by Cara Carnes
She sheathed her knife and glared as Hailey and her two friends scurried out of Bubba’s. She returned to her seat, took a swig of her beer, and looked at the women around her. Startled expressions greeted her assessing gaze. “What?”
“Girl, you just earned free beers for life,” Bubba declared. “Already earned free food finding my grandbabies.”
“Can’t keep handing out free shit, Bubba,” she counseled sagely, like she knew how to run a business. “Besides, it was my pleasure to set that cow straight.”
Bubba’s big hand settled on her head as he set a fresh beer in front of her and took the warm half-empty. “Thrilled he has a good woman taking his six.”
She cleared her throat and took a sip of beer, unsure what to say.
“That was…” Zoey started, then halted.
“Awesome!” Bree finished.
“Wow,” Riley said. “If you didn’t have my vote before, you sure as hell have it now.”
“They’re right,” Mary added, her tone confident and authoritative. “I still remember the way he and Dylan froze up when that bitch was near them. Taking care with the women around them is so engrained they don’t know how to turn it off and keep themselves safe when they’re the prey.”
Although the woman’s gaze remained locked on Kamren, she sensed the shift in everyone else’s to Rachelle. None of them had forgotten her episode with Jesse.
“I hope they all find a woman who’ll have their backs like you just had his,” Mary said. “I told him he’d find a good woman one day, but I don’t think he believed me. I’m thinking he does now.” The woman’s eyes twinkled as she picked up her tea, raised it in a toast, and sipped from the straw. Her gaze swept upward and a smile spread across her face.
A warm hand settled on Kamren’s back. She looked up and froze as her gaze locked with Dallas.
And Dylan.
Fuck.
Dallas leaned down and grinned as he claimed her mouth in a kiss so hot her beer bottle should’ve melted. He nipped her earlobe. “Babe.”
“Don’t be pissed,” she ordered.
“Not pissed, but you’d best finish that beer. Seeing my woman in action has me harder than hell.”
Wow. Suddenly she was being pulled from her chair. Dylan paused their progression to give her a hug.
“Bubba’s right. I’m thrilled he’s got you in his corner.”
And she was totally in his corner, no matter what. She looked around and realized they’d all been there for Dallas. One more than anyone, yet she doubted he’d ever been thanked or even acknowledged. She powered forward before she could think the urge through fully.
Jud grunted from the impact as she wrapped her arms around him and squeezed tight. “Thank you for having his six. Thank you for saving him so he could come back here to his family.”
“Jesus,” the man whispered as he returned the hug.
23
Four days later…
Both of the boys were acclimating to life at the Mason house fairly well. Momma Mason had cooked enough food for a hundred grown adults, but Kamren sensed Dallas and his siblings weren’t about to say anything to the woman who’d taken her new role as a grandma very, very seriously.
Doctor Sinclair had spent the past week and a half working with TJ and DJ. Tests. Games. Everything centered around establishing their physical, mental and emotional health and determining how far behind they were educationally. Kamren’s stomach soured at the last bit. She knew a thing or two about being behind and never catching up.
It was nearly lunch. She’d spent the day wandering the back acreage with Dallas and both boys, who’d taken to tracking the coyote, deer, armadillo, and rabbit tracks like proverbial ducks to water. They’d asked pointed questions about how she could tell what kind of animal, the sex of the animal, the age.
Though she suspected Dallas could’ve easily handled all the answers himself, he’d included her. The fact he’d thought to do so made her heart warm. No matter how much she tried, she couldn’t deny that she was head over heels in love with Dallas Mason. He personified everything good she’d always wanted—craved more than the air she dragged into her lungs.
And the way he looked at her…
She flashed him a smile when she caught his gaze on her again. He did that a lot, watching her. Somehow, he managed to divide his attention between her and the boys, never letting her or them feel as though they weren’t his sole focus.
“You two hungry?” Dallas asked.
“Yes!” DJ shouted.
“TJ? You ready to eat?” Dallas asked.
