Protected by a Hero

by Susan Stoker, Cristin Harber, Cora Seton, Lynn Raye Harris, Kaylea Cross, Katie Reus, Tessa Layne

  He nodded. “I can understand that.”

  “What’s the deal with you and Piper, anyway?”

  He blinked at her. “What do you mean?”

  “I can tell you’re pretty close, and she obviously cares about you a lot. And then the other night Greg said…”

  His expression hardened. “Greg is a lying, manipulative bastard, and on top of that he’s a drunk and a cokehead. Don’t listen to a thing he says.”

  “So why did he think she’s still hung up on you?”

  He shrugged. “He’s looking for excuses so he doesn’t have to face the guy in the mirror and admit why she walked out. Piper and I are old friends, and that’s it. We dated after senior prom for a couple weeks, and we broke up when I left for boot camp. But my family loves her, and as far as we’re concerned, she’s one of us. Anyone messes with her, they mess with all of us.”

  Austen smiled, loving the show of protectiveness. “So she’s got three badass former Marine brothers to watch her back.”

  “Four, including my dad,” he said with a smile. “But seriously, there’s nothing going on between us.”

  Okay, that made her feel a lot better.

  “Wyatt.”

  They both turned in their seats as Scott wove his way between the tables toward them. A tiny prick of alarm jumped inside her. This place was a ways out of town. Had he followed them here?

  “Hey.” Wyatt stood and shook his hand. “What are you doing here?”

  “I was driving past and saw your truck out front. You not coming to the range tonight?”

  “No, I’ve got plans.” He smiled at her.

  Scott’s gaze shifted to her and something in his eyes that she couldn’t put a finger on sent a thread of unease down her spine. Then he nodded at her in polite acknowledgment before he looked back at Wyatt, and the feeling disappeared. “Oh. That’s too bad, the guys and I were looking forward to putting some rounds downrange with you.”

  “Next time.”

  An awkward beat of silence passed between them, then Scott put on a smile. “Okay. Well, have a good night.” His gaze slid to her for a moment before he walked away.

  Austen held off on asking Wyatt about Scott’s story because the server arrived with their meals. They ate and talked some more, getting to know each other better. He liked military thrillers and country music, while she preferred romantic comedies and pop songs. He loved to ride horses and shoot, and she liked to fish and play basketball.

  “You like to fish?” Wyatt asked, staring at her in astonishment.

  “Love it. I’m pretty good at it too.”

  He settled back into his seat. “Huh. Maybe we can go fishing together sometime.”

  “Sure, if you don’t mind me coming home with all the big ones.”

  He grinned, and it completely transformed the harsh planes of his face. Her heart fluttered, the slow burn of arousal firing her blood.

  “Was it hard, being a firefighter?” he asked after the server cleared their plates.

  “Sometimes. Any calls involving kids were the hardest. Some of the accidents we responded to really stayed with me. And when you just knew the outcome wasn’t going to be good…yeah, that was tough.”

  He nodded, and she knew he understood because he’d been in combat. Not the same thing, but similar in some ways. “You want dessert?”

  Oh, man, do I. In the form of a six-foot-plus, gruff and sexy man sitting across from me. “I couldn’t eat another bite.”

  He paid the bill and walked her to his truck, opened and shut her door for her before climbing behind the wheel.

  “What’s the deal with Scott, anyway?” she finally asked as he drove.

  “He suffered a TBI in Afghanistan about eighteen months ago. Why?”

  “I dunno. Sometimes he and Eddie—well, more Eddie—make me a little uncomfortable.”

  Wyatt shot her a frown, a subtle tension taking root in his posture. “Why, have either of them done or said something to you?”

  “No. Just a feeling I get.” She waved a hand. “Maybe I’m just being paranoid.”

  “You should have told me. I’ll talk to them both.”

  “No, don’t.” That wouldn’t make things better; she just wanted to let him know about her intuition. “I’ll let you know if anything bothers me going forward.”

