by Natalie Ann
“When did you plan on marrying? After you left the service?”
“That was her plan. I had one tour to finish and planned on at least another. I liked what I was doing and didn’t want to really stop anytime soon.”
Her next question was going to be about his daughter, but she told herself not to go there. It never happened, so to ask what the plan would have been about living with his child was meaningless at this point.
“What did you do in the Navy? Aside from being a SEAL.”
“I was in security. Julia was always afraid, but I wasn’t often in the line of danger like she thought I was. Not my last tour and probably not going forward. I’d have assignments, but I wasn’t on the front line. I was more behind the scenes at that point. I had a way with technology and equipment. On missions I was the eyes for the guys when it came to things they couldn’t see.”
“I bet there is more stress and responsibility on your shoulders being the one left behind to watch their backs,” she said.
“Yeah,” was all he said.
“I could see that. I could see you in the middle of the action too,” she said, an image of him in uniform and a gun in his hand. It’d be shallow to have that turn her on, but there it was. “I bet you would have had a nice long military career if you wanted it.”
He sighed. “It was such a part of my life for so long. I went into the service intending to go into security. I’d been working beside my father as a teen for years and I loved it. I just wanted more than what was around here.”
“But you always knew you’d come back,” she said, wondering that if he always wanted more, then why come back at all.
“I did. My father’s business isn’t the same as it was when he ran it,” he said hesitantly. “The plan was to come back years from now. After I did my time in the Navy and was ready to slow down in life. It wasn’t the plan to do it so soon. But life changes and we have to change with it.”
She pushed that comment aside. Between his mother and his fiancée, she was guessing that was enough changes in anyone’s life. “I know you do a lot more than just cameras and systems. I get that. And I understand that you’ve got staff that do most of the installations, but you’re more hands on with us. My father was very specific that he only wanted your father or you working on things. There are a lot of highly confidential things going on in the brewery, even the kitchen, if someone really wanted to monitor it closely to steal recipes for other locations.”
“I know,” he said. “I don’t have a problem with it. I like going in there moving things around. But the rest of my staff deal with the other installations and network backups and such.”
“So what else is so different?” she asked, wanting to learn more about him. “Do you do a lot of things like what you did for Cade? Do you do background checks on people?”
He cleared his throat. “I can’t tell you that.”
“Oh my God, my parents had you do a clearance on my sisters-in-law, didn’t they?”
“Ella,” he said. They were both dressed now and just standing in his bedroom. He had a smirk on his face and she had her answer, but he said what she expected. “Client confidentiality. That is what you and your parents wanted out of McKinley’s.”
“I own part of Fierce,” she argued, but knew he couldn’t be budged.
“I don’t just work for Fierce.”
“My mother paid you herself, didn’t she?”
He burst out laughing, then walked toward her and lifted her in the air, placing his lips on hers. “Stop asking me questions I won’t answer.”
“Then give me something else to talk about it,” she said.
“I still have contracts with the government for certain projects. Or I should say McKinley’s does.”
She nodded her head and knew he’d say no more. “I don’t have to be worried about danger, right?”
“No.” He placed his lips over hers and carried her into the kitchen, her legs around his hips again. She could get used to this when she’d never thought she’d want to feel like a woman being carried anywhere in life. But if that was the case, she had to ask herself why she always wanted someone so big and strong. “How about we get some food in our bellies and we can talk then?”
It was probably the best thing to do right now, so she went along with it.
My Favorite
Travis was pulling eggs and vegetables out of his fridge, his back to Ella while she sat at the little breakfast nook. She wasn’t stupid and figured out what her mother had done, but he’d never acknowledge it.
“I know my mother never asked you to look into any men for me because I haven’t dated anyone that she’s known about since you’ve been working with us.”
He didn’t answer her, even if it was the truth. “How about a veggie and cheese frittata for dinner? It’s quick and filling. Lots of protein since we just had a nice workout.”
“Fine. I get the hint,” she said.
“Since we talked about my work, let’s talk about yours. Why are you the numbers girl? Everyone is hands on for the most part but you and Cade. How come?”
“We all seemed to have our calling. Well, everyone did but Cade for years. Brody has always been a people person. He was the first one behind the bar with my father and he could talk to anyone about anything. He could earn their trust and they’d just confide their deepest darkest secrets to him. He was good at keeping things to himself too. Kind of like you,” she said, grinning.
Travis knew that about Brody. When the bar came under investigation and was cleared, Gavin had gone to Travis’s dad to get some security in place. The set-up was fast and more than average cameras and monitors with the promise of increased measures when Travis was back in town on his next leave.
When he’d come home to figure out what they’d need, he’d done a deep dive on the situation with Brody and his friend Craig. He wanted to know what prompted the measures Gavin wanted and if there’d be a threat in the future.
What he’d found was Brody had let his guard down and befriended someone he shouldn’t have. Someone that used Brody to get acceptance into Fierce whenever he wanted and no one would suspect the illegal business meetings taking place.
