“He offered to pay five-hundred dollars a week.”
Danny leaned around the corner to peek back at Craig as he peered into the end of the black tank drain tube. “Five hundred?”
In some places five hundred dollars was nothing.
This was not one of those places.
“Paid up front for two months.”
Danny straightened in an instant. “Two months?”
Most of the people who got wind of who she and her sisters might be only came for a weekend. A few days to try to get a quick peek at the Backwoods Beauties, hoping to see if all the news stories were true.
Some came with more selfish motives, thinking a town full of lonely women made snagging one an almost sure-thing.
It did not. Not by a long-shot.
“He said he was staying in a place like this in West Virginia, and Shadow Pine reminds him of being there.” JD lifted his shoulders. “I figured if he wanted to give us four grand I’d take it.”
Danny rubbed her lips together, struggling through what an extra four thousand dollars would mean for her and her sisters.
For Jude.
“What if he’s like all the others?”
So many men had come here hunting something they would never catch. What if Craig was one of them?
The thought made her belly ache a little, which didn’t make any sense. Craig was nothing to her.
But in less than twenty four hours he’d managed to make her consider that he might not be like the men who came here hunting a myth. Enough so, that the thought of him being just like everyone else made Danny feel a little sick to her stomach.
JD smiled. “That’s easy.” His expression was relaxed, but serious as hell. “I’ll kill him.”
Danny sighed. The number of times her friend had offered to murder someone on her behalf would make most people balk, but it was one more thing that she and her sisters didn’t blink an eye at.
“You can’t go to jail for homicide. I need someone to help run the shop.”
“Who said anything about jail?” JD wrapped his bulky arm around her shoulders. “I don’t plan to get caught.”
“No one ever does.”
“Most people don’t have the access to the hiding places that I do.” He gave her a wink as they walked back toward where Craig was trying to work through the process of unhooking the camper from the truck. “He’d be easy to carry.”
Craig’s eyes slowly lifted their way. The corner of his mouth curved as his gaze held hers. The dimple in one cheek peeked out at her.
Teasing.
Taunting
Damn dimple.
Was it not enough that he was tall, dark, and handsome? The good lord just had to give him dimples too.
Like he needed more of an unfair advantage against the female population.
“You need some help with that?”
Danny stared at JD. Letting Craig shell out four grand was one thing, making it a pleasant experience for him was another. “I’m sure he can handle it.” She smirked, knowing full-well there was no way Craig would admit he couldn’t handle this. Men were stubborn creatures, hell-bent on constantly proving their masculinity and superiority.
“Actually, I would love some help.” Craig shook his head as he stared down at the hitch. “I thought I would remember what they told me to do, but it’s looking like my brain was otherwise occupied at the time.” His eyes rested right on her, unwavering.
Focused.
“It’s real simple.” JD stepped in and demonstrated how to lower the stabilizer and unhook the hitch.
But Craig wasn’t watching him.
He was watching her.
That meant Danny’s only option was to stare him down. Prove she wasn’t the kind of woman who swooned at a man with broad shoulders and an ass you could bounce quarters off.
Nope. City Boy was not the type of man she would be looking for if she was interested in finding one.
And she wasn’t. There was only room for one man in her life.
“What’s Jude up to today?” Craig’s question sent her thoughts stumbling over each other.
“Who?”
His lips twisted into a knowing smile. “Jude.”
“He’s doing his school work.” Danny almost left it at that, but the best thing she could do right now was drive home the fact that she was not at all the type of woman clean-cut men like Craig had any business chasing. “Then Sam and I are taking him out hunting.”
Craig’s brows lifted. “What’s in season?”
“Turkeys.” She crossed her arms over her chest, and pushed out one hip. “Wanna come?”
It was a challenge she knew damn well he couldn’t take. Men like Craig didn’t tromp around through the woods hunt—
“I would love to.” He glanced at his watch. “I guess I’ll have to go find a place I can get a license.”
“Today’s your lucky day.” JD grinned wide. “It just so happens we have an authorized license dealer right here in Shadow Pine.”
“It is my lucky day, JD.” Craig’s attention was completely on her. “But I’m also happy to help luck along when she’s being stubborn.”
“You think luck’s a woman?” JD only sounded a little skeptical.
“Definitely.” Craig’s eyes dragged from her to JD. “Luck is powerful and men can’t seem to stop chasing it.”
JD’s head dropped back as he laughed loud and long. “I like you.” He clapped Craig on the shoulder. “And it’s not just because you gave me four grand.”
Danny eyed the camper as JD led Craig across the street. She pushed up on her toes, trying to peek into one of the windows, but the ledge was a little too high for her to get a good look at the inside.
She’d been in JD’s camper dozens of times when he brought it over to empty the tanks, but that was the only camper she’d been in outside of the ones she grew up in.
Danny leaned back, catching sight of Craig and JD just as they went into Charlie’s shop right across the street. As soon as they were out of sight she hurried around the camper to the door, took a quick breath and pulled the latch.
