by Aliyah Burke
Chapter Six
“I do thank you so much for coming out here to meet me, Harrier.” Shea strode beside the six-five ex-Navy SEAL as they moved through the town of Apple Valley.
He’d come in on a helicopter earlier today, met her parents and they had lunch just the two of them at Three Wishes Bistro where he’d talked a bit more about Tungsten and what they would like for her to be doing if she joined the team.
“My pleasure. How are you enjoying your hometown?”
She shook her head. “I’m not sure. At times, I feel it’s great to be back. Then I catch snippets of gossip and the looks from some people and I just want to get the hell out of here as fast as I can. Not to brag, but I can book it in my car.”
He laughed, and not something small and polite but a real laugh that turned heads. Hers included, the man was just sexy. “I think you’d be able to coax some speed out of a snail, Raven.”
Shea smiled over the use of her call sign as they rounded a corner. Part of the reason she had the earwraps of them, she had a few different ones. “I do like going fast.”
“My daughter is the same way.” His lips lifted as he mentioned her. “The faster the better.”
Her heart melted a bit more. There was something so hot about a father and his children. “I don’t believe I’ve met her. I’ve met your son but not Dyandra.”
“You will when you work for us. She likes to know all the people who work with me.”
“I look forward to it. You do know I’m not out until September. I mean officially then.”
“Yes, we have it marked down. Look, we’ve been following you for a while now you know this. Hell, we’ve had you work for us a time or two and we can’t speak highly enough of what you have assisted with. We want to keep you permanently on our staff.”
She flexed her fingers around the paper cup in her hand, grateful for the warmth even though she wore gloves. “How do you work, living wise? I mean, will I be required to move to where the headquarters is?”
“While we like our people near, no. So long as you can up and travel, that’s all we require. On missions we’d need your skills, we’d have you fly out with us or meet us there. I mean if you want to move down there, we can help you locate a home but if you want to live where you live now, that’s fine as well. Jason is still in Louisiana. Most of the time, Ralston is in Tennessee with Riz. Trust me, it’s not going to be a problem.”
“Wonderful, I haven’t reached that stage of my decision making to know where I want to be.”
“You’re more than welcome to come down and take a look around the area. We have the room for you.”
“I may take you up on that after Christmas. Right now, if I leave, my mom will kill me.”
Another smile. “She did seem pretty adamant you are not going anywhere with me until after the holiday.” He crossed powerful arms over a wide chest. “And from the man staring at us during lunch, I’m guessing she’s not the only one who wants you around.”
She shook her head, this was news. “Who was staring at us?”
“Not sure. A bit shorter than me. Brown hair, blue eyes. Somber. And none too happy to see us together. Wearing a black flannel shirt and blue jeans.”
She scratched the back of her head beneath the bun her hair was in. “I don’t know who that was.”
“He’s approaching now, with an older gentleman.”
She rotated and glanced at the two nearing. Noah and Brodie Wallace. He was at Three Wishes? Why didn’t he come say something if he saw me there? Despite her question, it reasoned he didn’t want to interrupt anything. Or that’s what she wanted to go with.
Noah Wallace had a large smile on his face as he spied her. Then Brodie, well, it wasn’t as open and welcoming. In fact, it was cool and a bit distant.
She sought his eyes and hated the pain she witnessed there before he found a way to wipe all emotion away.
“Shea,” Noah said, reaching for her hand.
“Mr. Wallace. Great to see you out in town today. Are you coming to the play tonight?”
“I will be there. What about you? Or are you busy with your friend here?”
She didn’t miss the not-so-subtle admonishment for not introducing him immediately. “I will be there also. This is my friend, Scott Leighton. Scott, Noah and his son Brodie.”
Scott shook hands with them both.
Then as he engaged Noah in conversation, she touched Brodie’s shoulder. “Are you okay?”
“Fine.” More of that distance echoed around his single response.
Her own self-preservation instincts took over and she iced up the wall around her heart in seconds. “Good.” Stepping back, she waited for Harrier to finish talking.
Then he looked at her. “We should probably get going, Shea.”
“Yes sir,” she said. With another smile for Noah, as she kissed his cheek. “I’ll see you tonight. Brodie.”
“Shea. Nice meeting you, hope you two have fun on your date.” His eyes looked like blue steel.
Lord help her, if only this frozen Carolina ground would part and swallow her up. Fisting her hands, she opened her mouth to shoot him a scathing retort when Scott spoke.
“I’m sure, we will thank you.” Her soon to be boss looked down at her.
Then she walked off with him. “I’m sorry about that,” she blurted when they were out of earshot of the Wallace men.
He laughed. “No problem. He’s so blinded by his jealousy he missed the wedding ring on my finger and the fact that there was more than enough space between us. If I’m dating a woman, I’m touching her.”
She flushed anyway. “Regardless, I apologize you had to endure that.”
“Raven, we get much worse when we’re down range or hell…in-laws.”
It was her turn to laugh. “I’m grateful for your understanding anyway.”
