by Cora Cade
“Gathered that. Molly just left for the farm.”
“Damn. I don’t want Tenn worrying while we’re away, or I would have clued her in. Is Chris around?”
“Standing in front of me.”
“Good. Let him know that favor I called in came through. About a year ago, Molly filed assault charges on some guy.”
Cal took a deep breath and growled out, “Let me put you on speaker. It’ll be easier if Chris and I hear this at the same time.”
Setting the cordless phone down on the counter with the speaker button lit, he said, “You’re go.”
It was easier if he treated this like another mission, made it less personal, but he was already invested. His life as an Army Ranger meant a rigid code of honor, a fact he readily accepted and relished. He wasn’t the kind of man that would ever walk away from someone in danger, let alone a tiny woman who set all of his protective instincts off like a three-alarm fire. Nobody would be laying another hand on Molly if Cal had anything to say about.
“All right, listen up. July of last year, Molly filed charges on Harrison Pratt. The file states she was assaulted after leaving her shift as the manager at a high-end bar in Chicago. Turns out this prick has a history of assault on women, almost all of them waitresses or bartenders, and always after they turn him down.”
“Rape?” It was said matter-of-factly, but there was a quiet tension behind the word spoken by Chris, whose jaw was pulled tight, his entire being emanating rage. He suddenly looked like Noah, with a warrior’s quality that hadn’t been there a few minutes before.
“Attempted. But Molly beat the shit out of him. Broke his nose, his cheek bone, and did some major damage to his testicles. In the process she broke her hand, probably on his face, but he managed to do some damage of his own. He had a knife, and she took some damage to her legs and chest. Left some scars, according to the report.” Even through the tinny speaker Cal could hear the rigidity in Noah’s delivery as he gave them the cold hard facts.
“Tell me this bastard is someone’s bitch in jail right now.” Chris’s words came out in a hiss.
“He is.” There was a chorus of grunts from Chris and Cal at the same time. “But it turns out Pratt’s dad is a judge, and he’s well connected. Molly left Chicago after the sentencing, but not before filing harassment charges that never went anywhere. Seems Pratt had ties with some shady people and is none too happy about his jail time. He had some goons tailing her, making life damn uncomfortable for her.”
“Description?”
Noah didn’t need any further prodding to fill in the details on Pratt. “Nothing concrete on the goons. My gut tells me he’s sent someone to harass her. He’s pissed. Molly was the first woman to press charges and stick with it. From what my buddy in the CPD says, this guy is known for intimidation. Molly’s case went the farthest because she wouldn’t back down.”
“That’s my girl.” This from Chris, who looked like he could spit nails at the moment.
“One more thing. Molly’s got a brother.”
“Where the hell is he then?” Again, from Chris. But asking aloud exactly what Cal was thinking.
“He’s Delta Force.” Noah paused, and Cal spent a moment offering up his respect for Molly’s brother. Delta Force was primarily a counter-terrorism unit. Most of their time was spent behind enemy lines, and they were some tough sons-of-bitches. “He’s been deployed for the last seven months, undisclosed location. Within days of his deployment, she packed up her life and came our way. He’s based out of Ft. Bragg, so she’s only about an hour away from him once he gets home.”
“Well, that answers why she’s so damn tough,” Cal said.
Chris nodded in agreement at the quietly spoken words.
“Chris, you’ve got to keep her close. I’ve got a bad feeling about her being alone at the farm. If Pratt’s men are biding their time, waiting for her to be exposed, this is the time they’ll strike. And Cal, I need you to stay on top of her while she’s at the pub. With the tourist season in full swing, there won’t be many regulars in, so everyone is a suspect. This Pratt guy is well connected and has the means to pay some heavyweight goons to keep an eye on Molly. Keep me updated and if you need me, just call the cell.”
Chris scowled at the phone. “Noah, we’ve got this covered. You’d better be showing Tenn a good time on her honeymoon, or I’ll kick your ass when you get back.”