A scent similar to that of a new car was immediate and intense. She ducked her head in. There had to be something in here to tell her what in the hell Craig was up to. Why he was really here in Shadow Pine, being handsomely frustrating.
She took one more quick look around and climbed inside.
The camper was definitely brand new. So new, the price sticker was still stuck to the counter.
This wasn’t a rental.
Craig bought this thing.
So he bought a camper and paid four thousand dollars for a spot to park it. A spot in Shadow Pine.
“You can turn the lights on, Danny.”
His voice sent her spine stick straight.
A second later the lights flicked on, brightening the space. The travel trailer rocked a little as he stepped in behind her. “You don’t have to sneak to come in here.”
She didn’t want to turn around. Didn’t want to face him after he’d caught her so blatantly invading his privacy.
Wait.
Isn’t that exactly what he’d done to her?
Danny spun around. “Why are you here?” She waved around the camper. “In this?”
Craig was quiet for a minute.
Then he slowly started walking her way.
“I have waited a long damn time to have the things I want, Danny.” He prowled closer. “I’ve been passed over more times than I should admit.” He stopped just in front of her. “Now I understand why.” The corners of his mouth barely lifted. “And I’m not leaving anything to chance. I’m making sure this goes exactly the way I want it to.”
“You can’t make things happen. That’s not the way life works.”
“I disagree.” Craig’s eyes moved down to rest on her lips. “Sometimes you have to make things happen.”
The truth of his words sat heavy and solid in her gut.
It was what she and
her sisters had been doing for a decade. Making things happen.
Otherwise they would still be where they started. Poor. Uneducated. Hidden away, letting someone else control their lives.
“I’m staying here in Shadow Pine.” Craig’s voice was low. “As long as it takes.”
“As long as it takes to what?”
He smiled. “As long as it takes to convince you to not want me to leave.”
FIVE
DANNY’S EYES WERE wide as she stared at him in the quiet of his new, but temporary home.
“I’m not going to hide why I’m here, Danny.” Craig wanted to touch her. Breathe against her neck until the sweet scent of her skin was burned into his memory.
If he played his cards right there would be plenty of time for that.
He just had to be patient.
But it was hard as hell.
Danny’s blue eyes squeezed shut, like she believed it was possible to shut him out.
Her lashes slowly lifted.
“Still here.” Craig smiled as her lids dropped back into place.
It never occurred to him this would be the sort of family he found when Lance hired him to find his father. The thought of sisters never crossed his mind, let alone six of them.
“Was your father hoping for a son?”
Danny’s eyes flew open. The change in them almost made him take a step back. Would have if he didn’t know what she was. Her gaze was hard now, eyes narrowed, nostrils flared.
The anger and hate radiating off her was almost palpable.
“What my father was hoping for doesn’t matter.” Danny pushed past him, clearly intent on escaping the camper, the conversation, and him.
Two of those weren’t happening just yet.
Craig caught her hand and held it tight, knowing if she wanted loose there was a good chance he wouldn’t physically be able to stop her. Danny may not be like the men in her family tree, but that didn’t make her any less capable.
Or dangerous.
“Wait.”
Danny’s eyes dropped to where his hand held hers. “Are you partial to that appendage, City Boy?”
“I’m partial to you, and if finishing this conversation puts part of me at risk then I’m willing to suffer the loss.” He used his hold to tug her back, close enough she could see the truth in his eyes. “I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be. I don’t need it.” The words snapped out, but Danny didn’t try to pull free of his hold.
“I am anyway.” Craig loosened his grip, testing to see how committed she was to walking away. “And for the record, I don’t think you know what you need.”
Danny’s eyes narrowed to slits. “You come here to tell me some guy thinks he’s my brother, you tease my son with attention, then you camp out where I work, and now you think you get to tell me what I need?”
Until now she was the one angry, but insinuating he was out to hurt her son was more than he was willing to tolerate. “I’m not teasing Jude.”
Craig grabbed her before she could pull away, wrapping one arm around her waist as he spun, switching their places in the narrow strip of floor space running up the center of the camper. He backed her up hard and fast, not stopping until Danny’s back was pressed against the sliding door separating the bedroom from the rest of the space.
She wasn’t leaving until he made it real fucking clear that she’d just taken her jabs at him one step too far. “I will let you say whatever you need to say to me, Danny. Call me an ass. Call me City Boy until your fucking blue, but don’t ever call me a man who would hurt a child, you understand me?”
“I—” She blinked at him.
“I would never hurt any kid, let alone yours, are we clear?”
Having kids had never been on Craig’s list of things to accomplish. In fact it had been purposely omitted from that list.
Until he went to Greenlea.
Meeting Kari changed everything. Changed the options he thought he had.
But Kari wasn’t meant to be his and the momentary dream her existence allowed to bloom came to an end.
