Two in the Afternoon

by Cora Cade

  Molly’s voice floated to them from the back office. “Chief, can you make sure the front door is unlocked? It’s going to take me a few minutes to get these cases stacked back here.”

  Cal veered to the left and flipped the lock before approaching the bar.

  “Much obliged.” Chief’s voice was a low rumble, like a man who’d spent a good many years using it loudly.

  “Sir, Callum Eversman. A friend of Noah’s. I’ll be around for a few weeks.” Cal gave a nod in greeting with his words.

  As the man placed a beefy hand out, Cal noticed a US Naval insignia tattooed on his forearm. “John Mason. Pleased to meet you.”

  Cal took his firm grip in his own and they shook. “Master Chief.”

  A small smile softened the older man’s face, creased and weathered with age and sun. “Indeed, Sergeant.”

  Now it was Cal’s turn to smile. Of course Noah had given the retired Naval officer the details about him. Noah was no fool and would use every resource he had to ensure Molly’s safety.

  “Would you mind keeping an eye on the dog while I go talk to Molly?”

  Chief nodded toward the far end of the bar, where Bo was curled up on a red dog bed, happily snoring in a patch of sun filtering through the window above him. “He’s here nearly every day with Noah.”

  Cal left the sleeping dog and the busy Master Chief behind as he made his way down the narrow hall to find Molly. He found her stacking supply boxes on the top shelf in a storage room near the office. She wore black ballet slippers, black Capri pants and a snug black tee. Her short auburn hair in artful spikes. She should have looked severe in unrelieved black, but instead she looked sexy and comfortable all at the same time.

  When he shut the door with a click, she wobbled on the stepstool for a moment before catching herself. Turning quickly, she braced her hands on the shelf before her and eyed him from top to bottom. It was like a physical touch as she raked her eyes down the length of his frame.

  He grew taut and aware when she raised her gaze back to his face. Without a word, she launched herself from the stool into his arms. She was light, but her attack caught him off guard and he took a step back as he caught her around the waist.

  Molly wrapped her legs around his middle, pressed in close, and his heart thumped noisily in his chest. When she gripped the back of his head and took his mouth with a greed that surprised him he settled his hands on her ass with a squeeze.

  “Hey, soldier.” She gave him a saucy wink and landed on her feet like a cat as she freed herself from his grip.

  Off limits. Knowing that fact didn’t stop the zing of arousal from spiking through his bloodstream. “Not that I’m against a make-out session, but I’m pretty sure the Master Chief might break me in half if he found us back here.”

  She laughed, a real one that started in her belly and vibrated through her. “He can be a bit protective.”

  He shifted his weight, bouncing from one foot to the other, in an oddly nervous gesture. “Actually, I’m here to ask you on a proper date. Just the two of us. Would you like to grab dinner tonight?” That actually wasn’t what he had come back here to ask, but Molly scrambled his brain in ways he could’ve never expected. And the words just broke free, beyond his control.

  Damn. Chris and Noah were going to kick his ass. Couldn’t even make it one day without asking the one woman who was off limits out on a date.

  Molly pulled away from him, peering at his face closely, looking a touch stunned. She put a few feet between them before looking up at him. “A date?”

  “I know I’m only here at the lake for a few weeks. But I’d like to take you out on a date. Spend some time together while I’m here.”

  She eyed him speculatively. Then crossed her arms over her chest. “What’s the angle here, Cal? There’s no need to date.”

  Jesus, she said it like a dirty word. Every inch of her body was screaming back off.

  He opened his mouth to speak, but she beat him to the punch. “Look, I’m sure you are a perfectly nice guy. Bottom line—you’re a military man and you’re going to walk out that door in two weeks and never look back. And I’m not the least bit interested in being left behind. So, either it’s a no-strings-attached bit of fun or it’s just guard duty. It cannot be anything more for me.”

  For a moment he gaped at her. Just standing there sucking air. Molly Ryan was just full of surprises.

  Grudgingly he said, “I see your point, I suppose. Fine, no dating. But I would like to see you again while I’m here. Exclusively, that is. No other men, or women, while we are not dating.” Was he really setting boundaries on a fling? What the hell was she doing to him?

  “Deal.” Molly stuck her hand out to seal the deal. Instead of shaking it Cal pulled her in for a quick kiss.

  “And since we are not dating, I think we should spend some time training. I scoped out a local gym this morning we could use.” There. That was what he was supposed to talk to her about.

  She squirmed in his arms, but he only pulled her in tighter. “You know it’s the smart thing to do. How long has it been since you’ve worked on self-defense with your brother?”

  “How do you know about Gabe?” She was glaring at him again, even more fiercely than before. When she put her hands on his chest to push him away, he let her.

  Taking a step back he said, “He was part of the information Noah pulled for us when I got here. As well as some details about Pratt.”

  She flinched when he said the bastard’s name, but recovered almost immediately. Pulling her spine straight she said, “Fine, we can train in the mornings before I come in. My work schedule is all over the place while Noah’s gone, but we can figure it out.”

  “Good. We’ll start tonight after your shift ends. I’ll call the gym and reserve some space.” How was that for not a date?

