by Natalie Ann
“We would stay in a hotel,” his father said.
“No. Mom hates it. Give me a few months to get settled and have a place for you to come visit.”
“It won’t drive you nuts if we stayed for a week or so?” his father asked.
“Never.” His parents were pretty good and he didn’t see them often. What he’d seen the last time his mother saw him were worry and concern and he didn’t want that either. As much as he needed to spend time on his own mental and physical health, he was going to make sure his mother was aware he was fine.
Even if he wasn’t sure if he really was.
“Okay. I won’t bother you too much. I called while your mom was out. I’ll tell her you are doing good and maybe she won’t bug you too much.”
“Thanks,” he said. “But she can call. It’s not a big deal.”
“It’s not,” his father said. “But you know how much she panicked over your accident. And to know things were touch and go. She thinks you are struggling more than you are letting on. You’d tell us if you were, right?”
“I would, even if I didn’t want to. It’s nothing major and everything is completely normal. You know that.”
There was silence on the other end, then his father said, “You know there are resources out there for you. I’ll find you the best there are.”
“I’m aware of that. I need time and it’s not like others. Trust me on this.”
“I know,” his father said. “Enjoy the rest of your night.”
He hung up and got up to get a beer. One of the Fierce brews that he enjoyed so much. This would hit the spot and help him relax a bit.
Or so he thought until he’d seen the name Fierce and could only think of the dark hair and eyes of Jade Fierce and felt his dick twitch in his shorts. It’d been too long since he’d been with a woman and he knew beyond a doubt she wouldn’t be a woman that would want anything to do with him, so he had to get those thoughts and reactions out of his mind and body.
7
Dinner Meeting
The following week Jade reached out to Brock. She’d sent him two emails and he hadn’t responded, so she figured she could at least give him a call. She didn’t want to think he was avoiding her for some reason. He was paying for their services. Rather she just assumed he was busy with his new job.
“Hello,” he said, his deep sexy voice making her squirm in her chair, then look up to make sure no one could see her in her office.
“Brock. This is Jade Fierce.”
“Hi, Jade. You don’t need to say your last name. You’re the only Jade I know.”
She’d heard that before in her life. She was as unique as her name, not that she thought Jade was all that unique, but it’s not like it was in the top hundred.
She’d never wanted to be considered ordinary either. But then she hated being so different too at times. Hell, she couldn’t make her mind up and made sure no one ever knew that about her.
“Anyway,” she said. “I sent you a few emails and hadn’t heard back and thought I’d give you a call. Do you have time to meet on your box?” She laughed. “You really need to come up with a name so I’m not always calling it a box.”
“Yeah, on my list of things to do. Way down on the list. Sorry. I haven’t even looked at my personal email. I hardly ever do.”
“It’s probably filled with tons of spam,” she said, knowing she checked hers several times a day. If she didn’t she’d have that little red number staring at her on her phone and making her go nuts.
“I doubt that,” he said. “I hardly do anything on the computer that would require me to put my email in.”
“You’re an in-store shopper?” she asked.
“Only when I’ve got no choice. So yes, I shop online, but it’s not like I do it often or need to check. Hang on,” he said and she heard muffled voices before he came back. “My assistant came to the door to tell me there was a call for me. I told her to take a message and I’d call the person back. Not sure why she couldn’t do that when I didn’t answer her call.”
She had heard a faint buzzing in the background. He’d probably turned the ringer down. “I won’t keep you. And because I know you’re so busy with your new job, I can be flexible and we can meet after hours. Maybe a dinner meeting.”
“You’re asking me to dinner?” he said.
It was the way he said it, like he thought she was asking him on a date and though she’d love nothing else, she wasn’t stupid enough to set herself up to be turned down. “Dinner meeting. We do that a lot with clients. You’re paying us for our services and I’m being accommodating.”
“Silly me,” he said, but she heard the sarcasm in his voice. “Does tonight work for you? If I have to look at another calendar and plan something I might scream like a toddler not wanting to take a nap.”
She laughed. “I’m not sure you could scream if you wanted to.”
“Everyone screams at some point in their life,” he said seriously. She had to remember he had a life she knew nothing about.
“That’s true. I’ve been known to do it a lot around my brothers. But tonight works. I called you on my cell; you’ve got my number. Text me a time and place when you get a minute.”
“Nope, you tell me,” he said. “I get the feeling you like calling the shots anyway.”
There was the humor she was looking to hear again. “That’s fine. When we’re done I’ll send you the name of a restaurant and the address.”
“Efficient too. I’m not surprised.”
There was no sarcasm this time. Not even humor. More like a fact. “Why be anything else? Otherwise it’s not even worth doing.”
“I’ve often said that myself.”
Interesting. They shared something in common. “Is six o’clock too early for you?”
“Perfect,” he said back and then hung up on her. She looked at the phone like she couldn’t believe he’d just done that.
“Problem?”
Jade looked up and saw her brother Drake standing there. “What?”