Until now.
Danny nodded. “I’m sorry.”
The apology was soft. Sweet.
Perfect.
It smoothed down the anger. The burn the comment sent scorching across his skin.
The past it threatened to pull up.
“I understand that you don’t know me, Danny.” Craig forced himself to relax a little more. “I want to change that.”
“What if I don’t want to know you?”
She was just as stubborn as he would have expected a woman like her to be. Just as defiant and strong-willed.
“Do you want to know me, Danny?”
It was a risky question. One that could earn Craig an answer he didn’t want. One that would most likely be the same lie Danny wanted to keep telling herself.
And then he would be left with a hell of a choice to make. Keep pushing even though she said no, or walk away from the woman who could make him risk reaching for all the things he never believed should be his.
“I want you to stop being such a pain in the ass.”
Craig smiled.
That wasn’t a no. Not even close.
That was careful evasion.
“I don’t see that happening.” Craig leaned into her a little. He’d inadvertently landed in a spot where her tall body was pressed into his, and he wasn’t moving unless she did. “I think you should probably get used to it.” He inhaled deep, breathing in the soft scent of wildflowers and honey that clung to her skin. “Because I plan on being as difficult as possible.”
“You do seem like an overachiever.”
“You have no idea.” He liked when she teased him. Those rare seconds where he got a glimpse of how this could be.
Would be.
“I thought you were getting a hunting license.” Her lips quirked.
She knew exactly what happened when he went across the street, and no doubt loved knowing he’d met one more wall related to her.
“I think that sister likes me as much as the other two.” The sister who ran the Franken shop across the street did nothing but glare at him the whole two minutes it took her to make it clear he was missing the required class to qualify for the license.
“My sisters are very protective of—” Danny’s lips pressed together.
She’d almost opened up to him. Almost dropped a tiny crumb onto the trail he would have to follow.
“I’m glad.” He reached up to push back the pale blonde hair falling in soft waves around her face. “I’m glad you watch out for each other.”
Her brows barely lifted.
He’d hit the nail on the head. Showed her he knew she and her sisters were in this life together. A united force, banded together.
A pack.
“We have to.” Danny’s lips pressed into a line once more, shutting off anything else she might have wanted to give him.
Craig craved more. The desire to know everything about her was strong, but it was clear Danny was more than careful about what she shared.
That meant the fact that she gave him anything at all was something significant. Something he should appreciate.
“So I guess that means I won’t be able to help add any turkeys to your haul tonight.” He might not be able to legally shoot one, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t still help. “I’ll just have to be your hunting bitch then.”
She laughed. It was light and unexpected.
And real.
“What in the hell is a hunting bitch?”
“Do you like the term assistant better?”
Danny slowly shook her head. “No. I definitely like hunting bitch.”
“The downside to it is you probably don’t want to be saying that in front of Jude.” He slipped in the subtle reminder that he wasn’t just tagging along with her and Sam.
He would also be there for her son, which terrified him more than anything Danny could throw his way. “Has Jude taken the cla
ss?”
Danny’s eyes dropped. “I didn’t plan for him to ever need it.”
Hunting was a way of life for many people out here, and he’d assumed it was for the sisters as well, especially considering they were going out for the spring season.
So the fact that Danny didn’t expect for Jude to take part meant one thing.
She didn’t want this life for him.
“He could always go with me when I go.” The class was more than a simple online course, and sending a ten-year-old alone was probably not an option. “If it’s something you decide to do.”
“Why would you take the class?” Danny stared at him. “I don’t understand what you are doing.”
She wouldn’t. Not yet.
“I know. But you will.” Craig backed up.
It was so easy to be close to her, but just because he knew how right this was didn’t mean she did.
He would have to show her. “Come on. Let’s go.”
Danny’s jaw dropped a little and her eyes moved from side to side. “Where is it you think we’re going?”
“Wherever you want to go.”
It was that simple. Today. Tomorrow too.
He had all the time in the world. Years of being single and able to work non-stop meant he had more than enough money to do what she wanted, when she wanted.
As long as she wanted.
“It’s not about want, Craig. It’s about need.” Her words were measured and solid, like she was delivering a life-lesson he should already know.
He smiled.
Her eyes dipped to his mouth. “What?”
“You called me Craig.”
“Ugh.” Danny rolled her eyes. “Don’t read anything into it. I still think you’re a pain in the ass.”
“You probably always will.” He blocked her path as she tried to scoot around him. “But I plan to be your pain in the ass.”
Danny was a suspicious woman. Cautious and guarded. Holding back was not the way to handle her.
All he could do was lay it all out on the table and then give her time to get used to it.
She pressed the tips of her fingers to her temples. “You make my head hurt.”
He moved out of the way, letting her pass by him and down the steps leading out the door. “Might want to take some Advil then.” Craig caught the door as she tried to close it on him, following her outside.
Danny (Big Northwest Book 1) Page 5