Independence: #4 Hayley

by Karen Nichols

  “I don’t want to be alone,” she said honestly. “Usually, one of them makes sure I’m not alone at this time of year. It’s sweet…but they have girls of their own this year…well, except for Cole but he always makes sure he’s off working the high country. He’s not much on the holidays, either. I think because his parents split over the Christmas he was seven.”

  “And you went the opposite direction,” Dane commented, tugging her down onto the sofa and over his lap. Jack quickly took the other side and lifted her legs over his thighs.

  “I remember that it was important to my mother,” she recalled quietly. She laid her head back against Dane’s shoulder and stared at the tree. “I like your house. It’s a bit like this…rustic and modern at the same time.”

  “But we’re not very festive,” Dane filled in the unspoken words.

  “You don’t have to be festive. I just can’t do without the festivities,” she said simply. “Maybe in time…”

  “In time…we hope you remain just as you are,” Jack told her, his hands massaging lightly along her legs. “I got out of the festive thing back when we were in college. Between the military and school…always moving…never having the funds to make it what the ads on TV said it should be…” he shook his head and offered a shrug at the soft smile touching her lips. There was more, but for now, that information was enough.

  “Then gift cards came along and made our life easier,” Dane laughed at the shocked look when her eyes widened. “Hey…parents and little sisters and brothers are just glad you remember. They’re not picky.”

  “You sent gift cards to your relatives.”

  “We don’t go home often,” Jack countered with a scowl at the shock in her whisper. “We know where they like to shop…but have no idea what they have. So we get special cards and load them with some gift cards. They love it.”

  “They’d love it more if you visited,” Hayley countered but sat up and reached out to hug him and then Dane. “Don’t look so stricken. There’s nothing wrong with your method. It’s who you are and what fits you. I can handle Dell,” she told them with a soft pat on Dane’s shoulder. “I’ll protect you from them.”

  She settled back against Dane, welcoming the blanket Jack pulled over them. She didn’t notice the stunned looks on the faces of the men holding her.

  “They really don’t mean…” she sighed. “I’ve tried talking to them…mostly it’s Dell. He gets the others involved when he can’t make me see reason, as he calls it.”

  “You mean his point of view.” Jack offered sarcastically.

  “Mostly I just don’t tell any of them what I’m doing. Sometimes Rafe…he’s not as pushy. He tells me if I ever need his help, all I have to do is ask…and Rafe never lectures me or…or looks down on my choices…that’s what I need from Dell. Just to know he’s there…I don’t need him running my life,” she said, her hand up and covering her mouth. “’Cuse me.”

  “Bed time…” Dane declared and stood up before waiting for a response. “I want a hot shower.”

  “I’ll get the packs from the truck,” Jack told him, crossing to the back door and releasing the alarm.

  Hayley kicked her feet, laughing when Dane just shifted her and hoisted her over his shoulder. His hand came down with a sharp smack and the blanket fell to the floor at their feet. Her yelp made him smile because it also brought her wiggling to a stop.

  “Good girl,” Dane praised with a chuckle. “Two bathrooms in the house?”

  “Yes…well, two and a half bath in the laundry room…down here another full one beneath the stairs. It goes behind the office,” Hayley sighed, wondering how long it would take to get used to being carted around like a parcel. “I can walk, you know.”

  “I can swing a flogger…want to exchange numbers?” He taunted with a chuckle at the look on her face. A pretty little blush that just ratcheted up the emotions that had been growing since they met.

  Lights were tapped out and she heard the alarm reset when the door slammed. Locks were checked before she was dropped onto the bed. Dane caught the pack that was tossed to him and went straight into the bathroom.

  Hayley stood on the bed, shook out the blankets and settled into the center with a long, tired sigh. Sounds began to fade and the chill that had been in the room melted into warmth when the bed shifted beneath the new weight. She changed positions during the night, but always ended up with her behind against someone’s groin and a possessive arm wrapped around her middle.

  It was a very nice way to sleep, she decided as darkness took over.

