by Elle James
He released her hands and rocked over to the side, jumping to his feet and out of her way.
JoJo rolled over and scrambled to her feet. She moved several steps away from him in a crouching, ready stance. Ready to take off if he should come after her, or to defend herself if he attacked her.
He held up his hands as if in surrender. “Look, I’m sorry I startled you, but you couldn’t hear me over the engine.”
“What do you want?” she demanded.
His lips twisted into a wry grin. “I only came to tell you that Gunny’s swamped in the Watering Hole and needs your help.” He dropped his hands, and then rubbed his arm where she’d bitten him.
JoJo’s head spun, and her stomach roiled. She had to find a place to sit quick or she’d fall or throw up. Either way, she’d make more of an ass of herself than she already had with this man. She spied an overturned five-gallon bucket, sat down on it and put her head between her knees.
“Are you okay?” Careful to stay out of her range, he squatted beside her.
“I’m fine,” she said. “Just don’t…”
“Don’t touch you?” he asked. And he chuckled. “Trust me, I promise not to touch you unless you want me to.”
Her heart beat fast, and her head still spun. Gray fog moved in, and JoJo felt herself tip over on the bucket.
“Sorry,” he said, as he dove to catch her, “I have to break my promise.”
JoJo fought the haze sucking her down, and through that haze, she realized that Max was easing her to the ground and then removing his hands from her body.
“Hey, Tiger, talk to me,” his said, his voice sounding like he was in a long tunnel. “What’s wrong? Talk to me. Do I need to call an ambulance?”
“No,” she said shaking her head from side to side. “I’m okay.”
“You don’t look so okay,” he said. “You’re kind of pale and pasty.”
“No, really. I’m okay,” she said, pushed the hair out of her face and tried to sit up. Her vision blurred, and she lay back.
“Let me help you sit up,” he said and held out his hand.
She looked at it for a moment, and then reached out and placed hers in his.
He gently pulled her up into a sitting position. “Now, you want to tell me what that was all about?”
She shook her head. “Nothing.”
His eyes narrowed, and he stared into hers.
Heat rose into her cheeks. “It’s not any of your business.”
His lips twitched in the hint of a smile. “It is when I’m thrown, kicked and bitten.”
She glanced away from his face. “It’s not something I want to talk about.”
Max’s brow furrowed as he continued to stare at her. Finally, he sighed. “At least, let me get you up to the lodge.”
“No,” she shook her head, “I need to help Gunny.”
“Let me get you up to the lodge, and I’ll go help Gunny.”
She shook her head, her lips pressing together. “He wouldn’t have asked you to come get me if he didn’t need me.”
He gave her a crooked smile. “True, I’m not as fast as you are delivering trays to tables. I might have dropped a few glasses on the floor. Gunny muttered something like, ‘Snowblower be damned. Go get her.’” His grin broadened.
“Sorry. I should’ve skipped fixing the snowblower and come to work at the bar.”
“It’s okay,” Max said. “I know my limitations. It didn’t hurt my feelings.”
“I just need to get on my feet, and then I’ll be all right.” Though her head had stopped spinning, JoJo wasn’t positive her legs would hold her if she stood.
“Seriously,” Max said, “you need to go up to the lodge and lie down for a little bit.”
Ignoring him, she bunched her legs beneath her and pushed to her feet.
When she swayed, he reached out and cupped her elbow. “Again, I broke my promise, but I didn’t want you to fall.”
She leaned into his grip until her body quit swaying and her head cleared. “I’m feeling better already,” she said though she felt sick to her stomach. Why did she have to be this way? Why couldn’t she act like a normal person, instead of flipping her shit when somebody came up behind her? Add the fact she’d told Max never to touch her again, and then he’d had to touch her to keep her from falling all over the floor. Heat burned in her cheeks. She squared her shoulders and faced him. “I’m really sorry if I hurt you.”
His mouth quirked up on one side. “It wasn’t something I was expecting, but I’ll survive. Now, which direction are you going? To the lodge or to the Watering Hole?”
