Being two years older, Sam didn’t hang with the same crowd, and left Montana after attending college in another state and then joining the army. Following graduation, she hadn’t been home for long before her letter from the US Army had her on a plane and the start to a four year term of service. Four years turned into six, then nine, but in the tenth year something happened that shook her belief. Rattled the patriotic mantra she’d lived and worked by until it was replaced with doubt.
The simple but final knowledge that war and bloodshed would never end came home to roost in her mind. She walked away. She walked away from the men who needed her help the most. She walked away from her responsibilities. Walked away from the blood that covered her scrubs every single day, whether it was American, Afghani or Canadian. Everyone bled the same and agony looked the same in every man’s eyes, no matter where he was born.
“I’ve got news,” Sadie announced, pulling Sam from racing down guilt alley for the thousandth time.
Tania squealed and gripped Sadie’s shoulders. “We got the contract?”
Sadie nodded. “Word of mouth says you did. You’ll probably get a call today. The film starts in two weeks. The crews will be moving to the first location next week.”
“Why us?” Sam asked flatly. Both Sadie and Tee lost their smiles. “We weren’t the lowest bidders. The Ackerson Ranch came in substantially lower. Least, that’s what I heard.”
Sam had taken a stunt coordinator named Bob Tollie for a tour of the Bluebell when the production company accepted their bid to supply the horses in the film. She demanded the horses be monitored closely while used on the set. She’d also demanded a vet be present at all times. Protecting the fifty horses was paramount. This film would span the busy season when tourists wanted trail rides, and they wouldn’t be offering as many with the horses being used on the set.
Hank raised a brow and scanned a look across the faces of the other three men standing quietly beside them. Part of his security team, Sam guessed. She liked Hank. They’d even been on a few dates when they were in eighth grade, but he’d only had eyes for Sadie, even back then. Sam didn’t want to be sloppy seconds in anyone’s black book.
Being part of the Forward Surgical Teams in the Middle East, she’d never stayed long enough in one place to start a relationship. Eventually, she’d learned an even harder lesson: Never fall in love with a Delta Force operator. Not only did they disappear without notice, but they could end up on her table, bleeding out before her eyes. Worse yet, the man she thought she loved, loved somebody else.
“Mackenzie Ackerson won’t be happy. Word in the county is he needs money. His ranch isn’t doing well,” Sam explained.
Hank nodded. “I’ve heard the same thing, Sam, but they’ve chosen your ranch. Probably because you had so many requirements to keep the horses safe. The production company needs to depend on you and your herd.”
Depend on her. The word made her insides shudder. She’d left the theater overseas for just that reason. Being home again, breathing clean air instead of dust and sand or the smell of burnt flesh and blood for the last six months had been the right decision. No one depended on her, except maybe a horse.
Ignoring her audience, she looked at Tania. “We’re going to have to hire some temporary handlers for transportation and guys to remain on the sets,” she added. “We’ll also need to rent or borrow some trailers, depending on how many horses are required on the set at one time. Bob Tollie said they’d build temporary stalls on location, but I’d like to see them before we leave the animals overnight.”
Tania zipped up her fleece vest against the mountain winds that blew at this time of year. “We’ll put the word out. Maybe borrow a few guys from another ranch.”
“That’s why I’d like to introduce you to some of my guys. Like you to meet Bear, Swede and this is Cory McGregory. It’s his first week with us.”
Cory didn’t say nor acknowledge Hank’s words. Instead, he put a solid blue-eyed gaze on her. Sam wondered which branch Hank had found his newest recruit. His team kept growing and so did his business of providing security for the Hollywood elite and locals who needed a protective hand.
The ranch didn’t have any security issues, and she certainly didn’t need a guy who’d fought overseas hanging around her porch. The ghost of warfare haunted Cory’s eyes. She didn’t want to spend another minute with a man who held a weapon in his hand for a living, because in her experience the next time she saw him, he’d be on an operating table with parts blown off.
“Hi, Cory,” her sister greeted. “Where do you come from?”
