by Paige Tyler
He’d pegged her right, too. She was definitely the leap-first-and-look-later kind of person. He was okay with that. He’d met hundreds of guys exactly like her in the special operations world. It simply meant he was going to have to make sure that attitude didn’t get her into trouble.
Travis was still thinking about that when a flash of movement out of the corner of his eye caught his attention. Cursing, he dived to the side, hitting the floor hard as the guy who’d been trying to circle around behind him got crushed under the guy Eden had tossed across the room.
Whipping his head around, Travis saw Eden heading toward the booth where Gus was sitting. Damn, she was even stronger than he thought.
Then he saw Gus’s arm move under the table. Shit, the bastard was going for a gun.
Travis jumped to his feet. He needed to deal with these guys and help Eden.
He turned, ready to fight, but the man she’d tossed across the room earlier wasn’t going anywhere and the guy he’d landed on was lying on the floor groaning. The last lowlife must have decided he’d had enough because he turned and ran for the door.
Travis spun back around, his gut clenching as Gus swung his right hand out from under the table, pointing a big revolver up in her direction.
Shit.
Travis bolted across the room, praying he’d reach her in time.
But Eden moved faster.
Gus’s eyes widened in shock as she covered the last ten feet in the time it took to take a breath. She caught the man’s gun hand, easily disarming him. Even if she hadn’t been stronger than the bookie, it still wouldn’t have been difficult. The man’s right hand was wrapped in thick gauze and he could barely keep a grip on the weapon as it was.
Eden slung the revolver across the room with a growl, bouncing it across the bar and into the wall on the far side. It fell to the floor behind the bar with a thud. The bartender eyed the weapon like he was thinking of going for it. Travis pulled out the 9mm Eden had given him, pointing it at the bartender.
“Leave the gun on the floor and get out,” Travis ordered, motioning the man away with the tip of the Glock.
The bartender took one last look at the gun on the floor then glanced at his boss before locking eyes with Travis. Whatever he saw apparently made up his mind because he lifted his hands in surrender and slipped out from behind the bar then scurried for the door.
Travis turned around to see Gus getting to his feet. Eden thumped him in the chest hard enough to knock him back into the booth, then gracefully slid onto the bench seat opposite him like she was joining him for lunch. Gus wasn’t eyeing her like she was his usual customer, though. Then again, he’d just seen her toss one of his big-ass bodyguards around like he was a toy.
Crossing the room, Travis sat down beside her, keeping his gun trained on the man. “Like she said, we’re just here to talk.”
Gus eyed Travis—or more precisely the 9mm in his hand. After a moment, he sat back with a sigh.
“What do you want to talk about?” Gus demanded, his voice gruff from years of smoking cigars like the one on the table in front of him.
Eden smiled sweetly at him. “Like I said before, we’d like to ask you a few questions about Tim Ainsley.”
Gus cursed. “What the hell is it with all you people wanting to talk about Tim lately?”
Eden exchanged looks with Travis before turning to Gus. “Who else was asking about him?”
“Hell, I don’t know who he was. Some guy came in here about a week ago with a couple of his friends and told me he wanted to buy out Tim’s debt for ten cents on the dollar. When I told him to pound sand, the asshole did this.”
Gus held up the bandage-wrapped hand. Even with all the gauze, Travis could see the man’s pinkie finger on his right hand was missing.
“He cut off your finger?” Travis couldn’t believe he was shocked, considering all the things he’d seen in war zones around the world, but damn.
“Cut it off?” Gus snorted. “Hell, no. The damn freak had these long-ass claws for fingernails. He sliced into me then reached out and ripped the thing right off. Put it in his pocket and walked out with it when we were done, too, so I couldn’t even try to get it reattached. Asshole.”
“What did this guy look like?” Eden asked.
“Six-five, long brown hair, scary-looking psycho eyes. Growled a lot.”
Eden looked at Travis again. There couldn’t be many guys who looked like that running around Virginia Beach. It had to be the wolf shifter.
“At first I thought maybe Tim had hired this guy to come in and try to make his debt disappear, but then I heard Tim got his ass beat up by those same guys a couple days ago, so I’m guessing that wasn’t it.”
“Is it normal for people to try to buy someone else’s gambling debt like that?” Eden asked.
“Never happened to me before,” Gus muttered. “And the worst part was, I felt bad about having to turn over Tim’s tab. I’ve been his bookie since he was sixteen—he grew up around here. Tim might be a godawful gambler and was never going to be able to pay me back everything he owed, but he’s a good guy who made regular payments and was trying to get this gambling thing under control.”
Travis almost laughed. A bookie with a heart of gold? He wasn’t so sure he bought that one. “How much did Tim owe you?”
Gus shrugged. “About a hundred grand, maybe a little more. I can’t tell you exactly because that asshole took the laptop I kept my books on along with my finger.”
Travis was floored. Beside him, Eden looked just as shocked. How the hell could Tim get himself so deeply into debt? “Any idea what this guy wanted with Tim’s tab?”
“No clue,” the bookie admitted. “It’s not like Tim could pay it all back at once. He’s about tapped out.”
“Any idea where this big guy and his friends hang out?” Eden asked.