She gave him a tight smile. “The Watering Hole.”
“Okay then, I’m going with you.”
“That won’t be necessary,” she said. “I’ll get there on my own.”
“I’d rather you didn’t. Not a choice,” he said. “I promise not to touch you this time, unless you fall again.”
A flash of guilt filled her. The man had taken care of her when she’d more or less attacked him. “I’m sorry. Thank you for looking after me.” She went to the hose outside the barn and washed her hands, getting some of the grease off before she walked to the Watering Hole where she would scrub her hands with a strong soap.
Max walked alongside her, his limp more pronounced than before.
JoJo grimaced. “Did I hurt your leg when I threw you?”
“Don’t worry about it. Sometimes, I just have to work out the kinks.”
“Do you mind if I asked what happened? I mean, you were active duty at one point. Did you get injured in the war?”
His lips firmed into a thin line.
“Hey,” she said, “if you don’t want to talk about it, that’s fine with me.”
He shook his head. “No, it’s okay. I deployed five times. Five times, I came back intact with no major injuries. It was just my lucky day when I got this.” He tapped his leg.
“How so?” she asked.
“I was in charge of mountain training. We were rappelling on a cliff. I’d done it maybe a hundred times before, no problems. Just happened to be that day something went wrong, my D-ring broke, and I fell two-hundred-fifty-feet to the ground.”
JoJo shot a startled look toward him. “Oh my God, that’s awful. How can you call that your lucky day?”
He gave her a slow smile. “Though I broke almost every bone in my body, I survived. I didn’t have bleeding on the brain. The doctor said I was lucky I didn’t die.” His smile faded, and he stared off into the distance. “Sometimes, I wonder.”
“For having broken every bone in your body, and you still lived to tell about it, I’d say you’re doing pretty good.”
“I suppose. It’s hard to start over when all you’ve known is the Army.”
JoJo nodded. “I know exactly what you mean. I enlisted straight out of high school. Coming off active duty and trying to assimilate into civilian society has been a challenge,” she said. “I may not have been shot at as many times as you were. But deployments were...” She waved a hand.
“Intense?”
Her eyes widened. “Exactly. Then you get back to the real world—as some people consider it—and there’s no sense of life and death or urgency whatsoever.”
“Now, you know everything there is to know about me,” Max said. “I’m a broken-down soldier who’s trying to figure out his way in life again. If it weren’t for the Brotherhood Protectors, I’d still be looking for a job. When my only skills include weaponry, tactics and mountaineering, my resume doesn’t check a lot of employers’ boxes.”
“Sounds like the Brotherhood Protectors have got your number though,” JoJo said. “From what RJ tells me, they’ve done good things up in Montana, and now, they are looking to do that here in Colorado. So, you’ll be on the ground floor of this new office. That has to be a good thing.”
He nodded. “We’re still in the startup phase. Word hasn’t gotten out, so I still don’t have my first assignment. On the other hand, it�
�s nice that we can help with the remodeling and also help Gunny manage the dude ranch and bar.”
“And it’s a good thing the Brotherhood Protectors came along when they did,” JoJo said. “The rent you guys are paying on the place has really helped out Gunny.”
When they reached the back of the Watering Hole bar, Max opened the door for her and held it, waiting for her to go in.
She paused and met his gaze. “Again, I’m sorry I attacked you, and thank you for coming to my rescue when I passed out.”
He nodded. “My pleasure. And you didn’t hurt me, except for the part where you bit me. No worries, and maybe, someday, you’ll be comfortable enough to tell me what happened today. What scared you so much you felt the need to deep six me.”
Or not, JoJo thought, as she entered the building. Being raped and almost killed was not something she felt she could share with any man at that point. Not even Gunny.
Chapter 2
Banished from waiting tables in the bar, Max helped Gunny make sandwiches in the kitchen while RJ and JoJo handled the bar and dining area in the Watering Hole.
“Thanks for helping out in the kitchen.” Gunny swiped a slice of bread with a layer of mayo and slapped it onto the other side of the sandwich.