“You were looking at your phone as if Wyatt pranked it with chewed bubble gum.”
“I’d kill him. I’m still not over him doing that to my dolls as a kid. He’s lucky Mom held me back. It took all day and peanut butter to get it out of their hair.”
Drake started to laugh. “Come on, it was pretty funny to see five of them all attached with their hair stuck together like glue with his Bubblicious.”
“Easy for you to say. He never did anything like that to you.”
“Please. Noah and I had our matchbox cars all stuck together like the Leaning Tower of Pisa one year.”
“With duct tape,” she argued. “Not sticky bubble gum.”
“Duct tape leaves a residue. We had to soak them in the tub and rub it all off and half of them rusted afterward.”
She started to laugh. Her twin really did get them all bad. “How come we never did any of these things to him?”
“The bugs at the picnic,” he said to her.
“What are you talking about?”
“Jade. We all know you picked up those bugs and put them on his lunch when he went to the bathroom.”
“Did Bryce and Ryder rat me out?”
“No,” Drake said. “It was obvious it was you to everyone but Wyatt. Of course at that time we didn’t know it, but thinking back it all made sense. When you wanted to get him, you got him good. You just didn’t do it often.”
“I guess you’re right,” she said. “Was there something you wanted other than reminiscing about our troublesome brother?”
“No. I was walking by and saw you staring at your phone.”
“Oh. Sorry. I was talking to Brock and he just hung up on me without saying bye. It was kind of rude.”
Drake laughed. “Are you sure he just didn’t cut out? Or maybe you didn’t hear him say bye. I don’t picture him the type to do it on purpose.”
“We don’t know him that well,” she said. “But he was busy
and his assistant was in his office and he was complaining about making appointments and people bugging him. Who knows? I’ll find out tonight.”
“Tonight?” he asked, drawing himself up. Drake was the tallest of all her brothers and cousins at six foot four.
“Dinner meeting on his box. I figured he would have a hard time taking a break from work. It sounded like he was barely able to answer a ten-minute call.”
“How’s that coming?” Drake asked, walking in and sitting down.
Drake oversaw all the civil engineers under her uncle. She went for mechanical like her father. There weren’t as many of them as there were for Drake to deal with. She’d like to think she’d be put in charge like her brother in two years. He’d just been promoted to it, so she had her eye on the same time frame.
If not, there would be hell to pay. She was every bit as good as Drake in her own discipline and she was prepared to argue her case when the time came. If it came to that.
“Good. I want to show him the dimensions, my ideas, get his take on different sizes and materials. Some are going to be a lot more expensive than others. He has to let me know what he’s willing to have each box cost. I’d like to go the recyclable route with material.”
“Smart,” he said. “There are a lot of plastics out there that are made from recycled materials. They are lightweight, durable up to a certain poundage. We’ve got a connection with some manufacturing companies due to other projects we’ve worked on.”
“You know an awful lot considering those are my projects and contacts,” she said with a grin.
“Of course I do. I listen to my sister when she talks at meetings. She’s pretty smart.”
She smiled. “Thanks.”
He cocked his head. “Are you feeling a little neglected? Jade Fierce is as tough as her name, but then sometimes I wonder if that is really the case. If any of us try to coddle you, you rip our heads off for babying the...baby of the family.”
She sighed. She had that coming. “It’s nice to be told I do a good job,” she said back, forcing a huge grin on her face.
“I suppose we all need to be told that a time or two in our life. Even if we know how awesome we are.”
“We all know how awesome we are,” she said back to her older brother.
“That’s the younger sister I know and love,” he said, nodding his head and walking out.
She’d never thought she was someone that had to be praised much, but then she’d get in ruts and just doubt herself. Though she didn’t want anyone to know or see that, she realized she might not be as good at hiding it as she thought.
And four hours later when she saw Brock walk into the restaurant she realized that she was really doubting herself when she had to take a few short breaths to calm herself down.
Her hormones were taking off in a gallop that no rider could control. She’d never had a reaction like this before to a man.
Brock strode toward her at the back of the restaurant. She went to stand up and he was quick to say, “No need to get up. Please tell me you ordered us both a beer.”
“No,” she said lifting her hand. “But you can get what you want right now.”
“Whatever Fierce beer you’ve got on tap,” he said to the waitress.
“Is the Fierce Five okay?”
“Perfect,” he said back.
“I’ll take an unsweetened ice tea,” she told the waitress.
“Guess you didn’t have nearly the frustrating day I did.”
“Other than having someone hang up on me, no,” she said.
He started to laugh. “Yeah, sorry about that. Rebecca came back into my office again. I swear she won’t leave me alone.”
“Rebecca?” she asked, lifting an eyebrow.
“My assistant. Well, an intern. I’m not sure what she is. There are all sorts of interns in and out doing work. She’s young and she’s eager and she’s annoying as all hell.”
“She probably has a crush.”