“Yeah, I guess. You gonna eat, Kam?”
She nodded. Dallas had mentioned something about her going with the kids somewhere. For barbecue. Her stomach rumbled at the prospect.
“Piggy back! Piggy back!” DJ shouted as he reached his arms up to Kamren.
Her side ached at the prospect. Before she could respond, Dallas had his son up and tossed into the air. Merry giggles and laughter echoed as the boy landed, then was carefully set on Dallas’s wide shoulders. Kamren couldn’t help but smile at the wide smile the boy beamed. He waved wildly. “Jesse! No!”
She chuckled at the abbreviated term for Nolan as the two men arrived at their side. “His name is Nolan, DJ. No is an important word, not a name. Okay?”
“Okay.” The boy grinned. “We’re going to go eat.”
“Bubba’s?” Jesse asked.
“Yep,” Dallas. “You two in?”
“Sure,” Nolan said. He set a hand on TJ’s shoulder. “You want a ride to the truck?”
“Nah, I’m too big.”
“Nonsense.” The man hoisted TJ into the air and settled him atop his shoulders.
TJ looked down at Kamren, then over at Dallas, as if seeking approval to relax and be a kid. Her chest squeezed tight. Every move, every action had likely been so filled with danger he’d never been anything but wary. She smiled up at him. As if the slight gesture loosened the stranglehold he’d maintained, he dissolved into a peel of laughter as Dallas and Nolan started a mock tickle fight between the two boys.
The boys crawled into the back of the truck with Nolan and Jesse, who both insisted Kamren sit up front with Dallas.
By the time everyone was buckled in and the vehicle rumbled onto the highway, Kamren’s mind had calmed.
She squeezed her eyes shut. It’d been nice having someone there, strong at her side. Even if she’d had no business expecting it of him. The last few days had been the best ever, and she was terrified it’d all suddenly end. That Dallas would realize he was wasting too much precious time with her when DJ and TJ were the only ones who mattered. As long as they were safe and healthy, well, that’s all that mattered, she supposed.
What time she’d had with him was a gift, really. She had no business thinking it’d ever be more than that. She wasn’t the kind of woman who could keep a good man like him happy. She certainly wasn’t good mom material for those two boys. What could she do, really? She couldn’t help with homework. She couldn’t even cook all that well.
She hunted.
That was about it, and there wasn’t much call for that sort of thing at The Arsenal.
“You okay?” he asked. An invisible fist squeezed her heart. He always sensed when her mind wandered into the dark thoughts.
She forced a smile and a nod even though the answer was a resounding no. No, she wasn’t okay, because for the first time in her entire life she was happy.
And it fucking terrified her.
Nervousness settled in her gut as Dallas wheeled the truck into a parking lot already filled with tons of vehicles. The building was small, way too tiny to hold everyone in all those trucks. Even if there was just one person per vehicle, well…she wasn’t good at math but that was way more people in one small space than DJ and TJ had likely ever handled. Except for maybe at The Arsenal a few times.
But that’d been different because they’d been secure. Her gaze roamed the area as she assessed exit str
ategies and spotted makeshift weapons. A pipe by the trash bin. A cement cinder block three steps from where Dallas parked. The kids weren’t ready for this level of exposure. Were they?
She peered into the back and saw the curious smiles on their expressive faces. TJ had forgone the little man syndrome and remained a curious boy. The hope gleaming within their gazes squashed her worries. No matter what went down inside, she’d handle it. They’d be safe.
“Sweetheart, it warms my heart and soul to see you worried about my kids, but not a single person in this town will do them harm. Or you.” Dallas’s voice was a startling whisper of hot air against her cheek. He’d leaned into her, and she hadn’t noticed. “This is Resino, not Marville.”
Right. The fifteen-mile distinction was a huge one. She’d never really explored Resino much, but Bubba’s barbecue was sublime. Heh. Bonus use of the word, which meant she could get an extra one from Bree and have two words in play.
He unlatched the belt strapping her in.