Cory’s masculine aura, with shoulders big enough to block out the Crazy Mountains, turned his attention on Tania. The wind played with the bang of dark hair across his forehead. A rugged jaw, clamped tight and graced with a five o’clock shadow at this time of day, shot off a few flares of warning in Sam. Dark. Dangerous and worst of all, sexier than hell on wheels.
“South Dakota.” Cory answered, his deep voice rumbling across the five feet of distance between Sam and him.
That’s all he said, and Tania’s brows rose expecting more. When he didn’t offer, she asked, “Know anything about horses?”
He gave a short nod and then his gaze surveyed the area. Sam had seen all the specialists do this overseas. Constantly searching for a threat. Seeking out what didn’t belong. Ready to act. On edge. And Cory McGregory could tick off each one on a list of he’s-no-different. All of the men, especially the Special Ops types, thought they were infallible, but Sam knew they weren’t. They were all one step away from ashes to ashes. One land mine. One RPG. One bullet away from death. One way or another they made it home, but too many came home in a box.
When Cory’s gaze landed on Sam once again, it made her nervous. Mesmerizing eyes tried to interrogate her deepest thoughts. Her military career was over. Her profession turfed over her shoulder, landing with a splat when she stepped on the plane in Kandahar to return stateside. She didn’t need war buddies telling her they understood. No one understood except the FST Forward Surgical Team staff she worked with.
“Thanks for the offer, Hank,” Sam said, and gave Sadie a smile. “Think we’ll find some guys who need extra cash around town. I better head inside. Wouldn’t want to miss that important call.”
The thought she was being ungrateful, crossed her mind. Sadie had promoted them to the production company. Sam should at least consider returning the favor, but not with Hank’s men.
Her gaze stalled on Cory. She’d always been very particular about her choice in the opposite sex. She liked them tall, built, dark haired, blue eyed and very alpha. Since she’d buried the only man who’d made her heart flutter with an insane desire years ago, she’d never met a guy since who’d affected her the same way. Until five minutes ago. But no way in hell was she walking down that road again. Especially with a Brotherhood Protector, who sizzled with masculinity, pulsated with silent strength and reeked of special ops.
She tore her gaze from his and headed for high ground and the safety of the ranch house.
“Nice to meet you, Samantha.”
The deep staccato in Cory’s voice hooked a thin line of doubt to her certainty that a guy like him wouldn’t be around for long. “Good-bye.”
Chapter Two
Tania let out a deep sigh as she watched her sister head toward the ranch house.
“She’s not doing too good, is she?” Hank said, watching Sam as well.
“I don’t know,” Tania replied honestly. “She won’t talk to me. I’ve tried many times. I thought maybe leaving her alone would help, but she works this ranch like she’s done everything else in her life. One focus. All business. No bullshit.”
Tania glanced at Cory. He had those mysterious, dark and dangerous good-looks girls swooned over. Cory wasn’t paying attention to her, his gaze followed Sam and never faltered.
“I hate to say this in present company, but I think my sister is prejudice.”
“Against what?�
� Sadie asked, slipping her hand into Hanks.
“All of you. It’s like she’s in denial that she was in the Middle East for the last ten years. You guys all being from the military, no matter what branch, reminds her of what she wants to forget.”
“I get it,” Hank said, and the group turned their attention on him. “I do.” He shrugged. “We all handle our demons in different ways.”
“Samantha was always a loner,” Sadie added. “She never needed to be part of a group at school. Like a lot of us, she left Montana.” A sympathetic wrinkle creased her forehead. “And just like us, she’s come home. This is exactly where she needs to heal.”
Hank wrapped his arm around his wife’s shoulders and squeezed lovingly. “I certainly did.”
Watching Sadie and Hank made Tania miss her fiancé. She only saw Tucker on the weekends. With his GP practice in Bozeman, it made their love life a little tricky, but they’d found a way to make it work. Once they were married this summer, they were buying a home in the city. Leaving Sam out here to run the spread by herself worried Tania. Her sister never failed at anything, but running a ranch this size alone would be a challenge Sam might not accomplish. When she’d suggested they should sell the family ranch, Sam nearly tore her head off. Tania didn’t bring it up again.
