by Lea Hart
“I’d prefer breakfast,” he replied with a laugh.
That was a comment best ignored because the idea of having Brady in her house in the morning wasn’t wholly unappealing. In fact, it was real appealing.
He was six-foot-three, broad-chested, and good-looking. His dark blond hair set off his eyes beautifully, and he was as appealing as could be. “Are you getting close?” When he didn’t respond right away, she wondered if they’d been disconnected. Lifting her phone away from her ear, she checked the signal and noticed they were not connected anymore. Shoving it into her pocket, she hoped he would be here in a minute. The couple from the bathroom walked out, and they gave her satisfied smiles as they passed.
Some people had all the luck. She hitched her purse on her shoulder and then pulled up her jeans. Turning her head, she saw someone walking down the hall and tried to see who it was in the dim light. Hopefully, it wasn’t anyone who wanted to see her harmed. Squaring her shoulders, she waited and then saw it was Brady. He wore an old pair of jeans and a blue T-shirt, and she’d never seen a more welcome sight.
He held his arms open and she walked right into them without a second thought. It was weak, but she really could use a hug. The moment his arms went around her body, she relaxed and buried her face in his T-shirt. Just shoot me now, she thought as she twined her arms around his waist. He smelled perfect. Pine, musk, and something indescribable.
“Borden’s?” Brady asked after he pressed a kiss to her head.
“Yes.”
“Let’s get out of here and get some ice cream,” he said as he turned them toward the bar.
He kept her tucked under his left arm as they walked down the hall. She knew he was right-handed and had his gun tucked into the back of his jeans. Not that he would need it. The man could take care of anyone who got in their way. Close quarters combat was a specialty of HRT, and she knew he would never use lethal force unless he had no choice. Which wasn’t going to happen tonight. Not even close.
People recognized a lethal opponent and usually made an appropriate choice, unless, of course, they were not playing with a full deck. As they passed Roy and his girlfriend, she noticed the malevolent glare the woman threw her. Yeah, not anyone she needed to see again. The fact that Roy chose not to acknowledge her as they walked out of the bar burned her biscuits. Definitely needed to do something to make sure he stayed off the dating sites. Which she would be taking care of first thing in the morning.
CHAPTER SIX
Saturday, July 22nd
The third time someone hit the doorbell about had his temper snapping. Who the hell needed to see him at eight on a Saturday morning that badly? Tucking the towel around his waist, he decided that if it was people trying to save his soul, then they could just take him as he was…fresh out of the shower.
“Hold your damn horses,” he called out as he got closer. He threw the locks, opened the door, and almost started laughing when he saw Claire’s expression. Her mouth was hanging open as she clutched a basket in her arms. “Morning, darlin’. Wasn’t expecting company.” He stepped back so she could come in and noticed it took her more than a minute to peel her eyes away from his almost naked body.
Which he figured was damn good news. Whatever he could do to make her interested was a good thing. If she liked what she saw, then he’d wear as few clothes as he could get away with. Considering it was the middle of July, it wasn’t going to be all that hard to do.
When she stood in the foyer, he leaned over and tried to get a look into the basket. Whatever she had in there sure smelled delicious. “This is a nice surprise.”
Claire moved her hand over her bangs and cleared her throat. “I guess I should’ve called before I came over. I brought you breakfast as a thank you for saving my bacon last night.”
“Not necessary,” he said as he wrapped his arm around her shoulders. “But much appreciated.” Feeling her warm skin through the thin material of her summer dress was a blessing he wasn’t expecting on this fine Saturday morning, but one he would be sure to thank the good Lord for later. “Coffee is made. Let me get you a cup and then I’ll change.”
“I was just going to drop this off. I don’t want to interrupt your day.”
He slipped his arm from around her shoulders, took her hand, and led her toward the back of the house. “No way I’m letting you leave. We can enjoy this together and sit out on the sun porch.” Seeing her eyes stuck to his chest and the pink spreading over her cheeks made him want to pull her into his arms.