“Brody is good at what he does,” Travis said. That one little misstep didn’t mean Brody didn’t know how to read people well. He’d been working the bar since he was eighteen, longer than any of the other siblings, since he never went to college.
“Aiden was always the most talented in the house. He cooked more meals than my mother did,” she said. “So it was only natural that would be his focus.”
Aiden, a James Beard Award-winning chef had talent like most had never seen. He’d had a little incident in college that no one was aware of that almost got him expelled but was cleared. Aside from that, his background was pretty clean.
“I wouldn’t mind some lessons from him one day,” Travis said, joking.
“I’ll see what I can do,” Ella said as she stood up and walked to the island to help him chop vegetables.
“I was just kidding.”
“I wasn’t,” she said, leaning into his side for a kiss. “Back to my brothers. Mason is the smart one. He always loved science. My father wanted to try to brew his own beer, but he just couldn’t get it right. Mason stepped in and they worked on it together. Well, Mason did all the work. Anyway, the concept of the brewery was born.”
Mason, the quiet one that stayed out of trouble. He’d seen a report of a fight that Mason was in in college, but nothing earth shaking. Nothing more than Mason took a beating but no reason was listed as to why and it was swept under the carpet since the other one in the fight was the star quarterback on a full scholarship.
“I’m sure you noticed my supply of beer in the fridge.”
“I did,” she said. “I noticed a lot of Ella. Is that because of me or do you really like that one?” she asked, squinting her eyes.
“I like them all, but Ella happens to be my favorite.”
&
nbsp; She giggled and though the sound of a female giggle used to get on his nerves, coming from her, it actually lifted his heart. Maybe because it was so unlike her and so unexpected. She was always so calculating and controlled and he appreciated some of her spontaneity now.
“Then there’s Cade. He never really felt he had a place in the group, but he had a smooth way about him. Or rather he never shut up. He did have good ideas when it came to promotions and ended up taking that over when he was in college.”
“How did he end up being a lawyer?” Travis asked.
Cade didn’t have anything official on his record at all. Just rumors from when he was at Duke about being a player and a bunch of girls trying to set him up. Travis wasn’t one to run with a rumor, and since no one in the Fierce family knew he did such a deep check on the whole family, he couldn’t very well ask.
“His senior year he got into a little bit of trouble with some ladies,” Ella said. “Needless to say it was an eye opener for him and he finally buckled down. It was then he decided that the business needed legal representation and though we were all nervous about Cade going on for it, it wasn’t going to be me, so he was the last resort.”
“Trouble with the ladies?” he asked, cracking the eggs into a bowl.
“Nothing I couldn’t handle.”
He looked up and smiled at her, not surprised to hear that statement. “Do I even want to know?”
She laughed. “Let’s say those girls messed with the wrong family. Their reputation was anything but stellar to begin with and I made sure it wasn’t forgotten what they’d done at Duke and they had no one to blame but themselves.”
He shook his head. “Yeah, I don’t even want to know.”
There was nothing at all on Ella when he looked into her background. She was the mystery of the group. Smart, beautiful, and a loner for the most part. He’d had no understanding of how that was possible until he got to know her more.
That she was that way intentionally because of her own insecurities. He was tempted to look into more since she’d said she hadn’t asked a guy out since college. Something had to have happened there, but he’d come up empty in her past.
It was probably nothing more than an average breakup. He’d have to let it go.
“Then there’s me,” she said. “I’m not as smart as Mason, but I’m organized. I’m detailed. And I love planning things out and lining them up. Watching numbers fall into place and analyzing them to see a better outcome.”
He mixed everything together in the skillet, put shredded cheese on top and slid it into the oven. “Sounds pretty boring, yet I know you’re anything but.”
“That’s because you’re one of the few who sees a side of me that only my family gets to experience.”
“Then I’ll consider myself damn lucky.”
***
Ella was feeling darn lucky herself when she let herself into her home.
After dinner was finished, she’d helped Travis clean up, and then they’d made their way back into his bedroom for a round of slow teasing intense sex. She was lucky she could actually find the energy to climb out of his bed and dress again.
Though she’d had it in her mind to not spend the night, he obviously didn’t want her to either. He’d dressed also and she felt the underlying message for her to do the same.
She wasn’t hurt by that. Not really.
In order to be hurt, she’d have to be invested and she was keeping all her coins to herself right now. She wasn’t putting anything on the line, on the table, or up for debate.
She wasn’t going to fall for Travis’s sweet ways and sexy body.
He had secrets and demons and she had her own.
But she had a hot boyfriend that made her feel good. That made her feel better than anyone had ever made her feel before. And he understood her.
So in her eyes, she was one lucky girl.