“She served?” Cory asked as Rufus, one of Bluebell’s border collies, came looking for attention, and he scratched the dog’s scruff making his tail swing like a cuckoo clock on speed.
Tania patted her thigh, and Rufus came to heel at her side. “Sam was an RN an O-3, whatever that means.”
“Captain,” all three of Hank’s men said at the same time.
She chuckled. “Right. Well, Sam joined the army and worked with the Forward Surgical Teams. At least, until six months ago when she came home, dropped her duffel bag in her old room, pulled on a pair of cowboy boots and some Levis and locked everything outside of this ranch in a box of memories. She worked in the combat hospitals when she’d first gone overseas. Think she was stationed in Khost, Afghanistan for three years and then was asked to join FST.”
“Did she ever come home between her deployments?” Cory asked.
“Not very often. When she first left, we’d receive a letter every couple weeks, then it slowed to one a month, then two and then six. In the last two years, I got a birthday card and a Christmas card with nothing but “I love you” and a couple X’s and O’s.”
Tania couldn’t ignore his powerful body, a testament to living well and committed to his health. Hank’s other team members had been wounded in action, stopping them from continuing their service. She couldn’t see any visible trauma on Cory. He walked unhindered and had all his limbs.
Cory seemed intrigued, and that gave Tania a little motivation to keep talking about her sister. She hadn’t been kidding when she suggested Sam might need to feel like a woman again, and that would only happen if a man made her stubborn sister see it.
“Where are your parents now?” Cory asked.
“Enjoying retirement in Arizona. Dad’s arthritis got pretty bad in the last few years. They decided before injecting him with drugs or popping a bunch of pills, they’d try to change their environment. He’s doing better.”
Cory turned on his heels, giving the area a once over. “How many ranch hands do you have helping you?”
“Eight full-time employees. Fifty horses produce a lot of manure, let me tell you.” Cory didn’t laugh at her joke but he did crack a wee smile, and with his heavenly, handsome features and crystal blue eyes, it was like the sun coming out. “We’ll need more help. Do you think you’d be interested?” she asked Cory, knowing Sam would be angry with her.
All heads whipped around when a ruckus rose in the barn. “Oh shit, not again.” Tania groaned.
“What?” Hank said, all of them heading toward the barn.
“A mountain lion came sniffing out the horses last night,” she said as they walked at a fast clip toward the noise.
Sam ran past them full tilt, and that put Tania into a run, followed by the rest of their guests. With a head start, they could hear Sam cussing at something. Sure enough, the cat was back. An audience jeering at the animal wasn’t going to scare the cat away.
“Get out of here,” Sam yelled, walking toward the mountain lion who stopped its slow creep toward the stall. Intent on making one of their horses a meal, it hissed at her instead.
Sam ran down the breezeway waving her arms. Before anyone knew what was happening, Cory had caught up to her. With one arm, he held Sam back, and with the other he raised the rifle and fired just as the cat lunged through the air, then slumped in a still heap on the floor.
“What the fuck is the matter with you?” Sam yelled at Cory.
Like an old time gun slinger, he lowered the weapon to his side and turned his gaze on Sam, but didn’t answer her.
Hank and the other specialists from his team knelt by the cat and checked it over. On his haunches, Hank turned a look at them. “This cat was injured.”
“Where?” Sam asked, and knelt beside the men.
Hank revealed a deep and festering wound on the cat’s inner leg. “Probably couldn’t hunt for itself. Came looking for an easy meal.”
Sam rose to her five-foot-eleven height. “I don’t care if she was seeing in triplicate. You had no goddamn right to take that animal’s life.” She gritted her teeth after growling the words at Cory.
Cory remained calm when he looked Sam in the eyes. “The animal was suffering. She was going to hurt you.”
Sam blinked. Her brow set into hard lines. “You Jarheads always shoot first and ask questions later.”
“Not a Marine,” he said simply.
Sam’s eyes narrowed. “Fine, Frogman.”