“Well, all right.”
He took the basket from her hands and set it on the counter. “Mugs are above the coffee maker as well as sugar, so help yourself.”
“Thanks, Brady.”
“I’m going to put some clothes on and I’ll be right back.” As he walked down the hall, he swore he heard her mutter, “Don’t do it on my account.” Which made him laugh.
Thank God she had called him last night and allowed him to take care of her. It had given him just the opening he needed to begin getting to know her. All he knew so far was that every time they spent more than five minutes together, his heart beat a little faster.
And…she had a fine sense of humor and always gave as good as she got, which he enjoyed the hell out of. Verbal sparring was one of his favorite things and she could do it better than most. A woman had never kept him on his toes before and now that he’d found someone who did, he wasn’t going to let her get too far away. Claire Hughes was definitely someone he was going to stay as close to as he could. And if she preferred him without clothes, all the better.
Walking into his bedroom, he admired the view of White River and wondered if she might like to come over sometime and do a little fishing. An afternoon on the water with a pretty girl sounded about perfect. Truth was, a lot of things with Claire probably would be.
And he was ready to get started and see what they had. All he had to do was get her to cancel the rest of the dates she had scheduled. No way was he going to sit around and let her go out with another man, especially in light of what happened last night.
Not that he could tell her what to do. Even he knew she wouldn’t tolerate any advice or opinions he had to offer. No, he had to play it cool and see if he could get her to make that choice all on her own. Maybe charm her and see if that worked.
He grabbed a pair of shorts and a T-shirt from the bureau and walked into the bathroom. As he changed, he tried to come up with something they could do that would interrupt her evening plans. He was supposed to go over to Brock and Lilly’s later. Maybe she’d like to join him. If he got her good and distracted, she might forget about whatever plans she had in the evening.
Looking into the mirror, he realized it wasn’t his best idea. He ran his hand through his short hair and decided that he’d come up with something better after he got a feel for where she was on this whole online dating nonsense.
Gather intel, assess the situation, and then form a plan. Worked in his career. No reason it shouldn’t work in his love life. As he dumped his towel into the hamper and turned off the light, he realized that he’d used the word love. Which didn’t bother him as much as he would’ve guessed.
As he walked down the hall toward the kitchen, he smelled something terrific. God damn, it was a good day. As he walked passed the sunroom, he noticed that she’d set the table. He had no idea that he had so many nice dishes. When he’d bought the home, the former owners had left a bunch of things because they were downsizing. The woman had told him she was happy to make sure he had what he needed for entertaining and she hadn’t been lying. Granted, a lot of it was from the seventies or eighties, but he didn’t care because he didn’t really have any taste.
“My God, woman, what kind of magic have you conjured up?” When she twirled around and gave him a smile, his heart beat double time. Claire was so appealing with her light brown hair resting against her bare shoulders and her bright hazel eyes flashing with mischief. Made him want to pick her up and take her
to bed and see what she tasted like. Which was not one of the PG thoughts he should have been having.
Wondering what kind of panties she was wearing and how well she was going to fit into his hands were not thoughts that need to happen, either, before he took her out on a proper date. Biting the inside of his cheek, he decided to ignore how much he wanted to lift her in his arms, run back to his bedroom, and lock the door.
“I made a breakfast casserole and I’ve got it reheating in the oven. I also have fruit salad and cinnamon muffins.”
“You can just move in now and we can save ourselves a lot of time. I’m ready to lock you down and I haven’t even tasted anything yet.” Throwing her head back, she let out a loud laugh. Her whole body got involved and he’d never seen anything so joyous in his life. “I mean it, Claire. You just stay and I’ll do my best to make you happy.”
She shook her head and bent over to check the oven. “We wouldn’t last five minutes in one another’s company. We have nothing in common.”
Seeing her bent over and the fabric of her dress pull tight across her ass let him know they had plenty in common. Hell, he’d start loving that horrible music she enjoyed and be happy about it. “You don’t know that, Claire. This is our first date and I bet we’re going to find all kind of things we’d like to do together.”
