HazardsDare

  “Much to your chagrin, I take it?”

  “Trust me. I didn’t get much sleep knowing Remington Sinclair was on the other bed.”

  “You should have invited him over.”

  “I would have if he’d not been sound asleep when I came out of the bathroom. He’d been driving for hours. We slept for a few hours, got back on the road and learned Ethan had been shot.”

  “That was a crazy time.

  “Yes, it was. But on that note, I should head on home and let you get in touch with Hazard. I’m sure you’re missing him.”

  “Like crazy,” Avery admitted.

  Eve stood up. “Do you need anything before I go? I put your suitcase and carryon in your bedroom.”

  “I’m good. I don’t even need the crutches much now that I’m home. Tomorrow, I’ll get some laundry done. Several things need to go to the dry cleaners.”

  “Would you like me to do that for you?”

  “No, I’ll manage. Alexander and Ryan are coming over first thing and bringing breakfast from the diner.”

  “Excellent, have them order the biscuits and gravy.”

  “And homemade grits,” Avery said.

  “Now I’m hungry. As long as you’re okay, I’ll say bye for now.”

  “Bye for now. Call tomorrow.”

  “I will. Thanks for the girl talk.”

  “Anytime. Hey, make sure you come to the castle on Saturday for Hazard’s game. Ryan and Alexander are going to host a big party.”

  “I wouldn’t miss your man’s big day.”

  Eve waved goodbye and headed out the door. Avery grabbed the television remote and powered on her forty-inch flat screen. Her small array of plants set about the small apartment had been lovingly attended to by Morgan and Cassie while she’d been away.

  Everything was exactly as she left it. Satisfied, Avery grinned when her landline phone rang. Thanks to caller ID, she knew it was Hazard.

  Grabbing the cordless from the charging station next to her easy chair, she answered. “Hi, Hazard.”

  “Hi, baby. Everything all right there?”

  “It’s nice to be home, but I miss you.”

  “Yeah, I know how you feel.”

  Avery filled him in about the football viewing party. “Hazard, you do know that I’d far rather be with you on Saturday than watching on a big screen.”

  “Sure do, there’s nothing I’d want more. I have some good news and bad news to share.”

  “Give me the good first.”

  “My father’s coming to the game. I took your advice and called him. We talked for an hour, Avery. We haven’t had that kind of conversation in a long time. It was good.”

  Avery was happy for Hazard. “That’s wonderful news.” But that meant the bad news was really bad.

  “It’ll be good to see him. He’s flying in with my brother Friday night.”

  “Oh no,” Avery whispered.

  “Angie found out about his affair. She kicked him out.”

  “How’s he doing?”

  “He’s miserable. Now that they’re separated, he ended things with the woman he was seeing and wants Angie back.”

  “Is it too late?”

  “I don’t know. I invited him to the game to get away from the situation and think about what he really wants. Either way, I told him to get some family counseling. The girls are going to need their father, no matter what happens between him and Angie.”

  “Good advice. Maybe they’ll work things out.”

  “If they don’t, I’m going to let Angie know she’ll always be family. If she needs something, all she has to do is call.”

  “I’m sure she’ll appreciate that. You’re a good man, Trevor Osbourne,” Avery said, proud of him.

  “I’ve got a good woman helping me be a better man. What else have I missed today? Is your ankle doing better?”

  “Remarkably, yes,” she told him. “Doc is amazing. He set me up in a room so I could rest and read. The RICE treatment helped a great deal.”

  “Remind me to thank him for helping you.”

  “I will. There’s something you should know. My brother and John Redman had a short-lived history.”

  For a minute nothing but Hazard’s heavy breath came over the line. “Are we talking business or pleasure?”

  “Both. Alexander said John was his first client. Things went south after they’d become intimate. Alexander talked to Phalen Maddox. He’s having Phalen follow up on what Sawyer Hamilton provided.”

  “Redman’s weird, Avery.”

  “Tell me about it. Now I understand why he didn’t seem to like me. I’d say he blamed me for what went wrong with Alexander.”

