Help Wanted

by Allison B Hanson

  “Thank you.” She nodded in Brady’s direction.

  “Well, speaking of the jail time, I need to head over to the precinct. Scott called and said they would most likely be dropping the charges this morning. There was a witness from the bar who heard him planning something. They thought he was just drunk and high. It looks like the guy is going to make it. Though he has a broken jaw and ruptured spleen. I don’t really remember anything after I stepped into the lobby. When I saw Kenley and the gun… I just reacted.” Brady shrugged as if what he’d done was no big deal.

  It had been a very big deal. He knew Brady struggled with issues from his past service. Zane hoped this event hadn’t brought up bad memories.

  “I appreciate what you did, Brady. You will be compensated for the inconvenience of being held in jail, but there’s really no way to thank you enough.”

  “She’s okay and that asshole will think twice before trying something stupid like that again. That’s all I need. I guess you got this from here.” He nodded to Kenley who was tucked under his arm. “I’ll go take care of my legal issues and get on the road as long as I’m allowed to leave the state.”

  “You can put it off until tomorrow or Thursday.”

  “Can’t.” Brady smiled. “I have a date on Friday night. I need to be back.”

  Zane had never heard Brady refer to one of his hookups as a date before, nor had he ever seen that sparkle in his eye. That look of anticipation was new. Before he could question him, Brady was gone.

  “I should get dressed. I’m late for work.”

  It was the second shock in five minutes. Was she crazy?

  “You’re not working today.” He could tell by the way her spine stiffened that he’d made a mistake.

  “Really, I’m fine,” Kenley said sternly with her arms crossed over her chest. “I have work to do.”

  “What if I asked you to take an extra day as a favor to me?” He tried a different tactic.

  “Hmm. Maybe.” She walked closer and wrapped her arms around his waist. “I’m sorry Brady found out about us.”

  “I’m not. I’m glad there is an us to find out about.” He brushed a strand of wet hair from her cheek.

  “But he could tell everyone. I said I didn’t need any promises last night. I meant it. What happened doesn’t change things.”

  “It doesn’t change how I feel about you at all. But I wanted to be with you since you left me at the hospital with the worst parents in all the world. I want to be with you, Ken.”

  “I don’t expect anything from you.”

  “You should.” Zane smiled down at her. “I don’t care who knows about us. You can’t back out now. Please don’t quit. And please, please say you’ll stay with me.”

  “I will.”

  He kissed her, feeling like his life might finally be on track.

  Chapter 16

  Kenley noticed she was smiling as she got ready to go to the office the next morning. Zane was lying on the bed watching her. His bags sat by the door where he’d dumped them the day before.

  Thinking of him rushing to her side made the smile bigger.

  She knew how lucky she was. She tried not to think of what could have happened the day before, but occasionally her mind would flash to something. A smell, or a sound. She pushed it away, knowing it was over. She was fine. She was safe.

  Zane stood and took her in his arms. He bent to kiss her as if he’d done it every day for years. Her stomach gave a little flip at the idea of him doing it for years to come. It was only natural to think about what came next. Near-death experiences made you think about the future.

  Soon she was getting carried away and had to pull away.

  “I have work to do,” she told him.

  “Would you think I was being over protective if I decided to stay with you?” She could see the worry in his eyes.

  “I thought you’re supposed to deliver Wes’s boat this week.”

  “And Wes would kick my ass if I left you for a boat delivery. He’ll understand.”

  “I’ll be fine.”

  “I’d like to make sure of it. Besides I need to meet with Scott and the guy from the security company.”

  With his hand protectively resting on the small of her back, he led her out to his truck. They held hands for the drive to the marina and she couldn’t help but think things were really going to be as fine as she kept insisting.

  That was until she walked into the office and saw the aftermath from the robbery.

  The office chair was overturned, and the curtain from the window lay in a pile on the floor. There were two distinct puddles of blood, not huge but enough to know someone had lain there for a while bleeding. Her coffee cup was nearly full, as if she were coming back to finish it.

  If it hadn’t been for Brady, she might never have come back. She could have died here.

  She hated the way her hands shook and she couldn’t seem to swallow. Why was she freaking out now? It was ridiculous. It was just a coffee cup and a little bit of blood. She was overreacting.

  The man had frightened her and grabbed her arm. He’d put the gun to her head and shouted in her ear. But she wasn’t permanently damaged. The bruises on her arm had already turned yellow at the edges.

  She would be fine.

  * * *

  Michaela got dressed for her date on Friday, even though she hadn’t heard from Brady since he’d left her office on Monday morning after dropping off Hunter. They’d made the date as he’d tried to leave. The third time.

  She smiled, remembering how he’d said he needed to get enough of her kisses to last him all week. The smile faded when she looked down at her phone. The thing had been silent, despite the texts and voicemails she’d left for him.

  If she’d spent more time dating instead of going to med school, maybe she’d know how she was supposed to handle such a thing. Up until last year she’d had the same boyfriend for six years. It had turned out he was also someone else’s boyfriend. What a shock that had been.