  ****

  Pancakes. It was undignified, but she knew she was drooling in her sleep. Her nose twitched and her stomach growled.

  When Hayley lifted her face from the pillow, partially open eyes scanned the left side of the bed through a veil of tangled honey-blond hair. Nothing. She shifted slightly and peered at the right side. Still nothing.

  Pancakes, her stomach reminded her with a rumbling growl.

  She pushed to her knees and shoved ten fingers through the long mass of hair, raking it back over her shoulders. There was a very vague sound of murmuring voices from below and she sighed. How did they manage to have energy after yesterday? She needed vitamins.

  She stood beneath the hot spray in her shower and reconsidered. She wasn’t really tired. Parts of her were tired. New muscles and definitely a collection of wild feelings inside her. The last week hadn’t seemed quite…real.

  She turned the water off, twisted the long bundle of hair to squeeze out some of the moisture and lifted the towel from the counter. She had her hair bundled inside before reaching for the large bath sheet and wrapping it snuggly around her.

  Teeth were brushed; hair combed and braided before she hung the towel over the door and went in search of clothing. She was used to walking around without clothes in her own house, and even knowing the guys were below, didn’t make her uncomfortable with the nudity.

  It was interesting that it finally dawned on her that nudity did not equal sexuality. Part of her wondered if she’d always held onto that belief or if it was a new thing after spending time in the club, Independence.

  Carrying a pair of thick socks, she did one final check in the mirror at the simple jeans and t-shirt before going down the stairs. She rounded the final landing when the voice broke through her thoughts.

  “Lieutenant?” Hayley stood at the bottom of the stairs, staring at the dark haired woman with two hands wrapped around a steaming mug of coffee.

  “Good morning…I hope I didn’t wake you?” Natalie grinned over the large cup.

  “The smell of pancakes got to me,” Hayley admitted with a sigh, her stomach growling as she crossed to the dining table.

  “Then sit. I have some warming in the oven for you,” Jack leaned over when she took the chair he held, his mouth brushing against her forehead. “Bruises look a bit less today.”

  “You mean a bit greenish,” she returned with a crooked grin. “Are you here with good news? You found who it was?”

  “Pancakes, Lieutenant?” Jack called.

  “I’d love some, thanks. Sorry. No news at all…” Natalie said, regret in her voice. “I hoped something might have occurred to you about who would shoot at you.”

  “Something did occur to her,” Dane announced from the fireplace. He replaced the grate and went to the kitchen. He returned with a glass of frothy orange juice before kissing her cheek. “Talk to the lieutenant about your friend,” he said firmly.

  “A friend?” Natalie looked from one man to the other as a plate of pancakes was placed before her and Hayley. “Thank you. Talk to me, Hayley.”

  “I didn’t think of it before because…and I still don’t…” She shook her head and drizzled syrup across the surface of the fluffy cakes stacked three high on her plate. “I have a friend…Tessa…she’s a vet, too…in a different office, closer to Olympia.”

  Hayley set her fork down and closed her eyes for a long, long pause. Then she began t
alking, explaining what had happened and where. All with her eyes closed. She ended with how she came to be in the club, Independence.

  She opened her eyes in time to see the Lieutenant rise and carry her plate into the kitchen.

  “Is that why you volunteered for the auction?” Natalie asked, her voice very clear in the abrupt silence around the large room.

  Jack stood with his hands gripping the back of one of the chairs. “You were using the club for training,” he said very slowly, recalling her words minutes before.

  “If he did it to Tessa, he’ll do it again,” Hayley said quietly, the hunger in her stomach suddenly gone. “I didn’t know things would get so complicated.”

  “Alright, I have Tessa’s full name…and you only know the guy as Derrick? Not sure if it’s last or first name,” Natalie said while the men were processing things.

  “I was going to try calling her office this morning,” Hayley pushed the plate back, her elbows on the table and hands holding her head. “I went to see Tessa…she wouldn’t talk to me. She blamed me for him not wanting her anymore.”

