Unexpected Trouble (The Unexpected Series Book 3)

by Stacy Eaton

  “I understand,” I replied.

  “But that in no way will keep you from traveling in the future. I already told Greg that if he has a problem with it, he can staff the office, and I’ll go with you.” A few people laughed in the background.

  “Yeah, well, we’ll talk about it later. One issue at a time,” Greg said before he kissed my brow.

  “Hey, guys, it’s Trevor. I spoke to Detective Highmore today. He said that after last night's events, the problem might be going away. The word on the street is that the contract on the witnesses has dissolved. He isn’t one hundred percent sure, so he doesn’t want you guys around for a while, and he’s suggesting to most of the other witnesses that they take a vacation, but it looks like the danger might be gone.”

  “That’s good to hear,” I said. “Any idea how long we have to stay under the radar?”

  “He said at least a couple of weeks, so whatever you guys need, you let us know, and we’ll take care of it.”

  I gnawed on my bottom lip for a moment. “Trevor, I might have to take you up on that. Before all of this started happening, I was getting my mother ready to do a respite at the nursing facility that she does a day program with. I think it might be better for her to be there. Is there any way you could help me make those arrangements and maybe get her transported there?”

  “Absolutely! You text over phone numbers and contacts, and Davina and I will take care of it for you.”

  “In the meantime,” Alex said, “Can you two stay out of trouble?”

  I laughed. “We’ll try, Miller.”

  They discussed a few other things, and I let Greg take it off speaker as I sat on the swing. When he got off the phone, he came to sit beside me. “You sure you want to do that with your mom?”

  “Yes,” I smiled at him. “This morning when she was here with us, she told me it was time for her to go. She knows she is getting worse.”

  “You know I’ll help you with anything that you need with your mom.”

  “Thank you, Greg. I appreciate that, but I think it’s time. She will be safer, and they can care for her better there.”

  “Hey, no one can care for her better than you, but you know them, I don’t.”

  “True, but you know what I mean. She will be alright there. For a long time, I couldn’t even think about it because I felt guilty, but she wants me to do it.”

  “If that’s what you want.”

  “It’s not what I want, but it is what I need to do.”

  Greg put his arm around my shoulders. “There is something else that you need to do.”

  “Yeah, what is that?”

  “You need to tell me why you can’t have kids.”

  I inhaled sharply and then released it slowly. “Do you want kids?”

  “Not particularly,” he replied. “It has never been a huge want on my list, and I kind of think that with as messed up as this world is, I didn’t want a child to have to navigate it.”

  “Are you just saying that, or do you mean it?”

  He pulled my face around to his. “I mean it. But if you want kids, then it might be a discussion we can have later.”

  “No, I don’t really want kids. I thought I did once, and then I got pregnant, and it was a nightmare pregnancy. Problems from the start with both the fetus and me, and I ended up having an emergency delivery at five months, and they did a partial hysterectomy.”

  “So you can’t have kids even if you wanted them?”

  “Nope. Does that bother you?”

  “No, as long as it doesn’t bother you.”

  I shook my head. “No, I got over it a long time ago, and then I was taking care of Mom, and that was almost like having a child again. It was enough.”

  “Alright, do you have anything against a cat?”

  I laughed. “You like cats?”

  “Yes, I do. Got a problem with that?”

  “No, I do not.”

  “Alright, so no kids, only cats.”

  “Maybe a dog sometime in the future.”

  “Maybe.”

  I laced my fingers with his. “You know, earlier you said that when you left me all those years ago, you had locked up your heart. I think you left your key behind.”

  “You do, huh?”

  “Yeah, I think maybe I’m your key, and I can help you get the rust off your heart so we can unlock it again.” I turned to study him, and he stared deeply into my eyes.

  “I’m not sure you need to work on the rust, Sweetheart. I think you’ve already got the key in the lock. You just need to give it a solid turn.”

  “Yeah?”

  “Yeah.”

  “I want to learn who you are, and fall in love with you again, Greg. Is that weird?”

  “No, because, quite honestly, despite how much trouble you are, that’s what I want too, Maggie.”

  I laughed. “I’m not that much trouble.”

  Greg pulled me so that I was sitting on his lap, and he curled his fingers around my neck and led my face toward his. “You are a lot of trouble, Maggie, but you’re my kind of trouble.”

  I laughed as he brought our lips together, and I wrapped my arms around his neck. I was looking forward to learning about this man and falling in love with him all over again, and truth be told, I was really looking forward to getting into trouble with him too.

  THE END

  While Greg and Maggie still have a few things unresolved, they did get their Happy-For-Now ending. Make sure to check out Unexpected Storms, when Greg and Maggie will be back along with the rest of Safety Zone Security as Harvey needs to step up his groove as Ali sashays onto the scene.

  The Unexpected Series

  If you enjoyed Unexpected Trouble, if you did, please consider leaving a brief review. It’s the best way to tell an author you enjoyed their book!

  If you haven’t already, make sure to check out the rest of the Unexpected Series.

