Open Life (Open Skies #5)

by Marysol James

  Open Life

  (Open Skies #5)

  By Marysol James

  © 2015 by Marysol James. All rights reserved. No part of this document may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, including information storage and retrieval systems, without prior written permission from the author, except in the case of a reviewer, who may quote brief passages embodied in critical articles or in a review.

  This book is a work of fiction. Any references to historical events, real people, or real locales are used fictitiously. Other names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination, and any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

  Cover design: www.doc2mobi.com

  Cover photo: © vgstudio/Fotolia

  Dedication

  For Angie.

  You were there when this whole thing began (Talon Steele! Storme Ryder! Jared Flame!) and you’ve been with me the whole way through it… reading my books, cheering me on, sending words of support. We strode on in to the world of Open Skies together – and with this book, we leave it together.

  It’s been one hell of a ride, lady. Hugs and gratitude and never-ending JA gifs to you.

  M

  Contents

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Chapter Nineteen

  Chapter Twenty

  Epilogue

  About the author

  By the same author

  Chapter One

  Maria Torres was yanked out of a not-very-restful and far-too-short sleep by the alarm clock. Groaning, fumbling in the pre-dawn dark, she located it on the bedside table. She switched it off and flopped back down face-first on to her pillow. She let out another groan, dreading going to work that day.

  This was highly unusual for her, to say the least. In her six years working as a front desk receptionist at Open Skies Ranch, she’d always launched herself out of bed eagerly, enthusiastically, all ready to go, even without the added boost of her beloved caffeine. But lately, work had been nothing short of a disaster – and the end was nowhere in sight.

  One final groan and she swung her feet over the side of the bed and on to the floor. Blearily, she gazed around the overnight staff room. She was on nights this whole week, which meant that she was sleeping at Open Skies, just down the hall from the Reception desk. The room was really nice, actually, nicer than her own tiny bedroom at her apartment in Clarity and it had the added bonus of breakfast included. And coffee… lots and lots of coffee.

  Maria got to her feet and stumbled in to the bathroom which was, again, way nicer than her own. She stepped in to the shower and used the luxury shampoo and body wash before just standing there in the heat and spray, wiling her body to relax. She was not going to let Julie and Jake’s wedding be a complete and total disaster. Today was the day that she was going to get on top of everything, once and for all.

  My entire focus today is sorting out the food supplier and flowers. Argh, please God... no major distractions today. Please.

  She towelled dry and started to put on her uniform: simple white blouse, long black skirt, a red vest with the Open Skies logo, one size bigger than she actually wore. She slipped in to her cheap black pumps and slicked on some basic makeup. Her long, dark curls were pulled back in to a sleek chignon – a style she’d learned from the enviably glamorous Julie Everett – and then she added dangly earrings. After years of plain little gold studs, they still felt ridiculously daring and sexy. Maria had decided that she really liked the way the brushed against her neck and made her eyes light up in her round face, and they were her one attempt at being truly beautiful.

  She stared at herself in the mirror, not totally happy with what she saw there. She was short and she’d gained a lot of weight over the past year and she knew it. Not gorgeous, not ugly, she was just… average. She was well aware that she was hands-down one of the least attractive women who hung around Open Skies, but then again, look at the competition, huh?

  Julie was drop-dead stunning, Tammy was tall and slim and curvy, Vicky had all that amazing red-gold hair. God, even the other front-line staff all had more confidence than Maria did and that made them attractive. But she’d always been quiet and shy, and men had always just overlooked her somehow. When Maria was in the room, nobody noticed and after more than thirty years of being the least-memorable girl present, she was almost OK with that. Almost.

  She glanced at her watch and jumped a bit. Time was getting away from her and she still needed to grab a coffee from the hotel restaurant. She quickly made the bed, tidied up her personals and headed out.

  The Reception area was deserted, but then again, it was only six a.m. and most everyone was still sleeping except Manny and his kitchen staff. Maria walked through Reception, down a hallway, in to the restaurant. She was greeted by the smell of coffee, fresh bread and pancakes and she groaned again when she saw the maple syrup sitting invitingly on the buffet. So much for her decision to eat more healthily and work out more.

  “Hey, Maria. Good morning,” Manny said as he emerged from the kitchen with a bowl of fruit. “You sleep OK?”

  “Sure,” she lied. “How’s it going this morning?”

  “Oh, good.” He flashed her that million-dollar grin. “Pancakes and sausages are almost ready.”

  “Ummm.” Damn, that was tempting, but no. She’d sworn to go to the beach this summer and actually take off her cover-up and it was already the end of May. This year was the year she was going to finally wear a bathing suit in public – a one-piece, of course. Slinking around in a bikini was one of those things that was just never going to happen in her lifetime, no matter what her weight.

  “Actually, Manny, I think I’ll just stick to fruit and coffee this morning.”

  “Yeah? You sure?”

  “Uh-huh.”