“I’m sorry I wasn’t more help in the dining area,” Max said. “My leg’s still a little stiff and makes for an unsteady gait.”
Gunny nodded, cut the roast beef sandwich in half and laid it onto a plate. “While you’re still renovating, recruiting and getting the word out that Brotherhood Protectors are here in Colorado, I’m really appreciative of all the help the organization is giving us here at the Lost Valley Ranch.”
Max nodded. “We’re more than happy to help. I don’t know about Jake, but I’d go crazy if I didn’t have anything to do.”
Gunny grinned. “There’s always something to do on the ranch, and if not on the ranch, then here in the Watering Hole. Speaking of something to do,” Gunny said, “I haven’t even told RJ yet, but I had a local politician schedule a retreat for this weekend.”
“That’s only four days away,” Max said.
Gunny grimaced. “Less than that. The politician and his aide will be here tomorrow. The rest of his campaign committee will be here on Thursday.”
Max hiked an eyebrow. “That soon?”
With a nod, Gunny pulled out a hamburger bun and scooped a burger off the grill, sliding it onto the bun. The man didn’t seem in the least stressed. “That soon.”
“Are you ready?” Max plucked a leaf of lettuce from the head sitting beside the old Marine and laid it on the plate beside the hamburger.
“Considering it’s kind of late in the season and schools are all back in session, we can use the business, and I didn’t have any reservations tying up the conference room. So, the timing’s good.” He glanced up. “I’m just looking forward to a little help taking care of all the people who will be here. Some will be here for the weekend, and some will just be commuting back and forth from Colorado Springs. They’re gearing up for the next election. So, it’ll be a mix of campaign staff, and they’ll also have a meet-and-greet or a shake-and-grin, or whatever civilians call it, for the locals to come out to the ranch and get to know the candidate.”
Max cut into a tomato and placed a slice on the plate with the hamburger. “Sounds kind of like a big deal to me.”
Gunny shrugged. “We’ll have a big barbecue on Friday night and invite the public. Saturday will be an ATV tour. We’ll take the campaign staff out for little teambuilding activities, so they can get to know each other and have a little fun together. Thankfully, they’ll be in town Saturday night at a restaurant that they’ve reserved in Fool’s Gold. I’ll have RJ and JoJo working pretty much 24/7. They’ll be on call for whatever the guests might need, along with me.”
“Any way that I can help, count me in,” Max said. He scooped fries onto the plate and set it on the window ledge between the kitchen and the bar.
Gunny leaned toward the window and shouted, “Order up!”
The man was a rock. Nothing ruffled him. Not even the thought of a crowd of people showing up with only a day or two to prepare.
“Seems like there will be a lot of work getting ready for this.”
“It’ll get done,” Gunny said with confidence. “I have a chuckwagon stored in a shed that I’ll pull out for the Friday night barbecue. It has a huge grill on one side and drink chests on the other. We’ll have ranch activities for all the guests. RJ and JoJo will conduct the ATV tour Saturday.”
“Sounds like fun,” Max said.
“I just hope the weather cooperates,” Gunny said. “There’s supposed to be an early cold front sweeping down from the north late Friday evening, hopefully, after the barbecue.”
“If it’s cold, will they still go out on the ATVs?” Max asked.
“It’ll be up to our guests. We do have coveralls we use during the winter for our snowmobile rides. We can still do ATV rides when it’s cold as long as everyone wears the coveralls.”
“You know I trained in mountaineering. We’re familiar with snowmobiles and ATVs getting around in the mountains. And also, I’m also experienced in rappelling and actual mountain climbing,” Max said. “Not that I do too much of that anymore.” He touched his leg.
“I’ll keep that in mind,” Gunny said. “I don’t want to abuse the Brotherhood Protectors’ offer to help, but it sure will be nice that you guys are here and that, if you’re not busy, you could help.”
Max grinned. “It’s a good thing the renovations are nearing a close. It’s looking pretty good in the basement of the lodge.”
