by Elle James
Dallas lifted her chin. She didn’t need a man in her life to make her complete. What she needed was a job, a home and a place where she could start over, one leg short of being a whole person.
“Can we go inside the house to talk?” Hank asked.
Dallas shrugged. “I guess. It’s not my house, but Miss Kendricks—Mrs. Davila—assured me I could make myself at home.” She led the way to the sprawling ranch house, climbed the steps to the porch and held the door for Hank and Viper.
Hank entered.
When Viper stepped past her, his broad shoulder brushed against her breast.
A shock of electricity shot through her body, pooling low in her belly. The guy, dirt and all, was more man than any of the soldiers she’d accompanied through Ranger school.
“Pardon me,” he said in that tone that had every one of her nerves on alert.
“No problem,” Dallas said, unsure of how to respond. She had zero experience with men in any other sense than that of a battle buddy. She could provide cover fire, carry a two-hundred-pound body out of harm’s way and lob a grenade like a professional baseball player. But she didn’t know how to flirt, bat her eyelashes or react to a man when his touch made her insides go all mushy.
What the hell?
She shook off the feeling and followed the big guy into the house, her cheeks burning. She hoped the heat would subside before she faced him again.
Hank found his way to the kitchen and the automatic coffeemaker which still had half a pot keeping warm. “Want a cup?” he asked Viper.
Viper shoved a hand through his hair and nodded. “I could use one. And a shower.”
“I can offer you the coffee, but as for the shower, you can get that when we’ve had a chance to discuss the situation.” Hank waved a hand toward the cabinets. “Now, where can I find a mug?”
Dallas reached into a cabinet and retrieved three mugs. She hadn’t bothered with breakfast, after sleeping past dawn. She preferred a stiff cup of caffeine instead of the usual eggs and bacon Cookie, the ranch cook, stirred up each morning.
She handed the mugs to Hank, who waited with the coffee pot. He poured out three cups and set them on the large kitchen table that seated over a dozen people. The day before, the table had been moved outside for the meal following the wedding.
Dallas pulled out one of the chairs and sat in front of a steaming mug. She inhaled the aroma of strong coffee, letting it calm her. She had a feeling whatever Hank had to say would be a game-changer. The serious look on his face portended nothing less. Not one to beat around the bush, Dallas launched with, “What is it you wanted to talk to me about?”
Hank stared down at his coffee for a moment as if gathering his thoughts. Then he looked up, straight into Dallas’s eyes. “What happened last night nearly got three people killed. One of my men is lying in a hospital pretty banged up.”
“I was sorry to hear about the incident,” Dallas acknowledged. “What does that have to do with me?”
“Based on what Chuck was able to tell me, the brakes didn’t work. As soon as we can collect the limousine from the side of that hill, I’ll have a mechanic go over the vehicle with a fine-tooth comb. But I have a feeling the brake lines were cut.”
Dallas frowned. “You don’t think I had anything to do with damaging the limo, do you?”
Hank waved her worry aside with a sweep of his hand. “No, of course not. But I talked with my wife, who keeps up with the local social events more than me. She tells me a number of questionable occurrences happened at several weddings in the county over the past few weeks. In one case, the bride ended up in the hospital with a concussion after the rose arbor they’d had specially built for the wedding collapsed on top of her.”
Dallas didn’t understand the need to spend money on special settings that would only be torn down the day after a wedding. “Sounds like faulty construction.”
“The builder was very careful, knowing how strong the winds can get in these parts. The arbor had been sabotaged. Someone sawed through the brace posts holding the upper section. All it took was a person bumping against it and it came down.”
Dallas sat forward. “Sawed into it? As in deliberately?”
Hank nodded. “That’s exactly what I mean. And at another wedding, the wine the bride and groom drank had been poisoned. They were lucky they threw up most of what they drank and were airlifted to the hospital in time for medical help.”
“That’s awful. Who would do that?”
“Some sick son of a bitch who doesn’t like weddings?” Viper suggested. “Excuse my language.”
