Tamed (Corcoran Team: Bulletproof Bachelors Book 3)

by HelenKay Dimon

  “You’re telling me how I feel?” He sounded amused by the idea.

  Nothing about this moment struck her as funny. She shoved against his arms to get him to let go. “Goodbye, Shane.”

  She fumbled with her keys. They bounced off her fingers and fell to the ground with a clink. Lost and heartsick, she stood there and tipped her head back to stare up at the sky.

  “You can leave, but I’ll just follow you.” His voice came from right behind her. His hands went to her arms, and his face rested against her hair. “I can’t let you go.”

  He said... She couldn’t process the words or anything else that was happening. She turned around to face him, letting him see every ounce of pain running through her. “Is this about your ego?”

  “It’s about loving you.” He rubbed his hands up and down her arms. “About realizing that I was wrong and pushing you away when I should have been grabbing on with all my strength.”

  That sounded good, but her mind couldn’t hold on to a single thought. “I don’t understand.”

  “I’m sorry I let fear and old wounds keep us apart.” He balanced his forehead against hers. “I will never do that again.”

  “You love me?” The words didn’t even sound right to her.

  He lifted his head and stared down at her. There, written on his face, she saw tenderness and hope, a good bit of lust and, yes, love. She had no idea where or why, but the hope finally took hold. She didn’t bat it away or downplay it. She held on.

  “Almost losing you nearly killed me.” He lifted her hand and pressed her fingers to his lips. “I don’t want to be away from you.”

  “You were last night.” That piece didn’t make any sense in light of all the wonderful things he said now.

  The corner of Shane’s mouth kicked up in a smile. “I had to tell Holt while I didn’t need his permission and wasn’t asking for it. I hoped we had it.”

  “I talked with him.” She ran through the conversation in her mind. Now some of Holt’s stray comments made sense. “He never said anything.”

  “I asked him to let me win you back first.” Shane shrugged. “For the record, he made me work for it.”

  As if that would be hard. “I bet.”

  “I would have done and said anything. Though I have to admit you are the one I want to win over, not him.”

  She tried to imagine that conversation and how hard a time Holt must have given Shane. The idea that he would go through that, that he’d even thought it was important to take on the challenge of winning Holt over, made her smile.

  “I love you.” She said it because she needed him to know. She’d thrown it out in the heat of the attack. Now, in the middle of the parking lot with people walking by and nothing on the line, she made the vow again. “With all I am and all I have.”

  “Good.”

  The response made her laugh. “That’s all you’ve got to say?”

  “Definitely not. I have all sorts of things I want to say and do to you. Some of them in bed. Some against a wall. Some on G-rated dates.”

  She loved the sound of all of it. “You tell me when and where.”

  “We’re going to do this right.” He lifted her off the ground and held her tight. “Start over. Not fast-forward the relationship and skip over the good parts.”

  She wasn’t sure she loved that. “Meaning?”

  “We’re going to date. Go out to eat and do whatever it is dating people do. You’ll probably need to help me with that, because I’m clueless.”

  “You’re doing great.”

  “And, just so you know, I’m going to kiss you...a lot. Like, all the time. In private and sometimes in parking lots, like here.” He followed through by doing just that. Planted a kiss filled with promise and love and every great thing on her. It went on and on, and dragged her under.

  When he lifted his head again, all the strain around his eyes had disappeared. She couldn’t help running her finger over his eyebrows.

  “You’re going to know every single day how much I love you,” he said in a husky voice. “How much you mean to me and how you are my future.”

  Light burst to life inside her, washing away the exhaustion and the doubts. Her head cleared just as her heart sped up. “We should start now.”

  He laughed. “Are you making a pass?”

  “Do I need to?”

  “No, because I’m already yours.”

  Then she kissed him. Parking lot or no, she wanted her life with him to start right now. “Take me home, so you can make up for leaving me yesterday.”

  He nodded. “I’m willing to spend a lifetime doing that.”

  * * *

  FOUR DAYS LATER Shane still hadn’t stopped smiling. He’d survived seeing Holt again. Made it through all the doctor checkups and Makena moving into his place. That last one being the best thing to happen to him in...ever.

  Every piece of his life had fallen into place.

  He’d been the last bachelor in the group. The only one not attached, and he’d held that as a badge of honor for a long time. Something he now saw as ridiculous.

  Maybe he hadn’t put a ring on Makena’s finger or waited for her at the end of an aisle, but he would. And not years from now—soon. Now that he saw his life with her, he wanted more. There was no reason to wait and see. He knew her. Knew them. Knew that life without her wasn’t worth much.

  Connor walked into the conference room at team headquarters and dropped a file in front of Shane. “You ready to get back to work?”

  He glanced around. “Am I the only one on this case?”

  “Nah, that’s your expense voucher.”

  Shane opened the file and stared at the pages. He had a check coming his way. Yeah, so what? It didn’t mean much to him. “Okay.”

  Connor leaned back in his chair at the head of the table and grabbed a thick stack of folders off the long desk in front of the line of monitors. “I actually wanted you to look through these.”