Gunny nodded. “I was surprised at how modern and up to date all the equipment is down there and yet how rustic the décor is. I heard Kujo and Jake talking about the design before Kujo headed back to Montana and his pregnant wife.”
“Hank Patterson wanted to make sure that, if things didn’t work out with an office for the Brotherhood Protectors in Colorado, that he left you with something you could use. A pristine white basement wasn’t in keeping with Lost Valley Ranch’s Old West theme.”
Gunny nodded. “And I appreciate that, although any improvement would be better than what was there before. Nothing but the best for Hank Patterson. Business must be good up there in Montana. I’ve heard only good things about the Brotherhood Protectors and what they’re doing for people who need help.”
Max nodded. He’d checked into Hank’s organization before agreeing to come on board. “I’m looking forward to my first assignment, and I hope that I can do the Brotherhood proud.”
“I’m sure you will. Looks to me like Hank Patterson’s got an eye for good people. We were sure glad to get Jake here. If it weren’t for him, our RJ wouldn’t be with us anymore.”
At that moment, RJ pushed the swinging door into the kitchen. “We could use some food for these hungry folks.” She spied the plates and grinned. “Oh, good. The sandwiches are ready.” She loaded them onto a large round tray and looked at Max and Gunny, her eyes narrowing. “What are you two talking about.”
Max let Gunny answer.
“Nothing but a pretty big gig coming this weekend.” Gunny didn’t look up as he spoke.
About to turn with the tray in her arms, RJ froze, her eyes widening. “What did you say?”
“We got a big gig for this weekend.” This time, Gunny looked up, a smile tugging at the corners of his lips.
“Gig? We’re not a rock band.” She glared at her father. “Explain.”
“Gonna fill the rooms, throw a big party and entertain a pile of people Thursday to Sunday when they check out.”
“You’re kidding, right?” She shifted the weight of the tray in her arms. “Is that why you had me get all those supplies?”
Gunny nodded. “They faxed over a contract today while you were down in Colorado Springs picking up all those supplies.”
“Wasn’t that putting the cart before the horse?” RJ asked.
“I alre
ady had the check. I just didn’t want to say anything until I had the contract in hand, but now that I do, you’ve already purchased all the supplies.”
“Holy hell, Gunny.” RJ rolled her eyes. “Who are we hosting?”
“We have a politician’s campaign staff showing up this weekend for a retreat and a public barbecue to introduce the candidate to the locals and give them a chance to shake and grin.”
RJ plunked the heavy tray of food down on the counter. “We’re doing what this weekend?”
“I know it’s short notice,” Gunny said. “But with it being so late in the season, we only had two reservations for lodging this weekend, and I thought, what the hell? We can do this.”
“Why the heck didn’t you tell me earlier?” RJ threw her hands in the air. “Like before I went to get all the supplies?”
Max almost laughed at how worked up RJ was and how calm Gunny remained.
The old Marine went back to making sandwiches, his focus on his hands, not his daughter’s wrath. “I didn’t want you to get all anxious and riled before you drove into Colorado Springs.”
RJ spun away from the tray, walked a few steps and spun back. “Are you kidding me? We only have a couple days to pull this thing together.”
Gunny grimaced. “Uh, actually, we have until tomorrow.”
“Tomorrow?” RJ’s eyes widened. “Tomorrow! They’re getting here tomorrow?” She turned, paced away and returned. “How are we supposed to get ready for all that by tomorrow?”
“Don’t worry about it. There’s only gonna be two for tomorrow. The candidate and his executive officer are coming in early.”
“Again, how are we supposed to get everything ready by tomorrow even if it’s just two of them?”
“Two people won’t be a big deal,” Gunny assured her. “We have enough rooms empty, and they’re all clean. We’re only providing breakfast. They’ll take care of themselves for lunch and dinner. They want to scout out what’s available in Fool’s Gold, and they want to check out the casino.” Gunny nodded toward the tray of food. “You need to get that food out to those people. There’s some hungry guys out there.”