Gus’s eyes narrowed. “You two going after that asshole?” When Eden nodded, he smiled. “I heard they were staying in a duplex vacation rental on the beach. Ocean Front and 53rd.”
“You were pissed enough to track them down, but didn’t go after them?” Travis asked.
Gus shrugged. “I’m a businessman. And I like my fingers. I figured if I made a move on these guys and failed, the psycho with the freaky claws would be back for my other pinkie and maybe a few more digits. I put my money into better security and forgot the revenge.” He looked over at his guys lying on the floor. One or two of them were just starting to stir, but the rest weren’t even conscious yet. Gus winced. “I guess I should have saved my money.”
Travis slipped out of the booth, waiting while Eden did the same. Travis followed her across the bar, holding the gun down at his side. He didn’t think Gus would try anything, but he’d keep the weapon handy just in case.
“Thanks for the help,” Eden told Gus before they both headed for the door.
“Hey!” Gus called out. “If you find that asshole, see if he still has my finger. I’ll pay you good money for it.”
“Gross,” she whispered as they walked out of the bar. “There is no way we’re bringing back his finger, even if we do find it.”
“I don’t know,” Travis said as he opened the passenger door of his rental car for her. “How much do you think he’d pay?”
“I don’t care. And if you think you’re going to find his finger and bring it back here, I’m walking.”
Travis chuckled as he strode around the front of the car, then slid behind the wheel and started the engine. “How do we get to Ocean Front and 53rd?
* * * * *
As they sat in the car outside the beachfront duplex, she and Travis were still trying to figure out why the wolf shifter and his buddies wanted to buy Tim’s debt. As they talked, Eden kept an eye on the house. She hadn’t seen any movement inside or out since they’d gotten there fifteen minutes ago.
“You think it’s possible they bought the debt because they think Tim has more money than he really does?” Travis asked.
&n
bsp; She shrugged. “Crazier things have happened, I guess. They could easily find a faster way to get cash without pissing off one of the more powerful crime figures in the local area.”
“You’ve got a point there,” Travis agreed. “Okay, so what’s the plan this time? And if you say we’re going to walk in and chat with this psycho, I’m cranking the car and we’re leaving right now.”
Eden couldn’t help but smile. Travis was so cute when he was being protective. She didn’t think he’d actually follow through with his threat if she told him that’s exactly what they were going to do, but it was nice knowing he worried about her.
It was difficult to believe, but in some ways, she worked better with him than she did with her team at the DCO. Not that she had a problem with any of her teammates. It was simply that she connected with Travis. She practically knew what he was going to do before he did it, like when he’d punched that guy in the face back at the sports bar and later drawn his weapon on the bartender. It felt good knowing he had her back.
“I don’t think we’re going to have to worry about running into the wolf shifter,” she said. “He isn’t there.”
“Why do you say that?”
“We’re parked downwind of the duplex and I’m barely picking up his scent. Either he hasn’t come outside in days, or he’s not there.”
Travis did a double take. “Your nose works that good?”
She almost blushed at the awe on his face. “Well…yeah. But it’s not that big a deal.”
“Seems like a big deal to me. I can barely smell much of anything and I sure as hell couldn’t tell you if a person hasn’t been out of his house in days.” He regarded her thoughtfully. “Can you really tell one person apart from another simply by the way they smell?”
She nodded. “Everyone has a unique scent profile.”
“What do I smell like?”
Eden bit her lip, wondering if Travis was messing with her. Could he somehow know the effect his scent had on her? That it was turning her on like crazy even now in the tight confines of his rental car? She’d actually had to roll down the passenger window so she could breathe without moaning out loud.
But, no. He was simply sitting there looking at her expectantly, an innocent expression on his face.
“I don’t smell bad, do I?” he prompted.
She quickly shook her head. “No, you don’t smell bad at all. In fact, you smell really nice.”
His brown eyes darkened to a deep, rich chocolate, making her think maybe he did know what his pheromones did to her. “That’s good. I’d hate to think my scent bothered you.”
Eden smiled. “You don’t have to worry about that. It definitely doesn’t bother me.”
Well, it did bother her. But in a good way.
Travis nodded and went back to watching the duplex, leaving her there with her thoughts, which were completely wrapped around how good he smelled right then.
“If we want to know for sure, we’re going to have to check out the place,” he said after a few moments. “Unless you’d rather sit around in this hot car all day talking about the weather and what I smell like.”
Eden certainly wouldn’t have minded that. In fact, she could probably spend hours waxing poetically about his delectable scent. But then she’d probably jump him right there in the car, which definitely wouldn’t be a good idea.
It wasn’t until she got out of the car and walked around the front to fall into step beside Travis that Eden realized how much talking about his pheromones had aroused her. She stifled a moan as she felt the wetness in her panties. Damn, she really had it bad for this guy.
Putting her sex drive in park for the moment, she forced herself to focus on the job she and Travis were there to do. The closer they got to the duplex, the more convinced she was the shifter wasn’t there. The guy’s scent was stale, like he hadn’t been around in a while.
