Chain of Command

by HelenKay Dimon

  “It doesn’t matter.”

  Between the sudden lack of eye contact and the white-knuckle death grip on the keys, Hailey knew better. “I think it does.”

  Molly shrugged. “We have a history.”

  Yeah, Hailey recognized that gesture. It was the one you did in a halfhearted way as everything inside you ripped and shredded. She recognized pain and loss. She also knew what desperate attraction looked like because she’d been seeing it in the mirror every since she met Sawyer, and Molly had a whopping case of it.

  Hailey’s relationship with one Cain sibling could only be considered wobbly at the moment, but she might be able to help the other. “Do you like homemade doughnuts, Molly?”

  “Um...?”

  The skeptical side eye thing...apparently yet another Cain family trait.

  “Seems to me you need some girl time and I know just the place.” No one did comfort and healing like Kat. She couldn’t mend her own heart following Rob’s death but she could stuff people full of yummy food disguised as love and sometimes that helped.

  “We don’t even know each other.” But Molly’s grip on her keys eased.

  “Depending on the topic, that can make it easier to spill your guts. I just need pants.” Hailey glanced around. “And underwear.”

  “I’ll tell you my troubles if you tell me why you’re walking around with a bunch of clothes in your arms and how you lost your pants.” For the first time since she walked in the door Molly looked lighter. Whatever had been weighing her down lifted and amusement filled her voice.

  Hailey loved the change but feared she was walking a thin line of oversharing. Sawyer struck her as private.

  She just had to hope he and Molly were close. “Since your brother played a big role in both of those things, you might not want to know, but deal.”

  Chapter Sixteen

  Sawyer tried to remember if he’d ever seen a scarier sight. There, at the table by the window, Molly and Hailey. Together. Laughing, having coffee and generally making his nerves twitch. He seriously debated backing out of The Bakery and finding reinforcements.

  Might have done it if Kat hadn’t spied him and waved hello. Then Molly smiled at him. Only Hailey threw him a you’re-screwed-now grin.

  Busted.

  Since he’d faced down gunmen, been shot at and stabbed, and once had a tank blown out from underneath him, he figured he could handle this—probably—and walked over to their table. He stayed on his feet because he learned many things in basic training including to never give up the advantage, which in this case amounted to being able to run out if needed.

  “Ladies.” He nodded to both of them.

  “You got my note.” Hailey twirled her water glass as she spoke. Ignored the clunking sound as the bottom edge smacked against the table.

  “You mean the one that said you were taking my sister out for coffee?” It was enough to make a man never take a shower again. Clearly Hailey could not be left alone for two minutes without causing trouble, and from the grin on Molly’s face trouble loomed right around the corner.

  She winked at him. “Nervous, big brother?”

  “That’s one word for it.” Yeah, these two working together could only be bad for him. And once Molly spent time with Hailey they’d bond. He’d bet all he owned, which admittedly wasn’t much, on it. Their personalities meshed and both liked to push him around. He didn’t have much of a defense against either one of them.

  Hailey’s head tilted to the side as she eyed him up. “Why is it men panic when women get together to talk?”

  “Yeah, I wonder.” He now knew how a lab animal must feel.

  “Sit.” Hailey pointed to the empty chair next to her.

  Sawyer knew it was easier to capitulate, so he dropped into the seat then turned to his sister. “Did you need something this morning?”

  Molly frowned at him as she dunked her tea bag up and down in her mug. “When exactly?”

  He couldn’t tell if they were playing games or just naturally driving him insane. “When you came to the house and ended up meeting Hailey.”

  “Just so you know,” Hailey said as she put a space between each word, emphasizing each one. “The way you phrased that makes it sound as if you were trying to keep me a secret.”

  No way was he taking on that charge. “If that were true I wouldn’t have introduced you to Jason and Marcus, or keep meeting you in public.”

  Her mouth snapped shut. When he kept staring at her, she nodded. “You’ve got me there.”

  “He has an answer for everything,” Molly said.

  Hailey rolled her eyes. “I’ve noticed that.”

  “I hate to break this to you but it only gets worse.” Molly reached a hand across the table in Hailey’s direction. “I could tell you stories.”

  “And this conversation is officially over.” Sawyer put his hand between Molly’s fingers and Hailey’s side of the table. “The teaming-up thing. Done.”

  This time Hailey went with one of her snorts. “I don’t think so.”

  “Me neither.” Molly agreed...so did the couple at the next table, who were watching and doing nothing to pretend they weren’t.

  Hailey’s smile looked a bit more predatory than friendly. “And Kat likes her.”

  That put the final nail in his coffin. If Jessie weighed in with a “yea” vote he may as well just hand his balls over to Hailey and let her take charge. “Great.”

  “Lucky for you I have to leave.” Molly took out her wallet.

  As if Sawyer couldn’t cover the cost of what looked like a pastry of some sort and tea. Since he was the one who dragged Molly to town, the least he could was help out as she tried to save some money. He gestured for her to put the money away. “You going to work?”

  “The coffee is not going to make itself.”