  “I’ll pull the hospital records and see what I can dig up,” she glanced back to the kitchen. “You’re going to the recital tonight?”

  “Oh, god…I forgot…I promised I’d be there…”

  “I’ll be there tonight,” Natalie said with a nod. She looked at the expressions on the faces of the men, both pale and taut. “Will you be escorting her?”

  “She’ll be with us,” Dane said, his voice low and controlled.

  “I only have one ticket. This was before…” Hayley winced at their expressions. “I bought the ticket three weeks ago…you guys don’t like Christmas stuff…this is a holiday recital.”

  “We’re adapting,” Jack said, nodding at Dane and pulling his phone from the pocket of his jeans. He tugged the ticket from the magnet on the fridge and walked stiffly down the hall to the back of the house.

  “I’m off to do a little work before tonight,” Natalie looked from Dane to Hayley. “I’ll see you tonight.”

  “Thank you, Lieutenant,” Hayley said softly, her fork absently slicing at the pancakes. She heard the door and the soft murmur of voices, both in the room and down at the end of the hall. “You don’t have to go tonight,” she said firmly. “I can manage on my own.”

  “Can you?” Dane said absently, striding to the glass patio doors and raising a hand to rest on the jamb. “Do you remember the first couple times we were together, Hayley? All the questions we asked? It hasn’t been that long…”

  “I didn’t lie to you. I didn’t know what I wanted to do…I thought I did…I thought I could…could learn and go back to Olympia and ask the right questions…” she pushed the fluffy cake bits around the plate. “If he’d done it to Tessa, he’d do it again. I was going to tell the police and have him stopped. Somehow…I thought I could get even with him for her…”

  “And now that she doesn’t want your help?”

  “When I put her on the plane to her parents, I told her I’d help. I told her we’d stop him from hurting another,” Hayley set the fork down and wrapped her hands around the glass. “That woman wasn’t the one we saw the other day.”

  “All set,” Jack announced, the snap of his phone echoing in the silence. “We’ll be back to pick you up at five, Hayley,” he said with a curt nod.

  “Hold that thought,” Dane said flatly, crossing the room and taking Jack’s arm. “We can’t leave her alone.”

  “She’s a big girl. She’ll be here until we return for her at five,” Jack repeated. “Right, Hayley?”

  “You don’t have to do this. I know you don’t care for Christmas music. This is two hours of…”

  “Five, Hayley. And we’ll have a discussion about your plans.” Jack went to the hall and retrieved the packs they’d left the night before. “Spend some time thinking, Hayley. What do you want out of this? You didn’t lie to us, but you weren’t honest, either.”

  “That was before I…” she stopped, her head shaking numbly. She nodded and exhaled slowly. “You’re right.”

  Dane watched his friend and partner for a long quiet minute before following behind him. The door latched firmly but neither of them spoke until they were in the truck.

  “Want to explain why we left her there wearing that puzzled, lost look on her face?”

  “Since when did you turn to mush at a pair of big eyes?”

  “Since this one turned out to be more serious than a fuck ‘n play,” Dane threw back.

  “I talked to her cousin, the good one. He’ll watch out for visitors and I don’t think she’ll be leaving the house. It’s almost noon,” Jack pointed out as he guided the truck to the main highway. He quickly had it up to speed, headed home. “I also tagged Mac and got us two seats with her. All we need is some fancy duds.”

  “Tell me again why we didn’t take her with us?”

  “Because she needs to think about what she wants. And so do we,” Jack said quietly.

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Hayley glared at the closed door. The house was silent. Just like before she’d met the two Dom’s. Just like before she’d briefly entertained the idea of getting some kind of revenge for Tessa.

  Now Tessa didn’t want to talk to her and her Dom’s just walked out and left her.

  “Technically, I don’t guess they’re mine,” she said softly, collecting the things from the table and cleaning up the kitchen.