“I don’t give a fuck if you cuss.” Dallas gave Viper a wry smile. “I’ve heard and said worse.” She turned back to Hank. “I still don’t see what this situation has to do with me.”
“Or me.” Viper ran his hand through his hair again and sat back in his chair, his coffee untouched. “Unless you want me to attend every wedding scheduled in the near future looking for the saboteur. That solution could be like searching for a needle in a haystack. The bastard might not even attend the event after setting it up for failure.”
“Actually,” Hank said, drawing out the word. “You’re thinking in the same direction as I am.”
“Oh, yeah?” Viper sat forward. “How so?”
“Rather than have another innocent bride and groom take a hit, I thought it might be better to have two of my own Brotherhood Protectors lay a trap and lure the culprit into revealing himself.”
“What did you have in mind?” Dallas asked. Though she had an idea where Hank was heading, she wanted to be perfectly clear. Her body tensed and her pulse raced.
“A wedding, between two of my most skilled operatives who are recent arrivals. They’d have to be so new to the area, no one would know their backstory.”
“I meet the new criteria, having just arrived in town yesterday,” Viper said. “How will this work?”
“I need you to get married,” Hank said, his tone flat, his face set like stone.
“Ha!” Viper’s bark of laughter met silence. “You’re kidding, right?”
Hank shook his head, his gaze swinging away from Viper to Dallas.
Dallas set the mug she’d been holding on the table and wiped her suddenly sweaty palms against her jeans. Before Hank uttered his next words, she knew what he would say. She held her breath and braced herself.
“I’m not kidding. As of now, I don’t have a female protector as part of my team. But I’m all for equal opportunity and for hiring the right man…or woman for the job.” He leaned toward Dallas.
She shook her head and sat back as far as she could get away from Hank and his intense stare. “Not me.”
“Yes, you.” Hank gave her a hint of a smile. “I’ve read your dossier. You kicked ass in Ranger school, and you’re an expert marksman on a number of different weapons. Plus, you can take on anyone in hand-to-hand combat.” His tone lowered and became even more intense. “I need someone I know can handle a potentially bad situation…a trained combatant. But most of all…a female.”
Married? Her? The one-legged female who gave up any possibility of getting married when she opted into Ranger training? And now…one leg short, she most definitely was out of the marriage pool. Dallas held up her hands. “Whoa, wait just a minute. I might be all of those things, but I’m nothing like the marrying kind. I don’t even look like a bride.”
“My wife, Sadie, can help you with everything you need to put together a wedding. Hannah’s father, the senator, will fund the effort. He’s promised to pay for everything you need to stage a ceremony, from a wedding dress to a three-piece band, if that’s what you think we need. The bigger the event, the better chance of flushing out our guy.”
“But, you don’t get it.” Dallas shook her head. “I’m not the right woman for the job.”
“You’re female. You’re good with a gun. You know how to fight. You’re perfect,” Hank said. “And in case I didn’t say it before, I want to hire you as one of t
he Brotherhood Protectors. We could use another competent fighter on our team.”
Hire her? Hank wanted to hire her? For a moment, a flash of hope swelled in her chest, only to be crushed seconds later when she reflected on the reality of her world.
She shook her head, heat rising in her cheeks. “I’m sorry, Mr. Patterson, but I’m not the right woman for the job. I’m not the fighter I used to be. Hell, I’m not sure I can fight anymore.” She turned in her seat and pulled up her pant leg, exposing her prosthetic where a healthy leg had been months before. “You see, I’m not the person I was in that dossier.”
Hank glanced down at the prosthetic and back up to Dallas’s face. “You’re everything I read in that dossier. And more. And you’ll be perfect to play the part of a blushing bride. You even have the blush down pat. And you’ll make a convincing bride to your groom…” Hank waved his hand toward the other man sitting at the table, “Viper.”
The heat increased and spread all the way up to her ears. She shot a glance toward Viper, hoping he would back up her refusal.
His eyes had widened, and he shook his head slowly from side to side. “You want us to stage a fake wedding? I don’t know…I’ve never done anything like this. I wouldn’t know where to start.”