  The pile landed on the table with a thud. Shane had no idea what he was looking at or why. He could scan every page or he could just ask. “What’s going on?”

  “Potential candidates.”

  “For?” Shane opened the cover of the top one and glanced inside.

  “To be Corcoran Team members.” Connor folded his arms in front of him and leaned against the table. “It’s time.”

  They’d been so insular for so long. Connor rarely added new people. He talked about the need for camaraderie and joked that with too many members he risked being overruled. As if that would ever happen. He had their loyalty and trust, and they were not men who gave either easily.

  Just so he was clear, he tried again. “We’re hiring?”

  “I’m thinking we need a West Coast office.” Connor shrugged. “That will allow all of you room to pick and choose cases and spend some more time closer to home.”

  That didn’t sound like the tough sharpshooter Shane knew. Sure, Connor had been married to Jana for years and spent his days protecting others and loving her. But making sure the rest of them had stable home lives? Interesting.

  “Are you matchmaking?” Shane couldn’t even make the idea make sense in his head.

  “Blame my wife.”

  That, Shane got. Something about keeping Makena happy appealed to him. He hated when she so much as frowned. Shane didn’t mind the travel or the work. Still, the idea of spending most nights by her side in their big bed didn’t exactly stink.

  Thank you, Jana. “I love your wife.”

  Connor did what he always did. Spun his wedding ring around on his finger without even realizing he did it. “You are not alone.”

  “It won’t be easy to find qualified men and women who fit in around here.” Shane tried to imagine interviewing people and putting them through a series of tests. A daunting but interesting task.

  “It takes a certain kind of crazy, I agree.”

  No question about that. “Do you have people in mind?”

  Shane
could think of a few. There were folks he’d worked with over the years whom he could see stepping up and assuming the kinds of risks they took for granted. Strong and decent people who needed to find a purpose, which was exactly what he had been. Lost and wandering. Now he had the best friends of his life, a woman he loved and a team that meant everything to him.

  Connor nodded in the direction of the high stack. “Right there. I want you all to take a look and offer feedback. Take your time. There’s no rush. This is about finding the right people, not speed.”

  And that summed up why Connor was in charge. Why he inspired so much loyalty. “Sounds good to me.”

  “Besides that, we need a few bachelors around here.” Connor leaned back in his chair. “I thought you’d never go down. And so easy? Man, you’re lucky.”

  He’d never thought so before, but Shane sure thought so now. “Easy?”

  “She should have made you beg.”

  Shane couldn’t help smiling. “She does...sometimes.”

  Connor leaned forward and the legs of his chair hit the floor. “That’s probably too much information.”

  “I’m happy.”

  “And I’m happy for you.” Connor got up and walked around the table. “Now get ready so you can get home to Makena.”

  Shane would never tire of hearing that. “You got it, boss.”

  * * * * *

  Read on for a sneak peek of

  LONE RIDER

  The next installment in

  THE MONTANA HAMILTONS series

  from New York Times bestselling author

  B.J. Daniels.

  When danger claims her, rescue comes from the one man she least expects...

  We hope you enjoyed this Harlequin Intrigue story.

  You crave excitement! Harlequin Intrigue stories deal in serious romantic suspense, keeping you on the edge of your seat as resourceful, true-to-life women and strong, fearless men fight for survival.

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  Lone Rider

  by B.J. Daniels

  CHAPTER ONE

  THE MOMENT JACE CALDER saw his sister’s face, he feared the worst. His heart sank. Emily, his troubled little sister, had been doing so well since she’d gotten the job at the Sarah Hamilton Foundation in Big Timber, Montana.

  “What’s wrong?” he asked as he removed his Stetson, pulled up a chair at the Big Timber Java coffee shop and sat down across from her. Tossing his hat on the seat of an adjacent chair, he braced himself for bad news.

  Emily blinked her big blue eyes. Even though she was closing in on twenty-five, he often caught glimpses of the girl she’d been. Her pixie cut, once a dark brown like his own hair, was dyed black. From thirteen on, she’d been piercing anything she could. At sixteen she’d begun getting tattoos and drinking. It wasn’t until she’d turned seventeen that she’d run away, taken up with a thirty-year-old biker drug-dealer thief and ended up in jail for the first time.

  But while Emily still had the tattoos and the piercings, she’d changed after the birth of her daughter, and after snagging this job with Bo Hamilton.

  “What’s wrong is Bo,” his sister said. Bo had insisted her employees at the foundation call her by her first name. “Pretty cool for a boss, huh?” his sister had said at the time. He’d been surprised. That didn’t sound like the woman he knew.

  But who knew what was in Bo’s head lately. Four months ago her mother, Sarah, who everyone believed dead the past twenty-two years, had suddenly shown up out of nowhere. According to what he’d read in the papers, Sarah had no memory of the past twenty-two years.

  He’d been worried it would hurt the foundation named for her. Not to mention what a shock it must have been for Bo.

  Emily leaned toward him and whispered, “Bo’s... She’s gone.”

  “Gone?”

  “Before she left Friday, she told me that she would be back by ten this morning. She hasn’t shown up, and no one knows where she is.”

