by Susan Stoker
“About the fire?” Sophie asked.
“Yeah.”
She shrugged. “If you read that one of the doctors at the hospital s-set the fire himself, then it’s true.”
“Why in the world would he do that?” Erin asked, shaking her head.
“Because he’s a dick,” Sophie said matter-of-factly. “His daddy was going to donate a crap-ton of m-money to the hospital, enough s-so his s-son would get his name on the new wing. I guess it wasn’t happening fast enough to s-suit S-Shane…s-so he decided he’d s-speed the process along. When he was questioned by the police, he was s-so s-scared, he admitted it before his daddy could call an attorney.”
“He could’ve killed people. Including you,” the bartender huffed. “Seriously, what the hell was he thinking?”
Sophie shrugged again. “I guess whatever he wanted was m-more important than people’s lives.”
“It’s a disgrace. A doctor not caring about the lives of others. Tell me he was fired,” Erin demanded.
“He was fired,” Sophie said obediently. “And he’s facing charges. I’m not a lawyer, but I don’t think his daddy can get him out of doing at least s-some jail time.”
“Good. And you’re okay?”
“I’m good. M-My chest hurt for a while from s-smoke inhalation, but other than that, I’m perfectly fine.”
“And the homeless couple living in your house? How’s that going?”
Sophie smiled. “Great. Tadd was very reluctant at first. But the first time Louise was able to m-make dinner for them, s-she was s-so happy and proud. S-Since then, he’s s-stopped bitching. S-Seeing how m-much better Louise is doing with a real roof over her head m-made him change his tune fast enough.”
“Smart man,” Erin said with a wink. Then she changed the subject. “What was the final score of the game tonight again?”
“S-Seventy-three to eighty-s-seven.”
“For a football game?” the bartender asked incredulously. “Is that even possible?”
“When both s-sides are cheating their asses off, yeah,” Sophie told her with a grin. “S-Seriously, it was hilarious.”
“I can’t believe how many of you guys there are now. I remember when it was just the guys hanging out…and just you and your three friends, for that matter. How do you remember who everyone is?” Erin asked.
Sophie turned to the large tables all shoved together to make room for all of them. It was hard to believe she’d gone from only having three friends, to having a roomful.
“Let’s s-see…I think you know all the firefighters. But M-Moose is s-sitting next to Penelope. Then there’s Driftwood, Taco, S-Squirrel, Crash and his wife, Adeline, and Coco, her s-service dog, and S-Sledge. His fiancé, Beth, isn’t here tonight. Then as far as the cops go, there’s M-Mackenzie and Dax. S-She’s easy because s-she never s-stops talking. Then M-Mickie and Cruz. He’s the one who totally looks like an FBI guy. I have no idea how he was ever able to be undercover. Then Quint and Corrie. S-She’s blind, but I s-swear I didn’t have a clue the first time I m-met her. Laine and Wes are next…he’s a Texas Ranger, but I like his cowboy look better. He and Boone are good friends…he’s Hayden’s boyfriend, and also a cowboy. When both he and Wes wear their cowboy hats and boots, I s-swear the testosterone goes up about three notches.”
Sophie tilted her head and continued. “The guys left who don’t have partners are TJ, who is a highway patrolman. If he ever pulled m-me over, I wouldn’t be able to s-say a word. He’s that good looking. Chief told m-me he was also in the Army, which I totally believe. He’s got that badass, don’t-mess-with-m-me vibe going. Then there’s Calder, the m-medical examiner. And you know Conor, the game warden.
“Yeah, I know Conor,” Erin said in a weird tone.
Sophie turned her head to look at her friend, and noticed her staring at the man she herself didn’t know all that well yet.
“He nice?” she asked.
“Nice?” Erin asked, looking back at Sophie. “Yeah, he’s nice.”
Sophie smiled and rested her elbow on the bar top. “Nice, huh?”
