Serving Trouble

by Sara Jane Stone

  For two generations loggers have visited this bar. They come here after a long, shitty day and pretend they have what it takes to be a cowboy. For eight seconds after work, these guys are stars.

  Except more and more had been landing on their asses before the buzzer. And they hadn’t come back for more. There were too many “kids” from the university in the area. Housing prices had gone up and the loggers had moved to Independence Falls and some of the other neighboring towns.

  Noah knew they’d make more if they took out the mechanical bull and changed the place into a nightclub. Sure, the remaining locals who kept Forever’s Main Street looking like a picture-­perfect, all-­American town might protest. But the students would flock to the place. And the twenty-­something university crowd didn’t sit at the bar nursing one beer all night. They drank mixed drinks and shots.

  “Fire!” the volunteer safety officer called.

  He pressed the trigger. Once. Twice. The bullets spiraled to the target. In a few weeks, maybe months, he wouldn’t be shooting at stationary pieces of paper. If he deployed . . .

  Shit. He lowered his weapon. Not if. When he deployed to one of the countries no one in their right mind put on their list of dream vacation spots, he’d shoot to defend, to protect, and to kill.

  Noah set his gun on the table. He moved through the motions, releasing the clip, racking the slide, and ejecting the round from the chamber. He set the piece and the ammunition down. Then he stepped back from the line, vaguely aware of the ­people moving around him. The range safety officer had called out “cease fire” and he’d been so caught up in the future, the what might happen when he left, that he’d missed it.

  He stared down the range and out into the rolling hills lined with evergreens. So damn beautiful. He wished he could stay in the Willamette Valley, surrounded by the familiar scenery and the ­people he loved. But someone needed to make enough to pay for his grandmother’s retirement. And her rising medical costs.

  “Noah!” a familiar voice barked.

  He turned away from the hills in the distance and focused on the two men standing just beyond the line in his bay.

  “Take off your ears,” Dominic hollered, raising his right hand to his ear.

  Noah pulled off the safety gear that blocked out a helluva lot, including Josie’s brother.

  “Hey,” Noah said, nodding to the man who was unmistakably related to Josie. He had the same dark hair and green eyes. Although the similarities stopped there. Dominic had played center for the Forever football team. He was built like a tank and stood an inch or two taller than Noah. He was going to make one helluva soldier. Plus, Josie’s brother had been itching to enlist since graduation. His father had tried to steer him toward the police academy, but after a few years of working with his dad, Dominic wanted more of a challenge.

  And Noah wanted to stay right here and shoot at fucking paper.

  “You didn’t hear a word we said, did you?” Ryan smiled, looking more like a movie star type than a football hero—­probably because he’d rarely taken the field as the backup kicker. And Ryan sure as shit didn’t look like a future air force pilot.

  Noah forced a grin. “Had my ears on.”

  “I said I bet Travis is glad you went after him with your fists,” Dominic informed him. “Not your pistol.”

  “Yeah.” Noah shoved his hands in his pockets, his knuckles still raw from sparring with Travis Taylor. He’d had the upper hand. He’d approached the kid angry and knowing he planned to land a hit or two. Sure, he’d waited two weeks, giving Josie’s face time to heal so that no one would connect the pieces.

  “Any reason you hit my sister’s boyfriend?” Dominic asked mildly.

  “Ex-­boyfriend,” Noah corrected. He turned to the table to pick up his gear.

  Dominic held out a hand to help. “They’ve broken up before and gotten back together.”

  “They won’t this time.” Noah shook his head, declining his friend’s helping hand, and headed for the viewing gallery.

  “Why?” Dominic demanded, abandoning his easy-­going tone. “What the fuck happened?”

  “Ask your sister,” Noah said. “But our fight—­”

  “That wasn’t a fight,” Ryan jumped in once they were alone in the small room designed for spectators. A bulletproof glass window separated the space from the range where the other shooters were heading back to the line.

