Armed 'N' Ready

by Tee O'Fallon

  She stared up at him as he loomed over her. “All I’m saying is that I can handle guys like him. I don’t need you—”

  His arm shot out, hauling her against his chest. His other arm angled across her back, holding her immobile. She tried pushing away, but he held her so firmly she couldn’t wedge her hands between their chests.

  Her breath came in quick gasps. She gripped his waist, feeling the solid muscles bunch beneath her fingers. Her heart pounded as his face inched closer to hers. Before he said the words, she understood what he was doing—teaching her a lesson.

  “You want to be in control all the time, but you can’t be.” His nostrils flared as he stared down at her. “Doesn’t feel so good, does it?” Warm breath washed over her face, and she breathed in his scent.

  Actually, it does.

  As it had behind the bar when she’d slammed into him, his touch made her skin tingle and her breath come in short, desperate gasps.

  Don’t let him get to you like this. He’s only playing you.

  Long, strong thighs pressed against her. His chest was rock hard. Steely, defined muscles flexed as she twisted his soft gray T-shirt in her hands.

  “I know what you’re doing.” The huskiness in her voice surprised her.

  “Do you?” He leaned in until his lips hovered over hers without touching them.

  Their gazes locked, and she could swear he was about to kiss her. For an instant, she wondered what she would do if he did.

  For a moment longer, he stared at her, then took a deep breath and raised his head, releasing her. “I have to get back to work.” He spun and yanked open the door.

  A startled sound came from the doorway. Tess stood on the threshold, her fist in the air, poised to knock. Nick glanced at her, then she stepped aside to let him past. Andi could no longer see him, but watched Tess as she stared after him.

  Tess came into the office. “What was that about?”

  Andi waited for her heart rate to slow. She didn’t know what had just happened between them, but it had been intense. Rather than frightening her and driving home his point as he’d intended, he’d kick-started something else she hadn’t experienced in a very long time. Desire, and with the very last man on the planet she should be thinking about that way.

  Tess giggled. “You know, he really is a hunk. They make guys like him at Hunks-R-Us. Have you noticed the size of his biceps? The man’s built like a tank. But remember…” Tess frowned. “Be careful with him. More importantly, of him.”

  “You don’t have to tell me that.” Although he was a hunk, she admitted silently, remembering how hard and solid he’d felt beneath her touch. She pressed her fingers to her lips, wondering what it would actually feel like to kiss him.

  Stop it. Do not go there.

  Least of all with a guy she knew up front was only there to “get his man.”

  “Boss?” Tess raised her brows. “Something I should know?”

  “No.” She shook her head. “Nothing. Hopefully all that hunkiness will bring in more business at the bar. We need it.”

  “Maybe we should make Thursdays Ladies Night.” She grinned. “If there was ever a bartender who could reel in the ladies, it’s him.”

  Andi began clearing away empties from the dining room tables, casting occasional glances at Nick. Friday nights at the DPC still weren’t as busy as she hoped. Most of the dining tables were empty, but Nick was managing to keep a full bar. Mostly women, she noted, and the Napkin Girls box was filling up quickly. Soon they’d need a bigger box, a spatial factoid that was beginning to annoy her.

  “Just look at him work it.” Tess eyed him appreciatively. “He might be a cop, but he’s great eye candy. All that twisted steel and sex appeal.” She let out a hearty sigh. “And he listens to people.”

  Andi grunted. It irked her how she’d unloaded on him earlier about missing her dogs so much, and she still didn’t understand why she’d done it. One minute they’d been standing there, and the next she’d poured her heart out to him. Guess he really was a good listener.

  Or a world class manipulator. Like Steve had been.

  They watched as he poured Cosmos from a cocktail shaker for two women in their forties. With each shake, his biceps bunched, and she could make out the outline of carved abdominals beneath the T-shirt she knew firsthand was soft and worn. She couldn’t hear the conversation, but one of the women spoke and he smiled, responding with something that made both women titter like a couple of teenage girls.