“No worries, little brother. I know how to keep Tenn happy.”
“God, you’re a pig. Tell my woman I said hello.” Chris disconnected the line before Noah could reply. Obviously there was some history between the brothers and Tenn. Life wasn’t going to be boring while Cal was tucked away in the middle of nowhere.
“We need a plan. Molly needs to be under constant surveillance.”
“Do you ever speak non-G.I. Joe?”
Cal offered up a scowl, but it was weak. Chris had a way of keeping the mood light without resorting to stupidity. He could appreciate that skill, even if he couldn’t mimic it. “Only when I’ve had too much to drink.” They both took a pull of their beer with a smile. “I can handle recon here at the pub, but outside of that I’m pretty limited. She’s going to get suspicious if I’m always dogging her heels.”
“The upside is she’s almost always here. The downside is she’ll be alone at night, instead of tucked safely into her apartment building with twenty other tenants. Let’s give her a call and drag her out to dinner tonight. We need to keep her close as long as possible.”
Cal offered up his bottle again and they clinked solidly in affirmation.
Chapter Three
Molly’s feet had barely hit the front porch before her cell was ringing. Strangely enough, it was Chris, inviting her to dinner with him and Callum. Even though the invite had taken her by surprise, she’d agreed. What kind of fool passed up a chance for dinner out with two sexy men?
Besides, it would offer her the chance to get to know Callum without being obvious. Or at least not very obvious. The man was a walking wet dream, and she could use dinner tonight as an excuse to stock up on some fantasy material.
There wasn’t much open around town on a Sunday evening, so Chris had suggested a drive to Mumford, the next town over, for some sushi in a few hours. That gave her enough time to load Bo into her convertible after his bathroom break and hustle to her apartment to pack a few things for her two weeks at the farm. Bo gave a brief bark of delight as they pulled away, leaving the gravel lane behind them.
It was a short drive back into town. She was packed and heading back to the farm when she spotted a black SUV with heavily tinted windows. It was idling on a side street around the corner from her apartment. As she passed the intersection, it pulled out to follow her.
Even though she knew better, she felt the urge to speed up, putting distance between her and the tail. Her brother’s words of advice kept her steady, though. Gabe would want her to keep her cool. She could handle this, make him proud. If only she could reach him. He’d been gone for over seven months, out of contact. She’d left several messages with his command since moving to North Carolina, but as of yet he hadn’t been able to return them.
Keeping her pace slow, she circled around to head to the pub. If she drove by and Callum’s black truck wasn’t there, then she’d make her way to Chris’s apartment. If that failed, she’d visit the damn grocery store. She would not be leading anyone back to the isolated farm.
The SUV stayed a few car lengths behind her, but with so little traffic there was no place for them to hide. Once she came close enough to the pub to see Callum’s gleaming truck in the lot, she braced Bo in his seat and whipped the car to the right at the last second. The tires gave a quick squeal of disapproval, and Bo fell against the door before he could right himself. Giving another sharp jerk of the wheel, she pulled into the space closest to the service entrance. In seconds she bolted from
her still-running car, too panicked to care, grabbing Bo’s leash as she went.
The tail had followed her into the lot, but at a much slower pace. She was sprinting to the service door when she realized she’d left her keys in the car. Praying the service door was still open, she gave a brief look over her shoulder. The windows were too darkly tinted to see anyone in the vehicle. It was circling, about to make another pass in her direction.
So much for keeping her cool. If that damn door was locked, she was trapped, with no one to blame but herself.
She was only a few feet from the service door when it was flung open, causing her and Bo to skid to a halt. Callum Eversman exploded from the door with a 9mm Glock at the ready, clad in only his boxers. “Get inside. Go. Go.”
The intensity of the moment washed over her once she reached the confines of the service hallway, and she started to shake. She could not fall apart now. Whoever was out there meant business, or they wouldn’t have followed her into the parking lot, hoping to find her alone. And now Callum was out there, alone. Tucking Bo into the office, she shut the door behind her after reaching into the right-hand desk drawer.