Erin stood up straight and put her hands on her hips. “Yeah. Nice.”
“Okay, whatever you s-say. You gonna ask him out?”
“What? No. Why?”
“Because he’s been s-staring at you all night,” Sophie told her honestly. “I wasn’t s-sure why until now. I thought m-maybe he was watching the TV over your head, but now I realize it wasn’t the TV he was interested in.”
“Really?” Erin whispered.
“Really,” Sophie confirmed. “And I’m not s-saying that all guys like to be asked out, I know Chief definitely is the kind of m-man who likes to do the asking, but m-maybe if you gave him a nudge…he’d take the bait.”
There was a vulnerability in the bartender’s eyes that Sophie recognized. She was good looking, skinny and seemingly very confident, but it was suddenly as obvious as if the other woman was wearing a sign that said “tread carefully” that she had some serious baggage in her background that kept her at arm’s length from people. Especially men.
Erin licked her lips and asked uncertainly, “You’re sure?”
“I’m s-sure,” Sophie reassured her.
“Sure about what?” a deep voice said from behind Sophie. “I was sent over to make sure you were good, Soph,” Conor Paxton, the object of the current conversation, said.
“I’ve got the first batch,” Sophie replied, winking at Erin. “If you can bring the rest over after Erin m-makes them, that’d be great.”
“Sure thing,” Conor said, settling in on a barstool.
After Sophie left, Conor leaned forward on his elbow, much as Sophie had been doing. “Hey, Erin. How’re you?”
“I’m great,” she told him. “You?”
“Can’t complain.”
They looked at each other for a long moment before Erin broke the eye contact and looked down, concentrating on the drinks she was preparing. Then, as if squaring up her courage, she said, “You’re a game warden…you like doing outdoor stuff?”
“Absolutely. One of the reasons I wanted to work for the Parks and Wildlife Service was so I could spend my days outside. There’s nothing worse than having to be inside all the time.”
“For my day job, I’m a kinesiology instructor at the university. The tenured professors take turns chaperoning and running the outdoor trips the school sponsors. The next one is coming up…it’s a canoe trip down the Big Bend River. You ever been canoeing?”
Conor eyed the pretty bartender in front of him. He’d been attracted to her from the first time he’d seen her. They’d exchanged pleasantries in the past, but this was the first time they had really talked. “Love it,” he said simply.
“The thing is, the other teacher who was supposed to come along with me had to cancel. Now I’m left with a two-person canoe and no one to help me keep the kids safe.”
Conor leaned forward. He gently took hold of Erin’s hand. He waited until she looked up at him. “You askin’ me to come with you?”
She nodded and pressed her lips together.
“When is it?”
“Over Thanksgiving. I know it’s soon, but the school sets them up during times the kids don’t have classes, and if you can’t, it’s okay, I just—”
“Yes.”
She stared at him for a beat. “Yes?”
“Yeah. It sounds like fun.” Conor sat back and pulled out his phone. “Give me your number so we can coordinate. I’ll need to know the details so I can make sure I can get the time off work. Assuming we’ll be driving to Big Bend Park and putting in there?”
“Uh…yeah, that’s the plan.”
“Good. I know some of the rangers down there. I’ll give them a buzz. Your number?”
Erin recited it and Conor punched it into his contacts. “I’ll send you a quick text so you have my number too. And I’ll give you my email so you can send me any forms I’ll need to sign and stuff like that. Make sure you let me k
now how much it costs, what I need to bring, and what the university will provide. This is cool. I’m looking forward to it.”
Conor smiled at Erin, his mind going a million miles an hour. He’d been wracking his brain trying to come up with a way to ask the bartender out without looking like one of the hundreds of other men who she’d probably been hit on by in the past. A woman like Erin certainly had had her share of men interested in her, and he wanted to be more than just another number.
