talking about?”
His friend smirked. “I didn’t know for certain until just now. I suspected you had a thing for her years ago, but then something changed between you two, sometime around the Vaughns’ funeral. What happened?”
Leave it to one of his best buddies to see right through him. He ran a frustrated hand through his hair. “I kissed her, but it was before Mr. & Mrs. V. were killed. It just happened, and I freaked out afterward for a few reasons. I apologized and took off, not realizing I’d hurt her by not staying and explaining how I felt and why it would be better if I let her find someone who didn’t have blood on his hands. She’s barely said a word to me over the past seven years, with the exception of at the Vaughns’ and Noah’s funerals.” A thought occurred to him. “Shit, do you think Ry knows I kissed her and then ran?”
“Did he kick your ass over it?”
Relieved, Buck snorted. “You’re right—he doesn’t know.”
“Yeah, well, you better tell him before you take things to the next level. And don’t expect him not to try to kick your ass just for thinking of Gi like that.”
The guy was right again. And it looked like he was going to have to throw down with his best friend, because Buck had every intention of taking things to the next level with Regina, whether she realized it yet or not.
Sighing, Regina threw a few files she wanted to work on that evening into her briefcase before grabbing her purse. It’d been a long day, and she was still brewing over how things had ended between her and Buck the other night. What annoyed her most was she was reliving that kiss they’d shared more than what had happened in the moments after it. She’d almost accepted his apology and explanation of why he’d walked away from her seven years ago, but then he’d branded her a liar about not being hurt. The truth was, she had been lying—she’d just gotten pissed he’d called her on it. And now she looked like a petulant child who’d had a tantrum in front of him. Crap.
“Night, Regina,” the receptionist, Megan O’Brien said as Regina walked past her desk. It was just after five, and the other woman was shutting down her computer for the evening.
“Night, Megan. See you tomorrow.”
Pushing open the door, she stepped into the hallway that led to the lobby of the building Carney & Brewer shared with five other business offices. From there, she would take the stairs down one flight to the employees-only parking garage. Regina was sure in a few weeks she’d be grateful for four cement walls that kept out most of the elements. Her car would warm up much faster in there than if she’d parked in the outside lot.
A few people from the other offices were also on their way out and she exchanged short, friendly greetings with a few of them. Reaching the garage level, she turned left toward where she’d parked her SUV that morning. As she approached, she was dismayed to see the front tire of the vehicle was flat. “Well, shit.”
Thankfully, her father had demanded she learn how to change a tire before allowing her to get her driver’s license. It just really sucked she’d have to do it while wearing a pair of dress pants, her favorite sweater, and pumps.
Walking between her SUV and the car next to it, she stopped short when she saw the rear tire was in the same condition as the front one. “What the hell?”
Her brow furrowing, she hurried around to the passenger side, only to find both those tires were flat as well. Glancing around, she didn’t see anyone watching her. A car driven by one of the women she’d descended the stairs behind was pulling up to the yellow arm of the security gate. While it kept unauthorized people from driving in, it didn’t stop anyone from walking in.
Digging into the outside pocket of her purse, she found her cell phone and hit the speed dial for Ryan. Nothing happened. Shit. The walls of the garage were interfering with her service. Unlocking the SUV, she put her bag and briefcase on the passenger seat, then locked the door again. She moved closer to the exit and when she finally saw a few more bars pop up, she tried to place the call again. This time it went through.
“Hey, Gi, what’s up?”
Through a combination of anger and a few frustrated tears, she told her brother what’d happened.
“Shit, Gi. Is anyone around?”
She checked her surroundings again. “Just a few people leaving for the day.”
“I’m on my way. I want you to go back up to your office and call the police.”
“The police? Why?” Even as she asked it, she knew it was a stupid question. “Never mind. No one has four flat tires unless someone did it purposely. I’ll call the police after I hang up with you.”
“No, I want you to go back to your office until I get there—or the police do. Call from there. It’s safer.”
“All right, I’m going.”
Disconnecting the call, she strode quickly back to her car, retrieved her purse and briefcase, and decided to take the elevator back up the one flight. She suddenly had no urge to be in the stairwell by herself. She watched the only three people in the elevator get out and walk away before she stepped into it.
The front door to the CPA office was still unlocked, which meant there were still people inside, which wasn’t uncommon. A quick glance around revealed two of her coworkers were still at their desks, Mr. Carney was in his office, talking on the phone, and one of the other senior CPAs was at his desk with an open file, punching the buttons on his calculator. None of them paid her any attention.
Taking a seat at her desk, she called the non-emergency line for the Largo Ridge Police Department. It was one of those phone numbers she knew by heart from her elementary school days when she’d gone through the D.A.R.E. program with her classmates. After relaying the nature of her call, she was told an officer would be responding shortly and she should wait in her office until he arrived.
Ten minutes later, she was back down in the parking garage with Officer Luke Atwater. He was kind of cute and around her age. If he’d gone to school in Largo Ridge, he hadn’t been in Regina’s class. While he was taking down her information and asking if she knew of any reason why someone would slash her tires—yes, he’d discovered someone had sliced them with a knife—he was also flirting with her. She was flattered but not to the point she flirted back.
The patrolman was taking photos of her vehicle when Ryan and Buck strode past the downed arm of the gate and headed for her. Buck reached her first, his concerned gaze raking over her. “Gi, what the hell happened?”
Not wanting to let her brother in on the fact she and Buck were having personal issues, Regina acted as normal as one could be after finding someone had slashed her tires. “I don’t know. I came down to leave for the night and found all four tires flat. Officer Atwater said someone sliced them with a knife.”
“Fuck,” Ryan murmured as he circled around the vehicle and introduced himself to the cop.
Buck glanced up and slowly turned a full circle on the ball of his foot. “There’re security cameras. Hopefully, they caught the asshole who did this.”
“I’ll contact the building manager and see if I can get a copy of the tapes,” Atwater said as he joined them. Taking
a card out of his breast pocket, he scribbled a number on it before handing it to Regina. “That’s the report number for your insurance company. And if you have any questions or think of anyone who may have done this, the phone number for my department voice mail is on there too. Call me anytime.”
Those last three words were said with a hint of suggestiveness, and she wasn’t the only one who’d heard it. Frowning, Buck growled lowly and took a step closer to her. Undeterred, the cop just smiled and said, “You take care now, Ms. Vaughn. Goodnight.”
As the officer returned to his vehicle in the outside parking lot, Regina turned to face Ryan and Buck. “So, what do I do now? Dad never covered how to change four tires at once.”
Despite the situation, both men snorted and chuckled, the tension in them easing a bit. Ryan gestured to the security gate. “Can you plug in your code, so I can bring Mikey’s flatbed in? We stopped by on the way over and picked it up.” Mikey was their cousin who was an auto mechanic and had his own repair shop about two miles down the road. “He said he’s got four tires in this size already in stock. I’ll help him replace the flats, and then he’ll do an alignment. Buck can take you home now in his truck, and I’ll drive yours back to the house when we’re done.” Well, that explained why Buck was there.
Hell. She really didn’t want to go anywhere with Buck right then, but she didn’t see a way out of her brother’s plan without giving that fact away. “Um . . . okay. Tell Mikey I said thanks for staying late and I’ll swing by tomorrow to pay him for everything.”
“I doubt he’ll worry about that. He knows you’re good for it.”
Glancing at her SUV, she let out a heavy sigh. “Why would someone do this?”
“Piss anyone off lately, Gi?” Buck asked.
You mean, besides you? Not that he would ever do something so cruel as slashing her tires, no matter how mad he was at her. “No.”
“Could your ex-fiancé be this vindictive?”
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