Janet’s reply faded to background noise as Gage flashed on the bloody Afghan road where his recon had failed to protect his team from ambush. The deaths of more than a dozen good soldiers, men he called friends, were on his head. Nausea swamped him, and a fine sheen of sweat gathered on his brow.
“So why does Senator Kelley need a bodyguard?” Kate asked, pulling him out of his haunting memory. “And what’s he doing in Maple Cove? Last I heard, there was no love lost between him and Cole.”
“I’m not at liberty to say. The senator’s relationship with his son is only my business as it relates to keeping the senior Kelley safe.”
“I saw on the news where all those women came forward claiming he’d had affairs with them.” Janet leaned forward, a conspiratorial gleam in her eye. “So is it true? Did he sleep with all those women? What did his wife say?”
Gage scowled. “That’s not for me to say.”
Kate scooted closer, partially wedging herself between Janet and Gage. “Please excuse my sister, Gage. She failed Tact and Manners 101 in school.” She gave her sister a meaningful look. “Don’t you have some tables to wipe or something?”
Janet’s mouth puckered as if she’d tasted something sour. “No. I’ve finished my work. Have you?”
Kate sighed her exasperation but plastered on a patient smile. “Almost.”
Straightening her shoulders, Kate offered Gage a rueful grin as she turned to gather the sugar dispensers behind the counter.
Studying the two sisters, Gage couldn’t help but notice the differences. Both were physically beautiful, yet Janet’s attitude toward her sister, her graceless flirting and untoward questions made her unattractive. Kate, on the other hand, had a glow and magnetism that shone from inside, raising her outward appearance to pure radiance. Gage found himself drawn as much to that inner warmth as to her bright blue eyes and feminine curves.
Snatching him from thoughts of her sister, Janet covered Gage’s hand with hers and leaned so far toward him, he had a clear view down her shirt. Which, he had no doubt, was her intention. “So, tell me about being a bodyguard.”
“I’d rather you ladies tell me about Maple Cove. Working here in the diner, I imagine you know most everyone.”
“True enough. What do you want to know?” Janet propped her chin on her hand and braced her elbows on the counter, as if settling in for a juicy round of gossip.
Gage sat back, crossing his arms over his chest and directing his comments as much to Kate as to her sister. “Personalities. Conflicts. Anyone in town have hard feelings toward the Kelleys?”
Janet scrunched her nose as if searching her memory for the best dirt she had on the Kelley family.
“I don’t think anyone has a beef against Cole, if that’s what you mean. He’s well-respected by the other ranchers,” Kate said. “I have heard some locals disagree with the senator’s politics, but nothing extreme. What kind of conflicts do you mean?”
“Just getting a feel for the town. Is there anyone I should be forewarned about, anyone who could be trouble?”
Janet smirked and dragged a fingernail down his chest. “Depends. What kind of trouble you looking to get in?”
The bell over the door jingled, and both Janet’s and Kate’s eyes darted toward the newcomer. Janet paled, jerking upright and stepping back from Gage, a guilty look on her face. Kate’s expression clouded and she visibly tensed.
Alerted to trouble by their reactions to the new arrival, Gage turned on the stool and spotted a wiry man in jeans, boots and a Western shirt—typical ranch-hand garb—stride into the diner with a hard glare pinned on the women. “What the hell’s going on in here?”
“Larry,” Janet gasped, flicking a nervous glance at the clock. “You’re early.”
The man glowered at Gage, then at Janet. “Seems to me I’m just in the nick of time. What were you and this clown doing, pawing each other like that?”
“I—I—”
“Nobody was pawing anyone, Larry,” Kate said.
He snapped a churlish look toward Kate. “Stay out of this! This is between me and my wife!”
Gage groaned internally. Great. A jealous husband.
Larry stalked behind the counter and grabbed Janet by the arm. “I know what I saw when I came in. Don’t lie to me!”
His muscles tensing, Gage lifted a hand, palm out. “Take it easy, pal.”
“Honest, honey. Nothing happened. I—” Janet whimpered in pain as her husband squeezed harder on her upper arm and jerked her toward the door.
