by Natalie Ann
He used to be so much like her. He used to smile like that. He was again now that he found Ella. He’d have to remember that on the days he was feeling sorry for himself.
“You should always try to smile. Not just for yourself, but for those around you. I’d like to think that when people think of me, they remember I was a happy person. Do you remember that about me?” she asked.
“I do,” he said and told himself that he would make sure of it now.
“That man that comes in here every day. He’s nice. I remember that about him. I don’t always remember who he is or what he says, but I remember how nice he is to me. That goes a long way in life.”
“Yes, it does.”
After he left his mother, he stopped at the florist and scheduled flowers delivered to Ella tomorrow morning when her office opened. Why? Because he wanted to make her smile and he wanted to do what his mother said.
When Ella thought of him, he wanted her to remember he was nice and caring, not the man she tried to avoid for years.
Broken a Lesser Man
“Did Travis send you those?”
Ella looked up and saw her father standing there. “He did,” she said, reaching a hand forward and touching the yellow petal. She didn’t even know what half of the flowers were, just that they were bright and cheerful and made her grin. Of course whenever she thought of Travis lately she wanted to grin.
“That was nice of him,” her father said, walking into her office and sitting down across from her.
“He’s a really nice guy.” She paused for a second and then added, “Did you know his mother is in a nursing home and that his father spends every day there with her?”
“I did,” her father said. “I’ve known Ken and Carol for years. Ken used to come in the bar for a drink sometimes. Carol would join him for dinner now and again, but it was Ken I saw more often.”
“Yeah. Travis said he visits once a week if he can, but I can see it’s hard for him to do.”
“Travis seems like someone who doesn’t let anything stand in his way whether it’s hard or not,” her father said, lifting an eyebrow.
Ella grinned. “No. I don’t think anything does,” she said. She wouldn’t share the history of Travis and Julia; she didn’t feel it was her place.
“He’s had some hard times in the past few years from what Ken has told me.”
She tilted her head. “And that would be?”
“Ella, I love your loyalty. I’m sure Travis does too, but I know he lost someone very close to him while he was in the service. Between that and his mother, he made a huge life change and came home. Ken had told me all about it when we were discussing our business originally. I knew Travis would be back permanently after his last tour.”
“Oh,” Ella said. “Do you know what happened?”
“I do, but it’s not my place to tell you any more than you thought it wasn’t your place to tell me. It’s very sad and I imagine that it might have broken a lesser man.”
“Travis is anything but broken.” Though she wondered if he was just good at hiding it since she still didn’t have any details.
“Exactly. So has your mother given you any grief about finding someone on your own?” he asked.
She smiled, glad for the change in topics. “She seems to think she still had a hand in this.”
Her father snorted. “And exactly how is that?”
Ella shook her head. “You know Mom. She thinks nothing can be done without her directing it. She feels that by pushing her agenda in my face that it resulted in me making a move toward Travis.”
“Did it?” her father asked.
She wasn’t about to admit that. “Not really. You know me. I don’t do anything last minute. I wouldn’t have asked Travis out if I hadn’t been thinking about it for a long time.”
“So you made the first move?” he asked her.
“We both made moves to let the other know we were interested.” That was all she was confessing to. No one needed to know that until recently she was a bumbling fool with Travis.
“Whatever caused it, I’m glad. I know you’ve had some hard times yourself when it comes to men and your brothers.”
“That’s putting it mildly,” she said.
“You’ve never let anything stand in your way either and I’m glad for that. I’m glad that maybe you might have found someone that can appreciate that trait in you and not be put off by it.”
“No, Travis isn’t put off by my independence at all.” She remembered how he’d said that Julia was the complete opposite of her and didn’t even like to be left alone. Ella never had a problem being on her own, nor did she need someone watching over her all the time.
Matter of fact, she wanted just the opposite.
“Well, maybe now you will put as much energy into your relationship as you have in Fierce for years.”
“What do you mean?”
Her father sighed. “You know exactly what I’m saying.” Then he left before she could argue. There was no point since he was right. It was time to figure it out like her brothers did.
***
Later that night, Travis stopped over for dinner at Ella’s. He had a million things to do and needed to go back to a client’s tonight after hours with some of his employees to set up a new security system and check for any glitches, but Ella had called and wanted to thank him for the flowers and he was damn well going to make the time for her.
