by Becky McGraw
Taylor’s angry gaze swung back to his and Slade could almost see the smoke collecting at the top of her shiny sable hair. She looked back at Cee Cee. “I wasn’t quite finished with him, so if you’ll give us a moment...”
“No problem,” Cee Cee replied hitching a thumb over her shoulder. “I’m hungry, so I’ll just run back out and grab a burger. Levi said there was food in the kitchen on his way out, but it’s all gone.”
Slade walked around Taylor to stand in front of her. “Let me grab my keys, and I’ll take you to dinner somewhere so we can talk.” Slade needed to get the hell away from this compound and Taylor Kincaid for a little while.
“I’m hungry too,” Taylor said sharply.
He looked at the ceiling, gathered his composure then turned around. She obviously didn’t get he didn’t want to be around her right now. Slade was about to make that perfectly clear whether it hurt her feelings or not.
“There’s peanut butter and jelly or tuna in the pantry. Make yourself a sandwich. You’re not invited to go out with us.”
Slade walked around Taylor, grabbed his keys from his desk and moved toward the door. Suddenly, his feet flew out from under him and Cee Cee came at him full speed. He grabbed her, tried to shove her aside, but they tumbled through the doorway and landed in a heap. With a growl, he rolled off of her and sat to face Taylor who stood in the doorway grinning.
“You’re pretty damned clumsy for a former Marine. You should take karate, I hear it helps with balance.” Slade heard the rumble of laughter in her chest, but she pinched her lips to suppress it. Taylor turned away, and her parting shot had Slade grinding his teeth. “I had plans anyway. Hawk mentioned something about strip poker on the Nintendo tonight, so don’t hurry back.” With a finger-wave over her shoulder, she walked down the hallway and disappeared.
“Wow—does she work here too?” Cee Cee asked, her eyes swinging back to his.
“Did David hire her?”
“No, I hired her—temporarily. She’ll probably be gone by the time he gets back.” Slade arched his back to spring to his feet. To prison most likely.
Cee Cee executed a similar move, then brushed off her ass and laughed. “You might be saying the same when David gets back and sees me here.”
“That won’t happen, I’m not going to let it happen,” he assured gruffly. “What would you like for dinner? It’ a long drive in either direction to get something, but we can find anything you want. I’m in no hurry to get back.” Considering the woman I fucked earlier today is playing strip poker with another man tonight.
Slade forced down the jealousy that curled in his gut. He had nothing to be jealous about. He did not ever want to have sex with Taylor Kincaid again. That was a one and done deal that never should have happened. Hawkins could have her. Hell, every man in the company could have her for all he cared, and the trouble that came with her.
“I think I’ll just grab a PBJ and find somewhere to crash. I’m exhausted.”
Even though Cecelia was military and probably slept in barracks with men before, Slade thought it wouldn’t be a great idea for her to do that with these men.
“The sofa pulls out, and the blankets and pillows are in the linen closet in the bathroom. Make yourself at home until we can figure out better sleeping arrangements. The guys are in the barracks, so you shouldn’t have any problem from them.”
“I wouldn’t have any problem with them anyway,” Cee Cee said, with a wink. “I can handle them.”
Slade had no doubt about that, but he wasn’t taking chances with Logan’s sister. “I’ll see you in the morning, and we can talk about what you’ll be doing.”
“I’m ready,” she replied with a wide, white smile. “I’ve been waiting seven years for this. This place will be ship shape by the time my brother gets home.”
“Ship shape?” Slade couldn’t help his chuckle. “You learn that in the Army?”
“Nah, I dated a sailor recently, and it rubbed off,” she replied, with a waggle of her eyebrows. “I’m sure you’ll be treated to the other words he taught me too in the near future.”
Slade liked her. She was open and friendly, and seemed to be unflappable. They needed unflappable in this office.
“That’s a relief, because if he hadn’t taught you, I’m sure these guys would have educated you fast. Call me if you need anything,” he said, turning toward the door.
“All I need is sleep, but if you run into her again, you might need a helmet.”