“Me too,” she said softly, then turned her attention back to the drinks she was getting ready. Conor would’ve felt deflated at her lack of reaction, but with the way she was blushing and biting her lip, he could see that she wasn’t as cool and calm as she tried to make him believe.
She finished the drink order and asked, “You need help getting that tray to the table without spilling anything?”
“Nope. I got this.” Before picking up the tray, he reached across the bar once more and put his hand on Erin’s arm. She was wearing a thin, long-sleeve shirt, her usual attire. He could feel the warmth of her skin under his hand. “Thanks for inviting me. It’ll be fun.”
“Yeah. I think so too. As long as we don’t tip over.”
“Hey, I’m a pro,” Conor protested. “We aren’t going to tip over.”
“I’ll remember you said that,” Erin said, a grin forming on her face.
He liked it when she smiled. It lit up her face and made her go from pretty to beautiful. “I’d never dunk a beautiful woman in the river,” he said grinning back. “I’ll talk to you later.” Then he turned with the tray full of drinks and sauntered back to his friends, his night going from good to great with one conversation.
Erin went through the motions of the rest of the evening, alternately freaking out and being out-of-control excited about the upcoming trip.
When she arrived home that night, she pulled off her long-sleeve T-shirt and jeans. Then she did something she hadn’t done in a long time. She stood almost naked in front of the full-length mirror in her bathroom.
Wincing, she tried to objectively assess her body.
After several moments, she turned away in disgust. She couldn’t do it. She knew what other people saw when they looked at her. Her parents always told her how good she looked when she saw them, and her fellow teachers at school were always telling her how impressed they were with her commitment to working out every day before classes started.
But the only thing Erin saw when she looked at herself in the mirror was a four-hundred-pound girl hiding in a stranger’s body.
By the time she was in middle school, she’d weighed over two hundred pounds. In college, she’d ballooned up to three-fifty. After losing her job as a middle school gym teacher because she’d gained another fifty pounds and could literally no longer walk more than fifty yards without huffing and puffing—not exactly the role model the school wanted for its kids—she’d decided to have gastric bypass surgery.
That was ten years ago, and she should’ve been thrilled with the body she had today. But after losing the weight, she’d been left with huge amounts of hanging skin. She’d had to undergo several painful procedures to get the stretched-out skin cut off.
The entire process—losing the weight and the surgeries to fix what she’d thought was her hideous body—had taken years. And even now that she looked normal, with her clothes on, Erin couldn’t shut out the teasing she’d undergone from the time she was old enough to understand people were laughing at her. She remembered every boy who’d looked at her in disgust. To this day, she was a virgin. At thirty-five.
It was ridiculous, pathetic, and most of the time she hated herself.
She just couldn’t imagine ever taking off her clothes and exposing her scars and body to a man, especially not someone as good looking and buff as Conor Paxton. Not ever. He’d be horrified at the roadmap of scars on her arms, legs, and torso. She might have lost the weight, but she still felt like the fat kid she’d been inside.
Sighing, Erin climbed under her covers and pulled the body pillow she’d nicknamed Fred to her chest.
Yeah, Conor had seemed excited to go on the trip, but he was probably just excited about canoeing. He would’ve gone no matter who asked him. Yup, that had to be it. No matter what Sophie had suggested, Conor would never be interested in her, Eat-more Erin.
The nickname her classmates had bestowed on her echoed in her head long after she fell asleep.
In the morning, when she checked her phone and saw the text that Conor had sent, she’d convinced herself that he was only going on the trip to touch base with his game warden buddy who worked out at Big Bend.
She’d talk with him and let him know the details of the trip, but she wouldn’t get her hopes up for any more. Nope. No way.
* * *
Look for Conor and Erin’s story in November. Pre-order Justice for Erin now!
Check out the first chapter at the end of this book!
