Dax: Military Heroes (The One I Want Series Book 4)

by Ellie Masters

  Something came over him, an arrogance or foolish pride. Whatever it was, he crashed and burned. He expected her to notice him, and thank him for helping her out. What he got instead was a cold shoulder.

  Had she been testing him?

  It was almost as if she were angry with him, which wasn't fair, because she had been very clear about being able to help herself. He'd practically had to beg to do anything at all.

  Too independent. That was her problem. Not his.

  Freely offered help shouldn’t be perceived as an insult, but rather the favor it was meant to be.

  Women were beyond confusing.

  Not his fault if she wanted to complicate shit.

  He walked in with every intention of striking up a conversation, but at the cold reception she gave him, it was all he could do to ask Marge to give Dynamo a treat and not look like a complete fool.

  Who the hell walked into a diner begging for a bone for their dog?

  An idiot, that's who, and he drove off cursing the complete idiot he'd made of himself. Perhaps it was good riddance to leave the girl behind. She cost him most of his day.

  He didn’t get in his run and that pissed him off. Working with cattle was good, hard work, but it didn’t bring the mental and physical exhaustion that pushing his endurance brought.

  Not that the day was a complete loss.

  He decided to head down toward Peace Springs and finally stop in on his friend. It was probably best to do that before Caleb found out he was in town.

  Less than half an hour later, he pulled up outside Rowdy Range. As he understood things, Caleb had grown up around these parts and took over management of a relatively modest cattle operation when he was medically discharged from the Marines.

  Dynamo hopped out of the truck and sniffed at all the interesting smells. Dax went to the front door, knocked, but nobody answered. Not that he expected anyone to be home this time of day.

  "Come on 'Mo. Let's find Killshot."

  A Marine scout sniper, Caleb had been recruited into Delta Force precisely because of his lethal skill with his weapon. His nickname fit him perfectly, and yet still didn't fully encapsulate the lethality Killshot brought to a mission.

  Dax cupped his hands over his mouth and called out.

  Nothing.

  He and Dynamo searched the barn, but found no one working inside.

  A modest operation didn't mean Rowdy Range was small and there should have been a few ranch hands around. It took Dax half an hour before he tracked Caleb down, and he managed to get in some of the run he’d been craving as he and Dynamo searched.

  They found Caleb in one of the far pastures behind the barn. He jogged toward the big man wrestling a fence at the far end of the field.

  "Yo' Killshot!" Dax stopped and spread his arms out wide. With his eagle eyes Caleb would know who he was.

  "Dax?" Caleb shaded his eyes and stared.

  Unlike most men, Dax never earned a cool nickname during his time in the service. Or maybe, Dax was his nickname.

  His father burdened a small boy with a name that never fit, and he refused to allow Dax to shorten Alexander to a more reasonable Alex.

  Dax hated the pretentious name growing up—Alexander Kingston—and finally shed it in basic training when one of the female recruits mentioned Dax was short for Alexander when they’d been tossing nicknames around.

  She wound up with Bunny, a name she hated and he’d been given Dax. He didn't believe her about Dax being short for Alexander, but that’s all it took.

  The name stuck and was original enough to persist.

  "Dax Kingston?" Caleb put down the fence puller. "What the hell are you doing here?"

  Now, that was a loaded question, and Dax wasn't sure how to begin answering it.

  As he neared, he noted the eyepatch over Killshot's eye. It reminded Dax about one thing they shared.

  "Just came to say hi.” He came for something else, a sense of camaraderie he missed.

  Caleb understood what it meant to be one of the few privileged enough to serve in special ops. They didn’t share a service, but they fought and bled by each other’s side. That was enough to form a lifetime bond.

  "What the fuck did you do to your face?" Caleb dropped his hand and gave Dax a long hard look. Then his expression softened and his brows drew together. “I take it you’re out?"

  Dax looked down and kicked at a rock. "Yeah. Got the big ole thanks for your service, now leave."