  Cal tugged her into a loose embrace again. He nuzzled along her neck before placing a soft kiss there.

  When she spoke her voice was breathy and soft. “Maybe we can find time to get a meal?” It should have been a statement, but instead it ended like a question.

  “If that’s what you want, I’m sure we can make time.” They may not be officially dating, but daily training sessions were going to be even more useful in figuring out the complexities of one Molly Ryan.

  She sighed. “Come have lunch. Chief makes a mean crab cake special.”

  Chapter Five

  Leaving the storage room behind, Cal watched Molly’s ass as they made their way down the hall leading back to the bar area. It wasn’t doing a damned bit of good to cure his raging libido, but the view was mighty fine.

  As they cleared the hallway, every detail before him came into sharp focus. Master Chief had a large blond man pushed up against the wall closest to the entrance. With a beefy forearm pressed against his throat, the man couldn’t speak but had his hands raised in the air, attempting to show no threat. Another large man, this one with short black hair, had a baseball bat pointed at his face by the Master Chief’s other hand. Bo stood behind Master Chief, emitting a low but fierce warning growl, every muscle rigid as he held himself in check.

  Molly surged forward, but Cal held her back. Pushing her behind him, he held her there with one hand as she fought to get around him.

  “Stay put,” he ordered.

  Immediately she stopped fighting him and settled in behind the bar, reaching for her own baseball bat. Obviously, Noah was well prepared for trouble breaking out at the pub.

  Striding forward, Cal spoke, “Master Chief, need a hand?”

  “These two sons-a-bitches are the ones following Molly.”

  She really should have been frightened, but Molly was far more fascinated than afraid. Cal strode across the pub with single-minded intent. He wore another pair of rugged khaki shorts with a plain white tee. Basic guy wear, but when Cal grabbed the man at the en
d of Chief’s baseball bat and every muscle in his body bunched and flexed, he looked anything but basic.

  As Cal shoved the man up against the wall, each item nailed to it rattled and threatened to fall to the ground. Bo gave a brief bark and vibrated with rage as the unknown man swore vehemently.

  “You have two seconds to explain yourself before I tear you apart. Understand?” Cal punctuated his words with another push, cracking the man’s head against the wall hard enough to snap his jaw shut in the process.

  “We are not the men following Molly, but we do need to speak with her.” This came from the blond Chief had pinned with a forearm.

  Chief growled, “You’ll damn well talk to me instead, boy.”

  Cal’s normally honeyed skin was darkening with anger, turning a mottled red, as he pulled the darker-haired man away from the wall. “Now we take this outside.” Over his shoulder he called to Molly, “Call the police.”

  “Wait. Gabe Ryan sent us.”

  Molly dropped her bat and rushed to Cal. She hadn’t heard from Gabe in over seven months and just hearing his name from a stranger’s lips brought a flash of anxiety. “Let him go. Now, Cal.”

  She ran a hand down his broad back and relished the strength there before turning her gaze to the man presently lifted up on his tiptoes.

  Cal slowly settled him back to his feet but didn’t step away. With his grip still firmly bunched in the man’s shirt, he still controlled the situation.

  Forcing a calm she didn’t feel, when she spoke it was controlled and tight. “How do you know my brother? And why have you been following me?”

  The man looked pointedly down at Cal’s hands on his shirt. In response, Cal only tightened his hold again. “Captain Ryan asked us to keep an eye on you until he got home. He’s scheduled to relieve us in ten days.” He glanced at his partner before going on. “And, again, we are not the ones following you.”

  Relief washed over her, Gabe wasn’t hurt and he’d be here soon. “If you know my brother, and he really did send you, then he’d have given you a code for me. What is it?”

  The man looked embarrassed for a moment, which was a good sign. If he really knew Gabe, then he should be embarrassed by their code. “Captain Awesome says that Princess Prissy’s fort is under attack.”

  Cal looked amused and relaxed his hands, letting the man stand without his support, and stepped back.

  Molly hadn’t been called Princess Prissy in years, but growing up, it had been her constant nickname. Though she’d never called Gabe by his self-given nickname. Captain Awesome, indeed.

  As children, they each had their own backyard fort and had often attacked one another in mock battle. Even as a child, Gabe had been a warrior, and Molly had spent her entire childhood trying to keep up with him. He was only a year older, and they’d spent plenty a summer day waging war with water guns and fake swords. The memory made Molly smile, missing her brother more than ever.

  Even as children he’d protected her from the evils in the world. When their parents’ drinking would turn angry and belligerent it was always Gabe stepping up and taking care of her. From making sure they had food to attempting to hide her in the closet when things got really ugly, he was always her hero. By the time she was seventeen their father had drank himself into liver failure and their mom had left her children behind and never looked back.

  Gabe had stuck around until she graduated, packed her off to college, and promptly joined the Army. And she had missed him every day they’d been apart. Gabe was a warrior and was finally living life on his own terms, and she could never begrudge him that.

  He’d been an elite Delta Force soldier for over five years. The danger he lived with on a daily basis brought fear to her life at every level. She couldn’t wait to see him, speak to him, and possibly yell at him for not being there when she’d needed him most. Not his fault, but emotions weren’t always rational and without him she’d had no one to rely on. Every time she heard his name her heart seized, waiting for the bad news that she just knew was going to come someday.