  “You work in a coffee shop?” Hailey asked.

  “I do the bookkeeping and serve drinks when they need extra help.”

  An understatement. Sawyer knew she functioned as the unofficial manager. She stayed late and locked up. She went to meetings with the accountants and had helped bring the mom-and-pop operation into the computer age.

  She’d single-handedly upped their profits and made them more efficient. But she underplayed her accomplishments. That’s what she did ever since their mother died. The move to be near him hadn’t helped with that issue.

  “Don’t tell Kat or she’ll try to steal you away.” Hailey finally put her glass down and stopped touching it. “She’s a demon in the kitchen but she needs help with the business end.”

  “But you work here part time.” Sawyer got the impression she did a bit of everything while she tried to figure out how to get her life back in order.

  “Yeah, but I really do need to head back to my regular work soon and she’ll need someone.” Hailey looked at Molly. “So, if you’re interested.”

  Molly nodded. Looked genuinely intrigued. “I might be.”

  That was news to him. “Really?”

  “That way I could see more of Hailey and help keep you in line.”

  He worried his baby sister was only half kidding. “Is that really necessary?”

  “Yes and you behave.” Molly stood up and looked to Hailey. “I’ll call you about lunch.”

  “Absolutely.”

  Sawyer had so many questions. He waited until his sister stopped to talk to Kat to launch into the first. “You’re ready to go back to grant writing? I thought you were still taking some time off.”

  “I’m thinking it might be time to check back in.”

  “To what?” She lost him but that was her fault for walking out without a word of warning this morning. Seeing the empty bed had fired him up. He calmed down when he saw the note, but he still didn’t love the change to his plans.

  “Life.” She smiled. “I thought you’d be more worried about me getting close to your sister than my job status.”

  He did have a question or two ticking around his brain over tha
t issue. “Are you a bad influence?”

  Hailey turned in her chair to face him. “Only on you.”

  That sucked the frustration right out of him. All the rumbling in his gut about her walking out and about what she might be talking with Molly about faded. “So, the job? I hope you’re not going back too soon because I had some serious afternoon plans involving your shower.”

  “With me in it, I hope.”

  “You, me...on my knees in front of you.” He could picture it now. He dropped his voice low and described it for her. “Then fucking you against the shower wall.”

  “That sounds much better than work.” She flushed. “Good thing I don’t have to rush back to work yet.”

  Then it hit Sawyer. He wanted the property but it might just be her main source of income, which meant he was screwed. “Because of the property.”

  She sent him a lopsided smile. “And that brings us full circle.”

  “I won’t pretend the property isn’t a concern of mine. I’ve been honest about that from the beginning.” He’d told her the basics. Not about how he convinced Marcus and Jason to stay in town with him or how he lured Molly here, all with the promise of financial and job security, but enough for Hailey to know that they all depended on the business.

  He also left out the part about the calls he’d started getting from the sheriff who had to approve the property for use as a gun range and was getting pressure to say no. Only Marcus knew that part.

  She nodded. “You haven’t lied about what you want.”

  That sounded wrong to him. He suddenly felt twisting need inside him to push them off topic. “That and the fact I get a hard-on just from hearing your voice.”

  She leaned back in the chair and rested her feet on the rungs under his. “That is quite a line.”

  “It’s not a line.” Not with her. The business and the personal might be all balled up and confused but his attraction wasn’t. It pulsed and thumped and seemed to grow each day.

  Which scared the shit out of him. Little shook him but the possibility of falling for her, of having his whole life get wrapped up in hers and risking it all, did. He told her about Rob and she took it in stride, never blaming. He told her he wanted her property and she didn’t shut him out. She set him on fire in the bedroom and had his mind wandering to her all day.

  “Back to the property.” She snapped her fingers in front of his face.

  He hated when she did that. “If you insist.”

  “You want it for your gun range.”

  It went deeper than that. He needed it. He’d gotten preliminary approvals for that spot. Not getting the property meant starting over, and worse, trying to find land he could afford or could cut a deal to buy over time. Filling her in on those details might be misconstrued. She could see the truth as his way of trying to influence her. God knew he wanted to try, to beg his case, and if he hadn’t mixed business with personal he might have. But he’d blown it on that score.

  Rather than spill all the details or tell her about the ticking clock, he went with the obvious. “The land is the perfect place for the gun range.”

  “My land.”

  When she said it she drew a line between them. He doubted she even realized it. But he felt it. Saw it. “Yes.”

  “But you aren’t going out with me in order to win me over and get me to sign an agreement or a deed or whatever.”

  That had been the plan. Not at first. He thought he could talk some sense into her, because he led with his ego back then. Then she wouldn’t let him in the house and he thought he could charm her. Now... “No.”

  “Okay.”

  He had no idea what that meant. “Okay?”

  She held out her hand. “Wallet. You’re paying.”

  He handed it to her without hesitation. “Sure.”

  She paged through the three twenties he had in there. “You’re also irresistible.”

  “Really?”

  “Almost.”

  After that comment she could keep the wallet for all he cared.