“Well, Lex and I had issues. I made the mistake of assuming her brother being something more than he was. Almost lost her. You need to explain to him that I’m happily married.” He looked at her. “To another woman.”
“You could have corrected him.”
“I could have but hey, he deserves to sweat a bit. Who is he?”
“Ex-Army. In fact, I was going to talk to you about him. He was dishonorably discharged but I believe he may be worth another chance.”
Harrier stopped and touched her arm. “Would you serve beside him?”
“In a heartbeat,” her reply flew freely from her lips without thought. “I don’t know if he drinks anymore but there’s something about him that tells me he wouldn’t leave a man behind and is one you would be able to count on.”
“I’ll have Cade check him out and we’ll go from there. What’s between the two of you?”
“Nothing.”
Harrier cleared his throat. “Let me rephrase. What used to be between you?”
“Nothing more than a holiday fling.”
“So despite having slept with him, you still wouldn’t have any problem working beside him, possibly out in the bush for weeks at a time?”
She gulped. “Nope. I’m a Marine and I am capable of compartmentalizing.”
“I know you’re a Jarhead, and I’m determined to like you anyway.” He winked. “Lex is always telling me I need to be more open minded.”
Shea snorted, punching him in the upper arm. “Your wife is a smart woman.”
“No arguments here.”
She waited by the black Corvette that he stopped beside. Glancing from him to the sports car, she grinned when he waggled his eyebrows at her. “Had one before the wife and kids, right?”
“Sure did. While this one isn’t the exact one, it sure was fun to drive, even in the snow.”
She loved it, although she was partial to the coupe she had. Offering her hand, she shook his and said, “Thank you again, for all your support and coming to talk more about this position.”
“I told you, Shea. We want you with Tungsten Protective Services.” He opened the
car door. “I would travel wherever to get you to agree to work with us. Besides, Autumn says she wants another woman she can hang out with.”
“I’ll give her a call.” Autumn Schovanec was another member of Tungsten who was one hell of an operative. She wasn’t sure what the woman had done prior to working aside from she’s been a Marine with Tungsten but her skills were mighty. “We had drinks last time I saw her.”
“I’m gonna get going, I have a daughter who is waiting for me to get home.”
“Safe travels, sir.”
“We will talk before September for sure. Have a wonderful and happy holiday season, Raven.” He waved, sank behind the wheel and started the engine then drove off in a flurry of wheels.
When she could no longer see his car, she pivoted to head back inside somewhere warm, she did have a few more presents to purchase for the few people back at base she actually liked. And Sarah, yes still had to find something for her bestie.
When she walked into the local gift shop, she tugged off her gloves and began perusing the aisles. She made it to the fourth one and stood before a display of small angel figurines when someone stopped behind her. She turned her head to see who stood there and lost her breath.
Brodie.
αβ
The second Shea turned showing him her face, he was suddenly at a loss for words.
Her brown eyes went wide for a second before all expression faded away from her face.
Damn it, he was fucking everything up and he hadn’t even said a word. He shoved his hands in his pockets and rocked back on his heels. “Hi.”
She blinked once, slowly and didn’t change her expression. “Brodie.”
“Can we talk?” He cracked his neck. “Please.”
“I think everything has been said. I don’t have time for drama and theatrics.”
“This isn’t what you think.” He fingered his coin again and took a deep breath. “I didn’t mean for my actions to come across like it did.”
Shea put the blue tinted angel with outspread wings down to its place on the shelf. “How were they supposed to play out, Brodie? I’m a bit confused here. I thought we had something. Not permanent mind you, but something that would have been a nice itch scratcher over the holidays.”
He nearly groaned when the tip of her tongue grazed along her lips. “The problem wasn’t you, isn’t you. It’s me.”
A bark of sardonic laughter came from her. “Really? Wow, it’s been a long time since I’ve heard that line. It’s not you, it’s me.”
He glanced around the store. No one was in there but the two of them and he couldn’t see the woman he’d passed on his way inside the shop. Probably hiding just around the corner to see what gossip she could get today. Sweat beaded against his brow and he swallowed. “Can we go somewhere?”
“Here works for me.” Her tone held zero inflection.
“Alright then.” He withdrew his hands and spread his fingers. “When I saw you with Scott, eating, I spiraled down.” A deep breath inhaled and exhaled with a bit of relief, maybe it wouldn’t be as bad as he’d first thought. Still, he couldn’t ignore the derision in his tone when he stated that other man’s name.
He hated not being able to read her. “I’m not a one-night stand kind of guy and when we were together, I wanted more. Instantly. What we had was amazing and something I would want to experience each day for the rest of my life, so seeing you with another man, I went to a place that had me wanting to pick up a drink and had to call my sponsor in order not to give in. Through talking with him, I realized I wanted to get better for you and that if you decided it was just a fling, I would fall off again and possibly not get back on.”
Thunderheads brewed in her gaze as she listened.
He wiped his hands off on his jeans and continued, “My sponsor reminded me I couldn’t do it for anyone but myself and he’s right. I knew this from the first time I went to AA. We can’t get better for others; it has to be for our own selves. At least overall. And because I still wanted that drink—I even bought one—I got angry at you. For making me face my failure all the more. So, when we ran into you on the street, I was still angry.”