Her—meaning Taylor. Which reminded him she needed clothes, and he needed her to have them so she would leave his t-shirts alone. Cecelia was a taller than Taylor by a few inches, and a little larger, but her clothes should fit. They’d probably be loose fitting, but that would be a damned good thing in Slade’s opinion.
“I hate to ask this, but do you have some clothes that Taylor can borrow?” Slade asked turning back toward her. “Just a few things so she doesn’t have to borrow my t-shirts?”
One thing for sure was the busty little hellion couldn’t wear Cecelia’s bras. She had a good bit of size on her there.
“Sure, she’s smaller than me, but I have some workout clothes that have gotten too small since I’ve been working out more regularly, and a couple of pairs of BDU pants. They’re in my truck if you want to follow me outside?”
Slade followed her to the door and down the steps. They walked to her truck, and he waited while she unzipped her duffle bag and dug through it.
“Where can I run around here?” she asked, as she turned around and handed him a stack of folded clothes.
“There are plenty of country roads around here, but the shoulders on the main road are soft and narrow. I’d suggest the treadmill. We have a whole workout facility behind the barracks, if you want to use it.”
“I like running outside, but I’ll probably take you up on that when it rains.”
Slade needed to do some PT too. He hadn’t had time in two or three weeks, but that was an excuse. When someone wanted to do PT, they did PT.
“I’ll go running with you if you want,” he offered.
It would also mean she wouldn’t be running alone. They were in a pretty remote area, but as Taylor proved this morning, that did not guarantee you were safe. Especially when you double-cross your asshole partners in crime. Anger stoked inside him again, and simmered in his stomach.
“Oh six hundred sound good to you?” she asked, a challenge in her tone. “I have to warn you I do ten miles most of the time.”
“Oh six hundred it is. I’ll meet you at the gate,” Slade replied, turning to walk toward the barracks, the renewed anger burning brighter with every step he took.
Yeah, he could definitely use some PT to burn off steam. His therapist told him that would help with his PTSD episodes, and it had for a long time. And then came Taylor Kincaid and taking the reins at Deep Six and they reappeared.
Starting tomorrow morning, Slade was going to run that woman, and these problems right out of his head. He was going to get his shit together, and find his Zen again, so he could think straight.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
Taylor lay on Hawk’s bunk, and angrily flipped through a military surplus magazine she found on Hawk’s trunk, not even reading the pages. The top bunk in this set was empty, so he offered to take it since it was easier for him to get up there. He, Levi and Caleb were leaving before dawn on some kind of mission anyway, he said.
Right now, they were being loud and obnoxious—little boys in men’s bodies, as they fought imaginary enemies and each other in a video game. Hopefully, since they had to leave early, they’d turn in soon, so she could get some rest. There probably wouldn’t be any rest for her tonight though. Taylor couldn’t ever remember being as mad as she was right at the minute. Not even with Mark, who she was angry at frequently. Almost every time he visited her.
Slade’s intention when she walked in his office had been to hurt her, to push her away and let her know it was over. To make her feel small
and worthless.
He had succeeded in spades.
Licking her thumb, Taylor slammed the magazine shut and started at the front again.
He was much more of an asshole than Mark had ever been to her. At least Mark took her out to dinner sometimes, wined and dined her occasionally, sent her flowers at work a time or two to make up for being an asshole. If Slade planted a fucking field of them for her, she wouldn’t forgive him.
Not that they were a couple or anything, she had no illusions there.
He shown her with his reaction to that musclebound blonde woman who came into his office that she meant nothing to him. That he was moving on to his next piece of ass.
That made her feel dirty and used.
Taylor’s vision blurred, and she sucked in a breath. She was not going to cry over that bastard. She was going to move on just like he had. Forget that they’d ever had sex, just like he had. In three fucking hours.
A tear plopped on the page as she flipped it and Taylor slammed her eyes shut, took deep breaths, and didn’t open them again until she heard the barracks door open.
Her heart was not supposed to leap in her chest when she saw Slade standing there in the doorway, but it did, and she wanted to rip it out of her chest.
