Protective Instinct

by Tricia Lynne

  Step by step, I was moving backwards, this woman who was so tiny compared to me pushing me back where she wanted me.

  It was when she wobbled to the side as my ass hit the kitchen counter and her stomach pushed against my throbbing cock that I pulled up.

  I tugged at her nape to find her wet lips parted and plum-colored irises heavy with barely banked heat. I’d never seen anything so sexy in all my life. When she spoke, I realized how drunk she was.

  “Jesus fucking Christ, Brody. You have an immense dong. Whoops.” She clapped a hand over her mouth. “Didn’t mean to say that out loud.”

  A guffaw worked up my throat. Damn, the woman was cute.

  My cock jerked against my jeans and her eyes widened before she collapsed onto my chest with a snort.

  “Christ, you’re not making this easy,” I said, rubbing a hand over my face. But I hadn’t missed the way she leaned against me. “Lily, how much did you drink?”

  “Dunno, wasn’t countin’. Had kind of a shitty day.”

  Aww, hell. “Let’s get you to bed, darlin’.”

  An innocent look crossed her face that I wasn’t buying for a minute. “Comin’ with?”

  After a steadying breath, I slid an arm around her back and another behind her knees, scooping her up. “I’m putting you to bed. That’s all. Now, where’s your room.”

  “End of the hall on the right. Wish you’d come with me.” Her head dropped against my chest.

  I felt the wave of sadness wash over her. “What happened today?”

  Her eyes turned watery and she spilled words I knew she’d wish she could take back. “Today’s my daddy’s birthday. I was supposed to have lunch with my mom, but...”

  Halting my gait, I felt my heart crack wide open. “I’m sorry, Lil.”

  Running a hand over her face, she immediately looked embarrassed.

  I shouldn’t have asked. Not because I didn’t want to know her—I did—but I hated that I’d made her say the words out loud.

  I toed the door open. “But?”

  “Huh? Put me down.”

  Doing as she said, I asked, “Why didn’t you have lunch with your mom?”

  “She, umm...she, she blindsided me with Dick.” She snorted, laughed hard, forcing a grin out of me as I popped her feet under the covers. “I mean her husband. Not cock.”

  “I figured,” I said, pulling the blanket over her shoulders.

  “Oh, I gotta let the dogs out.” She started to sit up.

  “Shh. I got ’em.”

  “Mmm, thank you, sugar.” With that, she snuggled in, drifting off at record speed.

  After letting let the dogs out, I gathered up supplies for the night. I set the dishwasher to run, wiped down the table, washed the wineglasses. Nothing sucked more than cleaning a dirty kitchen with a hangover.

  The entire time, all I could think about was the little peek into what it must have been like for her, being Billy Costello’s daughter. How that would have shaped not only how she saw football, but what she thought of me, and I didn’t blame Lily for wanting to stay away.

  The sad thing was, now I wanted her more with every piece of herself she let me see. I didn’t just like her. I was risking a hell of a lot more than just my job with Lily. I wanted her to see me for who I was, not just what I did for a living or who’d I’d been in the past. I needed her to understand I wasn’t her dad. Because I cared about her.

  You think Andra caused trust issues. Imagine what Lil would do.

  I harrumphed.

  I’d thought I could love Andra.

  With Lily, I knew I could.

  Yet, did I want to go down that road again? It wasn’t until after Andra had left that I’d become that guy—the one Lily didn’t want to have anything to do with. The guy who chased tail and slept his way through the Metroplex because it was easy to avoid attachment that way. The guy that didn’t trust anyone because he didn’t trust his own ability to judge character.

  After hunting around the house, I found a trash can in her bathroom that I sat next to the bed, then let the dogs in. Jet and Mack disappeared into Lily’s bedroom.

  Leaving her door cracked, I went out to the couch, where I tossed a decorative pillow to one end before I toed off my shoes and lay down, pulling a throw off the back.