  Almost as big as the shock she’d gotten when Brady had kissed her. She hadn’t minded one bit. After all, he was incredibly sexy. But he was also kind of scary. Or so she’d thought until he’d kissed her.

  While his lips were firm on hers, and their shared attraction had them grasping at each other to get closer, there was a tenderness in his touch that made her feel safe. She didn’t know much about Brady Martin, but she knew he wouldn’t hurt her.

  She frowned at her phone again, noticing the time. Ten minutes before he was supposed to pick her up. Looking down at her carefully planned outfit she felt silly for hoping. As she turned to go back to her room to change into her comfy clothes, her doorbell rang.

  After glancing out the window to make sure, she opened the door to find Brady standing on her porch. There was a pizza box in his hand, a six-pack of beer hung from his fingertips, and a bottle of wine was tucked under his arm. He grinned and she smiled back as she opened the door wider.

  “I know I said I wanted to take you out for dinner, but I’ve had a hell of a week and I was hoping I could talk you into staying home instead.”

  She nodded and took the pizza box from him.

  “That sounds great.”

  He leaned down and kissed her. “Thank you. You look beautiful and you smell amazing. I’d say I’m sorry no one gets to see you but me, but screw them. I want you all for myself.”

  She couldn’t help but laugh at the compliment.

  “Pizza and wine are perfect.” It wasn’t about the where or the what she was eating as much as the who she was eating it with. She didn’t know much about Brady, and she was looking forward to hearing his story.

  He did the honor of opening the wine, while she got plates down for the pizza.

  “So, you said you had a bad week?”

  “Yeah. I was in jail.” The cork popped and he sniffed it, not with any real skill, just as if it was the thing a person did when they pulled the cork from a bottle of wine.


  She laughed, expecting it to be a joke, but he went on.

  “Just for a few hours. The charges got dropped, but I’ll need to testify if the slime ball doesn’t plead guilty.”

  “You’re serious? You were in jail?”

  He filled her glass almost to the top, not realizing he was supposed to have stopped at the widest point of the glass.

  “Yes.” He twisted the cap from a bottle of beer and took a long sip.

  “Why?”

  “A junkie tried to rob the company I work for. He had a gun pointed to Kenley’s head when I walked in.” He shook his head and took another drink. “I lost it, Mick. Kenley is the office manager. She doesn’t look anything like you, but for a split second I saw you in danger instead of her and everything went red rage. I don’t know how long I was out of touch. When I came back everyone was still breathing, though the guy was only making gurgling sounds.”

  She gasped and reached out to put her hand on his arm. His knuckles were covered with cuts and bruises. She could only imagine what the man looked like. Not that she had much sympathy.

  “Kenley got sick and I called 911. When the cops showed up they found me holding her, and the other guy bleeding and unconscious. I guess it looked bad, so they took me in.”

  “I can’t believe a hero showed up at my door with pizza.”

  He grinned and shook his head. “I’m not a hero.”

  “All heroes say that.” She stood on her tiptoes so she could kiss his cheek. “I knew you were a great guy when I saw how much you cared about your brother, but now it’s confirmed.” He let out a sigh, but gave up arguing. “Did you stop to help any old ladies across the street?”

  “No. Sorry.”

  “Well, there’s always next time.”

  “Eat your pizza before it gets cold,” he ordered, slipping back into that scary façade for a moment. But it no longer had the same level of intimidation she remembered from their showdown before.

  She complied easily, eating her pizza and sipping her wine as he went on.

  “My boss, Zane, has it bad for Kenley. He flew back to take care of her. It was a classy move. I hope it pays off.”

  “I would definitely be touched if someone jumped on a plane to come to my aid.”

  “I would be there in a second if you needed me,” he said, his grin downplaying the intensity of his statement. She didn’t doubt him.

  “How is Kenley?”

  He shook his head. “She says she’s fine, which is bullshit. I know because when I got my foot blown off in Iraq, I said I was fine too.” She swallowed a sip of wine, hoping it covered her surprise.

  She’d noticed he had a limp, but she didn’t realize he’d lost his foot.

  “You weren’t fine?” Her voice betrayed her fake calm.

  “Not even a little bit. I ended up breaking down, falling into a deep depression. I was hoarding my pain meds so I could end it all. The only thing that saved me was Hunter.”

  “Hunter?”

  “I had to get better so I could come back to the states to take care of him. I was still learning how to walk with my prosthetic when they came to tell me my mother was dead and that Hunter had been severely injured. I needed to get my shit together so I could help him.”

  And this man didn’t think he was a hero? Was he kidding?

  They chatted easily until the wine was gone and it was late. She loved listening to his stories, even the bad ones. It was nice knowing he wasn’t perfect.

  When the conversation slowed, she wasn’t sure what to do next. In a date situation, it would be time for him to drop her off. She would kiss him at the door and tell him she’d had a nice evening.

  But Brady was already in her house. Was he expecting an invitation to spend the night? Did she want that? What if it made their relationship with Hunter’s care uncomfortable?