His eyes landed on her, glided to Hawk then back to her and she saw his biceps flex, as he gripped the doorknob tightly. Like green lasers, his eyes burned holes in her as he strode across the floor to the bunk, and tossed a stack of clothes on the end of the bed.
“Don’t tear those up, and give them back to Cee Cee before you leave,” he said, his voice cold and flat. He turned and walked back to the door and slammed it on his way out.
“What the fuck is in his craw?” Caleb asked, glancing at the door.
“Who the hell knows,” Levi replied. “Just play dude, we have to go to bed.”
Taylor didn’t know what was in his craw either, or what she’d done to be the target of his anger. She wished like hell he’d just come out with it, and tell her so they could move past it. Even if they weren’t sleeping together, they had to work together for now.
Until she could find another job.
That was going to be on the top of her to-do list tomorrow. Taylor had her resume in her email, and she was going to find it, polish it up and go somewhere she would be respected. If a place like that existed. She was starting to doubt she’d ever find it. Maybe she needed to apply to law school and become a lawyer. That would only take her three more years.
She needed money to support herself though. And even when she took the pre-law track in college she never had any intention of becoming a lawyer. That was boring, and tedious stuff. Taylor had wanted to do something important to help people, something honorable like her father had done. And she’d failed so badly, she had to become a security supervisor at a ritzy hotel where the only thing she supervised was the time clock.
When the door opened again, Taylor leaned up on her elbow. Buddy whined as Slade pushed him inside the door and shut it behind him. His sad and confused eyes as he looked back at the door mimicked how she felt inside. It looked like Slade wasn’t only done with her, he was done with her dog as well. So much for his promise to train him.
“Here, Buddy,” she said, and his head hung low as he walked over to the bed. He perked up when she scooted back and patted the mattress though. With a loud woof! he leaped up onto the bunk and it shook as he moved around to find his spot behind her. Taylor dropped the magazine and rolled over to hug him tight.
You’re the only man I need in my life, Buddy.
He licked the side of her face and snuggled his head into her chest, and Taylor’s insides finally settled. She laid there and his coat soaked up her silent tears until she fell asleep.
Buddy’s whine woke her entirely too soon, and it was that whine that told her he needed to go out—now. Taylor scrambled up, scrubbed the sleep from her eyes and got out of the bed. Buddy dropped down to the floor to look up at her and whined again. She glanced at the top bunk and saw it was empty, and knew the guys were already gone.
With a wide yawn, she grabbed his collar and hunched over to walk with him to the door. Slade could at least have left her a leash, she thought, as she opened the door, and he half-dragged her across the outer room to the door. She glanced at Slade’s apartment door, because she couldn’t help herself, and wondered if he was in there having sex with the blonde. Kissing her like he’d kissed Taylor.
A sharp pain sliced through her chest and she rubbed it.
“I don’t give a damn,” she grumbled as she twisted the doorknob and led Buddy outside noticing that dawn was just breaking.
She inhaled deeply of the fresh country air and exhaled, before she led Buddy out into the yard and let go of his collar. With a loud woof! he took off across the yard and Taylor groaned as she ran after him, calling his name. He ran around Slade’s Humvee, and headed for the gate and when Taylor rounded the vehicle, she stumbled then stopped.
Slade stood there at the gate dressed in running shorts and a t-shirt with the blonde, who was wearing bright pink shorts that looked more like underwear and a black sports bra. Buddy stopped beside Slade and his tail wagged his body. He jumped up on Slade and put his paws on his chest, and Slade’s loud, “Buddy, sitz!” rang through the trees and inside her skull.
Emotion tightened her chest, worked up to clog her throat but Taylor swallowed it down as she made her feet work again to go get him, before they opened the gate. It seemed to her like she was walking in slow motion and it took forever for her to reach them, but in reality it was only a minute.
“Going for a run?” she asked perkily, as she jerked Buddy’s collar so he’d move away from the blonde who was crouched down petting him.
