Gray Wolf Security: Wyoming

by Glenna Sinclair

  “You don’t want that.”

  “Sometimes you don’t have a lot of choices in life, you know?”

  He ripped the business card in half and dropped it into the trash can. “Well, until then, that stair step isn’t going to fix itself.”

  I wanted to hug him, he was so optimistic. Anyone else would have turned tail and disappeared, gone back to MidKnight and his real job. I wasn’t sure why he didn’t. There hadn’t been any sign of the developer’s goons since the night he first came here, and there probably wouldn’t be now. This was the end. They wouldn’t harass me anymore. They wouldn’t have to. They knew I was late on my payments. Jack, over at the bank, couldn’t pass up the opportunity to sell the loan. I’d already known this was coming, I had just convinced myself that it wouldn’t happen this quick. But it had. It was over. It was time to face reality.

  I’d wasted my money hiring Gray Wolf. It was a knee jerk reaction after what Jim Bob and his cohorts had done to Marko. But I didn’t regret it. I was grateful for the opportunity to meet Grainger even if it was over now. Even if he never looked at me the way he had last night again.

  ***

  I stepped under the spray of the showerhead and closed my eyes, letting the hot water wash over my sore muscles and ease the pain away. I’d Goggled local schools, considered the idea of going back. Casper had a community college where I could get my basics out of the way. Maybe after that I could transfer to a larger school, maybe go to the University of Colorado in Denver so I could be close to my mom. Maybe it wasn’t too late to live the dreams I’d had for myself in high school.

  Hands slipped over my belly, catching me by surprise. I gasped, stepping back a little.

  “It’s just me,” Grainger whispered against my ear.

  I leaned my head back against his shoulder and sighed. “I’m just not used to company in the shower.”

  “I certainly hope not.”

  His hands moved from my belly to my breasts, his hands cupping them for a moment like he was weighing them. And then he was rolling my nipples between his fingers, causing these lovely sensations to burst through my body, making goose pimples rise on my belly and my arms.

  I sighed again. “I wish…”

  “You wish what, babe?”

  I just shook my head. He kissed my temple, his lips lingering there as one of his hands slowly slipped lower on my body, sliding down my belly to that place between my legs. Just the memory of what he’d done last night made my thighs slip apart most willingly, almost too willingly. His breathing quickened as I gasped, his mouth so close against my shoulder that I could feel every hot exhalation.

  I wanted to touch him, to taste his kiss. I turned in his arms, pressed my wet body against his, my hands sliding up over the side of his face. We kissed for a long, lingering moment, our tongues dancing together. He pushed me back against the wall, the heavy spray of the water falling over our heads, threatening to drown us. I don’t think either of us cared, though. If this was how we died, maybe it was worth it.

  I ran my hands down over his chest, loving the lines and hills along his belly that marked his impressive abs. And then lower, my fingertips brushing against his surprisingly soft pubic hair, brushing the base of his shaft. He moaned against my lips, encouraging me to explore him as much as I wanted. And I did, slipping my fingers around his shaft to cup his impressive balls, to hold them in my hand the way he’d held my breasts, and then back up to that long, thick shaft. My chest quivered a little, the idea of this... I may not have lain with a man before, but I knew the mechanics. And that knowledge was a little frightening without the experience.

  He grasped my hand with his, showed me how to touch him, how to stroke his length. He groaned again, pushing me further back into the corner of the shower, kissing me roughly as he moved his hips gently with the movement of my hand. I wanted to watch, wanted to see my hand on his body. I wanted to see his body, wanted to see the pleasure coursing through him. I’d never offered a man pleasure before, never had the nerve to even touch the bulge in a man’s pants. This was all so new to me and I wanted to witness it, wanted to have it locked solidly in my memory.

  I broke our kiss as kindly as I could, running my lips in a long, lingering line against his throat. He pressed both hands against the wall of the shower, altering the spray so that it fell down his back and away from what was happening between us. I could feel him watching me, wondered what he thought of this pathetic virgin stroking him like he was a pile of bread dough or something. But he didn’t seem to mind.

  I kissed his neck again, growing aware of the tension in his shoulders, his entire body. He was so hard in my hand, so impossibly stiff. I’d read... but there was nothing like feeling the real thing. Did I really have the power to make him this aroused? Did I really have the power to make him feel this good? It didn’t seem possible. But when I looked up in his face, when I saw his softly parted lips and his half-closed eyes, I knew I did.

  “I want to make you feel good,” I said, a little surprised by my own breathlessness.

  He just groaned, like he couldn’t put the simple words together that would be a suitable response to my statement. And that made my heart soar because I knew he was close, knew I was doing what I was supposed to be doing.

  How powerful was that?

  I peppered his chest with kisses as I continued to stroke him, loving the feel of his heartbeat pounding under my lips. More sounds slipped from his throat, guttural sounds that made my heart fly. And then his hands were on me, turning me away, his body falling against mine. He cried out, his cock sliding against my back, my ass, his hips pushing it hard against the line of my body as he fell over that cliff of ecstasy. I closed my eyes, wishing he hadn’t turned me away, wishing I could see the pleasure on his face. But then he was kissing my neck, my shoulder, his hands all over my body all at once, and I forgot my wish.