  She leaned against the kitchen counter, her gaze slipping to her brightly decorated tree. “We’re too different,” she whispered softly, wandering absently to gently touch some of the ornaments she’d collected through the years. “Aren’t we?”

  The angels glittering in the early afternoon light seemed to disagree.

  She didn’t have her truck, but she had transport. And she wasn’t a quitter.

  They seemed to like her. They spent a lot of money on the possibility of future times dressing her like their own personal Barbie doll. That thought made her giggle as she collected the clothing she wanted for the evening. A taxi was on its way.

  No, she wasn’t a quitter but she honestly wasn’t sure what she wanted. That parting phrase had been bouncing around in her head since Jack said the words out loud.

  She offered a smile to the driver when he held the door for her and nodded at the location she wanted. She thought about her cousins and the women they’d invited into their lives with the intention of a lot of tomorrows. She liked the happiness that surrounded Dell. Why couldn’t he accept that same thing for her?

  That wasn’t what Jack and Dane had signed up for. She didn’t have any background information on them, nothing outside what a normal search would turn up, anyway. Part of her wanted to believe they liked her.

  Her head thumped against the rest behind her. Eyes rolled behind her lashes.

  That sounded like a kid chatting with her friends. Nervous, confused and adolescent.

  “Do you think they like me?”

  She would have slapped a palm over her face but for her makeup and the driver looking at her oddly in the mirror. It was probably the inward groans that got his attention, she mused, exhaling slowly and staring into the bright winter light of midday. Clouds were thick and brilliantly white. With streaks of sunlight bursting through at every chance it got.

  She stared into the late afternoon. They hadn’t signed on for a girlfriend, she repeated thoughtfully. She couldn’t imagine being with one of them. Not now. She couldn’t imagine choosing. It was like they were two sides to the same person in her mind…and maybe in her heart.

  She sighed and smiled at the heavily decorated resort as they approached. Her attention was on the variety and lights as they cruised through traffic to the front of the line. She had money in her fingers when the door was opened and stepped onto the concrete.

  “It’s been taken care of,” the driver said with a smile. “Merry Christmas.”

  “I…taken…who?” Hayley stared at him i
n disbelief.

  “Uhh…the note says see you soon, Jack and Dane.”

  “I…those…” she growled and stomped one foot. “How do they do that?”

  The driver didn’t think she wanted an answer and just tipped his head and joined the line to exit the area.

  She stomped all the way into the massive foyer of the hotel. She needed to check her house for…for something. How did they know she’d leave without them? Then the thought dawned that she was in trouble. With a couple guys who thought pink and her ass were interchangeable words.

  And that thought managed to make her a little bit warm.

  She shifted uncomfortably, looking down at her feet. Okay, a lot warm. Every now and then the idea that she was odd flickered through her mind. Then she looked up as she walked, taking in the variety of people making their way around the resort property a few days before Christmas. How many of them liked kinky stuff in the sex department?

  Not a good question when you’re trying to keep the heat from your cheeks, she realized, coming to a stop near the main desk.

  “Hi…I need to find where they’re getting ready for the recital? I’m meeting Anna…”

  “Hayley!” The happy voice broke before the woman behind the desk could respond.

  “Poof…that was an easy one,” she told Hayley with a flourish of her hand.

  Hayley laughed. “Thank you…Anna…I was on my way there.”

  “Then we can walk together. I’m so glad you could make it.”

  “Promise me this won’t be a major mistake,” Hayley murmured, glancing over at the dark haired woman who laughed lightly. “Yeah…”

  “I’ve heard you sing. I know you can handle filling in,” Anna told her confidently. “Besides…it’ll be fun and you need some fun in your life.”

  “You been spying on me? I have plenty of fun in my life,” Hayley protested with a little frown. She seriously doubted anyone would consider Jack and Dane not fun.

  “I heard you had a guy…” Anna glanced at her friend. “Rumors…” She gestured Hayley forward into the large room bustling with people at various tables and small dressing chambers. “It’s hard to keep secrets in this group. You know that.”