“I knew I couldn’t trust you.” He started for the door, dragging Janet, who stumbled along behind him.
Gage bristled and felt a rush of heat flood his face and neck, his jaw tightening.
Kate flew around the counter after her sister. “Wait, Larry. Maybe Janet should stay here for a while.” She stepped in Larry’s path and placed a gentle hand on his shoulder. “Just until you’ve had a chance to calm d—”
Larry planted a hand in the middle of Kate’s chest and shoved her so hard she fell backward, knocking over several chairs as she tumbled to the floor.
Gage launched off his stool and intercepted Larry at the door, blocking the irate husband’s exit. The last thing he wanted was to be distracted from his security job by domestic problems of the local residents, but he couldn’t let the jerk’s abhorrent treatment of his wife and Kate go unchallenged, either. Abusive husbands ranked somewhere just below sewage scum in his esteem.
“Outta my way, creep,” Larry growled.
“I don’t think so.” Gage crossed his arms over his chest, ready to do battle with the cretin if needed. “Not until you apologize to Kate and let go of your wife’s arm.”
Larry puffed out his chest and got in Gage’s face. “Who the hell do you think you are telling me my business with my wife?”
“Looks like I’m the guy who’s going to teach you the right way to treat women.”
Hank Kelley stared at the woman on the television screen and ground his back teeth together. Even here in Montana at his son Cole’s ranch, he couldn’t escape the endless parade of reports blasting his private life to the world. The beautiful blonde now simpering for the cameras and staring back at him from the screen had been a temptation too great to resist while he’d been vacationing in Aspen two years ago. Apparently the Colorado ski resort didn’t have the same motto of discretion that Vegas did. Not that his Vegas tryst had “stayed in Vegas” either. So far, six of his affairs had been aired for the media as one willowy blonde after another had come forward, maligning his name and driving another nail into the coffin of his marriage.
Hank rattled the ice in the highball glass he clutched, then tossed back the last gulp of Maker’s Mark. If only the women coming out of the woodwork were the worst of his problems. Wiping his mouth with the back of his hand, Hank set the glass aside and used the remote to turn off the TV. Acid swirled in his gut as he considered the dangers that had driven him into hiding. While his mistresses took aim at his reputation, other enemies had threatened his life. Had put his family in the crosshairs.
Just days ago, someone had taken his only daughter, Lana, hostage in an attempt to win his cooperation with a nefarious plot, and his son Dylan had hired two bodyguards to babysit him around the clock. Arrangements had been made for him to come here, to the Bar Lazy K, to hide.
Hide! Like some pathetic rabbit scurrying down a hole away from a fox. He was a senator, damn it! A leader! He hated the idea of holing up in his son’s ranch like some cowering wimp. He needed to be doing something to find Lana. To get the wolves off his back. Not hiding at his son’s house, no matter how well-protected and secure the ranch was.
Hank gritted his teeth and drummed his fingers on the bedside table.
If only he’d never gone to that meeting of the Raven’s Head Society, the highly secretive assembly of powerful men who now had him by the balls, he wouldn’t be in this mess. Lana would still be safe in Europe. His career wouldn’t be on the line. He wouldn’t be
constantly looking over his shoulder wondering who he could trust.
Or waiting for the media to flash breaking news that President Joe Colton had been killed and he’d been framed as the chief suspect in the murder conspiracy.
Hindsight might be twenty-twenty, but it provided no solutions—only deep regret. He gritted his teeth and slammed his fist on the bedside table. Dammit, there has to be a way to stop this juggernaut before anyone gets hurt!
Across the room, Bart Holden, his night-duty bodyguard, folded his arms over his barrel chest. “If you’re ready to call it a night, I’ll give you some privacy. If you need me, I’ll be right outside the door. Or you can use the intercom.”
Hank cast a side glance to the call button by his bed and jerked a nod. “Good night.”
One reason for coming to Cole’s ranch rather than lying low somewhere else was Cole’s elaborate security system, which Hank’s somewhat paranoid mother had installed to protect her vast wealth before selling the property to her grandsons. The entire main house had been wired with an intercom system, the wine cellar had been modified to be a panic room in case of trouble, and security cameras and an alarm system protected each outbuilding and the main house.