When she closed the oven door and turned around, he saw the heat in her eyes. Then her pink tongue slipped out to wet her lips, and he knew she might like some of his ideas about how they could spend their free time.
The devil on his shoulder told him to pull her into his arms and find out. The angel told him to back off and relax. Probably best not to come on too strong and let her get used to the heat that was happening between them.
Angel won.
As far as he knew, she was stubborn, and the last thing he wanted to do was give her something to fight. Which she would unless the idea of them being together was hers.
Clearing his throat, he stepped around her and opened the fridge. “I’ll get us some juice.”
Feeling the cool air brush across his face was just the thing he needed to get his game face together. Be cool, Landry, he instructed himself. He was a damn operator and had been in more life-threating situations than he could count. All he had to do was to remember that when dealing with Claire.
How hard could it be with one small woman? He poured two glasses of juice, noticed her pretty legs, and thought about them draped over his shoulders. Not helping. Truth was, he’d be lucky to keep any of his sense when he was around her.
He lifted the glass of juice, drained it, and gave her a faint smile. Yeah, lucky indeed. “Did you hear anything from the asshole who put you in danger?”
Claire crossed her arms and shook her head. “No, and I don’t expect to. He’s probably embarrassed, and I doubt he has enough balls to do the right thing.” Shrugging, she gave him a small smile. “I might’ve fixed up his profile on the dating site. Then…adjusted his Facebook page and Snapchat, Instagram, and Twitter accounts. Oh, and I might’ve updated all the contacts in his phone.” The timer for the oven went off and she pulled a big pan out of the oven.
“I’d best not ever get on your bad side. My God, that was a lot to accomplish before eight in the morning.”
She set the pan on the stove and laughed. “I hardly caused him any pain. It’s not like I did anything to his bank account or credit rating. Not to mention make his name real interesting to the IRS.” Taking the basket of muffins and fruit salad over to the table, she smirked. “I pity the poor person who really crosses me. I’m always one step away from using my skills for evil and not good.”
Brady grabbed a hot pad, lifted the pan off the stove, took it to the table, and grinned. “Yeah, as I said earlier, I’m gonna work real hard to make sure you’re happy.”
Sitting down, she placed her napkin on her lap and smiled. “Don’t need happy. Just don’t piss me off.”
Dragging his chair closer so that they were sitting next to one another, he looked out the big windows and figured he’d met his match. Which is exactly what he needed. Moving his place setting over, he spoke. “I’m never going to introduce you to Lilly, Brock’s girlfriend. Between her love of pranks and your skill set, the two of you should never spend time together.”
“We’ve already met and I’m going to their house this afternoon. She’s invited me over because she needs some info for a project.” She lifted the bowl of fruit and served them both a generous portion. “She’s working on something with Erin Phillips, the actress, and said she needed my technical advice.”
Sitting back, Brady scrubbed his hand over his face. “Sweet Lord, have mercy upon the city of Lafayette. I knew she was up to something the other day, and seeing as she’s getting you involved, it’s going to be a doozy.”
“It’s for a book or screenplay or something.” She cut into the breakfast casserole and the fragrances of cheese, peppers, and sausage floated over the table. “She and Lucy are cooking and we’re going to try out the new pool.” She put a large square on his plate and then a small one on hers.
“Well, I’ll drive us over, because I was invited too, and if I know Lilly there’s going to be some kind of signature drink that will put everyone on their asses when all is said and done.”
Claire lifted her fork and dug into her food. “I love a good signature drink. The thing I had the other night at the Southern Table was delicious. I signed up for one of their libation classes and I expect to have something to call my own by the end of summer.”
Giving her a faint smile, he tried not to think about Lilly, Claire, and Erin and what they could get up to. That much brains, mischievousness, and gumption mixed together was going to turn out badly for everyone involved if, in fact, they were planning something. It was probably nothing and he was just being paranoid. “How did you end up with a free evening? I thought you had dates scheduled through tomorrow night.”