Travis glanced around to make sure no one was looking as they stepped onto the porch and approached the front door. Once they were out of sight, he drew the 9mm she’d let him borrow and covered her while she picked the lock.
“You’re seriously good at that,” he whispered as she sprung the lock and eased the door back. “I never realized how much I liked a bad girl until now.”
Eden gave him a quick smile over her shoulder then poked her nose inside the open doorway and took a few sniffs. After a moment, she pushed it open the rest of the way. “There’s no one here.”
He put the gun away and followed her inside. “You would have been nice to have around on a few of the special operations missions I’ve run in the past. It would have saved me a buttload of grief.”
The first floor of the duplex consisted of a small kitchen, a living room, two bedrooms, and a bathroom while the upstairs had three bedrooms and another bathroom. She and Travis quickly checked each room. The shifter’s scent was as stale inside as it had been outside, meaning he probably hadn’t been there for at least three days. Considering the scents of the other guys who’d been with him were practically nonexistent, his buddies hadn’t been there, either.
There were plenty of indications someone had been staying here, though. Not only were there empty food and drink containers in the trash, as well as beer and a half-eaten pizza in the fridge, but the blankets on all five beds were rumpled. There were even some toiletries left behind in the bathrooms. The guys she and Travis had fought in the alley had been professionals. Eden couldn’t see them leaving all this evidence behind, not unless they were bailing in a hurry.
Unfortunately, despite all the crap left lying around, there wasn’t anything that gave them a clue as to who the hell these guys were.
“Upstairs is clean.” Travis joined her in the kitchen. “Any luck?”
She shook her head. “No. These guys bolted pretty quick.”
“You think they left town?”
“It looks that way. They must have figured we’d give their descriptions to the cops and wanted to get out of Virginia Beach before they got arrested. Or maybe they figured out Tim doesn’t have a damn penny to his name and decided there was no reason to hang around here any longer.”
“That’s what I was thinking, too,” Travis agreed. “You want to get out of here and grab something to eat?”
Eden surveyed the kitchen one more time then smiled. “Sounds good.”
CHAPTER SEVEN
THEY ENDED UP back at her hotel room with a big bag of takeout from the nearby P.F. Chang’s. Eden had wanted to eat at the restaurant, but there was an hour wait for a table, so when Travis suggested getting takeout, she’d quickly agreed. She couldn’t imagine anything better than dining on spicy chicken in the quiet of her hotel room with Travis to keep her company.
They spread everything out on the small round table where they’d both been sitting yesterday when she’d wiggled around on his lap like Tickle Me Elmo. Eden tried her very best to push that thought aside and focus on getting the dinner set out on the table.
Travis put sweetener in their iced teas while she opened the lids on the takeout boxes. She put her container of brown rice closer to her box of spicy chicken and pushed his closer to the Mongolian beef on his side of the table.
It was fun eating out of the containers together. She hadn’t done anything like that since she was back in college cramming for exams.
“You ready for the wedding tomorrow?” he asked as they ate.
“Uh-huh,” she said. “I have my dress, shoes, and purse all ready to go. I’m going to meet Emily at the country club with the rest of the wedding party and we’ll all get dressed there. Knowing my sister, she’ll be up at sunrise, getting her stuff ready. How about you?”
He wiped his mouth with a paper napkin then gave her a grin. “I don’t have to put on a fancy dress and make-up, so I doubt I’ll be getting up at sunrise.”
She laughed, marveling at how good he was at making her do that.
As they fell into a comfortable silence, she realized he was mostly poking the Mo
ngolian beef around in his takeout carton with his chopsticks instead of eating it.
“Is something wrong?” she asked.
Travis didn’t say anything for a long time and she was about to prod him when he finally lifted his head to look at her. “I was wondering what comes after the wedding. Are you heading right back to D.C.?”
Her breath hitched. Why would he ask unless he didn’t want her to leave just yet?
“I have another whole week off,” she said. “My boss ordered me not to come back until I used up a full two weeks of vacation time. He says I work too hard.”
She expected Travis to laugh, but instead his brow furrowed like there was something heavy weighing on his mind.
“I could take some extra leave. Maybe we can spend a little time hanging out,” he suggested. “Go up to D.C. and drive around some, take in the tourist stuff? If you want to, I mean.”
Eden bit her lip. She wasn’t sure if Travis was trying to get rid of her or saying he wanted to keep seeing her. Why the hell didn’t men come with instruction manuals?
“Sure, we can go up to D.C.,” she said quietly. “Or we can stay down here and hang out on the beach. Either one works for me.”
Travis grinned. “It’s a plan then. I’ll call my commander tomorrow.” He poked at his food with his chopsticks again before looking at her. “I know it’s kind of early to be talking about this, but what do you think about continuing to see each other after I go back to Colorado?”
Eden’s breath came faster, heart pounding so hard in her chest she was sure Travis could hear it. “Are you asking if I’d be interested in a relationship?”
“Yeah,” he said. “Unless you’re not interested, in which case, that’s not what I’m asking at all.”
She realized she’d been sitting there holding the container of chicken up in her hand the whole time they’d been having this conversation. She set the box down, then placed her hands flat on the table so she wouldn’t start clapping them in joy.