  “You took Travis out, man,” Ryan continued. “At least that’s what I heard.”

  “He pissed me off.” Noah shrugged and headed for the gun case he’d stashed in the corner with his duffel. “And it wasn’t all about Josie.”

  I wanted to make sure the kid thinks twice before hurting another woman. I wanted Travis to remember how his damn nose felt when I landed that hit.

  “Some kid pisses you off and you swing?” Dominic said from behind him. “Why didn’t you drive your temper over here, to the shooting range?”

  “I did,” he admitted, closing his case. Afterward. He picked up his stuff and turned around, ready to get the hell away from here.

  “She won’t tell me anything,” Dominic said, and he moved closer, blocking Noah’s path to the door.

  Noah stared at his friend and saw the same determination that had radiated from Josie the other night. “Look, it’s not my story to tell. But I’ll say this. That asshole Travis doesn’t deserve her and he won’t go near her again.”

  His best friend since damn near forever stared back at him as if waiting for Noah to crack and spill more about what had led to Travis Taylor’s broken nose.

  Noah just held his gaze.

  Finally, Dominic took a step back. “Thanks for looking out for her. I wish you’d tell me what went down . . .”

  Noah shook his head.

  “But,” Dominic continued, his face breaking into a rare smile, “as long as you’re taking on the big brother role—­”

  “I’m not . . .” But he couldn’t finish the sentence. Because when it came to Josie, he wasn’t about to tell Dominic he’d ever considered another role.

  “Hey, now.” His friend held up his hands. “You’re not encroaching. I’ve looked out for her crazy ass long enough. You’re welcome to take a turn. Though I should warn you that if you break any more noses my dad might get suspicious. I’m not part of the force anymore, so I can’t bring you in for questioning and all.”

  “I’m not going to start another fight.” Noah tried to move toward the door, but Dominic sidestepped and blocked his path.

  “Where are you heading in such a hurry?” Dominic asked. He wasn’t threatening now, he was teasing. “Beach date with your grandmother?”

  Ryan laughed and Noah shook his head. “So Josie told you that much, huh?”

  “Yeah,” his friend said. “And I figured that as long as you were feeling like a big brother and all, you could take Josie with you.”

  “What?” There was no way in hell he wanted to spend an hour in a car with his gran and a woman—­yeah, he considered Josie all woman now—­who defined indecent thoughts. What would they talk about? The time Gran tried to potty train him and he’d peed all over the house? That was her favorite embarrassing childhood tale. Or maybe how he’d saved Josie from her abusive boyfriend?

  “My dad’s working today, but I’m free. And Lily’s done teaching for the summer so we thought we’d spend the afternoon together, seeing as I’m leaving soon and all.”

  “You want Josie out of the house so you and your girlfriend can make some noise,” Noah said, filling in the blanks. “Why don’t you just ask her to leave?”

  “She’s still grounded,” Ryan supplied. And judging from his grin, he found it pretty damn funny that Noah was getting stuck with watching wild, little Josie Fairmore.

  Only she wasn’t little anymore. And he wasn’t sure the “wild” label fit either. Not in
a break-­all-­the-­rules context. But maybe . . .

  Don’t go there.

  “She begged to come to the going away party tomorrow night at your place,” Dominic explained. “Dad refused the first dozen or so times she asked, seeing as there will be alcohol served. He’s a stickler about the legal age thing. Then he changed his mind. As long as I keep an eye on her. At the party and every minute leading up to it.”

  “You agreed to babysit?” Noah asked.

  “She’s eighteen,” Dominic said. “She doesn’t need a babysitter. But if she gets into trouble, she can’t come to the party. I don’t want her sitting at home alone on my last night in town.”

  “Take Lily someplace else,” Noah said. “Problem solved.”

  Dominic shook his head. “Her mom is retired and home all the time. And you know her parents don’t want her to move out and get her own place until she’s freaking married.”

  “Fine.” They only had forty-­eight hours until they reported for basic training. And he knew they all wanted to make the most of their time. “But why doesn’t Ryan take Josie?”