  CC took it upon herself to climb halfway on top of me. On Lil’s small couch. Suffice it to say, sleep was fitful with monster dog half on top of me, blue balls, and thoughts of the woman in the next room.

  But at least if she needed anything, I’d be here.

  And I didn’t even want to contemplate the implications of that thought.

  Lily

  When my alarm went off the following morning, the first thing I noticed was a glass of water and a bottle of aspirin. Next to me on the bed, Mack continued to saw logs while Jet jumped down to stretch. Before I reached for the lamp my head started to pound.

  Fun.

  Kicking my legs over the edge, I found my feet next to a trash can.

  Damnit. Why did he have to be so thoughtful?

  What happened between us crashed over my brain and oh, how I wished I didn’t remember. At least I hadn’t slept with him. I’d wanted to. Like, really, really wanted to. I wanted to grind up on his pole like a stripper. His enormous pole. I could still remember the feel of that thing against my stomach. “Jesus H, Lily.” I slapped a hand over my eyes.

  Downing the water and aspirin, I made use of the bathroom before stumbling into the kitchen for more water. It for damn sure wasn’t in this state last night.

  Brody didn’t just put my drunk, loose-lipped ass to bed. He’d cleaned up my kitchen, too. Even my dog’s food bowls were washed and sitting on the counter. The smell of coffee hit my nose. Brody had left a clean mug sitting in front of a freshly brewed pot with a note propped against it.

  Morning, darlin’,

  Figured you might want some of this first thing. I wanted to stay last night in case you needed anything, so I slept on your couch. I fed the dogs breakfast and took them out. Promised I’d meet Hayes for an early run before it gets hot, but I’ll be home after that. Call me later, okay? Lord knows I’ve been where you are this morning, and I don’t envy you one bit, but we’ve got things to talk about, Lil.

  Thinking about you,

  Brody

  One of my throw blankets had been folded neatly and placed next to a throw pillow on the couch.

  Seriously? Is this dude even for real?

  Despite the hangover, I felt more hopeful than I had in a long time.

  Perhaps I’d sold him short. Maybe Brody Shaw was the real deal...

  Or is he too good to be true?

  Chapter Sixteen

  She’d charge hell with a bucket of ice water.

  Brody

  I sat parked half under a streetlight with the engine in my truck turned off, watching the rental from two houses away. The free-to-a-good-home ad had resulted in several inquiries. Most people were just good folks who wanted to give a dog a home. Between Lily, Melissa, and Kate, they’d been able to weed them out to focus on the more worrisome contacts. Of course, they’d always give them a gentle nudge in the direction of a local rescue before making their excuses.

  Three inquiries had been particularly suspicious. The first two, one was possibly looking for a bait dog. He took one look at Everett’s old Boxer, Maddie, and left. The second gave Melissa and Kate the creeps. They said he scrutinized poor Maddie like he was a serial killer in training. Everett, Hayes, and I decided that we wanted at least one of us on hand in the house after that. Not that the women weren’t fully capable of handling themselves, and anyone else. Just as backup.

  That split me and Hayes up for tonight. He was hanging back at the house while the next inquirer visited. I was waiting to follow them in my truck when they left. Hopefully they�
�d lead us to the mill. If not, we’d at least get a license plate or an address when they left.

  Without Maddie, of course.

  We never had any intention of giving Maddie to anyone.

  Lily whipped open the passenger door, startling me. “I’ve got a feeling about this one, Shaw.” She climbed into the cab and shut the door. “They were elusive on the phone and... I don’t know, and asked a lot of questions about if Maddie had been bred. Which, yeah, Everett bred her twice after her grand championship title. They’ll be able to tell if they check her undercarriage.”

  Seriously? Lily was all business, like we hadn’t made out like teenagers then she ignored the note I left her. She hadn’t even texted me since then. I was feeling a little used, and when I didn’t give up the goods, she wrote me off. I didn’t think that was it, of course. One, I didn’t let anybody use me, and two, my gut told me she was embarrassed that she got that drunk and tried to ride me like she was breaking a young horse.