But being locked down in a house as secure as Fort Knox didn’t ease Hank’s mind. Lana was being held hostage. The president was in danger. And past mistakes of every sort had crept out of the shadows to ruin Hank’s career and threaten his life.
He had to find a way to stop the Raven’s Head Society. And soon.
Kate rubbed her throbbing elbow, which had taken the brunt of her fall, and held her breath as Gage squared off with Larry. This could get ugly.
She glanced toward the kitchen where Pete Greenburg, the cook, would be cleaning pots and pans in preparation for closing. Pete, who had recently celebrated his sixtieth birthday, had expressed his concern for Janet’s situation before, but also made it clear he chose to stay out of other people’s business. The cook would be of little help if a brawl erupted.
Maybe she should call the local police. Or better yet, since Larry had too many friends in the Maple Cove Police Department, she should call Wes Colton, the county sheriff. Wes had a reputation with the ranchers for being a fair and reliable lawman.
“Let. Go. Of. Her. Arm.” Gage grated through clenched teeth. His icy blue eyes lasered into Larry, and veins stood out on his linebacker neck.
Rising slowly from the floor and dusting her hands, Kate studied Gage’s glowering countenance and chiseled features. His granite expression brooked no resistance, nor did his unflinching position blocking Larry’s escape. Muscled arms, one with a barbed wire tattoo around his bicep, folded across a chest wide enough to more than fill the door.
Kate shivered. If she hadn’t seen flashes of good humor from Gage earlier, she’d swear the man was made of rock or steel. Hard. Cold. Surly.
Yet he was defending her and Janet from Larry’s rough treatment. Something no other man in Maple Cove had ever done. Larry’s buddies on the police force looked the other way every time Kate called them to help Janet. Of course, it didn’t help that Janet never pressed charges.
He didn’t mean it, Katie. I’m fine. I provoked him. He’s sorry, and he promised never to do it again.
Kate was thoroughly sick of Janet’s excuses, but what could she do if her sister refused to leave the abusive marriage? Kate would stick by Janet, her only blood relative, as long as it took.
Knowing that this rough-hewn man, this stranger who had found his way to their small town, was taking her side, seeing the situation for what it was and doing something about it, made Kate feel a certain bond with him. As though they were allies in a war.
Even if her ally was rather…brutish and gruff.
He was here, after all, to protect Hank Kelley. That meant he had to be tough. Right? But he was still a good guy. Wasn’t he?
“Move your ass,” Larry snarled, releasing Janet but not backing down from his opponent.
Gage held firm. “Apologize to Kate for shoving her and to Janet for hurting her arm.”
“Bite me.” Larry balled his fists.
The dark glare Gage nailed on Larry left a cold dread curling in Kate’s stomach. Ally or not, she decided the smart move on her part would be to avoid Gage Prescott while he was in town. She had no room in her life for brutish, grouchy men, even if she had felt a spark of attraction earlier, when he’d cracked his granite facade for an instant. She’d have sworn he was flirting with her, that he’d felt the same crackle of electricity when their eyes had met.
But what did she know about men? She’d never had more than a few dates before she’d moved to Maple Cove, and the list of available, desirable men in her new home was frighteningly short. Kate had resigned herself to being alone and celibate for the foreseeable future, because she refused to abandon her sister. Somehow she had to save Janet from her bad marriage and poor choices.
A muscle in Gage’s square jaw flexed as he gritted his teeth. “Apologize to the ladies. Or we’ll still be standing here at breakfast tomorrow morning.”
Kate had no doubt Gage had the stamina to outlast Larry in a battle of wills. She stooped to right the chairs she’d knocked over as she fell, but she kept a wary eye on the standoff.
Larry finally huffed a disgusted sigh and turned an angry gaze aside. “Sorry, Kate. Janet.”
He cut a sharp look to Gage and cocked his head as if to say, “Well?”
Gage grunted and stepped aside.