Some Lunatic
“I can’t believe you talked me into this,” Travis said when she parked her car in the mall parking lot. She was just so happy right now. This was the first guy she’d ever dated that let her drive somewhere. She knew it was stupid and silly, but it seemed half the men she’d been with would never let her drive. Like because she was a woman she couldn’t handle her own car.
Not Travis though. They’d been on several dates and he’d picked her up every time, but today she suggested the mall and since it was on the way toward his house, she’d said she’d swing by and get him.
He’d never said a word about driving or anything, just walked out of his front door and climbed into the passenger seat of her Lexus, adjusted the controls so he could stretch his long legs out and then she pulled away.
“It’s the mall, Travis. It’s not the dentist office for a root canal with no Novocain.”
“That might be more pleasurable,” he said.
She turned her head to see if he was joking and couldn’t tell. “Not funny.”
“No, it’s not.” But he did reach over and poke her arm with his finger.
“What do you do when you need clothes?” she asked.
“I order them online like most people do nowadays.”
She huffed out a breath. Half the fun of buying clothes was trying them on. “How will you know if they fit or not?”
“Since I only order from a few places that actually carry my size, I know they’ll fit.”
“Boring,” she said.
“Some of us don’t need an extra bedroom turned into additional closet space.”
“Some of us don’t wear jeans every day to work,” she said back.
“You could and you know it. You could even wear one of those nice Fierce shirts like your brothers do.”
“Please. My heart just stopped. I can’t wear the same shirt every day to work.”
“You’re a piece of work. Okay, so tell me, what are you looking to buy today?” he asked.
“Nothing specific. I just like to walk around and see if anything catches my eye.”
His groan had her turning sharply. “You’re killing me, Ella.”
“Lighten up, Travis. It’s better than always going out to eat. We don’t get to spend much time together and since my family knows I’m dating someone, I actually didn’t go into the office today and didn’t have to stress over someone wondering what I was doing.”
She hadn’t taken a full day off in years. Not even a Saturday. But today was Saturday and she had a boyfriend and she wanted to spend the day with him.
The funny part was, she didn’t get one wisecrack from anyone in her family when she said she wasn’t going into the office today. Of course she was normally gone by the time her brothers Aiden or Brody got into Fierce on a Saturday, so they probably wouldn’t even know and she could have just kept the information to herself.
But she had kind of wanted to brag that she not only had a boyfriend, but she was actually spending time with him.
And that made her realize that she had no life at all. That she spent way too much time there when no one else had. That maybe she was using work as an excuse to not move forward with her life.
Sure, they all had a goal to make Fierce the powerhouse it is, but that shouldn’t have been the reason for keeping her from having some kind of a life. Even if she was still gun shy about men, she could have gone out with friends from time to time.
Yeah, those friends that she never really had either. What a pathetic life she actually lived for someone that everyone thought had her crap together.
When her brothers all found women, she was the first one lecturing them to take time off and enjoy life. She was going to listen to her own words now.
“You took the whole day off?” he asked. “You haven’t checked email or booted up your computer to look at anything else?”
“Of course I checked email and turned my computer on. But I didn’t go into the office today. Doesn’t that count? Did you do any work today?”
“Just some correspondence like always in the morning,�
�� he said.
They were walking toward the mall entrance now. “See, it’s hard to fully step away when it’s your own business.”
“I’ll give you that much. Did you ride your bike this morning?” he asked.
“I did. Why?” she asked.
“Because I’m in the mood for chocolate and since you’ve got me here, I’m going into one of the candy stores. No whining over it or you can wait in the hall like most men do when their wives are trying clothes on and they need a break.”
She laughed. “Thanks for the warning.”
Too bad she didn’t have any other warning that she’d be exposing her biggest fear to him in a public setting an hour later.
They were walking out of a department store and her head was turned talking to him when someone bumped into her. She glanced over to apologize and it was a clown in full makeup. Big red lips, white face, blue around the eyes and a yellow squishy nose.
She let out a scream loud enough to rival a horror house visit on Halloween, then clung to Travis’s arm and all but crawled up his leg in an attempt to get away like a cat racing up a tree with a hound on its tail.
***
Travis had been laughing at something Ella said when she wasn’t paying attention and someone bumped into her. The mall was overloaded with people today and it wasn’t the first time they’d been skirting traffic.
But when she turned her head and let out the bloodcurdling scream and tried to scratch the skin off his arm in her attempt to get away, he shoved her behind him and had the clown up by the front of his rainbow polka dot jumper watching the bundle of balloons he was carrying float up and away.
“I’m sorry, dude,” the clown said, the fear seeping out of his bright blue-rimmed eyes. “It was just an accident.”
People were watching the show and he had no clue what was going on, but between Ella shaking and holding onto his left arm and the clown shaking in his right hand, the crowd was growing.
“Just watch where you’re going,” Travis said, letting the guy down and trying to straighten the wrinkles from where his fist had been. “Hang on.” Travis reached into his pocket and pulled out cash. “For the balloons.”