“It’s all about acting. You don’t even have to like each other.” Hank grinned. “Although, that would make the scenario more believable.”
“Weddings are for girly-girls,” Dallas protested. “I’m the furthest thing from being a girly-girl. I don’t think I’ve ever painted my fingernails, and I couldn’t begin to tell you how to apply makeup. And I can’t wear high heels. The prosthetic rules that out.” She laid her hands on the table. “You’ll have to find someone else.”
Hank’s smile faded and his eyes narrowed. “Again, I don’t have any women in my organization who qualify. Hell, I don’t have any women in my organization. You’d be the first, and you’re a highly trained Ranger. I couldn’t ask for better.”
“But, don’t you see?” Dallas fought the sting in her eyes. Rangers didn’t cry, she reminded herself. She lowered her voice to a whisper, afraid it would break on a sob she refused to release. “I’m the reason all the members of my team died. I’m poison. Worse, I’m a curse.”
Hank jerked back, a frown pulling his brows low. “Who told you that?”
Every man in her unit. Every Ranger she’d sworn to protect. “No one had to tell me. My history is the proof. Of the seven-member team that went into the village that night in Afghanistan, I was the only one who lived.”
Hank’s fierce expression softened. “And you carried one of your own men out on your back.”
“He died!” she said, her voice catching. Dallas pushed to her foot, spun on her prosthetic leg and nearly fell on her face.
If Viper hadn’t leaped to his feet at the same time, she would have fallen and made a complete fool of herself.
His hands grabbed her arms and steadied her until she could get her body straight and the prosthetic squarely beneath her weight. Damn the device. And damn Viper for catching her, proving she was vulnerable when all she’d wanted was to get away from the men before the tears burning her eyes slipped down her cheeks.
Too late. A fat, wet tear slipped free and made a long damp trail down her cheek. She ducked her head. “Let go.”
“Can you stand alone?” Viper asked.
“Yes.” Shame burned in her chest as well as her cheeks. “I just got ahead of myself.”
He hesitated a moment more, and then released his hold on her arms.
Without Viper to lean on, Dallas swayed.
He cupped her elbow and steadied her. “Please. Sit.”
She shook free of his hold and walked across the kitchen, careful not to display her decided limp. Yes, she lost a leg, but no, she refused to reveal just how the loss had slowed her down…any more than she had already. Finally, she turned to face Hank and opened her mouth to decline his offer.
But he held up a hand. “Look, this is a paying gig. A job. I’ve read your file, I’m a pretty good judge of character. I know you’re the one we need in this position.” Hank stood. “Think of it this way…if I chose any other female, she’d be a liability to Viper. You and Viper will be a team. Equal pay for equal performance. I expect no less. I know you can handle yourself and that you will provide cover and backup for Viper. I know he will do the same for you.” Hank turned to Viper.
Viper nodded. “I’m game if you are.” He shrugged. “I was never much of an actor, but for the sake of smoking out the bastard who almost killed a few of our own, I’ll do it.”
“Do it for all the couples in this area thinking of tying the knot,” Hank urged. “You’d be saving them from heartache and possibly an end to their happiness before it has a chance to begin.”
“To hell with them,” Viper said, his gaze intense and staring as if right through her. “Do it for yourself. Do you want to remain in rehab, wondering what you’ll do for a real job? Or do you want to take an honest-to-goodness offer to do what you do best?” He crossed both arms over his chest. “I’d rather work to get on with my life than spend the next couple months wondering where I fit in.”
Damn the man. He made too much sense. When Viper put it that way, Dallas would be a fool to pass up an offer that required the use of the only skills she possessed.
She drew in a deep breath and let it out slowly. Then she faced Hank. “Sadie can help me with whatever frou-frou things I’ll need to know and do?”
“She will,” Hank agreed. A smile crept up the corners of his lips. “You’ll do it?”
Despite her reticence, Dallas nodded. “I’ll do it. How do I start?”
“By getting to know your fiancé.” Hank stuck out his hand.
Dallas placed hers in his. He shook it and then dragged her over to Viper. “Viper, meet your bride to be. Dallas, you’ll need to become acquainted with the man you’re going to marry.”