He narrowed his eyes at her. “Yeah. I know. I’m not used to dealing with this. I had men on my crew, and the women that were on missions with us the few times, they were smart and mature and worked harder than the men. They didn’t giggle and pester me, they didn’t come in twenty times asking if there was anything I needed even though I’d said no the past four times they asked.”
“Women tend to have to work harder when they are in a male-dominated field,” she said.
“And you would know all about that. But I bet you’ve never been a nuisance a day in your life.”
“My brothers would say otherwise.”
He grinned at her and picked up his beer the minute it was set down and took a long drink of it, then opened the menu. “I didn’t even get to eat lunch today. A candy bar and chips from the vending machine just doesn’t cut it.”
“You’re an important man,” she said.
He snorted. “I’m not so sure about that. Everyone wants my ear and no one wants to wait their turn. I can’t stand kiss-asses. I ran into Bryce last week and the Dean was all indignant I knew him.”
“My family has that from time to time. My father and uncle are big donors to the school. Wyatt and Sam work there.”
“Yep, saw them both at the hospital and cancer center this week walking around.”
“And did the person showing you around act funny over that too?” she asked.
“Nah. It was better there for some reason. Anyway, I haven’t meant to ignore you or the work you’ve been doing. As you can tell I’m just flying by the seat of my pants so much I’m sure my ass has road rash.”
She started to laugh so hard she was coughing. “You sound just like Wyatt.”
“That was pretty crude on my part, but I feel like I can’t act or say what I want at work.”
“That’s sweet.”
“What is?” he asked.
“That I make you comfortable enough your guard isn’t up.”
“My guard is always up,” he said. “Make no mistake about that.”
His smile was gone with those words and she felt a chill come over her worse than the nerves earlier. This was a side of Brock she hadn’t seen.
8
Take For Granted
Brock hadn’t meant to say those words quite like that. “That came out wrong.”
“No. I’m sure it didn’t,” Jade said. “I get it. Your life was spent in war torn countries doing things I could never even imagine and am not sure I want to know. Being a civilian again probably takes some getting used to.”
She got him when not many did. “Yeah. I thought maybe you’d understand. Though Ella met Travis years after he’d left the service, my guess is she still saw signs of it. And since you were Ella’s maid of honor, I’m assuming you guys are pretty close.”
“We are. The only two girls in the family and we’ve had to stick together.”
“There’s that too. Anyway, I meant no harm or disrespect by the words.”
“None taken. I’m glad you feel comfortable enough to say what is on your mind. It makes for a good working relationship.”
Which reminded him of why they were here today. “So, what do you have for me?” he asked.
“I’ve got my laptop I can bring out and show you things or we can just talk about sizes, materials, and the like.”
“Let’s talk. Right after we order,” he said when the waitress came back.
A few minutes later with their orders in, Jade said, “So names. Any idea or thoughts?”
“No. That isn’t my strong suit. I guess I want something simple.”
“What do you think of a Touch of Home? Is that too much for you?” she asked with a smile.
“Toh isn’t.”
“It sounds like ‘toe’,” she said. “You want to name a box after feet?”
“It could be tow. Something strong. I like it. I like your meaning mixed in with mine.”
She smiled. “Okay, for now we are calling it the Toh Box.”
“Works fo
r me.”
“Sizes. I was thinking of doing different ones. Factoring in the cost to ship things. There are standard boxes from the post office and then bigger boxes. You want something lightweight on top of it. No one wants to spend a ridiculous amount of money to ship something when they’d rather spend the money on what is inside.”
“I guess I haven’t thought much of it since I’m always on the receiving end of this. I’ve got all these ideas to either start a not for profit or get another organization to do it. Maybe shipping costs could be part of it if that stops people from sending things.”
“All great ideas for down the line,” she said. “If I haven’t said it before, I’ll say it again. I think what you’re doing is a wonderful thing. Something most of us that don’t know someone in the service just take for granted.”
“It’s a life not many can relate to. When we are there, we are doing some of the most important jobs in the world that no one is even supposed to know we are doing.”
“You’re keeping us safe. You’re fighting for rights that others don’t have a voice to fight for themselves. The least you can get is a little touch of home.”
“Yeah,” he said softly.
“Do you miss it?”
“Yes and no. I couldn’t do it again even if I wanted to. Not to the extent that I was. I’m not the same man as before the explosion.”
“Mentally or physically? Or is that too personal?” she asked. “Never mind, I know it is.”
“It’s fine. I physically can’t do the job the way I would want and I wouldn’t put others in danger because I wasn’t at my best. Mentally, we all have demons and we all work through the best we can.”
He wasn’t about to say anything else. He wouldn’t lie, but he wasn’t going to elaborate either.
“I’d like to be a part of what you’re trying to do with this. I’m sure my father and uncle would be too, but I definitely do personally,” she said.
“Why?” he asked.
“Because sometimes in life we get our eyes opened to causes that we didn’t even know about. It’s the right thing to do.”