  “Doesn’t make sense that Redman would be angry with you for something that happened with Alex,” Hazard said. “Tell Phalen if he needs to get in touch with Sawyer directly, I’m sure it can be arranged. I’d also like Alex and Ryan to keep an eye on you when I can’t be there.”

  “I’ll be fine. I’ve got loads of friends to look after me. The Maddox brothers alone can put the fear of God into most mortal men. One’s a detective.”

  “I still want them to look after you. It’s killing me to know I can’t be there now.”

  “If you could, I know you’d be here.”

  “Soon I will be, baby, soon.”

  “Tell me what’ll happen at your meeting tomorrow,” she requested. “It’ll keep my mind occupied.”

  A knock came out at the door, startling her. “Hold on a sec, Hazard. Someone’s at the door.”

  Keeping him on the line and trapping the phone with her shoulder, she managed to get out of the chair and hobble slowly to her door. Her ankle was sore, but not too terribly painful at the moment.

  Checking the eyehole, she saw her neighbor in the hallway. Vivian Albright was a sweet older woman who kept an eye on residents. Avery enjoyed their talks and frequently visited her neighbor for coffee or tea.

  “Mrs. Albright,” Avery greeted, opening the door. “This is a pleasant surprise.”

  “Welcome home, dear,” Vivian said. “I heard talking and footsteps over here and figured you’d made your way back from vacation. All went well, I take it?”

  “It was wonderful. Thank you for keeping an eye on things.”

  Before she’d moved into the apartment, Ryan and Alexander lived there until they married and moved to Druid Creek Castle. Vivian was mildly arthritic, with signs of osteoporosis, and Ryan had taken a liking to his older neighbor. He’d asked Avery to keep an eye on her, since she didn’t have a lot of family in the area.

  “I was glad to help, dear,” Vivian assured. “Your girlfriends came by a time or two to take care of the plants. Nothing remarkable happened, except one of the vacant apartments in building four was rented this morning. The super for the complex told me the couple is moving sometime next week.”

  “We’ll have new neighbors to welcome soon,” Avery said.

  “Perhaps I’ll bake them some cookies once they’re settled.”

  “That’s a great idea. How about I stop by and help?”

  “It looks like you’ve hurt your leg.”

  “I’ll be fine,” Avery insisted.

  “All the same, you should stay off it. I’ll manage the cookies. Ring me if you should need anything.”

  “Thank you, Mrs. Albright.”

  Vivian sidled off to her apartment across the hall.

  “Still there, Hazard?” she asked, putting the phone back to her ear.

  “Wouldn’t be anywhere else. Maybe you should head into your bedroom and put your feet up.”

  “Hazard Osbourne, are you suggesting phone sex?”

  “Since you brought it up, yeah.”

  “I didn’t bring it up.”

  “Which one of us said phone sex?”

  “Both of us,” she replied, giggling.

  “There’s your answer. To bed with you,” he urged.

  “It’s going to be lonely without you.”

  “We can ta
lk late into the night, if you’d like.”

  “I like the sound of that.” Avery slowly made her way to her bedroom.

  Going over to her bed, she kept the phone tucked to her ear while Hazard told her about his upcoming team meeting tomorrow and shed her clothes. Rather than bother with a nightgown, she decided to sleep nude. As a habit, she’d changed her sheets before leaving for vacation so that everything would be clean and fresh upon her return home.

  Crawling into bed was nice, but she really missed having Hazard lying next to her, holding her and keeping her warm with his intense body heat. Hearing his voice in her ear made her miss him less though, letting her reminisce about Dare while they talked for two hours.

  Only after they talked and reconnected did they get to the sex. And the phone sex was good, but real was so much better. Longing to touch Hazard for real, Avery closed her eyes and mentally returned to their hotel bed where they’d discovered how deeply they could love.

  The last thing she heard before she climaxed was, “I love you, baby,” and a satisfied groan as he came. Soon after, he sang, his sexy baritone inducing sexier dreams as she slept.