“Hi,” she said when he walked in the front door.
“I know a guy who could give you a good security system here if you need it,” he said, leaning down to kiss her puckered lips. A man could get used to walking in the door to that sight.
“I’m pretty safe in this building.”
He knew. He’d seen the system they used, but it wasn’t as good as his. “If you ever want one just let me know.” He wasn’t going to add it’d make him sleep better at night knowing it was there. That would be putting the weight right back on his shoulders that he was trying to knock off.
“Do you have one in your house?” she asked.
“Of course I do,” he said, running his finger down her nose.
“I haven’t seen anything.”
“I’m good at what I do. You won’t find a thing in the house, but trust me when I say everything is covered.”
Her face paled. “Do you have cameras in your bedroom?”
He pulled her into his arms. “I do, but they are disengaged when I’m up and moving around. I’d never record anyone without their knowledge. I engage them when the house is empty and when I’m sleeping at night. I hope you believe me.”
“I do. I want to and I guess I’ve got no choice but to.”
“The next time you come over, I’ll do something I’ve never done before. I’ll show you my set-up and the controls. You’ll see where they are to engage or disengage them. You’ll know if they are recording or not and can double-check yourself.”
She nodded her head. “Thank you. Is that why you haven’t wanted me to spend the night?” she asked.
“I haven’t said you can’t.” This was the first time it’d come up. “You haven’t asked me to stay here either.”
“That’s true. I guess I thought it was a big step and wasn’t sure either of us was ready for it.”
“Do you think we are now?” he asked.
“I wouldn’t mind it now and again if you were up for it.”
“I could be up for it, but tonight can’t be the night. I’m actually pressed for time as it is, but wanted to see you.”
“If you had plans you could have told me. We could have done this another night,” she said moving into her kitchen. “I’ll just check on dinner now.”
“I’ve got to set up a job tonight with a few men. There is still about an hour before we have to meet.”
“Dinner will be done in ten minutes then,” she said.
They were sitting at her island eating stuffed chicken and a vegetable medley with polenta cakes on t
he side. He’d never thought to make them before. “Is this Aiden’s recipe?” he asked stabbing at the cake.
“He showed me how to make them a few years ago. I’ve tweaked it myself with seasonings. Do you like it?”
“I do. Maybe you can show me how you make them.”
She took another bite of chicken. “You seem different today. I hate to say lighter or it’d make me look like an idiot.”
“You’re never an idiot,” he said, smiling. He figured there was no reason he couldn’t share some news. “One of my buddies from my squad sent me an email today. He’s going to be in town in a few weeks on his way to a family vacation and wanted to get together.”
“That’s great. I hope you’re going to make time for him,” she said.
Julia had never wanted to meet—let alone talk about—any of the men that served with him. “I am. Would you like to meet him?”
“Absolutely. You talk so fondly of your time there. Maybe I can get some deep dark secrets about you.”
He’d laughed. There was no hesitation at all in her response. “Brock is pretty hard to break, trust me. He’s going to make my place his first stop before he goes to visit the Outer Banks with his family for a week.”
“I can’t wait to meet him,” she said. “And trust me, I’ll get something out of him. I can be sneaky just like my mother.”
He groaned knowing how sneaky Jolene Fierce had been in the past few years. “Go easy on him, okay? Just for my sake.”
She laughed. “I think you might be a little bit afraid of me, Travis. Wouldn’t that be a kicker.”
“Yeah, wouldn’t it,” he said, knowing that there was a lot of fear when it came to Ella. Fear that she was slowly wrapping herself around his heart.
All Business
Travis walked through the back door of Fierce with Brock James and saw several staff milling around prepping for lunch when they’d open in twenty minutes. “I’ll take you through the restaurant and into the pub and bar. Aimee should be in this morning.”
“Aimee?” Brock asked.
“Aimee Fierce. She’s married to Brody who runs the bar. We can come back later and eat if you want, but I figured now was the time to introduce you to Ella.”
He was shocked that he was so eager to do that when he’d never wanted to before. Julia hadn’t wanted anything to do with Travis’s buddies so he’d given up even talking about them, let alone wanting to introduce them if they ever wanted to come visit.
“This place is massive,” Brock said as they walked through the empty restaurant.