  As if he’d read her mind, he let out a breath and leaned close to her, brushing a piece of hair behind her ear as he studied her face.

  “I should go, but I can’t seem to make myself leave.”

  “Oh.” Her heart pounded. She didn’t want him to leave, either, but she didn’t have the courage to say it.

  “I know we’re not ready for the next step, but can I stay with you tonight? If I go home, I’ll have bad dreams all night. Let me hold you, so I know you’re safe. I’ll stay in my clothes and I won’t touch anything I’m not allowed to.” He put his hand up, pledging an oath.

  She trusted him completely. It was herself she wasn’t sure about. Every time he kissed her or even looked at her in that way, she felt like throwing her panties at him.

  “Okay,” she managed to get out.

  “Just to sleep. I’m beat. When we do get to that step, I want it to be really good.” She had no doubts about that. But that didn’t mean she didn’t have a question.

  “How will we know when we get to that step?”

  Brady burst out laughing.

  “I have no clue. I thought you’d know. I’ve never taken more than one step with a woman before you, Mick.”

  She laughed along, but her heart throbbed happily in her chest. He cared about her. She’d tried her best to keep her feelings for him at bay, but now they flooded in.

  “I guess we’ll figure it out when we get there.”

  “I have to say…” He leaned down and kissed her neck, under her ear. “I hope that step isn’t a long time away.”

  “Me, too.”

  * * *

  Kenley closed her carry-on and rolled it to the door where Zane took it from her. Over the last two days, he’d been treating her like she would break at any moment.

  Maybe that was because she kept breaking.

  After the episode in the office when he’d sent her outside so he could clean up, she thought she’d dealt with everything. She was able to go back into the office without any problem, but as soon as Zane left her alone to go in his office, she’d experienced chest pains and couldn’t breathe. Zane said he thought maybe it was a panic attack, but she brushed it off.

  Whatever it was, it was unnecessary. She was fine. Or she would need to be. They were going to Ohio for the grand opening of the new shop. She needed to get herself together.

  Zane had his fingers through hers as they boarded the plane.

  “You okay?” he asked. It was becoming their motto.

  “I’m great. There’s going to be cake at this shindig.”

  They got there a day early so they could meet the new hires and set up the decorations. She didn’t have any issues being alone in the new office. She seemed to have broken out of whatever shackles had held her captive back home. Maybe she really was getting better.

  One part of her life that was definitely better was her love life.

  Rather than find more reasons why they wouldn’t work out, she’d decided she was going to go for it.

  As Shelly, the new Executive Production Coordinator, entered the few invoices there were for the new location, Kenley pulled out her phone to send Zane a text. He was out at the dock, but she didn’t think she could wait another second.

  I changed my mind about no promises.

  Thirty seconds later he wrote back:

  Good. I want to make some.

  Followed by:

  I’ll be done here in a half hour.

  * * *

  Fortunately, his new service manager wasn’t a big talker and didn’t need a lot of instruction. He’d done the job for sixteen years, so there wasn’t much Zane could tell him he didn’t already know.

  “If you have any questions, you have my number.” Zane wrapped up his speedy training session, eager to get back to Kenley. The text she’d sent seemed simple, but he knew what it meant. They were moving things along. This wasn’t just casual anymore. It meant something.

  For him it had meant something from the first time they’d kissed.

  She smiled when he walked into the office. It was so good to see her smile. Her real smile. She’d been forcing them for his benefit
since the robbery, but he could tell the difference. He could also tell when she felt anxious about being alone. And he’d noticed the way she flinched when someone stepped too close to her.

  She’d insisted she was fine, but he knew it wasn’t going to be easy to forget having someone put a gun to her head and threaten her life. It made him crazy just thinking about it and he hadn’t even been there.

  “You feel better here?” he asked as they locked up the building to go back to the hotel.

  “There are no bad memories. I guess that makes it easier.”

  “If you want, we could always move here.”

  “Move? Together?”

  “You said you changed your mind about no promises. To me, that means considering the possibilities of cohabitation.” He laughed, but she looked a little stunned.

  “But move the whole way out here? You would miss all the things your niece will be doing in the next five years. Trust me, it’s like every day there is a new event.”

  “There are other ways to keep in touch. If you want to stay here, I’d be willing to at least think about it.”

  The smile she gave him was real and full of some emotion he’d never encountered before. While neither of them said the words, he thought she might be at the same place he was.

  “Thank you for the offer, but I don’t want to run away from this. I’m stronger than this silly fear.”

  * * *

  “I have bad news,” Zane said as he got off the phone and fell into bed next to her that night after the party. She could already tell by his end of the conversation that he was being called away on a job. “I have to take a detour to Michigan before going home tomorrow.”

  “I’ll take care of changing your flight.” She reached for the laptop.

  “Do you want to change both flights so you can come with me?” While she was happy he’d invited her along, she knew the reason. He knew she was frightened to be alone. She couldn’t follow him around the country like a scared puppy forever. It was time to face it head on.