  Chapter Thirteen

  By the time Saturday arrived, Avery was super excited to see Hazard again, albeit on television.

  Alexander and Ryan had made all the arrangements for a playoff party celebrating the Griffins’ big day. Even though they were celebrating a football team from Virginia, party guests were already swarming into Druid Creek Castle.

  The nationally televised divisional playoff game started at one o’clock and the Alexandria Griffins were set to play the New Jersey Wolves. Having arrived at the castle an hour ago, Avery assisted in the game-time preparations as much as she was allowed.

  Her ankle had improved substantially since she’d come home. The swelling was down and the discoloration had faded to a dull yellowish purple.

  She did still favor it when walking and wore the brace as a precaution, but she’d abandoned the crutches and got around much easier without them. She was able to drive her Honda CR-V because it was an automatic and made her way to the grocery store the other day to stock up her near-empty fridge and pantry.

  Thankfully, she had an excellent orthopedic doctor to keep an eye on her progress and she was a trained physical therapist who knew how to rehab strains and sprains. She’d returned to work, although she paced herself to avoid damaging the healing process of her strained ankle.

  But working was good. It kept her busy and she loved working for Dr. Ryan Hathaway.

  Looking around the room, Avery saw that Ryan, Alexander and the Maddox brothers were busy putting up a big screen the likes of which could fit in a movie theater. Avery decided to let the men handle the job and joined the ladies in the pub kitchen to lend a hand there.

  Morgan Maddox currently worked to chop vegetables and set them meticulously on a serving tray. She’d made a special vegetarian dip and a dish of humus at home.

  She was looking incredibly happy and had begun wearing maternity tops and skirts. Her dark-auburn hair was swept back off her face into a cute French braid and she wore comfortable Ugg boots with her multicolored skirt and matching blouse.

  Samantha Riley came through the back door, walking a bit gingerly as she clutched grocery bags in both arms. Immediately concerned, Avery went over to help take a bag and placed it on the countertop.

  “Thanks, Avery,” Sam said, stepping back to take off her leather bomber jacket and wincing painfully.

  “Sam? Are you all right?” Avery asked, concerned.

  “Tough workout this morning,” Sam answered a little too quickly.

  “Do you need a massage? I’d be glad to do it or I could get Taran for you?”

  Sam shook her head, smiling softly as she hung her coat from a rack on the wall nearby. “Completely not necessary, but thank you. How are you feeling? I haven’t seen you since you were laid up at Doc’s clinic.”

  “I’m fine. Swelling’s all gone in my ankle and I’m able to walk without much pain at all.”

  “No soreness?”

  “Minutely. I can manage. I was finally able to get my things to the dry cleaners and washed all my clothes from vacation in the basement laundry room at my apartment complex.”

  “That’s excellent news.”

  Together, they unpacked the grocery bags, laying out bags of dough, mozzarella, cheddar, Monterey Jack and provolone, mushrooms, thinly sliced vegetables and pepperoni and cooked sausage.

  As she worked, Sam pushed the long sleeves of her sweater up to her elbows, exposing a nasty bruise that went from her wrist to her elbow.

  “Sam, your arm, what happened?”

  “Ran into something,” Sam answered as if the bruise was no big deal at all.

  “Why do I think it’s more than serious than that?”

  “I don’t know. Really, Avery, don’t freak out on me. It’s nothing.”

  “If Taran sees that, he’s going to demand answers.”

  “He has no right to demand anything,” Sam replied emphatically, yet she quickly unrolled her sleeves and covered the bruise.

  “Promise me that bruise didn’t come from a man, please,” Avery said.

  She knew Sam was a badass detective, but her friend was still recovering from having to shoot someone to save Detective Ethan Maddox’s life. If she had turned to a man other than Taran for comfort, it was her decision. But if that person was dangerous, Avery wasn’t going to sit back and do nothing.

  “I’ve not been on a real date in too many years to count, Avery. Men see me as their buddy or pal or a cold fish.”

  “Taran doesn’t see you that way. He looks at you like he wants to devour you.”