“Is that it?”
“It’s what I have to say.”
“Okay then.”
He drew back a bit and tried to figure out what she meant. “So, what happens now?”
“Nothing.” She tucked her hair behind one ear.
“Nothing?” His heart slowed as he began to see where this was going. Exactly where he hadn’t wanted it to head.
“Precisely.”
“I want to move forward from this.”
She shook her head. “No. I don’t need this. I can’t argue and say that what we had didn’t rock my world, but I can’t be where someone’s sobriety depends on me. That’s not fair to put that weight on my shoulders.”
“I know and I said—”
“You had your turn, now it’s mine. I bust my ass to do my job. It’s stressful enough, especially since I don’t have a cock swinging between my legs, so some other men don’t take me seriously and think I can’t pull my weight. I’m black too, so there’s that battle as well. I’m a black woman in a position of some power and I fly Super Cobras. I love my job and what I do. However, I won’t take on the added stress of keeping you sober.”
He held out a hand, imploring her to give him a second chance.
She waved him off. “The man I was meeting with is a potential employer for when I leave the service. He came to me because he wanted a face to face and I’d told my mother I would be here for the holiday. And he also came because I asked him for a favor, but that’s nothing you need to concern yourself with. I think you may have heard of him while you served. Harrier from the Megalodon Team.”
Shit. “Who hasn’t heard of that team? That was him? The leader?”
“Yes. They now run a private security company and I have been thinking of working there. I know what your mother did, but not all women cheat.”
Could he feel any lower than he did at this very moment? And she’d been correct, he had thought that very thing, because of what that woman had done, at least it was in the very back of his brain. “I didn’t know, Shea.”
“I know. But that’s the issue. You saw me with another man and assumed the worst. This isn’t high school, Brodie. You’re a grown ass man. I don’t have time for games like that.”
“I made a mistake.”
“Yes, you did and now we’re finished because of it. I hope you figure out how to be happy and get over that addiction.” She brushed by him shrugging him off when he reached for her arm.
He stood there watching her purchase a couple of items then chat with the cashier before leaving, bag in hand and no farewell to him.
Brodie exited as well and stared as she moved up the street.
That night at the play of Rudolph, his father continually glanced between him and Shea, who sat with her parents, as if he tried to figure out what fucking blunder his son had done this time.
Brodie didn’t know how to make this better, at all and it tore him up inside.
He walked up while his father spoke to her father and waited, hands in pockets and a fake smile plastered on his face.
When Shea joined, she didn’t appear to have any problems with her smile or laughter.
However, he would say her eyes didn’t shine as bright tonight.
“I’ll see you soon, Noah. Have a great night. You as well, Brodie.”
“Thank you, sir,” he said to Shea’s father. “Shea.”
Those gorgeous eyes of hers found him. “Brodie.” She stepped closer and kissed his father on the cheek. “Mr. Wallace.”
He wasn’t sure what his father mumbled in her ear but it had her laughing aloud, the sound zipping down his spine and lodging in his cock.
His old man shot him a glare as she stepped back and left with her father. “You fucked it up and you need to fix it.”
There wasn’t any point in arguing
with him, the man was absolutely correct. I did try, she told me that there wasn’t anything else to discuss.
One thing Brodie wasn’t, was a pussy. And he wanted her, so he wasn’t going to let it go at that. He would go to her and try again. Get her to see he wasn’t just blowing smoke.
He didn’t see her all the next day and on Christmas Eve, he felt ready to track her down when a knock came to the trailer door.
“Get that, Brodie. I think it’s for me. I’ll be right there,” his father called out.
Hell, he hadn’t even heard anyone come up the driveway. Standing, he put down the tools he’d been using and went to the door. Opening it, he found Shea’s father, Elijah, waiting there.
“Good afternoon, son.”
“Sir. Come in. How are you today?”
“I’m good. I came to get Noah, is he ready?”
“I’m here, Elijah.”
Brodie turned in time to see his father hustling toward the door. The look on his face was full of such excitement, he didn’t think he’d ever witnessed that before. “Where are you two going?” He rested against the front door, arms and ankles crossed.
“He’s taking me to the outskirts of town where Shea is waiting with a helicopter. She’s taking us on a flight.” His voice quavered it was so full of anticipation.
“Got room for one more?”
“Sure thing,” Elijah said while grinning at him. “We’ll take my truck. It’s already warm and running.”
Brodie shoved cowboy boots on his feet and swiped his jacket as they headed out the door. He blinked a few times at the light flakes falling from the sky. It wasn’t unexpected but he hoped it wouldn’t get worse.
With his father siting in the middle, they left the house and drove to where Shea waited. She stood near the bird a cup of coffee in hand…at least he guessed it was coffee. Today she had changed her blue leather jacket for a green one but she still had on jeans that did things to him that he needed to get under control. She wore her hair drawn back in a high ponytail.
She headed toward them as they parked.
“Hey baby, I told Brodie he could come along as well,” her father announced.