  "I feel ya'." Caleb wiped at the sweat on his brow. "So, are you just passing through? You could've called. We've got a spare bed if you need it for the night."

  We.

  After leaving the Marines, Caleb found his way home and got hitched to his high school sweetheart. Some people were lucky in love.

  "Thanks, but I'm working at Crowbar ranch. I’ve got a place there, at least for the time being.“

  "Really? Whatcha doing there?”

  “Helping him during calving season. He needed an extra hand and I needed work.”

  Caleb snorted. “You didn’t need the work.”

  Dax gave Caleb a squint. They’d never talked much about their pasts and he was pretty sure he never mentioned much about his family. Caleb didn’t seem to notice and rolled on through the break in their conversation.

  “I could use a spare hand, too. Wish I knew you were looking for work. Didn't know you knew anything about cattle."

  That answered that question and Dax breathed out a sigh of relief. He wasn’t ashamed of his family’s wealth, or the reputation they’d built within the industry. His issues were more personal and had more to do with living out from beneath his father’s shadow than anything else.

  “I grew up in Texas man. We’re born in the saddle.”

  Caleb laughed at that one. “I suppose that’s true.”

  "I knew you grew up in a small town in Montana, but I didn't know you were here until someone mentioned your name. I wanted to come by and see how things were going.“

  "We're busy as fuck."

  “I could always help out.”

  “I appreciate it. I really do, but there’s no way in hell I’d poach a worker off Tom Studer. That man is solid.”

  “I get it.”

  “You settling down out here?”

  He glanced at the broken fence Caleb was trying to mend. “I’m actually just passing through. You know how it is, needed to get my head screwed on straight before I can figure out the rest.”

  “I see you picked up an ugly assed scar.”

  He felt at the puckered skin on his face. “That and more.”

  Caleb pointed to Dynamo. “Nice dog.”

  “Smart dog. He’s got herding flowing in his veins. I’m training him at Studer’s ranch, but it feels more like he’s waiting for me to catch up with him.”

  “Shit, I know what you mean. Caitlyn has this Newfoundland…”

  “Big black bear of a dog?”

  “You’ve seen Bear?”

  “I saw a massive bear-sized monstrosity of a dog at Marge’s. Shit, if I’d known that was your girl, I would’ve introduced myself.”

  “How about we do one better. Come over for dinner.”

  “I’d love to, but like you said, it’s crazy busy. Maybe next week?”

  “Sounds good. I’ll invite my friend Drake. He was in the community. Green Beret, if you can forgive him for that.”

  Dax laughed. Sibling rivalry between the services never got old.

  “We’ll figure something out.” Caleb arched an eyebrow and glanced at the fence. “While you’re just standing there…”

  Dax glanced at the fence. “Yeah, you know you’re doing that all wrong, right?”

  “You got a better way?”

  He pushed up his sleeves. “You Delta boys think you know it all. Now stand aside and let a real man show you how it’s done.”

  “Zoomie.”

  “Gomer.”

  “Air Farce!”

  “Jarhead!”

&n
bsp; “At least we’re not grunts.”

  “Oh, don’t let Drake hear you say that.” Caleb twisted the wire Dax tightened, securing it in place. That was the problem with cattle. Normally, they stayed away from the fences and the barbs which cut into their flesh, but sometimes, especially when spooked, they ran right through them.

  They joked back and forth as Dax helped Caleb mend the fence. He showed Caleb a few tricks he’d picked up over the years. Sometimes, brute force wasn’t the answer.

  “You lost any cattle through this breech?” The sun was dipping toward the horizon. As it was his day off, he didn’t mind lending a hand.

  “Yeah, but my men are on it. This fence opens into Drake’s pasture. Our cattle are co-mingling right now, but they’ll bring mine back.”

  “How big is his ranch?”

  “A few thousand head.” Caleb gave a respectful nod. “He’s got the biggest operation out here. I think it might even be the biggest in the state.” He jabbed Dax in the ribs. “You may want to go easy on the grunt and cannon fodder jokes, my Zoomie friend.”