  “Oh, for heaven’s sake.” All that flirtatious tittering made her want to puke.

  After pouring three pints for a group of guys at the other end of the bar, he easily made conversation with the men as if he’d known them for years. She never would have guessed there was another side to the man—a social one. But is that real, or an act? She had to admit it seemed genuine, just part of who he was.

  Tess eyed her speculatively. “You don’t have to let him work here.”

  “I do if I want if I want my get-out-of-jail card and my money back. Besides”—she bobbed her eyebrows—“he is great eye candy and good for business. The least he can do while he’s here is make up for holding onto my money.”

  “True on both counts.” Tess nodded. “Those women have been here for hours, and they ain’t fixin’ to leave anytime soon. Maybe it was fate that Nick showed up just when you needed a bartender.”

  “More like fate-ful.” She wiped down another table. “You and Marty can take off. I already cut Kara and Zoe loose for the night. I can close up after last call.”

  “Thanks. I’ve got plans later.” Tess waggled her eyebrows, leaving no mistake about what her plans were.

  She admired Tess’s free-spirited nature. It wasn’t that her friend was easy or anything. Tess was very comfortable putting herself out there. Though, at times, she didn’t think Tess was content working at the DPC. Her friend possessed keen business savvy and seemed destined for something greater. She hoped Tess made the right choices before too much more of her life passed her by.

  Unlike me.

  Again, she was hit by that all-too-familiar wave of regret about the decisions she’d made in her life. It had taken her too long to find what she loved most. Entertaining, meeting people, serving up great food at reasonable prices, and all in a dog-friendly atmosphere. Rather than seeming hectic, the restaurant gave her contentment and joy, and that’s all she needed. Although, sometimes she wavered on that basic tenet.

  On rare occasions, she found herself wishing there was someone to share her life with. Then the past—the part with Steve, in particular—smacked her in the face, and the stupid idea of sharing her life vanished with the bluntness of a wrecking ball. Now Joe had been added to her list of men who’d betrayed her.

  Nick’s deep, rumbling laughter came to her, and she paused at the screen door to find him watching her. That was nothing new. In the few days he’d been working at the DPC, she’d caught him tracking her on numerous occasions—to make sure she wasn’t concealing a call from Joe, she assumed. But this time was different. It was subtle, but the way he watched her now wasn’t his usual surveilling-a-suspect demeanor.

  Gone was the suspicion and hardness she’d become accustomed to. In its place was an unexpected softness and something else she couldn’t decipher. It was as if—

  Don’t be ridiculous. For one incredibly naive, incredibly stupid moment she could swear there’d been a tiny shadow of caring in his eyes.

  Maybe she was simply getting to know him in a different light. Yeah, that must be it.

  As annoying as it was to admit, he was turning out to be far different from the man she’d first met in the shower. Then, he’d been all hard-ass and taciturn. Now he was just a man she was beginning to like. Another scary-as-hell thought.

  What other surprises is the man hiding?

  She shook her head and went out the screen door to clear empties and make sure there were no other customers lingering on the deck. The air had cooled som
ewhat, but it was still a contrast from the air-conditioned interior of the restaurant.

  As she reached for an empty glass, a flash of white at the base of a tree inside the dog run caught her attention. Was someone running a dog at this time of night?

  She held her hand over her eyes to shield them from the glaring light from inside the cafe. Peering into the darkness, she still couldn’t make out a dog or any definite shape. Whatever was there, though, wasn’t moving. There’d been occasional sightings of an albino deer in the area, but it had yet to make an appearance at the DPC.

  As she took a step closer to the railing, the white object took off, then vaulted over the dog fence and disappeared.

  Andi’s heart thumped faster. She backed up, nearly tripping over a chair. That wasn’t a dog or a deer. It was a man, she was sure of it.

  And he’d been watching her.

  Why, she didn’t know, but with everything going on, standing around waiting to find out… Bad idea.