  * * *

  Hailey almost felt bad for the guy. He stood in front of her stove hours later, making her a late dinner. She wore a long-sleeve button-down shirt she’d found in the bag he brought over and watched him. She’d been wearing it ever since they got out of the shower. The same shower where he pushed her against the wall and whispered about the benefits of wet fucking.

  She might never take a bath again.

  Because she liked the idea of torturing him a little, she hadn’t bothered to button the shirt. Only seemed fair since he wore his boxer briefs and nothing else. He said he only put those on because of the possibility of food splash...whatever that was.

  The sex play made her smile. The property problem didn’t. She’d tried to forget all about it and enjoy the night with him, but the scene at The Bakery kept coming back to her. She’d pushed him into this place where he told her why he needed property but didn’t let him plead his case. She let complete strangers send her proposals and listened to more than one pitch. Yet, when it came to the man she was sleeping with and couldn’t resist, she’d shut him out.

  She didn’t want to open the door and flood their personal lives with business talk, but guilt kept shoving at it. “Tell me more about your proposed business.”

  Spatula in hand, he turned to face her. “You’re not wearing any underwear.”

  She wasn’t exactly sure what that had to do with anything. “Ignore that.”

  He shot her a you’ve-got-to-be-kidding frown. “I don’t think I can.”

  “I’m giving you a chance here.” And if he’d pick it up and run with it maybe that gnawing sensation inside her would go away. The one that suggested she was being unreasonable and difficult and totally unfair. She didn’t want to be any of those things and she feared she hovered right on the edge of all of them.

  “Hailey, I am only in my underwear.” He used the spatula to point. “You are wearing my shirt. This is the very definition of personal time.”

  He looked so cute she just wanted to crawl on top of him and test out the strength of her kitchen island. “And?”

  “You set the rules.” He shook his head. “Maybe I did, but it doesn’t matter. Point is we separate business and pleasure and I absolutely intend to pleasure you for the rest of the evening. Want me to tell you how?”

  He didn’t always say a lot but when he broke out with any explanation that included comments about stripping her, a buzzing started in her head. “But, I—”

  “No.” This time he made a cutting motion through the air with the spatula. “I am not going to be a dick here.”

  No, she seemed to be stuck with that role. Looked like she needed to do an end-run. “Are you worried about being friends with Jason and Marcus and working with them?”

  “No.”

  His conversation skills needed work. “You live with them and will see them every day.”

  “Marcus is about to move into a new place nearby. Once the lease starts, Jason will go over.”

  “You’ll be alone.”

  “Not quite. I’ll be at the house, which we’ll use as a makeshift office until we’re up and running.” Sawyer went back to stirring something. “But the house will be available for us at night.”

  She could smell cheese and sauce and had to refrain from diving in there and grabbing whatever was in the oven and dragging it out. She kept talking instead. “What about Will?”

  “What about him?” Sawyer turned down the fan but didn’t turn back around.

  “You know that he’s...” She hesitated because he actually might not know.

  He glanced over his shoulder. “What?”

  “Will.” This was not her finest moment. If she added up all of her time with Sawyer, she’d fumbled and tripped her way through it. She’d pushed him away, acted a little snotty, and still he came back. Made her smile, turned her on and now fed her.

  She’d probably done enough to make things hard on him without addi
ng questions about Marcus and Will. It wasn’t really her business or her place to tell Sawyer anything about his friends. Or she could be wrong. Or maybe he did know and it wasn’t a big deal, so he didn’t think about it.

  Sawyer moved the pot off the burner and came back to the counter. “Hailey, what is it?”

  Ignoring him proved harder when he stood right across from her, mostly naked and staring her down. He rested his palms against the bar and leaned in.

  “Will and Marcus.” She lifted both eyebrows, willing Sawyer to get it.

  “What are you...” Sawyer’s eyes widened. “Get the fuck out. You’re saying they’re together. Like, I don’t know, like we are.”

  He didn’t sound angry. More like stunned. “I can’t quite read your reaction.”

  “Marcus wouldn’t say who he was dating because the guy wasn’t out.” Sawyer swore under his breath. “Huh, of course it’s Will. They’re always together. Well, damn.”

  That tone she understood. Acceptance and a bit of awe at having figured it out. Technically, she did but she didn’t bother to point that out. “You’re not upset?”

  “They make sense together, though I didn’t know Will was gay.”

  She saw it ten seconds in. “But they touch.”

  “When?”

  “At the gun range. There was something between them. I could feel the connection and see it in how they stood together and communicated.” When Sawyer continued to stare at her, she tried again. “One would put a hand on the other’s back and keep it there a bit longer than would be normal for dudes hanging out.”

  Sawyer smiled. “Dudes hanging out?”

  He could make fun all he wanted. She was happier about his reaction. “You really don’t care that they’re gay?”

  “Why do I care who people sleep with?” Sawyer waved off the concern. “Besides, I’ve known about Marcus long before he was able to publicly come out without risking his job.”

  “You are a constant surprise, Sawyer Cain.”

  “I don’t know what that means.”