Kate hurried over to her sister and stopped her from following Larry out the door. “Don’t go yet, Janet. Give him time to cool off.”
Janet shook her head. “He won’t cool down. He’ll just get madder. It’s better if I go now.”
“Janet!” Larry barked from the sidewalk, “Come on—now, or you’re walking home!”
She shrugged and forced a grin for Kate as she headed out. “Don’t forget to scrub out the tea urn, Kate. See you in the morning.”
Kate’s gut knotted, and tears clogged her throat. “Be careful, Janet! I love you!”
The diner door closed with a jangle of bells that seemed mockingly cheerful in light of the tension still vibrating in the air.
Kate stared out the plate glass window long after Janet and Larry had disappeared from view. How was she supposed to convince her sister that Larry wouldn’t change? Real love didn’t hurt. The promises Larry made and the apologies he piled on his abuse didn’t make up for his rough and demeaning treatment when he lost his temper.
“Are you hurt?”
The deep male voice shook her from her troubled thoughts. She spun around to find Gage watching her with those glacier-pale eyes. Wiping her hands on her apron, she managed a grateful smile as she shook her head.
“I’ll be fine. Just bumped my elbow.”
He stepped toward her as she hurried to the counter to finish cleaning up for closing. When he wrapped his large hand around her wrist, she gasped, as much startled by the electric tingle that raced through her from his touch as by his unexpected approach. “Let me have a look. I’m familiar with first aid.”
Kate felt the heat rush to her cheeks, and she silently cursed her Nordic genes that made her flush at the slightest provocation. Having Gage’s wall of testosterone towering over her as he gently probed her elbow was more than enough to start butterflies swirling inside her.
“I don’t think anything’s broken,” he murmured as he examined her arm.
“Told you.”
When he angled his gaze to meet hers, Kate flashed a teasing grin. He arched one dark eyebrow, and a dizzying combination of attraction and intimidation buffeted her. With his thick, wavy brown hair, broad shoulders and square jaw, Gage definitely had masculine appeal. But his piercing blue eyes and unsmiling mouth rattled her, especially since she didn’t have a lot of experience with men to begin with. She didn’t fear him, per se. After all, he’d come to Janet’s rescue, stood up for them against Larry. His chivalry went a long way, in her book,
toward excusing a stern persona.
As if she were looking for a man… Kate gave her head a quick shake. She had no business sizing Gage up. He was only a visitor in town, and until she convinced Janet to leave Maple Cove, perhaps go back to Ohio where they had grown up, she had to make her sister her priority.
Besides, when she chose a man, she’d be looking for someone sweet and warm and kind. Someone safe. No temper-prone Larrys or gruff Gages for her. No thank you!
Gage released her arm and narrowed his eyes. “Tell me about him.”
Chapter 2
Kate blinked. She’d been lost in her own thoughts, and Gage’s request felt like a non sequitur. “I’m sorry?”
“Your sister’s husband. What’s his story?”
Kate’s shoulders sagged. “Oh. Larry.” She puffed her bangs off her forehead as she circled the end of the counter and started putting away silverware. “Well, clearly the guy acts like a jerk sometimes.”
His steady gaze held hers, showing no reaction to her comment. He showed little if any emotion at all, in fact. For not the first time, meeting his stoic expression brought to mind the craggy rock cliffs of the surrounding mountains. Hard. Cold. Unmoving.
“Go on,” he prodded.
Kate twitched a nervous grin, embarrassed to have been caught staring. And what about him staring at you?
“He’s not always like that, mind you.” Kate sighed and jammed a handful of drinking straws in the dispenser. “By tomorrow he’ll be apologizing all over the place and making her promises…” She let her voice trail off, wondering why she was telling this stranger her sister’s private business. With a quick, embarrassed grin, she shrugged the topic away.
“And he convinces her to stay.”
She cut a startled glance to his and nodded.
“Sounds like typical battered wife syndrome to me.”
Battered wife syndrome. A chill raced down Kate’s spine. Though she knew the truth about Janet’s marriage, hearing the harsh but honest term applied to her sister was unsettling.
“Has she called the police on him?” Gage asked.
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