  He eyed her, raised an eyebrow. “Promise? Because I’ll handle it if it does.”

  “Promise.”

  Wyatt was quiet for a long moment. “They’re decent guys who’ve been through a lot. Both of them lost their battle buddies over there, along with other friends. All the guys on the crew had a tough time after coming home, can’t seem to fit back into society anymore.” He grunted. “I hire them because I know exactly what that feels like.”

  She looked over at him, admiring the strong lines of his profile. “You seem to have adjusted really well, all things considered.”

  He made a face. “I’m better than I was, but I’ll never be the same. That’s the hardest part, other than the people we lose when we go to war. Knowing you don’t belong anymore when you come back home.”

  “Because of survivor’s guilt?”

  He nodded once. “Partly. More like you don’t have anything in common with anyone all of a sudden. Like, we’ve been overseas fighting for our lives and losing people and people here are more concerned about what’s going on in reality TV.”

  Now it was her turn to make a face. “Yeah, that would be hard. And insulting.”

  He grunted in agreement. “I’ll keep my eye on the guys, but seriously, if anything comes up, just tell me and I’ll handle it.”

  His tone made it clear he was willing to pull them off the job if she wanted. She hoped it wouldn’t come to that. “I will. Thanks.”

  He cleared this throat, shifted in his seat. “There’s…something else I need to tell you.”

  At his grim tone, she looked sharply at him. “What’s that?”

  “I’ve been getting these weird texts over the past couple days. I don’t know who’s sending them.”

  This didn’t sound promising. “What kind of texts?”

  “Threats.”

  Her eyebrows shot up. “For real?”

  He nodded once, appearing uncomfortable. “My sister is an analyst with the DEA. She’s tracing the numbers the calls have come from, but so far she can’t find anything to ID the person. And then tonight, before we left the motel, I got another one. It mentioned you.”

  Cold spread through her gut. “What did it say?”

  “It mentioned your red dress. Whoever it was saw us.”

  She shook her head as she leaned back against the leather seat. “You should have told me.”

  “I…yeah. I should have.” He rubbed a hand over the back of his neck. “Sorry.”

  Pulling in a slow breath, she ordered herself to stay calm. “Anything else?”

  He seemed to hesitate a moment before replying, and she knew he was withholding something from her. “He just wanted me to know he saw us together.”

  Yeah, and that bothered her. “What does he want?” Assuming it was a he.

  “To piss me off, or maybe scare me. Not sure.”

  “And you don’t have any idea who it is?”

  He shook his head. “None. I don’t want you to worry, I just thought you had a right to know.”

  She wished he’d done it right away, rather than wait, but decided to let it go. “Okay.”

  At her motel he walked her up to her door. Touched by the show of manners, she smiled up at him. “Thanks for dinner. I enjoyed it.”

  “Me too.”

  She hid a smile, angled her body to face him and took a step closer, enjoying that they were eye to eye. “So, did this qualify as a date?”

  “I…”

  “Because if it did, then you need to kiss me goodnight.”

  For a moment, Wyatt was too stunned to answer her.

  A heady shot of arousal punched through him, momentarily sc
rambling his brain. There were so many reasons why he shouldn’t touch her, but at the moment none of them seemed important enough to keep his hands off her.

  Without giving himself time to overthink it he stepped forward, erasing the distance between them, and slid one hand into those springy curls he’d been wanting to touch. She leaned toward him, eyelids falling closed and he took the invitation, settling his mouth over hers.

  The moment their lips touched a rush of desire swept through him. Her hands came up to settle on his chest and she leaned closer.

  Wyatt kissed the corner of her mouth, her bottom lip, then grazed his tongue along it. She made a soft sound in the back of her throat and curled her fingers into his shoulders as she opened for him.

  He delved inside her, stroked her tongue with his. She moaned into his mouth and the kiss changed instantly.