  Unexpected Packages, Book 1

  Lexi Miller restarted her life five years ago and has been living a regimented routine ever since. With a great job and a best friend who tries everything to get her to break-out of her boring life, it’s not until her birthday present arrives at her door, opened by a stranger, that things finally start to get interesting.

  Alex Miller is ready for his second career after retiring from the military. He’s excited to start training contractors in safety issues and getting to know his daughter after being away for so many years.

  When a package addressed to him shows up on his doorstep, he is kind enough to deliver the box to the rightful owner. When Lexi opens the door, Alex quickly realizes that he’s found the beautiful woman he has been catching peeks of as she comes and goes from the building.

  From misunderstandings to new beginnings, Alex and Lexi come together, but a business trip threatens their future right before Valentine’s Day, and neither is sure they will ever be reunited.

  Unexpected Arrivals, Book 2

  Trevor Vaughn loves his job, his women, and his bachelor lifestyle. Sadly, for him, all of that might change when Davina Daniels walks into his office pushing a stroller.

  The problem is that Trevor doesn’t have any idea who Davina is. After she explains that he is the baby’s father, he finds himself clueless as to what to do next.

  After begging for her help, Davina and Trevor begin to form a friendship that will bring them together in time for their friend’s wedding and a single night of steamy romance.

  It’s after their moments of bliss when words are misspoken, strangers show up, and baby Devon is raced to the hospital that their newfound romance is put to the test. Will Trevor and Davina find a way back to each other, or will the storms continue to crash down over them?

  Unexpected Trouble, Book 3

  Big things are happening at Safety Zone Security, and before a client meeting, Gregory Blaire heads down to Cocoa’s Coffee Café to grab some much-needed caffeine. Running into his high school sweetheart was almost the last thing he excepted, b
ut the jewelry store heist that went wrong tops even that.

  As hard as Maggie Valor works to build her career as a serious journalist, she’s stuck as a romance advice columnist, and she’ll do just about anything to change that. When Maggie runs into Greg and then gets taken hostage, her mind is torn between the story and the man who broke her heart.

  With Maggie putting herself in the way of danger, stepping into Safety Zone Security to help with a client, and then pushing to join an operation, all Greg can see is trouble. Now the police are questioning her, a thief is out to get her, and the only thing Greg can do is take her on a delivery operation to keep her out of more unexpected trouble.

  Coming Soon:

  Unexpected Storms

  Unexpected Desires

  Unexpected Ties

  Sneak Peek

  Check out Chapter 1 of Unexpected Storms

  “Hey, man!” I stepped through the front door at Maggie Valor’s house and clapped hands and shoulders with Greg Blaire, a friend and co-worker at Safety Zone Security. “It’s about time you came back to the real world!”

  “No doubt,” he said as he let me go and shut the door behind me. “Come on in, everyone is out back.”

  “How does it feel to return from a five-week exile?” I asked him. Maggie and Greg had been off the grid that long after they had been held hostage during a robbery. A few of the hostages had turned up dead, and someone had come after Maggie, but luckily Greg had been there and took the guy down.

  It wasn’t the guys involved with the robbery and kidnapping that had been worrisome; it was the cartel that those guys had been working for. They hadn’t wanted to be given up by Chuck and Len, so they’d killed them, and several other witnesses too. Then anyone who was left was asked to head out of town.

  A couple weeks ago, a few came back, not Maggie or Greg, but a couple other people, and so far, their lives had not been threatened and there had been no signs that the cartel wanted any further retribution. Hence the reason Maggie and Greg finally came out of hiding.

  “It feels great, and it sure is nice to be back at home.”

  “Home?” I glanced around. “This is home now? Are things going that well for you and Maggie?” When the two of them had gone into lockdown, Greg had been doing everything he could to keep distance between himself and his former high school sweetheart.

  Greg frowned at me. “You know what I mean, Harv, home as in back here.”

  “So you and Maggie aren’t living together now?”

  “I didn’t say that.” He chuckled and slapped my back. “Go get yourself a drink; I have to grab something from the kitchen.”

  “Alright, I’ll see you out there.” On the back deck, Alex and his pregnant wife, Lexi, were seated on a gliding love seat, and Trevor had his squirming son, Devon, on his lap, while his fiancée, Davina, helped Maggie with something at the food table. Alice was over there too, along with Mike and two pretty women that I didn’t know. Mike was laughing at something that one of the women had said.

  Standing off to the side, talking shit to one another was Jake, our boss, along with Drake, Wyatt, Joe, and Brett, who were all part-timers with our company. I made the rounds, saying hello to everyone, and Greg tossed me a beer as he came back out of the house.

  A few minutes later, Greg had his arm around Maggie when he called for our attention. “Thanks to all of you for coming. While Maggie and I had a great time being on vacation for a full five weeks, we are very happy to be home and to have you all here.”

  “You guys married yet?” Jake called out with a laugh.

  “No, we are not, and we aren’t in any rush to do that either.” Maggie didn’t look the least bit upset by his words as she smiled up at him. “But we did reconnect nicely after nineteen years, and I know I feel like I know her better than I ever did. I’m pretty sure she knows every single one of my bad habits now, and she is still willing to stand here beside me.”