  “You’re fucking amazing,” he whispered after a few minutes. “I don’t think I’ve cum that hard in a long time.”

  “I’m glad I could be of service.”

  He grunted disapprovingly, but I didn’t care. I felt like I was floating on a cloud and nothing could knock me off it.

  Except maybe Momma, pounding on the door, announcing she’d wet herself because she couldn’t find the bathroom that was five steps from the side of her bed.

  Chapter 14

  Grainger

  Kirkland showed up early Wednesday morning, prompting Marko to call from the front desk before we were even out of bed. Eve grumbled under her breath as the phone rang, reaching for her bathrobe before I could pick up the phone. She stumbled out the door, still grumbling.

  Not a morning person. That was good to know.

  “What’s up?”

  “You have a visitor.”

  I knew almost immediately that it wasn’t good news. I’d been half expecting this since those suits walked through the door Monday morning. But, still, I was hoping it wouldn’t happen too soon.

  I pulled on my clothes, pausing outside Rachel’s room to make sure she was still asleep. I’d been mulling over her request since she made it. A part of me understood her point of view, but I could also see things from Eve’s. My mother—even though my brother became violent in the aftermath of his injury—was adamant against him going into the facility. She insisted that he was still her child and he still deserved the warmth and care of home. If not for my father’s insistence, Tommy would probably still be at home.

  I didn’t know what to do for Rachel. A part of me kind of hoped she would never remember she made her request of me.

  I stepped out into the office and gestured for Kirkland to join me out in the parking lot. The motel was fairly empty, just two or three rooms occupied. But it was the middle of a week at the end of October. It wasn’t unexpected.

  Kirkland handed me a cup of coffee he’d bought at the diner down the street.

  “How’s it going? Fairly quiet?”

  “Yeah. I think Jim Bob a
nd his buddies are gone for now.”

  “You mentioned a couple of suits came snooping around the other day?”

  I glanced over my shoulder to where Marko was watching us through the windows of the office. “Yeah, they made a bad offer, suggesting they were going to get her out of here one way or the other.”

  Kirkland took a small sip of his coffee, then tossed it into a nearby trash can, making a face at the bitterness of the bad brew.

  “We’ve been monitoring court records, bank records, any public searches that have been ordered with the name of the motel or Eve’s or her mother’s names on them. And we’ve discovered that Mountain Top has been looking for a marriage license.”

  “The guy sounded surprised when I told him we were married.”

  “That’s a problem.” Kirkland looked up at the motel as he chewed his bottom lip. “The thing is, you aren’t legally married. If you were, Mountain Top’s plan to foreclose on the property here would be foiled because state law says that you became half owner in the property the moment the marriage license was filed with the county clerk’s office. They could foreclose, but they couldn’t take the property without buying out your half, too.”

  “No kidding? That would give Eve time to get together the money she needs to save the place.”

  “Except that you’re not legally married.”

  “Yeah…”

  Kirkland sighed heavily. “The truth is, this is over. Mountain Top will figure that out soon enough. They’ll buy the loan from the bank and foreclose the moment they can get a judge to sign off on it. There’s not going to be any more harassment, not going to be any more trouble. There’s no reason for Gray Wolf to continue taking Eve’s money.”

  To be honest, I’d kind of forgotten that Eve was paying for me to be here. Lines had begun to blur the moment of that first kiss—hell, the moment I first saw her in that damn nightie that showed off her curves so well. I was an overpaid security guard here to protect her and her employees from trouble. I was an asshole who resented being sent here, who didn’t believe Marko’s stories of her sainthood. I was…

  I wasn’t that anymore.

  “We can’t just let them take the place from her.”

  “It’s none of our business,” Kirkland said. “Get your things and head back to the ranch. We have another case that we’ll need your help with.”

  I shook my head, looking up at the sign that stood out in front of the building. Spraberry Inn, it said.

  “This is Eve’s home, the only home she’s ever known. I can’t walk away without knowing I did everything I could to help her.”

  “Your job is over, Grainger.”

  “What if I married her?” The wheels were spinning in my head. “If I married her for real, she would have the time she needs to fix this. We could help her save the motel!”

  “But it wouldn’t be play acting anymore.”

  “I know.”

  Kirkland’s eyes narrowed. “You’re playing a dangerous game here, Grainger. That girl’s heart could get broken if you don’t play this straight.”

  “I’ll be careful. I’ll explain it to her, make her see that this is the best thing to do.”

  “And when it’s done? Then what? It’s a hell of a lot of money she owes.”

  “I know. It’ll take time to get this worked out—”

  “She has a fifteen-year mortgage. Are you going to stick around until she has that paid off?”