  Bringing his other hand up to cup the back of her neck, he pushed her backward and pressed her up against the door. Austen shivered lightly and slid her hands up to grip his head, arching to bring their bodies in contact from chest to groin.

  He was already hard and aching and wanted her to feel what she did to him. He pressed his erection into the softness of her lower belly, amazed at how well they fit together. It was like she was built for him.

  Rubbing against her, reveling in the tiny catch in her breathing and the light shiver that rippled through her, he flicked his tongue against hers and teased the roof of her mouth. She wrapped one long leg around his thigh and rocked into him, damn near making his eyes roll into the back of his head.

  He hadn’t been with anyone since being injured. If things progressed between them—and this mind-blowing kiss suggested that they would—then she would wind up seeing all of him.

  The thought sent a trickle of unease through him. She seemed strong and calm and accepting but a beautiful woman like her could do so much better than a mentally and physically scarred guy like him.

  He knew what he looked like, and it wasn’t pretty. Part of him couldn’t believe she’d actually wanted him to kiss her, let alone how into it she seemed.

  Wanting to stop things before they got out of hand, he drew her lower lip into his mouth and sucked lightly, flicking the tip of his tongue against it before raising his head. She made a sound of protest and tried to lean in for more but he eased back, his grip firm on her nape.

  Dazed silver eyes slowly focused on his face as she blinked up at him. He couldn’t help but smile. “Wow.”

  A lazy, seductive smile curved her shiny lips. “Wow is right.” Her hands gentled on his head, her fingers stroking over his scalp in a way that sent little shivers over his skin. “I haven’t kissed anyone like that since John, and I can definitely say that was worth the wait.”

  Yeah? Then they had more in common than he’d realized.

  Despite their poor beginning, things were good between them now. He was comfortable around her, enjoyed her company. He wished he was still kissing her, or better yet, backing her into the motel room and slowly stripping her clothes off to reveal every inch of her smooth brown skin so he could stroke and taste it.

  “For me, too,” he said.

  Her gaze dropped to his mouth again, then came back to his eyes. It had been a damn long time since he’d been with a woman but even he couldn’t mistake the hunger burning in her eyes. For a second he was sure she was going to invite him inside, but then she touched her lips to his in a light caress and released his head.

  “Thanks for tonight, I enjoyed it. Have a good night.”

  Torn between relief and disappointment, he eased his fingers from her curls and released the back of her neck. “You too.”

  She shot one last seductive smile at him before slipping into the room and shutting the door.

  The moment he turned around he saw the car parked at the rear of the lot. Unease filled him as soon as the driver saw him watching. Before he could move or make out who the driver was, the person turned their head to face front and hit the gas, tearing out of the lot, too fast for Wyatt to see the plate but he got the make and model.

  A warning tingle in his gut told him it hadn’t been coincidence. That the driver had been watching him and Austen, had been sitting there watching them kiss. And they still hadn’t found out who had sent him those texts. Whoever it was might be following him around, maybe targeting Austen.

  His mind went back to what Austen had said at dinner. It could have been Greg, but what if it was one of the guys on his crew?

  His immediate reaction was to dismiss that any of the guys were behind this, because he knew them all personally and there was no reason for any of them to target him. Hell, he’d gone out of his way to provide them with enough work to support themselves.

  Those texts though… They had to be from someone he knew. Or someone Austen knew.

  God, he hated that she was alone at this motel. It might be nothing and he might just be acting paranoid, but what if the driver had been watching Austen and waiting for Wyatt to leave so he could make a move?

  Not wanting to worry her further by telling her about the car in case he was being paranoid, he pulled out his phone to dial Easton.

  “Hey,” his brother said. “You didn’t show up for dinner. Had a last minute hot date or something?”

  “Something came up.”

  “Wait, what? Was it a date?” A pause, and he imagined his brother’s wide-eyed expression. “Is it the girl you invited over for dinner?”

  He wasn’t touching that one with a ten-foot pole because if he did, Easton would badger him forever. Literally. Forever. “I need a favor.”