  “I look forward to talking to him. Never got to support the Green Berets.”

  “Have you given thought to what you’re going to do once you sort things out in your head?”

  Dax never mentioned PTSD, but there’d been no need. Caleb understood.

  “Not really.”

  “Peace Springs could use a good paramedic.”

  As a part of his training as a Para jumper, he held a national certification as a paramedic. If he wanted, he could go anywhere in the country and settle down. Every town, city, and major metropolis needed paramedics.

  But therein lie the problem.

  His skin itched when it came to thinking about settling down. His roots were in Texas. His blood flowed in that land. There would come a day when he had to face his father’s judgmental eyes and commit to the future he’d been born into.

  But not today.

  Today, he could work until sweat drenched his shirt and the sun set below the horizon. Studer gave him quarters at the ranch. He had a small one bedroom apartment in a building out back with a few other guys. They spent their days working, too busy with the cattle to trade life stories. Nights they spent apart. Not that he was looking to make friends.

  Bear Creek was nothing more than a layover as far as he was concerned.

  They finished up mending the fences and headed back as dusk swept through the sky.

  “Damn, but this really is big sky country.”

  Texas had skies which stretched to the horizon, but in this, Montana had bigger, badder, and much more impressive sunsets. The entire sky filled with sheets of liquid fire, bright golds which deepened to the darkest reds.

  By the time they made it back to the house, curtains of the deepest purple ushered in the blackness of night. The first stars pierced the night sky and a chill settled into the air.

  He shook Caleb’s hand, refusing to come inside to share a beer.

  “You sure you won’t stay?”

  “It’s getting late, and I have to be up before the ass crack of dawn.”

  “Don’t I know it.” Caleb pulled off his sweat soaked shirt and tossed it on the floor. “Don’t be a stranger, and I’m telling Caitlyn you’ll be here for dinner next Friday. Are you helping Tom out with the fair this weekend?”

  “I think so.”

  “Maybe we can have you over sooner. Tom won’t mind.”

  “I’ll think about it.”

  “Do that. Don’t make a liar out of me, and I want you to meet Caitlyn…”

  “I’d love to meet her.” He rubbed the back of his neck. “Although, I think I kind of already did.”

  “You mean at the diner?”

  “Yeah. She may not appreciate you inviting me over.”

  “Why’s that?”

  He relayed his trip to the mountains, coming across the girl with the flat tire, and the awkward exchange in the diner.

  “Oh, now that’s going to be fun. I wonder who it was?” Caleb rubbed his jaw. “She knows everyone in town. You never got a name?”

  It didn’t escape his notice that Caleb didn’t mention he knew everyone in town as well. Bear Creek was a very small town. He probably knew the girl too. For a moment, he thought about digging for information, but Caleb was too smart. The last thing he needed was the entire town talking about the stranger who had eyes for a girl.

  He shrugged. “We didn’t exactly hit it off.”

  Chapter 8

  Dani

  Heat rose along the back of Dani’s neck and she gripped her fists so tight that her nails bit into the palms of her hands.

  The nerve!

  She finally had a name for the infuriating stranger. Dax called her ungrateful? Chastised her for not thanking him?

  What the hell? The cocky bastard had left her to fend for herself.

  He should apologize to her and beg her forgiveness for being such an ass.

  And really? What had he done? Loosen a few nuts?

  Given enough time, she would’ve figured it out. Granted, she might still be on the side of the road, but she could’ve hiked until she reached a pocket of cell service. Her dad would’ve come to her rescue eventually.

  The age of chivalry truly was dead, or maybe she simply had the worst luck with men. Dax should’ve done the heavy lifting and finished the job.

  Maybe he left because she hadn’t gushed over his physique enough? Men could be such vain pricks, needing validation for the simple act of breathing.

  Although, he did know how to wear a pair of jeans, and she wouldn’t have minded seeing all that brawn beneath his shirt.