Turning for the exit with Noah’s semiautomatic in her hand brought a calm she hadn’t expected. It had been a long time since Gabe had taught her to shoot, but every bit of training he’d given now anchored her. The rising panic was gone. In its place was a cool, steely determination. Noah’s Ruger was a bit larger than her own gun, but she adjusted her grip to accommodate it then exited through the service door in a low crouch.
Callum stood at the edge of the walk with his gun at the ready, tracking the retreat of the black SUV as it sped away from the Drunken Duck. Without turning, he spoke. “How did I know you wouldn’t stay out of the way?”
She wanted to offer him a scathing response, but instead she almost swallowed her tongue as she took him in. He was practically naked, gloriously exposed down to his bare feet, and his muscles flexed as he relaxed his stance. He was probably six feet tall, but with the aura of menace radiating from him, he appeared larger than life.
She followed his movement as he made his way to her car and turned the engine off. Her two-seater didn’t have much space, so she’d stowed her overnight bag on the passenger side floor. Callum tugged it free and made his way back up the walk.
“Did you get a look at them?” Now that the threat was gone, her shakes were coming back, and it showed in the way her voice quaked.
“No.” He took her gun then handed her the bag. “Is this the first time they’ve gotten this close?”
Cal watched the expressions cross Molly’s face at his question. He saw her desire to lie, a brief panic that lying wouldn’t work, then the acceptance of the truth. “Yes. This is the first time they’ve ever really scared me.”
He could hear the shock in her voice, which was weak and thready. She followed him into the pub and he locked the door behind them.
“How did you know I was in trouble?”
Before answering her question, he let the dog out of the office, and the three of them made their way through the pub. “I heard the squealing tires.”
She let out little huff of surprise. “What?”
“Come on, Molly. Upstairs. We can talk about this after we call Chris.”
That drew her up short. “Like hell. I’m not dragging him into this. Whatever the fuck this is.”
Well, he could deal with her anger, he was glad to see her panic give way to something less destructive. “He’s already involved. Noah and Chris knew something was up a few weeks back.”
“Oh. My. God. That’s why you’re here.” The statement came out breathy and stunned, barely above a whisper. Panic was beginning to bleed back into her voice.
“Get your ass upstairs. Now.”
The dog gave a bark and bounded ahead of them.
She threw him a mutinous glare but followed his orders, and this time he watched her ass as she climbed the stairs. She was still in the pajamas from earlier, which weren’t exactly the sexiest thing she could be wearing, but his dick still tented his boxers. Only this time he didn’t have a bag to hide behind.
He couldn’t understand how a woman he’d known for all of two hours had managed to get under his skin already. When he’d heard her car tear into the lot below the apartment, he’d felt the kind of all-consuming fear that tore at his control. Then, when she’d come out of the pub with a gun drawn like a pro, his control had slipped a bit more, just in a different way.
Now she stood in the apartment with hands on her hips, about to give him the what-for, and it made him smile. Stowing the guns in a drawer in the kitchen after thumbing the safety on the Ruger in place, he turned to face her. She had advanced on him and was about to stick a finger in his chest.
Snatching her hand, he pulled it away from his body and went nose to nose with her. “Don’t bite my head off. Noah wanted backup, and you were too stubborn to go to anyone in the first place. So, you’re stuck with me until this gets resolved.”
Her breath shuddered and she leaned into his larger frame. There was nothing he could do. Except kiss her.
Chapter Four
Callum Eversman kissed like a man on fire. His lips seared a path to every erogenous zone on her body, particularly straight to her panties. He cradled her face gently, reverently, as he nipped at her bottom lip, drawing her taste within his mouth.
She was gripping his forearms when he suddenly pulled away. Taking in her dazed expression, he let his gaze fall to her lips before dropping his hands from her face.