  “Well, you’re missing out. You change your mind, let me know. I’ll fix you a plate and bring it to you at the front desk. It’ll be our little secret, OK?”

  “OK, thanks.” She stiffened her resolve when she saw Brent come out of the kitchen with a tray of bacon. He slid it on to the hot plate, shut the lid. The smell was overwhelming and mouthwatering and her stomach grumbled. Time to run.

  Maria made herself a large latté with skim milk, piled a plate high with pineapple and strawberries and went back out to the front desk. She wasn’t supposed to eat there, but she couldn’t stand to stay near that buffet any longer and besides, nobody would show up at the main building until at least eight o’clock.

  She’d just popped a strawberry in her mouth when the front door opened. She looked up, felt her jaw drop open in what was surely an unattractive manner. The man storming in to Open Skies was hands-down the sexiest thing she’d ever seen in the flesh – and that was saying something if you thought about Jake Weston and Rob Cathay. Even Phil Dobson was damn easy on the eyes and the guy was almost fifteen years older than she was.

  This man was tall, broad, strong. His movements were confident and deli
berate and when he looked at her, his cold green eyes just froze her in place. She guessed his age to be mid-thirties, making him about five years older than her. His hair was dark and a bit long and he had dark stubble on his chiseled cheeks, and holy Lord, did it all ever look good on him. He also looked good in those worn jeans and t-shirt and leather jacket.

  What the hell is the sexiest man alive doing standing in front of me at six o’clock on a Monday morning?

  The man shot forward now, so fast that Maria instinctively took a step back. He was staring at her, intense and focused, and she felt a sudden stab of fear.

  “You Maria?” the man asked in a low rasp. “Maria Torres?”

  “Ummm… what – why…” Her voice trailed off as he gave her a fierce look.

  “It’s a simple question, lady.” The man was leaning on the front desk now, his large hands planted firmly. “You’re Maria or you’re not. Now which is it?”

  “I – I – I’m sorry.” She was stuttering and she knew it, but come on. The sexiest man alive was saying her name over and over again and damn, it sounded good in that sensual mouth. But how the hell did someone like him even know that she existed? “Who are you?”

  “Dillon Saunders. I need to find Maria. If you’re not her, where is she?”

  “What – why are you looking for Maria?”

  Dillon heaved a sigh at having to provide an explanation. “Because she’s potentially in a lot of danger and I need to get her out of here.”

  “What?”

  He made an impatient gesture with his hands. “Look, this is no joke, alright? If you’re Maria, you need to tell me so I can get you someplace safe. If you’re not Maria, then I have to find her before they do, so you need to tell me where she is.”

  “‘They’?” she repeated, starting to feel like she was in some bad mafia movie. “‘They’ who?”

  He glared at her. “I’m wasting time here, lady. I’m gonna ask once more: are you Maria?”

  “Yes,” she said. “Yes, I’m Maria.”

  “OK, let’s go.”

  “Go?” Idiotically, she looked around the Reception area. “Go where?”

  “To a safe house in Denver. Come on, now.”

  “OK, wait.” She held up her trembling hands as if to ward him off. “I can’t just go with you… I don’t even know you!”

  Dillon saw her shaking and something happened to his eyes. They got softer, suddenly, kinder and more human. In a matter of just a few seconds, all that green ice melted and he almost looked apologetic. She was interested to note that the warmth just made him even more gorgeous, damn him. He took a deep breath.

  “You’re right, Maria. I’m sorry. I drove like hell to get to you and I’m all jacked up on adrenalin and I forgot this ain’t the military. You don’t have to just blindly follow orders, do you?” He grinned at her now and she stared at how good it looked on him. “You want to know what’s going on, huh?”

  She nodded quietly.

  “OK.” He looked around. “Can we go someplace and talk?”

  “I think it’d be better if Julie was there when we do.”

  “Who’s Julie?”

  “My boss.” Maria hesitated. “I want her to hear this.”

  “Fair enough, I guess. Where is she?”

  “Home. Sleeping.”

  Dillon blinked. It had completely escaped him that most people were still in bed; he’d been up all night and he was pumped full of energy. It was incomprehensible that it wasn’t the middle of the day and that it was, in actual fact, barely morning.

  “Oh, right.” He ran his hand over the back of his neck, the movement pulling his white t-shirt tight across that incredible chest. “Can you call her?”

  “I guess so. I mean – is it that urgent?”

  “Maria.” That hard rasp was back in his voice. “I drove all night to get here and I’m two seconds away from throwing you over my shoulder and forcibly taking you back to Denver. What do you think?”

  I think that being thrown over your shoulder and taken by you sounds damn good.

  It took quite a lot of effort for Maria to not imagine how good his bulk and muscles would feel against her body, but she did manage it. Well, kind of.

  “OK,” she said, wondering just what the hell had happened to her boring little life. “I’ll call her.”