  We’d save that for later. One issue at a time. “What do you think you’re doing?”

  “Coming with you.”

  I brushed a hand over my face. “Yeah, you sure that’s a good idea?”

  She sent me a what the hell look. “Why wouldn’t it be?”

  Truth was, I didn’t want her with me if this person managed to figure out they were being followed. If they did lead me to the mill...well, by her own admittance she’d lost her cool and got her ass arrested. “I, uh...we can’t approach these people, Lily. No matter how much you want to. We can’t burst in guns blazing and start popping open cages.”

  She crossed her arms, glared straight ahead. “I’m going. They can’t use me in there because there’s a chance I might be recognized. Y’all aren’t cutting me out of this. It’s my plan, my mill to take down. I’m not going to sit in the back bedroom with my thumb up my butt.”

  “Your mill to take down? I thought this was a team effort. You need to depend on everyone else to do their part.”

  She huffed out a shitty laugh. “Yeah, sure. Because I’ve had so much luck with that.”

  “We’re here, Lily. All these people. Helping. See, that’s the thing about having a team. You don’t have to do it all yourself.”

  Looking down at her lap, she nodded. “I’m not great...at that. Depending on people, I mean. I’m trying, though.” Her voice was nearly a whisper as she flicked her eyes to mine and the streetlight reflected back at me. It damn near took my breath away. The soft scent of night-blooming jasmine and warm vanilla tickled my nose and was making my jeans too tight. That fragrance of hers haunted my dreams. Would it be stronger in the crease of her thigh? Darker?

  Blowing out a quick breath, I tipped her chin up. “I get it, darlin’. I have a hard time trusting people, too. I feel like everyone wants something from me. But, please let me help. Let me do my part. I’m here to back you up, Lil. You can count on me. I’m not trying to cut you out, I’d just feel better if you weren’t with me if something goes wrong, is all.”

  Shit. The more I knew this woman, the more I wanted her to let me in—the more I wanted to let her behind my curtain, too. “I would never tell you that you can’t, Lily. You’re a grown woman who can do as she pleases, but I’d feel better if you stayed here.” Not capable of stopping myself, I cupped her jaw, stroked my thumb over her cheekbone.

  There was nothing I wanted more than to kiss her.

  However, when headlights whipped around the corner making their way toward us, it all became moot.

  She and I watched as a dark pickup truck parked on the curb in a shadow in front of a neighboring house. Our visitors were early.

  “That’s got to be them.” We both scrunched down in my cab, watching two men get out.

  Both were sizeable. One wore a baseball cap, the other had the hood on his sweatshirt flipped up. It was a bit warm for a sweatshirt this time of year. The truck was hard to see, too. Maybe black or navy blue...

  I squinted. “Damn it. They don’t have a plate on the front.”

  Both men walked up the drive, the one in the cap ringing the doorbell while the other hung back several steps.

  He looked in our direction, then at the back of his partner.

  Followed by another turn in our direction as if he were staring right into the cab.

  His attention shifted to Kate’s SUV sitting across the street before refocusing on my truck.

  “Something’s wrong,” Lily whispered.

  “Yeah, the guy hanging back seems spooked.” I didn’t think he saw us sitting in the truck...besides, it was a neighborhood. There were other cars on the street, too.

  A beat later, the guy tugged on the jacket of the man in front of him and they were cutting through the front yard back to their truck. By the time Melissa opened the door, the one who had watched my truck was sliding in the driver’s seat.

  High beams hit my windshield, and an equally bright passenger side spotlight turned toward the rental house. Lily and I both shielded our eyes. I would find out later, Melissa had too, but it was enough. With quick efficiency the driver whipped a U-turn and I caught a quick flash of orange on the truck’s quarter panel before they took off the way he came. I also thought there was something written across the tailgate, but my field of vision was filled with white dots.