“Yeah, so hold onto your damned dog so he doesn’t get out when we open the gate,” Slade grumbled, without looking at her.
The blonde studied him then studied Taylor, before a wide smile broke over her pretty face. She stepped toward Taylor and stuck out her hand.
“I’m Cee Cee Logan,” she announced, holding Taylor’s eyes. “I’m glad to see it won’t be a sausage fest around here.”
Her husky voice reminded Taylor of Lauren Bacall’s voice. Lauren smoked a pack a day to achieve that sound, but she highly doubted this woman did considering her level of fitness. Taylor was amazed that she could like this woman and hate her at the same time.
Slade growled as she took Cee Cee’s hand and Taylor’s lips wiggled. “I’m Taylor Kincaid,” she said louder than necessary. “It’s very nice to meet you, and yeah I’ve pretty much been embroiled in a sausage fest since I got here, so I’m glad to see you too.”
The woman’s open and friendly smile made Taylor relax a little. She decided right then that this was a woman she could be friends with, if she wasn’t sleeping with Slade. Maybe when he was done with her too, they could be friends. As fast as he worked that could be this afternoon.
Cee Cee hitched a thumb over her shoulder, and winked at her. “Don’t worry, I’m gonna run the grumpy out of him, before I bring him back,” she said, and Taylor did laugh.
“I don’t think that’s possible. I don’t call him grumpy, though, I call him Smiley.” Slade’s head whipped up from the gadget he was playing with and his angry eyes speared her, and Taylor smiled.
“Oh, it’s possible. I’ll either run it out of him, or run him into the ground.” Cee Cee gave Slade a sideways glance. “He looks pretty out of shape, so if he gets tired I’ll just let him rest on the side of the road while I lap him.”
“You’re not going to lap anyone,” Slade growled, as he slapped the heel of his hand against a red button on a box right inside the gate. It rattled open, and Taylor grabbed Buddy’s collar when he lurched to follow him as he strode through the gate.
Trouble in paradise? Taylor bit back a giggle, as she watched Cee Cee walk outside the gate and begin stretching. For a man who’d gotten not one, but two rounds of sex yesterday, with two different women,
he was awfully grumpy. That thought wiped the smile right off of her face, and the laughter from her heart.
With a huffed breath, she held Buddy until the gate closed, then turned him loose. She jogged back to the barracks herself, and Buddy ran by her side. Taylor was going to use Slade’s bathroom to shower, so she didn’t have to use the stalls the guys used in the bathroom in the barracks. Yesterday, during the meeting, before she left and almost gotten herself killed, Slade told her she would be working with Mac to weed through the employee lists. That is exactly what she was going to do today to keep her mind off of a grumpy, hard-hearted man-whore who wore underwear designed for children.
I wonder what underwear he has on today under those mesh running shorts.
Taylor almost tripped over her own feet as a wave of desire punched through her. Maybe she’d look through his underwear drawer and try to figure it out, she thought, as she opened the door and let Buddy in. No, she didn’t care, and that was none of her business.
As a matter of fact, Taylor was going to change and leave his t-shirt on the bed too after she showered. She didn’t want any reminders of him at all. She was going to work hard to help figure out who planted that car bomb to exonerate herself, keep her nose out of his business and work on finding herself another job.
The sooner she could get away from Mr. Slade, the better.
Her eyebrows puckered as she grabbed the doorknob at his bedroom. Nobody had just one name. Slade only used one name, and she wondered why. His name was probably as goofy as his underwear and he was embarrassed to use it.
Archibald Horatio Slade. Casper Simon Slade. Taylor giggled. No maybe it was a girly name. Carol Regan Slade. Ashley Rowan Slade. Adrian, she thought with a gasp then slapped a hand over her mouth. Adrian. She’d bet his name was Adrian. And then one of her father’s favorite songs played in her head and she giggled.
A Boy Named Sue, by Johnny Cash. It fit the cowardly bastard who didn’t have the balls to break it off with her like a real man. And now that damned song was going to be stuck in her head for the rest of her day.