  Dani’s frustrated snort in the diner amused Caitlyn to no end. The moment Dax walked out, Caitlyn practically rolled on the floor. Even Bear stood up, shaking his coat and throwing slobber on the floor. Marge offered no support, even after Dani explained why Dax was the absolute worst asshole on the planet. The twinkle in Marge’s eyes had Dani biting back several colorful phrases.

  Well, Dax could kiss her ass if he was going to be like that.

  Although, to be fair, Dax wasn’t the worst asshole in the country. Scott held that honor.

  “What do you think is so funny?” She propped her hands on her hips and turned her anger toward Marge.

  “Oh, honey, you’re too close to see it.”

  “What the hell does that mean?”

  Marge exchanged a look with Caitlyn, which sent Caitlyn into a fit of giggles.

  “He’s pretty hot, Dani,” her best friend said. “I think you’re going to have problems with that one.”

  “That’s what I’ve been saying. He’s an arrogant asshole.”

  “Uh-huh.” Caitlyn exchanged a look with Marge, but whatever those two were thinking, Dani didn’t want to hear it.

  After Caitlyn picked herself up off the floor, and Marge finished with her secretive looks, Dani excused herself and headed home.

  With the sun setting, her father would begin to worry if she didn’t make it home soon. She may not have called Caitlyn, but she texted her father when she left Pulman. It was one of his most stringent rules.

  Text when she left.

  Text when she arrived.

  By the time she drove down the last section of road before the ranch, she was still fuming over Dax’s intentional snub. She turned off the main road and onto the unpaved drive. Gravel crunched beneath her tires and a cloud of dirt lifted into the air behind her.

  True to everything she knew about her dad, he waited on the porch, rocking in his favorite chair. Blue smoke from his cigar curled around his head. He slowly rose from the chair, and she could imagine the sound of his boots scuffing the hard planking as he planted himself at the top of the stairs to welcome his daughter home.

  A strong man, the years were beginning to wear on her father. They lost her mother a few years ago, and he lived on the family land alone, except for the few men who helped him run the ranch.

  They stayed in a serie
s of outbuildings behind the main house, and weren’t necessarily welcome inside the main house. Her father kept the house exactly as her mother left it, wrapping himself in the love her memories brought. Dani understood not wanting others intruding on that solace.

  She felt bad leaving her father all alone, but her education was important to him. He chased her dreams nearly as hard as she did, encouraging her every step of the way. He hooked his thumbs in his belt loops and puffed on his cigar. Leaving her bags in the Jeep, she ran up the stairs and into her father’s arms.

  “Daddy! I missed you.” She wrapped her arms around his lean torso and placed her cheek against his broad chest.

  The rich scent of cigar smoke permeated his shirt, and she couldn’t help but take a deep breath. Cigar and pipe smoke would always remind her of home. She tried to get him to quit, but smoking was the one vice he clung to with stalwart determination to never change. He politely told his daughter he would smoke until the day he died. They agreed to disagree, and she silently enjoyed the richness of her daddy’s unique smell.

  “Danielle, I missed you too.” He whispered her full name and enveloped her in his strong arms. “It’s good to have you home, luv.”

  They stood there for a moment and simply absorbed each other’s love.

  Finally, he pulled away and looked deep into her eyes. “I thought Scott was coming?” He glanced at her hand, took it in his, and pressed the pad of his finger over where her ring should be. “Seems as if something else is missing.”

  Her friend, Caitlyn, didn’t hold the market on intuition. Her father had always been able to read Dani’s thoughts, or sort out a situation with one look. It made it challenging growing up because she’d never been able to get away with anything. Her father always ferreted out the truth.

  Her eyes pricked with tears, but she wasn’t willing to waste any emotional energy on Scott.

  “I broke things off.”

  “What?” He took a step back, more of a stagger, and shock deepened the lines of his face. “Why? You’re engaged.”

  “Were engaged. Past tense.” She swallowed against the lump in her throat.

  “What happened?”

  “Scott slept with Beth.”

  Her father’s eyes widened and her pulled her into a hug. “I don’t believe it. He loves you.”