“It’ll be okay. No way in hell anyone in there will touch the boys. They do, you have my permission to kick their ass.”
She nodded. Good enough for her.
“Assuming me and my brothers don’t do it first,” he said with a grin. “Come on, let’s eat.”
Any semblance of little boy radiating from TJ died when they exited the vehicle. DJ latched onto his big brother and activated protection mode. Kamren stifled her own need to protect the boys as Nolan and Jesse took point behind them. Dallas settled a hand on TJ’s shoulder as he stood on the other side of DJ, effectively bookending the boy. The protective attention to detail before they’d even stepped into the building deepened her love for Dallas.
He was already a damn good dad. It radiated within him naturally; he exuded it in every alert sweep of his gaze, every gentle rub on the boys’ backs. Dallas put his other arm around her waist and drew her close, as if shrouding her in the lethal confidence he exuded like a second skin. But she’d never had someone shroud her in anything, and she had a real hard time forgetting that she shouldn’t get too used to it. She angled to the side a step, enough to separate her from the pack.
Dallas reached the door first and opened it. Music drifted from a large glass jukebox in the corner. Conversation hummed within the air like an explosion. Details of the words on people’s lips drifted into her brain as her gaze flitted about the room. Then a still, deathly silence descended in the building. Every eye in the place landed on them.
Tension coiled within her as she noted the threats within the room. A pack of four tall, muscular men in the corner nearest the eastern sector of the bar. A cluster of three nearest their position to her right. Lips started moving as whispers filled the room. Conversations sifted into her brain as she deciphered the unheard words.
Mason’s boy.
Jesus. He looks just like him. Wait. There’s two?
No way the second one’s a Mason. No fucking way.
I heard he’s taking both on.
Crazy-ass bitch to saddle him with this.
Hell of a man taking on a kid he didn’t know or want.
Was it true? Did he not want the boys there? Sure, he hadn’t known, but why would he hunt them down if they were such a burden? Did the strangers gawking at them know Dallas and his brothers well enough to judge the situation?
Did it matter?
“You okay?” Dallas asked.
“Fine.” She shoved the word out through clenched teeth as her gaze continued scanning conversations around her. Sit where the smallest threat was.
Easier said than done. There weren’t any open seats. Then she spotted the empty table in the far back of the room, nearest a narrow hallway leading to…a secondary exit. Perfect. It was where she’d sat the day before with the women. She made a beeline for the table, squeezing past the two tables of gawking people rudely discussing TJ’s darker skin tone and possible heritage.
Did Dallas knocked up two different women?
Anger seeped into her as the unwanted inquiries listed in her brain. She couldn’t help but note their existence. She’d trained her entire life to assess a room, analyze potential threats and react as necessary—all without giving away that she saw every conversation, spied on every utterance in three languages fluently. She hadn’t picked up reading, but she’d studied her ass off mastering the ability to please her father, who’d spent hours reading dictionaries to her, making her memorize the lip movements of each word. Hours upon hours for years.
Kamren waited for everyone to sit. She wanted her back to the hall on the outside of the large bench. When none of the men moved, she sat where she wanted and glared up at Dallas, daring him to question her decision. His lips twitched, as if he understood the war she was willing to wage. Jesse and Nolan both chuckled as they motioned TJ and DJ into the middle of them on the opposite side.
Though the bench was plenty big for Dallas to not sit close, he settled right beside her. Right. Against. Her. Heat danced beneath her skin where his jean-clad thigh brushed against hers. Memories of their lovemaking the past several days flashed through her mind and burned away some of the anxiety pulsating within her like a second presence. She’d always hated crowded places.
Dallas made her pulse quicken for an entirely different reason she didn’t pretend to understand. Was she scared? No, not of him. So why was her entire awareness settled on the way his thigh felt against hers?
Because you’re in love, idiot.