  “I promised Helena I’d give her a hand with her farm chores so we can grab a bite tonight,” Ryan said. The next, great air force pilot was tight with him and Dom, but Helena was his closest friend in Forever. They’d never crossed the line into naked friends—­and probably never would—­but she likely topped the list of ­people Ryan would think about while he learned to fly fighter jets.

  Noah looked at Dominic. “Tell Josie I’ll pick her up in an hour.”

  And remember you asked for this.

  JOSIE SLIPPED OFF her sneakers and sank her toes in the sand. Sandals would have been a better choice, but Dominic hadn’t given her much time to get ready. He’d stormed into the house, told her she was going to the coast for the afternoon, and if she tried to stay he’d tell Dad not to let her go to the party. She’d run to change out of her sweats and into jean shorts, a V-­neck T-­shirt, and the first shoes she could find.

  “I’ve always loved the feel of sand between my toes,” Noah’s grandmother said as she settled into the beach chair he’d set out for her. “Noah thinks I come for the chowder, but I just like to hear the sound of the ocean and feel the sand between my toes.”

  “You’ve got it wrong, Gran.” Noah lowered to one knee beside his grandmother’s feet. He gently lifted one foot and slipped off her orthopedic shoe and then the other. “I drive out here for the chowder. The ocean and the company are a bonus.”

  His grandmother laughed, then leaned her head back and closed her eyes. “Why don’t you two take a walk, enjoy the beach, while I rest and listen to the waves?”

  Noah stood. “We’ll be nearby.”

  “Don’t stay too close,” she muttered to her grandson, eyes still closed. “I’m serious about my nap.”

  “I know,” Noah said, shaking his head. “I know.”

  Leaving her shoes near the beach chair, Josie headed for the packed sand by the water. The tides were out and the beach was quiet for a Friday afternoon. Noah moved to her side and easily matched her pace.

  “I should probably thank you for breaking Travis’s nose, but—­”

  “You’re welcome.”

  She glanced up from the sand and caught him smiling. “But, I wish I’d been able to do it myself.”

  “I like playing the hero, Josie,” he said, placing a hand on her elbow and guiding her up the beach, away from the wave rushing in.

  So much for low tide and taking care of myself.

  “Is that why you’re joining the marines?” she asked.

  “No.” He stopped and turned to look out at the ocean.

  “Then why go? I know Dominic has been thinking about it for a while. Have you?”

  He glanced in his grandmother’s direction. “We’re out of earshot. Want to sit down?”

  No, she didn’t want sand in her shorts. But she wasn’t going to pass up a chance to sit next to Noah and stare out at the waves. What were the odds she’d ever find herself alone with him again in a place like this? It was like a scene in a romantic movie—­except for the sleeping grandmother.

  She settled onto the ground, burying her toes in the sand again. Her arms wrapped around her legs.

  “With the marines, I’ll get a guaranteed paycheck and benefits,” he said, lowering onto the beach beside her.

  “You could find that here. I mean, you have a job at your dad’s bar.”

  “Big Buck’s Country Bar isn’t making enough to support three ­people,” he said. “It might turn around now that I’ve convinced my dad to take out the mechanical bull. But a new sound system would help. Some DJs. A bigger dance floor.”

  “Wait, you took out the bull? I never had a chance to ride it.”

  “It’s in my barn if you want to try it out,” he said with a laugh. “Dad set it up as if ­people might come out and visit the damn thing.”

  “They might.” I might if you’ll watch me ride it.

  But she wasn’t exactly cowgirl material. She’d never owned farm animals. Still, she had the boots in her closet . . .

  “They’re welcome to the bull as long as it stays in the barn.” He looked down at the sand. “I’m planning to send home as much of my paycheck as I can spare. That should help with my grandmother’s expenses and cover the new sound system.”

  “That’s sweet,” she murmured.

  “It’s reality,” he said. “I can make more and hopefully do some good.”