“Not a SEAL.”
Tania watched them square off, as did the rest of the crowd.
“I don’t care if you’re a fucking Ninja. You don’t have to kill everything that moves.”
Cory’s dark brow rose and a small tick lifted one edge of his delicious lips. “Delta Force.”
“Great. A D-cup, just what I need.” She gripped the rifle in his hands and yanked.
Cory let go of the weapon. “D-cup? Haven’t heard that one before.”
Sam leaned toward him. “Yeah, you’re nothing but a big boob. Get off my ranch.” She marched away from him, wedged the weapon back on the wall rack and slammed the barn door behind her.
Cory bowed his head and set a hard look on the floor. “Sorry—I…”
“Don’t apologize,” Tania said. “Thanks for acting so quickly.”
He nodded. “Guess I won’t be helping you out here.”
“Of course you will.” His head snapped up and Tania had everyone’s attention. “She’s reasonable when it comes to most things, except life and death. Doesn’t matter if it’s predator or human. Sam wasn’t always a tightass. Somewhere inside, she’s got a heart of gold.” Tania inhaled and bit her top lip. “She just forgot where she put it over the last ten years. Come on, I’ll walk you guys out.”
****
Cory sat in a small folding chair on a tiny patio at the back of Martha’s B&B. The room was dated but clean. A steaming mug of tea warmed his hands as he watched the sun slide behind the Crazy Mountain range. He liked Eagle Rock. A few streets with enough stores to offer the necessities, but no highways and overpasses littered with cars and taxis puking out noxious fumes. People said hello to each other at the corner store. It reminded him of the small town where he’d grown up in South Dakota.
He could have grabbed a bus back to his home town when he’d received his walking papers, but he’d be returning to nothing but memories. His grandparents raised him, and they’d since passed. At sixteen, his mother had gotten herself pregnant. At twenty-one, she’d overdosed. Whoever donated the sperm to bring him into the world was anyone’s guess.
When Cory joined the army, his only regret was leaving his grandparents who had been kind people and as poor as church mice, but they
loved each other, and they loved him. Delta Force and the team guys became his family. Every mission became his top priority. He lived and breathed his responsibilities to defend America until he forgot what it meant to be a civilian instead of an operator. He’d buried his buddies. Sucked enough dust and sand into his lungs that he was half camel. He’d felt cold so harsh, he’d lost the feeling in his limbs and sweated under too many sweltering days to count.
He swallowed a deep gulp of crisp Montana evening air to remind himself how lucky he was.
When he wasn’t deployed or on standby, he didn’t venture far from Fort Bragg. Shacked up with a couple of his Alpha Team operators, he kept life simple. Working out, heading to the base for practice on the range or an op to keep their skills in check, filled his days. When he wasn’t on duty, sex with pretty girls who knew where the single operators liked to throw back a beer or two, kept him out of trouble. The brass would have rather he’d settled down, but he’d never found a woman who accepted his lifestyle or wanted anything other than a meaningless fuck and a tale to tell her gal pals.
A unit unto itself, Delta Force accepted missions from all the branches of government. Rarely boring. Sometimes frightening. Too many close calls. Out of nowhere, with nothing as a catalyst, he’d lost the burning desire to fight until someone tossed his remains into a coffin.
Finished with his tea, Cory set the cup aside and pulled his ankle to rest over his thigh. Hank didn’t trust him. Least, not yet. There was no deep dark reason he’d left the service. Not one he could settle on, other than it was time. The edge of his lip curled in a half smile. He’d certainly screwed-up his first impression with Sam. The woman exuded a lean, no nonsense personality. Her long body with curves in all the right places made his hand tingle to touch her.
He loved immediate attraction. It set him on fire like a hot mission. And it hadn’t happened often. He wasn’t the kind of guy to say no to any woman who offered to blow off a little steam with him, but he’d pissed Sam off royally by killing the cat, which put his chances at seeing her gorgeous curves on white sheets in the no-go zone.
Brotherhood Protectors_Montana Freedom Page 2