  Lily grabbed my arm. “Can you see the plate?”

  “Fuck. No, they blinded us on purpose.”

  “We should follow.”

  I was already ahead of her, turning over the engine as they made their turn around the corner, but by the time I got to the corner, the truck was gone.

  We drove all over the growing town for the next two hours looking for any signs of them, but it was the proverbial needle in a haystack. Pickup trucks were a dime a dozen around here. I was fairly sure it was an F-150 and I was ninety percent sure about the orange coloring and lettering on the tailgate. But the main road was lighted and was a hive of activity. Off the main road were lots of new neighborhoods, old ranches, and dark country roads.

  We got nothing.

  As we drove back to the rental house, Lil stared out of the side window. “What do you think spooked them?”

  Glancing in my own rearview, I shook my head. “No idea. I couldn’t see their faces, so I know they couldn’t see us all scrunched down. Maybe it was a feeling.”

  She dropped her head against the window. “This didn’t stand a chance. We don’t know these roads like someone who lives here, or say, runs a puppy mill on one of these ranches.”

  I nodded. “Maybe, but I think we’re on the right track, Lil. It was a solid plan. Otherwise, why would they run off like that?” A tear glistened against her creamy cheek. I reached across the seat to take her hand in mine.

  She studied our joined hands but didn’t let go. “I wasted time doing this. A lot of time—the dogs are the ones that will suffer for it.”

  “No, you didn’t. This isn’t your fault, darlin’. It was a good idea. We couldn’t have possibly accounted for every variable.”

  Pulling to a stop in front of the rental house, I lifted my arm across the back of the seat. “We’ll have to rely on plan B is all. I promise we’ll find them.”

  Without prompting, Lily slid across the seat under my outstretched arm, resting her head against my shoulder. I wrapped her tight. It felt so perfectly...right. Her hand on my chest. Her heartbeat against my side. I brushed a kiss across her hair meant to comfort that I had no right to give. When she turned her face up to mine, those sad eyes squeezed my heart.

  I dropped my mouth in the direction of hers, just short of touching, letting her choose.

  She chose to meet my lips in the softest, most tender kiss of my life. Our mouths slid against one another in feather light brushes with warmth and affection, feelings—on both sides—that were as clear as the ache that developed in my chest.

&n
bsp; This woman.

  Taking her chin between my thumb and index finger, I pulled back to see her face was a reflection of everything I was feeling. The same pull and recognition, the same desire and affection.

  The same unease, too.

  Lily

  We were playing a dangerous game with both Brody’s career and my heart. In truth, I was as much at fault as he was. More so. He didn’t try to dry-hump me in his kitchen, after all.

  I sat up and he ran a hand over his face. Throwing a wrist over the steering wheel, he stared out the windshield into the night.

  I studied his profile. Inky hair curled around his ears from underneath his ball cap. The powerful line of his neck, the dark scruff on his sharp jaw. Longing erupted in my stomach as I remembered pushing the tip of my tongue against the hollow of his throat, my fingers threading into the hair at his nape. What it felt like to have his big arms around me. The single thick vein that ran up the length of his forearm and over the mound of his bicep before disappearing into a gray T-shirt pulled tight over his shoulders.

  “We need to talk about what happened.”

  “I’m right here listening.” His voice was deep, warm, that little bit of Texas Southern curling around my ears the same way his woodsy scent teased my nose.

  I mentally hit the reset button, pinching the bridge of my nose and clearing my throat so my voice did come out husky. “I, uh, I drank too much, as if you didn’t already know that. I shouldn’t have done...what I did.”

  The dimple in his cheek made an appearance. “What? You mean make out with me?” His chuckle was easy. “Didn’t mind that part at all. You’re an adorable drunk, by the way.”

  Ugh. “I dumped my shit on you and you had to put me to bed and take care of my dogs—”