  That did sound like the Bo Hamilton he knew. The thought of her kicked up that old ache inside him. He’d been glad when Emily had found a job and moved back to town with her baby girl. But he’d often wished her employer had been anyone but Bo Hamilton—the woman he’d once asked to marry him.

  He’d spent the past five years avoiding Bo, which wasn’t easy in a county as small as Sweet Grass. Crossing paths with her, even after five years, still hurt. It riled him in a way that only made him mad at himself for letting her get to him after all this time.

  “What do you mean, gone?” he asked now.

  Emily looked pained. “I probably shouldn’t be telling you this—”

  “Em,” he said impatiently. She’d been doing so well at this job, and she’d really turned her life around. He couldn’t bear the thought that Bo’s disappearance might derail her second chance. Em’s three-year-old daughter, Jodie, desperately needed her mom to stay on track.

  Leaning closer again, she whispered, “Apparently there are funds missing from the foundation. An auditor’s been going over all the records since Friday.”

  He sat back in surprise. No matter what he thought of Bo, he’d never imagined this. The woman was already rich. She wouldn’t need to divert funds...

  “And that’s not the worst of it,” Emily said. “I was told she’s on a camping trip in the mountains.”

  “So she isn’t really gone.”

  Em waved a hand. “She took her camping gear, saddled up and left Saturday afternoon. Apparently she’s the one who called the auditor, so she knew he would be finished and wanting to talk to her this morning!”

  Jace considered this news. If Bo really was on the run with the money, wouldn’t she take her passport and her SUV as far as the nearest airport? But why would she run at all? He doubted Bo had ever had a problem that her daddy, the senator, hadn’t fixed for her. She’d always had a safety net. Unlike him.

  He’d been on his own since eighteen. He’d been a senior in high school, struggling to pay the bills, hang on to the ranch and raise his wild kid sister after his parents had been killed in a small plane crash. He’d managed to save the ranch, but he hadn’t been equipped to raise Emily and had made his share of mistakes.

  A few months ago, his sister had gotten out of jail and gone to work for Bo. He’d been surprised she’d given Emily a chance. He’d had to readjust his opinion of Bo—but only a little. Now this.

  “There has to be an explanation,” he said, even though he knew firsthand that Bo often acted impulsively. She did whatever she wanted, damn the world. But now his little sister was part of that world. How could she leave Emily and the rest of the staff at the foundation to face this alone?

  “I sure hope everything is all right,” his sister said. “Bo is so sweet.”

  Sweet wasn’t a word he would have used to describe her. Sexy in a cowgirl way, yes, since most of the time she dressed in jeans, boots and a Western shirt—all of which accented her very nice curves. Her long, sandy-blond hair was often pulled up in a ponytail or wrestled into a braid that hung over one shoulder. Since her wide green eyes didn’t need makeup to give her that girl-next-door look, she seldom wore it.

  “I can’t believe she wouldn’t show up. Something must have happened,” Emily said loyally.

  He couldn’t help being skeptical based on Bo’s history. But given Em’s concern, he didn’t want to add his own kindling to the fire.

  “Jace, I just have this bad feeling. You’re the best tracker in these parts. I know it’s a lot to ask, but would you go find her?”

  He almost laughed. Given the b
ad blood between him and Bo? “I’m the last person—”

  “I’m really worried about her. I know she wouldn’t run off.”

  Jace wished he knew that. “Look, if you’re really that concerned, maybe you should call the sheriff. He can get search and rescue—”

  “No,” Emily cried. “No one knows what’s going on over at the foundation. We have to keep this quiet. That’s why you have to go.”

  He’d never been able to deny his little sister anything, but this was asking too much.

  “Please, Jace.”

  He swore silently. Maybe he’d get lucky and Bo would return before he even got saddled up. “If you’re that worried...” He got to his feet and reached for his hat, telling himself it shouldn’t take him long to find Bo if she’d gone up into the Crazies, as the Crazy Mountains were known locally. He’d grown up in those mountains. His father had been an avid hunter who’d taught him everything about mountain survival.

  If Bo had gone rogue with the foundation’s funds... He hated to think what that would do not only to Emily’s job but also to her recovery. She idolized her boss. So did Jodie, who was allowed the run of the foundation office.

  But finding Bo was one thing. Bringing her back to face the music might be another. He started to say as much to Emily, but she cut him off.

  “Oh, Jace, thank you so much. If anyone can find her, it’s you.”

  He smiled at his sister as he set his Stetson firmly on his head and made her a promise. “I’ll find Bo Hamilton and bring her back.” One way or the other.

  CHAPTER TWO

  BO HAMILTON ROSE with the sun, packed up camp and saddled up as a squirrel chattered at her from a nearby pine tree. Overhead, high in the Crazy Mountains, Montana’s big, cloudless early-summer sky had turned a brilliant blue. The day was already warm. Before she’d left, she’d heard a storm was coming in, but she’d known she’d be out of the mountains long before it hit.

  She’d had a devil of a time getting to sleep last night, and after tossing and turning for hours in her sleeping bag, she had finally fallen into a death-like sleep.