An older, bearded man with a large belly headed straight toward them. Bubba. He shoved through the swollen crush of people, and his mouth spread into a barely-visible grin as he stood at the table. “Always makes my heart swell seeing you Masons at your table. Add in the woman who saved my grandbabies, and it’s a fine day at Bubba’s.”
Their table?
She looked up and noted his gaze was still on hers. “You gonna skin any bitches in my bar today?”
“No, today’s my day off.” Her attention swept to the two young boys with them. Cursing around them didn’t seem like the smartest move, but she powered on. “How are the twins? They good?”
“Thanks to you they will be.”
“Why?” DJ asked.
“My grandbabies, about your brother’s age, they got themselves lost. One of them fell into a hole, got hurt pretty bad. Kamren and your pa and uncles found them.”
“They’re good at finding people in holes. They found Lilly,” DJ offered.
Red rose in Bubba’s face as the horrors within the innocent reply swept through the room in a not-so-hushed wave of whispers.
“TJ and DJ,” Dallas motioned to each one. “This is Bubba, the best damn barbecue master around and a great guy. If you are ever in trouble or separate from us and in town, you head over here and find him. Okay?”
“Does he have a badge?” TJ asked.
“No.”
“So he’s like you? No rules.”
“When it comes to family, no rules,” Bubba replied. He looked around the table. “You boys, your pa and all his kin, you’re family as far as I’m concerned. You ever need me, I’m here.”
The boys nodded quickly.
“Spitting image,” Bubba said. He reached up and wiped his eyes. “Fucking thrilled for you. Your ma’s lighting up the phone lines, keeping everyone apprised. She’s invited me and the boys out, says everything out there’s wheelchair accessible, so Sam can get around easy.”
“Love to have you and your family out, anytime,” Jesse answered.
“I’ve held most folks off, but there’ll be a contingent hauling stuff out there tomorrow. Can’t hold ‘em off any longer since you’ve come in. Told ‘em they’d have to wait until you surfaced.” Bubba’s loud laughter boomed in the area as he added, “Good thing you’ve got a big spread out there ‘cause I think you’re about to get half of Resino’s stuff.”
Shit. Nolan mouthed the word as he pulled out his cell phone, likely alerting someone to what they’d just learned. The Masons took sec
urity seriously, so Kamren suspected a contingent of well-meaning folks wasn’t exactly a welcomed gesture.
“Plates’ll be out in a minute. What’ll you have to drink?”
“Sweet teas all around,” Jesse said.
“Gotcha.”
“What’s tea?” DJ asked.
“Hush. You eat and drink what you’re given. Those are the rules,” TJ clipped in a hushed order.
“Is it better than juice?” DJ asked. “And what’s barbecue? What animal is that, Kam? I hope it doesn’t taste like squirrel. I don’t like squirrel.”
Bubba hadn’t left. He remained frozen in place as DJ’s little voice rose in frustration as he offered his insights into squirrel. She peered up at the burly man and noted the red rising within his cheeks. She didn’t know him, but it wasn’t a huge leap to realize he didn’t like knowing a little boy had ever eaten squirrel.
The man left without comment. A moment later a loud crash sounded from within the back. Nolan rose from the table and headed that direction. Everyone watched Dallas and the boys. DJ remained blissfully unaware of the scrutiny, but TJ’s little body was tight, his gaze frozen to the hallway. The exit. He’d be ready if shit hit. He’d get himself and DJ out.
She recognized the protective sweep of his gaze, the tension within the men at the table as they did as well.
“It’s okay,” Dallas said. He reached over and took the boy’s hand. “Remember what I said? About us taking shifts?”
“Yeah.”
“This is ours. Relax and enjoy yourself.”
TJ’s gaze slid to hers. Though she still didn’t fully understand why, he always sought her approval or opinion. She took a deep breath and nodded as she forced back her own anxiety and worry. Dallas was right. This wasn’t Marville. It was Resino, where anyone with the last name Mason was practically royalty.
Dallas waited until Nolan had gotten both boys halfway down the hall that lead toward the restrooms before he leaned into Kamren and whispered, “You okay?”