  “All right, you pass.” She nodded at Chief and grabbed Cal’s hand, tugging him away from the men. “Let’s sit down and hash this out.”

  Bo padded back to his bed by the bar, content that all was calm again. The two groups of men eyed one another warily. Cal and Chief stared down her brother’s friends like they expected them to grow horns any second.

  They each took a seat at one of the larger tables near the windows, Molly flanked by Chief and Cal. The other two men across from them, looking slightly outnumbered.

  Not that they appeared intimidated. They were just as capable as either of the men at her side. Just as confident, calm and competent as her brother.

  The blond man spoke first. “I’m Danvers, and this is Masterson.” Both men nodded, and Molly made introductions for Cal and Chief. “Ryan had us on recon detail for the last couple of weeks.”

  “Recon detail? What does that mean?”

  Cal spoke before Danvers or Masterson. “It means they’re gathering information, keeping an eye out for trouble.”

  “What trouble? The only trouble I’ve had is you guys freaking me out because you’re always following me around!” Molly could feel her blood pressure spiking. Her brother had given her a tail without telling her. Noah and Chris had called in a damn Army Ranger to watch out for her, and now the two goons she’d been afraid of were in her bar, telling her another story. What the hell was going on?

  Again, it was Cal who spoke. “I’d say they’re here to scare someone else away. No way they’re sloppy enough to be seen if they didn’t want to be.”

  She eyed the men across from her. They nodded in agreement. “Lay it out for me. What exactly is going on around here? And why didn’t my brother tell me you were going to be following me?”

  “Well, our orders were to stay in the shadows unless a threat presented itself. No need to frighten you unnecessarily—” Masterson broke off.

  Danvers picked up the story. “Then we noticed that blue sedan. Captain wanted us to be seen immediately, to warn them off. Yesterday we got word that we needed to make contact with you, but that was made impossible when Rambo over here drew a gun on us in the parking lot.” He glanced at Molly. “Obviously, you’ve got more backup than your brother anticipated.”

  Molly felt Cal bristle at the Rambo jab, but he held himself back and let it slide. Chief, however, wasn’t going to let anything go. “Damn straight he drew a gun on your dumb asses.”

  Both men looked sheepish. “It’s understandable, given the threat. But it slowed us down trying to reach Molly.”

  Molly wasn’t surprised that Chief knew about the fiasco yesterday. Of course Chris would have called him and put him on alert. It was nice to be so protected, but it was also more than a little bit stifling to be surrounded by so many men who felt obligated to take care of her.

  She wasn’t stupid enough to be too angry. After surviving Pratt’s attack over a year ago, she might find all the testosterone overbearing, but she also understood that her ego took a back seat to her physical safety. After barely escaping Pratt’s assault in one piece physically, she was painfully aware of her own limitations. Pratt had outweighed her by a hundred pounds, easily. He had underestimated her, and that was the only reason she had walked away from him with only a broken hand and a few shallow cuts from his knife.

  It had taken months to feel comfortable in her own skin again. Even now, after all this time, she wasn’t completely at ease. And it felt exceptionally good to know she wasn’t as alone in all this as she had first thought. The tension in her chest was starting to unfurl, just enough to let her catch her breath.

  After a year of watching her own back it felt good to take a breath that wasn’t couched in all-consuming fear. Her family had only included Gabe for so long, that she hadn’t realized Noah, Tenn, Chris and Chief had slowly
become a part of her trusted circle.

  She heaved a great sigh and rested her head on the table, suddenly very exhausted. Cal ran a hand up her back. “Now what?” Her words were muffled against the table.

  “Now we keep up surveillance and report back to Ryan as soon as we have solid information.” Masterson’s voice was quiet and calm.

  “But you haven’t seen anything. Have you?”

  “Nothing conclusive. We’ve both got a gut feeling about this. Something’s up, that’s for sure.”

  “So you guys are just going to keep tailing me?”

  “Yes, ma’am.”

  “And my brother’s going to be here in ten days?”

  “Yes, ma’am.”

  “When you talk to Captain Awesome, you tell him I want you guys off my ass. Right now. I’ve got Chief here during my shift, and I’ve got Cal for the…rest.” She waved a hand in the air, indicating Cal next to her.

  “We can relay the message, but he’s not going to listen. He was very explicit that your safety is the number one priority.”

  Molly still had her head buried in her arms and didn’t notice the look the two men across the table gave each other. Cal gave Chief a glance, and the man spoke softly to Molly before hustling her off away from the table. The three men waited for them to disappear in the back before speaking.

  “What’s your second priority?”

  Masterson looked over at his partner before speaking. “Before we answer that, we need to know how you fit in to all this. Ryan never briefed us about a boyfriend, and you just showed up on the scene yesterday.”

  “Noah Harper pulled me in. I’m an Army Ranger on leave. Now either tell me what the second priority is or I want to talk to Ryan myself.”

  Danvers glanced at his partner before saying, “Second priority is to haul these assholes in with substantial charges that will stick or neutralize if necessary.”