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Also by Susan Stoker
* * *
Badge of Honor: Texas Heroes Series
Justice for Mackenzie
Justice for Mickie
Justice for Corrie
Justice for Laine (novella)
Shelter for Elizabeth
Justice for Boone
Shelter for Adeline
Shelter for Sophie
Justice for Erin (Nov 2017)
Justice for Milena (Mar 2018)
Shelter for Blythe (July 2018)
Justice for Hope (TBA)
Shelter for Quinn (TBA)
Shelter for Koren (TBA)
Shelter for Penelope (TBA)
* * *
Delta Force Heroes Series
Rescuing Rayne
Assisting Aimee - Loosely related to DF
Rescuing Emily
Rescuing Harley
Marrying Emily
Rescuing Kassie
Rescuing Bryn (Oct 2017)
Rescuing Casey (Jan 2018)
Rescuing Sadie (April 2018)
Rescuing Wendy (May 2018)
Rescuing Mary (Nov 2018)
* * *
Ace Security Series
Claiming Grace
Claiming Alexis
Claiming Bailey (Dec 2017)
Claiming Felicity (Feb 2018)
* * *
SEAL of Protection: Legacy Series
Defending Caite (Sept 2018)
* * *
SEAL of Protection Series
Protecting Caroline
Protecting Alabama
Protecting Fiona
Marrying Caroline (novella)
Protecting Summer
Protecting Cheyenne
Protecting Jessyka
Protecting Julie (novella)
Protecting Melody
Protecting the Future
Protecting Alabama’s Kids (novella)
Protecting Kiera (novella)
Protecting Dakota
* * *
Stand Alone
The Guardian Mist
* * *
Special Operations Fan Fiction
http://www.stokeraces.com/kindle-worlds.html
Beyond Reality Series
Outback Hearts
Flaming Hearts
Frozen Hearts
Writing as Annie George:
Stepbrother Virgin (erotic novella)
About the Author
New York Times, USA Today and Wall Street Journal Bestselling Author Susan Stoker has a heart as big as the state of Texas where she lives, but this all American girl has also spent the last fourteen years living in Missouri, California, Colorado, and Indiana. She’s married to a retired Army man who now gets to follow her around the country.
She debuted her first series in 20
14 and quickly followed that up with the SEAL of Protection Series, which solidified her love of writing and creating stories readers can get lost in.
If you enjoyed this book, or any book, please consider leaving a review. It’s appreciated by authors more than you’ll know.
For more information:
www.StokerAces.com
[email protected]
Chapter 1-Justice for Erin
Part-time bartender Erin Gardner is friendly to everyone who bellies up to her bar, including the local law enforcement and firefighters who keep her city safe. That’s where she meets game warden Conor Paxton, a regular who she asks to join a canoeing trip she’s leading for her university day job. When the trip leads to something more, Erin couldn’t be happier.
Conor adores Erin, more than enough to help her continue to get over lingering self-esteem issues from her childhood. He’s thrilled he’s found someone who enjoys spending time in nature as much as he does.
Just when the couple thinks they’re on their way to a happily ever after, Erin finds herself in the wrong place at the wrong time. But there’s no way she’ll just lay down and die. She’s woman enough to save herself—and lead her man to her when she’s done.
** Justice for Erin is the 9th book in the Badge of Honor: Texas Heroes Series. Each book is a stand-alone, with no cliffhanger endings.
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CHAPTER ONE
Erin smiled at Conor Paxton, the Texas Parks and Wildlife game warden she’d invited along on the annual Thanksgiving trip she chaperoned, as she tried to stop freaking out. She’d spent the entire day telling herself that Conor wouldn’t actually show up, that he was just being polite when he’d agreed to come. But when she’d pulled into the parking lot of the rec center at the University of Texas-San Antonio, he was waiting for her.
And what a sight he was.
Standing next to his beat-up old Chevy pickup with his arms and legs crossed, looking as if he hadn’t a care in the world. Erin knew he was good looking, it was hard to miss, but when he smiled, it completely transformed him. He went from a solid eight on a scale of one to ten, to a twenty.