  “Oh. Sure, man. What’s up?”

  “I need you to meet me at the motel off Main and switch vehicles with me.”

  “You took your date back to a motel? Jesus, Wyatt, I know it’s been a while since you were in the saddle, but—”

  “It’s not like that,” he snapped, impatient. “Look, can you come switch vehicles with me or not?”

  “Yeah, sure. Be there in twenty.”

  Wyatt ended the call and stood beside his truck, keeping an eye out for that gray car, but it didn’t come back. Easton pulled into the parking lot right on time and parked beside him. “Hey. Everything okay?”

  He sighed. “Someone’s watching me. Or maybe Austen.”

  “Austen? The girl from last night?”

  He nodded. “She bought the Miller place and is fixing it up.”

  “Dad told me.” He frowned. “You think someone is after her?”

  “No.” Maybe. “I don’t know. She’s new in town so it’s unlikely she’s had time to make any enemies here, and I can’t see anyone not liking her anyhow.” Though he didn’t know much about her past, so he couldn’t rule out the possibility that someone was targeting her. But then why text him instead of her?

  He told Easton about the texts, and of course Easton already knew about Greg. Then he explained about the car and driver, and shrugged. “Might be nothing, but I still don’t know who sent me those texts so I’d feel better if I camped outside for tonight, see if they come back.”

  Easton blinked at him, then a shit-eating grin split his face. “You’re really into her. Austen.”

  Wyatt didn’t answer for a moment. “I just want to make sure she’s safe.”

  His brother wiped the grin off his face and nodded, but Wyatt could still see the amusement glinting in those brown eyes. “Sure, bro, you gotta do what you gotta do. Here.” He held up a set of keys and swapped with Wyatt. “I left your present on the passenger seat. Was going to give it to you last night, but you were otherwise…occupied, so…” He thumped Wyatt on the shoulder. “Happy belated birthday.”

  “Thanks, man.”

  “See you tomorrow? Maybe we can grab breakfast or something before you head to work.”

  “Sounds good. Can you look after Grits for me?”

  “I brought him in my truck. I fed and walked with him so he’s got a full belly and he’s all empty down below. Cute littl
e guy.”

  “Yeah.” He was growing on Wyatt more and more every day, making it hard to keep his emotional distance. Piper was no doubt gloating about what an awesome idea it had been to give the dog to him in the first place. “Thanks, man. Later.”

  “Later.” Easton climbed into Wyatt’s truck.

  Wyatt watched his brother drive away. It had been way too long since they’d all been together, with Easton being overseas for six months at a time and Brody recovering from a bullet wound that could have ended his career on the HRT. Charlie’s schedule as a DEA computer forensic examiner was erratic too. This past year they hadn’t even celebrated Christmas together. Their mother must have rolled over in her grave.

  His gaze strayed to the upper floor of the motel, to Austen’s door. His mom would have loved her. What was Austen doing right now? Was she in the shower, standing under the flow of hot water as it slid over her lithe, naked body?

  He caught his breath. Was she in bed, thinking of him? Better yet, was she touching herself, to ease the ache that kiss had ignited? Because he was sure as hell aching for her.

  It blew him away that he wanted her this badly, more than he’d ever wanted another woman, and that she’d managed to get under his skin in such a short time, let alone after the bad start they’d had.

  Pushing out a deep breath to banish the images those thoughts created, he got into Easton’s truck and greeted Grits with an ear-ruffle. A rolled-up T-shirt sat on the passenger seat. Wyatt picked it up and unrolled it.

  When he read the message on the front, he couldn’t stop the crack of laughter that escaped. His little brother was awesome.

  After putting it on, he drove around the block, looking for the gray car. When he didn’t see it, he parked at the far end of the parking lot and shut off the engine, leaned the seat back.

  It was going to be a long and fairly uncomfortable night, but he didn’t sleep much these days anyway and he just wanted to make sure Austen was safe.

  CHAPTER ELEVEN