  Sam shook her head. “I’m not doing anything that would get Taran’s boxers in a twist, swear on my badge.”

  “What if he prefers tighty whities…or nothing at all?”

  “That’s none of my business. He’s free to wear whatever he wants, do whatever he wants and fuck whoever he wants.”

  “If he went out with another woman, you’d be hurt.”

  Sam looked Avery square in the eye. She might have tried to deny it, yet she didn’t.

  “It’d kill me,” she whispered in confidence.

  “If that’s the case, tell him. Don’t wait until it’s too late.”

  “It already is. Taran’s backed off. He hasn’t called me in weeks. The only time I see him is when I stop by the brownstone to work after hours on a case with Ethan. Morgan and Taran tend to vacate the room and play pool or cards in the man cave.”

  “Why do you think he’s backed off?”

  “My fault entirely,” she admitted. “At Ethan and Morgan’s wedding, he asked me to dance. I accepted.”

  “There’s nothing wrong with dancing.”

  “Dancing with Taran was magic. And tempting…it was there…our chance…and I blew it. I was too afraid that I wanted sex for the wrong reasons.”

  “Which were?”

  “To forget that I’m a cop with a reputation at the precinct as a ball-buster and feel like a woman for at least one night,” Sam admitted openly, surprising Avery.

  “You thought Taran wanted a one-night stand?”

  “I wasn’t sure I could trust him with more. I asked him to back off for a little while. I simply couldn’t handle him and the guilt of having to use deadly force against someone who was suicidal.”

  “You were left with no choice. If you hadn’t acted when you did, others could have been shot or Ethan might not be here today.”

  “In all my years on the force, I’ve never had to shoot to kill. My captain ordered me to talk to a therapist and he was right. I have and with her help I found a way to channel the guilt I felt…hell, still feel, but I’m better. I’m feeling like me again.”

  “Do tell,” Avery insisted.

  “Will you trust me as your friend and wait until I’m ready to reveal what I’m doing? I haven’t even told Ethan yet and he’s my partner.”


  “As long as it means no asshole is hurting you, I’m good. Be careful, okay?”

  Sam smiled genuinely. Whatever she was doing in her spare time, it made her happy and for that Avery wouldn’t object.

  “I’ll be careful,” Sam said. “When I’m ready, I’ll tell everyone.”

  “Including Taran?”

  “What about me?” Taran asked, coming up behind them and reaching around to steal a package of pepperoni.

  “Nothing. You can’t eat that. It’s for guests,” Sam answered, snatching the package back.

  Taran grabbed the package and a tug-of-war ensued between them. Avery felt distinctly uncomfortable witnessing the look in the youngest Maddox’s eyes.

  Intent was the best she could describe, not intense, intent. Taran intended to do something about the attraction that everyone knew was going on between him and Sam Riley.

  “Last time I checked, I was on the guest list for this shindig,” Taran stated.

  “That does not give you the right to steal the pepperoni,” Sam rebuked. “Hands off or I’ll get my cuffs.”

  “Please, baby doll, try to handcuff me. Make my day,” Taran invited, his eyes never once leaving Sam’s face.

  “Okay, that’s enough, you two. Taran Maddox, unhand the food,” Avery ordered. “Sam, maybe you could find a way to give him one slice if he asks nicely?”

  Taran let go and Sam stumbled a little. “Samantha, may I have some?”

  There was a bucket-load of meaning and charm in that request. Avery wasn’t going to ask him to elaborate and Sam shook her head, zipped open the package and gave him a slice of pepperoni.

  “There you go, big boy,” Sam said, setting it in Taran’s palm.

  “Thank you,” Taran replied, popping the treat into his mouth and chewing with satisfaction.

  He didn’t try to press his advantage by asking for more. He offered to help assemble the pizzas instead.

  Avery expected Sam to send him away. She didn’t. She encouraged him to stay.

  Quietly extricating herself from the scene, she went in search of Eve, who’d arrived with Remy Sinclair a few minutes ago. Remy was as hot as any red-blooded man currently within the walls of Druid Creek Castle.