For a brief moment, Molly thought that was the end of their scorching interlude. It certainly wasn’t enough to satisfy her needs, but she wasn’t going to throw herself at Callum. No matter how ridiculously hot the man was.
Instead of backing away from her, as she expected, he dropped his massive hands to cradle her ass and lifted her from her feet. Pressed against his bare chest, with his hands cupping her, she felt the impressive ridge of his erection slide along her belly when he raised her up. The distance to the couch was only a few feet, and he made short work of it, perching her ass on the back of it and fiercely taking her mouth again.
This kiss was hot, an exploration into how wet and ready this man could get her in thirty seconds or less. This kiss was demanding, ordering Molly to surrender and cling to Callum.
A hand gently tugged her head back, bringing her into a position that deepened their kiss. Bringing her closer to complete and total submission.
Instead of allowing Callum to run the show, she took charge the only way she could. Curling a hand around his straining erection, she felt the tension in his body through the soft cotton of his boxers. As she gripped him, barely getting her fingers around his girth, he let a low growl escape from the back of his throat.
Controlling him with her touch was intoxicating. His movements had stilled and he stood before her, hot and heavy under her fingers, poised on the edge of release. Every muscle and tendon was pulled tight. His face was raised to the ceiling, eyes tightly closed as he absorbed her touch.
“Callum.” She said his name quietly, softly, as she kissed his rock-hard abdomen. His muscles contracting under her lips brought another heady rush of excitement.
He hissed in a breath and when he spoke his voice was strained. “Cal. Call me Cal.”
An open-mouthed kiss to the skin just above the band of his boxers brought his hands to her face with a soft touch. He caressed her cheeks with his thumbs and encouraged her to raise her face.
She knew what was coming, and it wasn’t going to be her anytime soon, if the look on his face was any indication. He caressed her neck, where his grip had been tight.
Cal chuckled and placed a kiss on her temple and placed her on her feet. “Come on. We’ve got thirty minutes to pull ourselves together before Chris gets here. I’ll even let you have the bathroom first.”
> Molly grabbed her bag from the floor a few feet away and practically flounced into the bathroom, not bothering to glance back at Cal. She refused to consider how close she’d come to stripping him naked. Temporary insanity. It had to be. They’d only met a few hours ago, and though he might be ridiculously hot, she had never just jumped into bed with some random guy. But damn did she wish he hadn’t put the brakes on their interlude.
The next morning, Cal heard Molly’s little car pull into the lot downstairs, and Bo, the yellow Lab, gave a soft bark as he padded over to the door leading down to the pub. During dinner last night, they’d filled Chris in on the afternoon’s events. Well, aside from the hot make-out session. They had definitely left that out.
Chris had convinced Molly to stay with him at his apartment for safety, but he couldn’t take Bo, since his place had a strict no-pet rule. So Cal had kept Bo, and Chris had gone home with Molly. That had really chapped Cal’s ass.
He wanted to tell Chris to take a hike, that Molly would be staying with him and no one else. Even though every cell in his body wanted to claim Molly as his own, he also knew she was off limits. They’d rushed through getting ready to beat the clock before Chris showed up, and even though they’d spent twenty minutes bouncing into each other in the tiny apartment, little had been said.
Now she was downstairs, and he was dying to get her alone again. Just the thought brought his dick to attention. Until he heard another car in the lot and a few moments later, a voice called out below. Well, hell. The afternoon staff was already showing up.
Opening the door for Bo, he watched the dog bound down the stairs and out the lower door he’d left open after their run that morning. He figured Noah ran with him on the regular, since Bo had appeared at the side of his bed with leash in mouth shortly after six that morning. He’d been more than happy to oblige the dog. He’d spent a sleepless night thinking about Molly and had been more than ready to get his day started.
He followed the dog into the pub below and found a man with a steel-gray buzz cut and heavily muscled arms behind the bar. He was stocking the coolers with bottled beer as he eyed Cal crossing the floor.