  **

  Jake Weston groaned when Julie’s cell phone rang. He was sleeping closest to the bedside table so he extended a thickly-muscled arm and picked it up. He lifted one eyelid to read the caller’s name.

  “Hey, babe?” he said.

  “Hmmmmmm?” Julie’s voice came from the depths of the blankets.

  “It’s the front desk.”

  “At this time of morning?” Julie said, disbelieving. “Has the main building caught fire or something?”

  “Find out,” Jake said, handing her the phone.

  Julie struggled to a semi-vertical position, pushed her golden-red curls off her face and swiped ‘accept’. “Hi.”

  Jake propped himself up on one arm, a bit worried. This was highly unusual, to put it mildly. His worry sharpened and then grew as Julie’s beautiful face tightened.

  “What?” he said, but she was still focused on the person speaking in to her ear.

  “We’ll be there in ten minutes, Maria. Send him to the restaurant for a coffee until we arrive. Have Manny and the boys keep an eye on him and you stay away from him until Jake gets there.”

  “Send who to the restaurant?” Jake said, already out of bed and rifling through his dresser for boxers and socks. “What’s going on over there?”

  “Some guy just showed up at reception, ordering Maria around. Told her she’s in danger and she has to go to Denver with him right now.”

  “What the fuck?” Jake said, furious, yanking on his jeans. “How the hell did this dickhead even get to the main building? Did Travis let him in?”

  “Good question,” Julie said, throwing jeans and an oversized blouse over all her glorious shape. “I’ll find that out later. Right now, I want to get to this guy and find out just who the hell he thinks he is, scaring the crap out of my employees at ungodly hours of the morning.”

  “Ready?” Jake said, his voice muffled a bit as he pulled on his t-shirt.

  “Damn right I am.” Her mint-green eyes were sparkling with anger. “Let’s go talk to this guy, find out what he’s all about.”

  **

  Dillon sat in the restaurant with his backpack at his booted feet, drinking coffee and watching Maria. He’d chosen a table close to the door where he could keep an eye on the front desk. Maria had refused to sit down with him until Julie arrived and he didn’t want to fight with her. Not yet, at least.

  So here he sat with his second cup of coffee in his hand, gazing at Maria as she stood there, looking scared and confused, which he supposed were actually quite normal reactions. He was starting to feel his own exhaustion and he blinked hard, fighting against it. He still needed some energy for whatever was coming and then for the drive back to the city, and he dug deep.

  To distract himself from the urge to sleep, he studied Maria more closely. She was Gabriela Torres’ half-sister but Dillon didn’t see any similarities between them at all, beyond them both having dark hair and dark eyes. Gabi was tall with a slim, athletic body while Maria was short and definitely heavier. Not fat, just curvy as hell, with wide hips and generous thighs and a waist that he was sure he could get his hands around.

  Now why would I want to get my hands around her waist?

  He shook his head, examined Maria’s face. Again, no sign of Gabi there. Both women had round faces, though Maria’s was fuller and Gabi had more prominent cheekbones. Then again, maybe there was something about their mouths: both women had full, generous lips, shapely and welcoming. Dillon had never thought of stroking Ga
bi’s lips with his tongue, but he did find himself wondering how soft and warm Maria’s mouth would be.

  It was her voice, he thought suddenly. It was sweet and uncertain, even a bit insecure; shy and hiding so much. Maria Torres looked like the kind of woman who was always trying to avoid being seen and Dillon found himself wanting to know why that was.

  Holy fuck, man. You are tired, huh?

  She jumped to attention now and so did he. He watched as a woman with an amazing ass talked to Maria; next to her stood a massive guy who was glowering at Dillon. He sighed, knowing that getting Maria way from Open Skies now meant going through these two.

  Fuck, man. Stay cool. They’ll see reason.

  All three of them were walking towards him and he stood up to greet them.

  “Good morning,” said the woman. Dillon stared at her, taking in what was one of the most gorgeous faces he’d ever seen in his life. “I’m Julie Everett.”

  He extended his hand. “Dillon Saunders.” He turned to the man and offered his hand to him too. The guy took it, and the men had a short moment of sizing each other up. The guy had dark hair and gray eyes that reminded him of King’s – both the color and the strength of character that he saw there. Dillon’s heart sank. If this man had even one-tenth of King’s stubbornness, then he had his hands full. His orders were to bring Maria back to Denver with him; returning alone wasn’t an option. He braced himself for what was almost certainly going to be a hard talk.

  “Jake Weston,” the man said.

  Dillon nodded at them. He also shot Maria a small smile to show her that the lunatic who’d just blown on in to her place of work and threatened to drag her to Denver against her will was actually a good guy. Well, sometimes.

  Manny came out of the kitchen and saw the group had now assembled. “Coffee?” he called over.

  “Yes, please,” Julie said.

  Manny wandered over to the espresso machine. The hissing of the steamer was the only sound in the room for a few seconds. Then Julie spoke.