  She spun to haul ass back into the café, when something touched her waist. Flinching, she sucked in a quick breath, preparing to let loose with a scream loud enough to wake the dead. At the last second, she bit off the sound.

  The cell phone clipped to her waist was vibrating.

  A few steps from the door, she yanked the phone from its cradle and stared at the screen.

  Joe.

  Chapter Eight

  Finally, the bar had slowed down, but Nick had been busting his ass mixing drinks and pouring drafts nonstop for the last hour. Good thing, because it kept him from reliving the near-kiss in Andi’s office.

  He’d only meant to make a point, but the instant he’d gotten close to her, he’d felt the sparks zapping between them. And when she’d grabbed his waist, he’d felt her touch in every cell of his body. He’d come less than a hair’s breadth from kissing her, and he would have done it, too, if he hadn’t had a moment of clarity about the supreme stupidity of pressing his lips to hers…of raking his fingers through all that thick, blond hair, and—

  Across the dining room, Andi flung open the door to the deck. Even from this distance the panic was obvious in her wide eyes. She held up her hand. In it was her pink cell phone. Then she put the phone to her ear.

  Myer.

  He threw down the coaster he’d been holding, then hustled out from behind the bar. He wanted to run, but that would attract attention and cause others to think there was an emergency. Which there was, but he didn’t want anyone else out there when he listened in on the call.

  The screen door creaked as he pushed on it, then he urged Andi outside. Rather than let the door slam behind him, he quietly closed it. Luckily, the deck was empty of customers.

  With the phone still pressed to her ear, she jerked her head left and right, looking over the railing toward the dog run, as if she were searching for something. Or someone. He made a mental note to ask her about that.

  She glanced at him, and the phone shook in her hand. “Joe? Are you all right?”

  He took the phone from her and put the call on speaker.

  “I’m fine,” a voice said in a hushed tone.

  He made a circling gesture with his finger, indicating she should keep him talking.

  She nodded. “Where are you?”

  “It’s better you don’t know. You should stay out of this.”

  “Stay out of this?” She gave the phone a look of disbelief. “Thanks to you, I’m in this whether I like it or not. I already told you police and federal agents searched your house, and I had the extreme misfortune to be there when they broke in.”

  “Oh Jesus, baby.” Nick clenched his jaw at Myer’s term of affection. It shouldn’t bother him, but it sure as shit did. “I’m so sorry. I didn’t know that would happen. I never meant to involve you in this.”

  So is she? Involved? Christ, he hoped not. Fuck, Eric was right. Nick did want her to be innocent.

  “I didn’t know, I swear it,” Myer continued, regret evident in his tone. “I never would have offered you my place if I had any idea that would happen. Are you okay? They didn’t hurt you, did they?”

  Nick suppressed a few choice expletives. The idea that he—or any of them—would have hurt Andi pissed him off.

  “No, they just”—she flicked her gaze at him—“frightened me.”

  An exhaled breath came through the phone. “Did they take anything?”

  Nick nodded, indicating it was okay for her to tell him.

  “Just a few papers and some cash. They left a property receipt. You didn’t tell me I was your sole heir.” Her forehead creased. “Why did you do that?”

  “Because I care about you. That hasn’t changed. I know I screwed us up a long time ago, but I never stopped loving you. If anything happens to me, I want…” His voice choked. “I want you to have my estate.”

  “No, Joe.” She began shaking her head, and the angry look in her eyes softened. “Don’t talk like that. Whatever you’re involved in, I can help. But you should know they have a warrant for your arrest.”

  “I had a feeling that was coming, but I can’t turn myself in.”

  She looked at him, the plea for help obvious on her face. He pressed his lips to her ear. “Tell him the gangs are looking for him and there’s a bounty on his head. He can turn himself in and we’ll protect him. He can’t run forever.”

  “Joe, you have to turn yourself in. There are people trying to hurt you, but the police can help you.”

  “How, by throwing my ass in jail?”