Claire wiped her mouth and gave him a smile. “My date this evening had to reschedule, so I ended up being free. As for tomorrow night…well, I canceled it after I ran a more thorough background check. There were a couple of things that made me uncomfortable and I decided not to waste my time.” She took a big bite of egg and chewed carefully.
“The good news is that you’re almost done with this online dating, so we can start and then you won’t have to worry about meeting up with a creeper or an asshole.” The side-eye she gave him was impressive, but it wasn’t enough to put him off or make him shut his mouth. “You know I’m a good guy, so you can relax as we get to know one another.”
“I’m not too sure about dating you.” She leaned away from him and let her eyes roam all over his face. “Not sure at all.”
He patted her leg and gave her an innocent smile. “But eventually you will be.” He ate some more of his food and thought about what it would take to get her on board with his idea. Maybe he should find out why she had decided to try the online dating thing in the first place. Just as he was about to speak, he saw the neighbor’s dog wander into his yard. “Here comes Winky,” he commented as the dog approached the screen door. “I’m not feedin’ you. I got in trouble with Miss Faye the other day and I don’t plan on letting it happen again.” When the dog tilted his head and gave him a look, Brady shook his head. “Nope. Not going to happen.”
“He’s good,” Claire commented. “I don’t know how you stop yourself.”
“It became a lot easier after my eighty-year-old neighbor gave me the what-for after I gave him some chicken. She threatened to bring the dog over and leave him until he was done passing gas. Apparently, he has a sensitive stomach and what comes out of him is lethal.”
Claire let out a laugh and then covered her mouth. “I’m sorry. That’s not funny.”
After he took his last bite and his plate was clean, he pushed away from the table. “Sure, it is.”
Claire did the same and sat back. “I’m hoping to adopt a dog soon. I’m looking for the per
fect rescue dog to bring home.”
“Any particular kind?”
“No. When I meet the right dog, I’ll know.”
Leaning back in his chair, he looked at Winky and wondered if he could help her find one. “Does it have to be a rescue dog?”
“I’d like it to be. A lot of good dogs need homes and I’d like to start there.”
“Makes sense.” He slid his arm around her shoulders and let his fingers trace over her skin.
“Well, I should get out of your hair,” she said suddenly as she moved away from his touch.
He tightened his hold and shook his head. “You just got here. Why don’t you stay and I’ll show you the lake?”
“Brady, I’ve taken up too much of your time, what with the rescue last night and now inviting myself for breakfast. I’m going.”
“No.” Her face scrunched up and she frowned, so he figured he’d better rephrase it. “What I meant to say is, please stay.” When he got a small smile, he leaned forward. “We can walk the dog back home and then I can show you around.”
“Well, I guess that would be okay.”
He lifted her hand and pressed a kiss to her knuckles. Success! he shouted silently. They were going to have the whole day together and if things worked out, by the end of it, she was going to be good and ready to give him a chance. “I’ll get the kitchen cleaned up and then we can go.”
“Thanks again, Brady, for last night. I felt dumber than a post for allowing myself to be in that stupid situation last night.”
“Darlin’, all we can do is our best with the information we’re given. Sounds like Roy gave you some bad intel. Wasn’t your fault.”
“Guess so. I think he really did consider himself single because when his ex-girlfriend approached us, she informed him that they would be done when she said. The look of surprise on his face wasn’t fake, but the fact he was sucking her face after she threatened me meant that he was an asshole. No matter the circumstances.”
As they stood, he leaned over and gave her a kiss on the cheek. “Well, at least it’s done and you don’t have to worry about it.” As they cleared the table, he thought about saying more but decided against it. She didn’t need to hear anymore because she would just feel bad. Best thing he could do was take up all her time and make sure she never had an opportunity to be with someone else. Now, that was a fine plan, and one he would enjoy executing.