  “Are you scared?” The question slipped out. “Sorry. I’ve been watching Dominic and wondering . . . but he doesn’t act afraid.”

  “I’m not sure he is.” He drew circles in the sand with his toes, not looking up at her. “But yeah, I’m scared. There are aspects of fighting, going out there with a loaded weapon . . .”

  “You’re a great shot.” That fact gave her some comfort.

  “Yeah, but this will be different.” He looked up at her, his expression open, honest, and so vulnerable it made her heart ache.

  “I don’t want to let my team, the guys I’m serving with—­I don’t want to let them down,” he continued. “Not out there, in places where it counts a helluva lot more than on the football field.”

  “You won’t.” And oh God, she wanted to wrap her arms around his supersized muscles and hold him tight.

  “I hope you’re right.”

  “I am.” She reached out and placed her hand on his arm. “I mean, listen to yourself. Even your fears are perfect.”

  “I’m not perfect, Josie.” His voice had shifted, the sound low, rough, and so unlike him. “If I was . . . shit.”

  He stared at her hand and then lifted his gaze to her lips. And she silently prayed her facial expression didn’t scream please, please, please, do it! Kiss me!

  But then he looked away and pulled his arm free from her touch. He stood and held out his hand to help her up. “We should get back.”

  But she didn’t trust herself to touch him. Not when she still wanted a Noah Tager kiss more than anything this world had to offer her.

  He lowered his outstretched arm as she pushed herself off the sand, dusting off her butt. There was sand in her shorts. But it had been worth it.

  “I don’t want your brother thinking I kept you out too long,” he said. “He might make it difficult for you to go to the party.”

  “I’ll be there,” she said firmly. Even if I have to sneak out of the house again.

  “Good.” He turned and started walking toward his grandmother’s beach chair. “Because I’d like to see you ride that bull before I go.”

  Chapter Four

  ONE MORE NIGHT. Don’t waste it.

  Noah stared into the flames. With Dominic and Ryan’s help, he’d built one helluva campfire on his dad’s land, not far from the barn. Pickups formed a barrier on one s
ide. Their tailgates were parked a safe distance from the flames. But they remained close enough for ­couples and groups of ­people he’d known his entire life to huddle together. The keg stood opposite the lines of trucks on the other side of the fire. And behind it, the woods he’d played in as a kid.

  One more night. He wanted to enjoy it—­right or wrong. Because he wasn’t going to come home the same. He knew it. And it scared the hell out of him.

  He scanned the crowd. Dominic was holding court, his legs dangling over the back of his dad’s truck and his arm around Lily. He couldn’t find Ryan. But he’d spotted him earlier, heading to the house with Helena. They’d been on a mission to raid his dad’s liquor cabinet. Knowing his father wouldn’t mind, Noah had given them the go-­ahead.

  One more night. And he wanted Josie Fairmore—­the only person in Forever who’d asked, Are you scared?

  He spotted her, standing off to the side of the keg with a red plastic cup in her hand. Her white sundress glowed in the firelight, hugging her curves and offering a stellar view of her legs. She wore her dark hair long and loose around her shoulders. And a pair of brown leather cowboy boots on her feet.

  Noah was by her side before he realized he’d been walking, dodging backslaps from old friends. Sure, he’d smiled at them, but he’d wanted to get to Josie.

  “Your dad would probably ground you for the rest of the year if he saw you sipping on that.” He nodded to the cup poised at her lips.

  She lowered her drink. “Trying to save me from my dad now?”

  “No.”

  Tonight I want to land you in trouble. The kind that will piss off your dad and your brother. But it doesn’t have a damn thing to do with drinking.

  “Well, it’s water. I haven’t touched the beer tonight.” She lifted her free hand and ran her index finger around the rim of her cup. “And I’m leaving for college in a few weeks. I doubt my father will bother driving up to Portland to ground me.”

  “Would you listen if he did?”

  “Probably not.”