  “By protecting you.” She grabbed Nick’s wrist, tugging the phone closer. Despite the seriousness of the situation, he found it difficult to ignore how amazing her fingers felt on his skin. “You can’t stay in hiding forever. Sooner or later, they’ll find you.”

  “Who, the bad guys, or the police?”

  The hold she had on his wrist tightened, and she leaned in closer. “You have to answer for what you’ve done, and you have to tell them I had nothing to do with it.” The creases in her forehead deepened, and her voice began to shake. “But you can’t do that if you’re dead.”

  Several seconds of silence passed, and for a moment he thought Myer had hung up. He strained his ears for sounds—something that would give him a clue as to where the guy was. A bell, a whistle, a foghorn, anything. But there was nothing.

  “Come with me,” Myer said, his voice tinged with desperation. “We can leave the country and start a new life somewhere else. I can make you happy, Andi. I know I can.”

  He scrutinized her reaction, irrationally gratified to see that she wasn’t reacting the way a woman in love would. Or an accomplice.

  She released his wrist, and her body stiffened. “You know I can’t do that.”

  Another moment of silence passed, this one lengthier.

  “I know. It was just a thought. A Hail Mary.”

  “Turn yourself in, dammit. I’ll help you. I promise.”

  “I’ll think about it. I have to go.”

  “No wait!” she cried, reaching for the phone. “Tell them I didn’t wire any money for you.”

  But he was gone.

  Nick set the phone onto a nearby table then turned back to Andi. “You did good.” And she had. She’d held it together and said all the right things. Now it was up to Myer.

  She took an unsteady breath. “I hope so. No matter what he’s done, he doesn’t deserve to die.” Her words came tumbling out. “Deep down, he’s a good man. I don’t understand how he could have done all those things, especially to me.” Despite the lingering warmth in the air, her body trembled.

  “A lot of good people get into bad situations. Some think there’s no other way out, except by doing something illegal.” Or by killing themselves.

  She blinked rapidly. “I don’t understand how things could have spiraled so far out of control. I may lose a good friend and my business. This place is everything to me. It’s all I have.” Her slim body began shaking with sobs, and when she covered her face with her hand
s, something inside him, a barrier—professional and personal—cracked wide open.

  Don’t do it. You can’t.

  His brain didn’t listen, and he took her in his arms. She shuddered as he tugged her against him. For an instant, she stood that way, with her arms locked around her waist. Then her hands crept up his back, allowing him to hold her closer.

  “Shh,” he whispered against her hair, rocking her gently. “It’ll be all right.” God, he hoped that wasn’t a lie.

  Sobbing openly now, she dug her fingers into his back, her breath warm against his chest. Her body was taut with tension, and he found himself rubbing his hands up and down her back, trying desperately to ease her pain. There was nothing else he could do.

  Gradually her trembling eased. Her sobs lessened, and she relaxed against him, and damn if her body didn’t feel good. Warm…yielding…and the way she smelled…

  He took an unsteady breath, not understanding why he was thinking of her on any level other than a professional one. Getting involved with her was a thousand miles beyond out of the question. “He’ll call again. I’m sure of it. When he does, you’ll talk him in, and I’ll be there to help you.”

  Lifting her head, she gazed up at him. The flow of tears had ceased, yet her eyes still shimmered, and grief showed in every nuance of her face. “Thank you. I know it’s your job, and all, but—”

  He pressed his lips to her forehead. He didn’t know why, but it seemed the most natural thing for him to do. When he pulled back, their eyes met and held. Hers were filled with undisguised shock, no more than what he was certain was mirrored in his own.

  That one little kiss on her forehead shouldn’t have meant anything, but it had. He still needed her to get to Myer, but when he’d kissed her, he’d been scorched by an unexpected truth. In just a few days, he’d not only begun to care about her, but to seriously question his assumption of her guilt.

  When she parted her lips, he involuntarily did the same. Startled awareness pounded in his brain. Professionally, this was wrong. Personally, this was a royally big mistake in judgment. He didn’t do caring, not anymore.