As she stared up into Viper’s blue eyes, Dallas was positive she’d regret her decision.
Chapter 3
Viper held Dallas’s strong, capable hand in his as Hank wasted no time in calling Sadie.
“Sadie, I need you to draft a wedding announcement to go into tomorrow’s paper.” Hank held his cellphone to his ear, nodding.
Viper stared into Dallas’s eyes, noticing their color for the first time. “They’re green,” he said. He shouldn’t be surprised that they were green, because what better color could there be for a woman with a shoulder-length swath of bright, copper hair?
“What’re green?” Dallas asked, a frown forming between her eyebrows.
Viper blinked and released her hands, realizing he’d been holding them for a long time. “Your eyes. They’re green. We probably need to know a few things about each other, if we’re to pull off this undercover operation. Mine are blue.” He stepped back and eyed her from head to toe.
“I’d noticed.” Dallas’s cheeks reddened, and she ducked her head. “How far do we need to go in this wedding planning?”
“Probably all the way,” Viper said. “Seems our Tango likes to disrupt the ceremony itself.”
“Or in Taz and Hannah’s case, after the ceremony.” Hank slipped his smart phone into his pocket. “I didn’t expect to get any cellphone reception, but the stars and antennas must be aligned.” He grinned. “Sadie will phone in the wedding announcement for next weekend. We’ll conduct the ceremony at Bear Creek Ranch where my father and sister live. My father is out of town for the next couple of weeks, so it shouldn’t be an issue. The security there isn’t nearly as tight as at Brotherhood Protectors Headquarters which is White Oak Ranch where I live. My sister, Allie, will enjoy helping Sadie with the preparations. She’s had a little practice with her own weddings.”
“Weddings?” Dallas asked, her voice rising.
Hank’s lips twisted. “Her first fiancé was trafficking diamonds. She ditched him for her bodyguard, one of my guys, Swede. You met him last night at the
ceremony.”
Dallas nodded. “The tall blond guy?”
“That was Swede.” Nodding, Hank chuckled. “He’s kind of hard to miss. He’s also my computer guru.”
“Aren’t you afraid you’ll put Sadie and your sister in harm’s way?” Viper asked.
Hank drew in a deep breath and let it go. “So far, all the attacks have been primarily on the bride and groom. Chuck just happened to be driving them. I’d host the wedding at my ranch, but the attacker wouldn’t make it past the security and probably knows it. We have to give him enough rope to hang himself. That’s why I need my bride and groom capable of handling anything that comes their way.”
“We can do this,” Viper said, catching her gaze.
“I can fight my way out of most situations,” Dallas said. “But I’m completely out of my comfort zone in tulle and lace. I don’t have the first clue how to plan a wedding.”
“You heard the boss,” Viper said. “Sadie and Allie are going to help. And I’ve been through one myself. I remember some of the crap that goes into the process.”
Dallas frowned. “You’re married?” She shot a glance at Viper’s left ring finger. It was free of any jewelry.
“Was.” Viper’s lips tightened. “I’m a widower.” He turned away from Dallas’s questioning look. His marriage was a story he preferred to keep to himself. The outcome wasn’t one he was proud of. Not that he hadn’t been proud of his wife. Emily had been everything he could have asked for in a spouse. She was okay with his deployments, waiting patiently for his return. After each mission, she even welcomed him home with banners and champagne.
Except one mission.
No, she hadn’t been the problem in his marriage. He had. Viper hadn’t been home enough during Emily’s pregnancy to know she wasn’t feeling well. He’d deployed far in advance of the baby’s due date, planning on being back in plenty of time for the delivery.
Only fate had other plans for him, Emily and the baby. Due to complications, Emily and their baby girl died at their home. Alone.
His heart squeezed hard in his chest. Though it had been close to six years, not a day went by that he didn’t think about how he’d failed his family. If he’d been there, he might have gotten them to the hospital in time to save their lives. If he’d been home, he might have seen signs of Emily’s failing health. Though the doctor said, sometimes they couldn’t predict what had happened. It just did.