  I turned and looked at Marko standing behind the desk, watching us with open curiosity. I thought about the things he’d said about Eve, thought about the request Rachel made of me, thought about the things Hank had told me when I first took this assignment. Everyone wanted to help Eve because she’d helped all of them, but I was the only one in the right position to really make a difference. Did I want to be married at this point in my life? Four months ago, I thought I did. I thought it was the only thing I wanted. Coming home and making a life with Misty seemed like a new start, a way of making what I’d done in my past seem less tragic. But then Misty was gone and I was lost and... and I’d come here. I couldn’t pinpoint the moment when my anger dissipated. I couldn’t identify the exact thing that made me stop hating the world. But it had happened.

  “She deserves a break. If this buys her a little time to catch up on the payments, to make sure she doesn’t default…”

  Kirkland studied my face for a long moment. Finally, he sighed.

  “I hope you know what you’re getting yourself into.” He clamped his hand down on my shoulder. “You convince her to do this, then we’ll back you up. But this case is officially over no matter what she says. We will expect you to report to duty at Gray Wolf first thing Monday morning.”

  “Yes, sir.”

  He inclined his head slightly. “I have a friend who could probably talk a justice of the peace into postdating the marriage license. Let me make a phone call and see what I can do. And if this works…” He shook his head. “This is definitely one way to get Sutherland Knight on your side.”

  That wasn’t why I was doing it, but it couldn’t hurt.

  Kirkland slapped my shoulder once more, then walked away, shaking his head like he thought I was an absolute fool. Maybe I was.

  I watched Kirkland go, then went back inside.

  “Everything okay?” Marko asked.

  “I don’t know. We’ll see.”

  Eve was in the bedroom, rubbing her hair dry after what must have been a quick shower. I moved up behind her and lifted her hair so that I could kiss the back of her neck.

  “You smell heavenly.”

  She sighed, leaning back into me for a minute. “I have to make Momma some breakfast and get her settled before I relieve Marko.”

  “I could go relieve Marko. But in a few minutes.”

  She turned into my arms and kissed me, her mouth cold and minty from her mouthwash, but it quickly warmed up. Her hand slid over my chest, her fingers dipping into the top of my jeans before I caught her wrist and pulled it back.

  Her eyes were full of need when I disentangled myself from her and dropped to a knee.

  “What are you doing?” she asked as I snagged her hand, my fingers rolling that simple gold band that sat there.

  “Will you marry me?”

  She giggled a little. “We’re already married... sort of.”

  “I mean legally. In front of a justice of the peace and all that.”

  “That’s not funny.”

  She pulled away, snatching a blouse out of the top drawer of her dresser before nearly tripping over me on the way to the door.

  “Eve…”

  “That was really cruel,” she said as she began slamming cupboards in the kitchen, gathering whatever it was she thought she needed to fix her mother’s breakfast. “You can’t play with people that way.”

  “I wasn’t playing.”

  “Then why would you do that?”

  “Kirkland was here.”

  She stopped moving, her face hidden behind an open cupboard door so that I couldn’t see it. But I could see her hand and it was shaking where it rested on the teeny doorknob.

  “He said that Mountain Top is searching the county records, looking for our wedding certificate. And when they fail to find it, they’ll know we’re not legally married. They’ll know that they can go through with their plan to buy out your loan and foreclose on you.”

  “They would have done that anyway. I spoke to my lawyer and he said that they own a mortgage company among their many subsidiaries, so it’s all on the up and up.”

  “Yes, well, if you were legally married, everything you own would become half your husbands. Do you own the motel?”

  She nodded, turning to look at me. “Momma signed everything over when she was diagnosed.”

  “If we were married, half the motel would belong to me. They’d have to buy me out before they could foreclose on you. It would complicate things long enough for you to get caught up on the mortgage.”

&nbs
p; She stood there in silence for a long moment, her thoughts clearly spinning. I watched, wondering which direction they were moving in. Was she balking at this because of the ownership she’d have to share on the motel or was there something about the idea of marrying me that was holding her back? She dragged her fingers through her hair and I’d learned that that was a sign of distress. She was clearly struggling.

  “Tell me what to say to make this easier.”

  She shook her head. “I don’t know. It’s all a little... insane.”

  “If we did this, it would all be over, Eve. No more goons coming around to harass you, no more offers on the motel. No more of this bullshit. They’d have to choose another place to build their fancy resort.”

  “You don’t know that. It might just make things worse.”

  “Not necessarily.” She ran her fingers through her hair again.

  “I knew about this before. My lawyer told me.”

  “You did?”

  “Why do you think I insisted that you pretend to be my husband? I could have found another way to hide your purpose for being here from my customers. I wanted you to pretend to be my husband because I thought if Jim Bob told the developers about you, they would back off for a while. I never imagined he wouldn’t tell them or that they would see through it so quickly.”

  “You knew.”

  I turned away, running my own hands over the top of my head, trying to wrap my mind around this information. She knew... it was devious in a way I never imagined Eve was capable of being. This was a new side of her, and I was kind of impressed.

  “I’m sorry. I know it was wrong not to be up front with you, but I never thought things would play out quite like this.”

  “Then why don’t we just make it official? It was your plan all along. Why not go all the way with it?”

  “Because I…” She stopped, the color draining from her face a little. “It would be complicated. This way, when the case was over, you’d just go and there would be no hurt feelings. But if we were really married…”