  Brett whistled loudly as Wyatt joked, “Damn, anyone who can put up with his shit, and I mean that literally, is good in my book.”

  Laughter and a few crude jokes about bathroom etiquette went around the group for a few moments.

  Maggie was laughing, a huge smile on her face. “Do you know how many times I got yelled at for putting the toilet paper on wrong?”

  “Wait!” Trevor snapped. “Don’t tell me that you put it on so it hangs under?”

  “Of course I do, doesn’t everybody!” Maggie replied in laughter.

  “No way!” Jake called out loudly. “Even the patent office has it on record that it has to hang over!”

  “But that’s crap!” Lexi joined the conversation. “Just because when they did a drawing of toilet paper, they had it hanging over, that doesn’t mean that is the end-all way to do it.”

  Alex barked out a laugh and pointed at Lexi. “But that’s how you hang it!”

  She shrugged. “I know, but that doesn’t mean there is a right or wrong way to do it.”

  “I’ll remember that the next time you growl at me for putting it on wrong,” Alex joked.

  The debate continued for a few more minutes before Greg put his hands up to get everyone’s attention. “Alright, we can finish this debate later. There is something that Maggie and I wanted to share with you.”

  “Well, if you aren’t getting married, are you having a baby?” Davina asked. Maggie and Greg looked at one another and held each other a little tighter as Greg shook his head.

  “No, no babies in our future,” he said with a bright smile. “What we wanted to share with you is that Maggie is now the newest official employee at SZS, as our official media liaison!”

  “Oh, that’s great!” Lexi clapped excitedly, and Jake approached them, giving Maggie a hug.

  “She’s actually been working for us already,” Jake said. “When I got back from our medical supply delivery, I shared with her a bunch of photographs and videos that I took. She’s been working on some social media advertising, and if I’m not mistaken, just sold our story to a prominent Washington D.C. paper.”

  “I sure did,” Maggie said brightly.

  Alice spoke to Jake. “Maggie is the one that made that video you showed me the other day?”

  “Yep.”

  Alice turned wide bright eyes toward Maggie. “It was fantastic! I hope he paid you extra for that because you even managed to make Jake look like a decent human being.”

  Everyone howled in laughter. “You’re funny, Alice,” Jake said to her, and the two of them stared at one another for a moment. Were they sleeping together? If they weren’t, they should be because the amount of sexual tension that radiated off them was almost mind-blowing.

  “No, he didn’t pay me extra, Alice, but I’ll keep that in mind the next time he wants me to change something out to make him look better.”

  “What a narcissist,” Trevor joked.

  “Maggie has also been working with Mike on a new website design, and on Monday, we are going to roll it out, so make sure you all take a good look at it. If things go as well as we anticipate, we are hoping to bring the rest of you PTer’s on full time.”

  Drake put his beer in the air. “Hear! Hear! I’m ready.”

  “We have some other things in the works, too, and on Monday we need to meet as a group and go over some upcoming changes,” Jake continued.

  “Hey, did you forget that I’m on vacation this week?” I called out.

  Jake turned to me. “And if I’m not mistaken, you aren’t going anywhere or doing anything. You took the time off to burn.”

  “Yeah, so? Coming into the office for a meeting kind of defeats the purpose.”

  “Well, you could not come and then find out about all of it next week when you return.”

  I rolled my eyes at him. “What time on Monday?”

  “One, and since it is going to be all of us, let’s meet at the training facility. Actually, let’s make it noon, and maybe Alice can order us lunch, and we can eat while we talk about the new
website and show you some of the videos that Maggie has put together.”

  “I’m the lunch girl now?” Alice barked, and her dark-brown eyes slit closed as she glared at him. She was almost as headstrong and volatile as our boss, and I knew she hated when he volunteered her for things that were not in her job description.

  “I got it, Alice,” Maggie said with a wink to Alice.

  Jake shook his head and muttered something under his breath.

  After that, Greg announced that they were putting the food on the grill, and we all milled around talking and snacking on finger foods while the cooking got underway with Greg and Jake.

  My cellphone vibrated in the pocket of my shorts, and I pulled it out to see my sister, Holly, was calling. I stepped away from the group of people I was speaking with and answered, “Hey, Holly, what’s up?”

  “Harv, I need your help.” She sounded close to panic, and she never sounded like that. My sister was normally calm as a cucumber.

  “Are you alright?”

  “Yes, I’m alright, but I need your help.”

  “Anything you need.”

  My sister was five years younger than me and one of my best friends. When I’d gone into the military, leaving her had been the hardest thing I had to do. Especially as she had been just starting high school and getting involved with boys.

  When I got out of the Marines three years ago after a shoulder injury, Holly and I had clicked right back into hanging out together. Except now instead of movie night and popcorn, we had dinner dates and drinks—well, we sometimes still did movie night, too.

  “Really? Anything?” she asked, and I heard the uncertainty in her voice.

  “Of course, Holly. Whatever you need. I’m there for you.”

  “Oh, my god, Harv! You have no idea how much that means to me! Seriously, I was freaking out, but this is going to work!”