“The restaurant doesn’t normally have too many people in it until closer to mid afternoon and early night. They serve the pub food until five if people want to come back here because it’s quieter, but then five to nine it’s packed for the restaurant menu. After nine people can still eat back here, but it’s only the pub menu. Don’t ask me how they make it all work, but they do.”
“Sounds interesting. Wow, this bar is great,” Brock said.
“Hey, Aimee. This is my buddy Brock from the Navy.”
Aimee walked forward and reached her hand out. “Nice to meet you. Ella said you’d be stopping in. You can go right up to her office. She seemed excited to meet a friend of Travis’s.”
Brock laughed. “I’m dying to meet any woman that could put up with him.”
Travis elbowed his friend. They were the same height at six foot three, but Brock wasn’t as muscular. He was what many called lean and mean. He only ever smiled or laughed off the clock. He never even joked or cracked a grin in the planning stages of a mission. He’d always been all business.
“Watch it, she’d put you to shame with her seriousness,” Travis said, walking Brock back through to the kitchen and then up the stairs and to Ella’s office.
He knocked on the doorframe to Ella’s office, saw her hunched over her computer staring at something and typing. She stopped and looked up. “Travis,” she said, her smile filling her face. She stood up and walked to him, her arms wide and giving him a hug and a kiss. He’d seen her just two days ago, but she was greeting him as if it’d been months.
They still hadn’t spent the night at each other’s place yet, nor did they see each other every day, but they talked at least once a day. He liked that they didn’t need to be in each other’s back pocket nonstop. They didn’t have to tell the other what their plans were and he didn’t need to reassure her he was going to be safe.
When they had time to get together, they did. When they didn’t, neither of them worried about the other.
“Ella, this is Brock James. Brock, Ella Fierce.”
“Serious? She’s supposed to be serious?” Brock asked him, lifting an eyebrow at the huge smile Ella had.
“Is Travis telling you bad things about me?” Ella asked.
It still surprised him that Ella was so different than the woman he’d known for years. She wasn’t the same Ella that was his girlfriend now.
“Nothing at all. I wish he’d told me how beautiful you were. Dude, how the hell did you end up with someone that looked like her?”
Ella laughed. “I like your friend.”
“You would,” Travis said, kissing her forehead. “Not that I don’t think you’re the most beautiful woman around, but he’s sucking up because he loves Mason’s beer so much. We’re going to head over and sign up for a tour.”
“Oh, I can do one better than that, Travis.” She walked over and picked up her cell phone. “Mason, do you have some time to give Travis and his friend a personal tour in a little bit? Thanks so much. They’ll be there soon.”
“Sweet,” Brock said.
“Just go right to Mason’s office,” Ella said. “And, Brock, if you promise to tell me some secrets about Travis, there might be a surprise in it for you.”
“Hell yeah,” Brock said. “Do you have a sister you can introduce me to?”
“Sorry, no sisters. Just four brothers,” she said.
Travis had never been jealous a day in his life with any woman he’d ever dated, but right now he was fighting the urge to not snarl at Brock to cut the shit.
“Let’s get out of here,” Travis said. “Since Mason is making the time for us, I’d like to not keep him waiting.”
“Travis,” Ella said, stopping him. “I’d like to cook dinner for you and Brock tonight if you don’t have plans. If you do, I understand though.”
Travis looked at Brock, got his head nod and said, “We’ll probably come back here for some lunch after the tour then I’m going to show him around town a bit. Does six at your place work?”
“It works,” she said.
The two of them left and were in Travis’s truck driving over to the brewery. “Dude, seriously, why didn’t you tell me anything about her? And how the hell did she manage to fall for your mug?”
Travis snorted. “Trust me, you don’t want to know how long it’s taken for her to even notice me.”
Brock burst out laughing. “You’re not exactly invisible.”
“To her, I was for years.” Travis wasn’t about to go into details about his and Ella’s relationship. Not even to who he considered one of his closest friends. “Anyway, it’s all working out.”
“How are you doing?” Brock asked him, his smile wiped away like they were in a dark room planning the first move on their next mission.
“I’m doing just fine.”
“It looks it. But you’ve always been good at hiding what is really going on inside.”
“Look who’s talking,” Travis said.
“No one was sorrier to see you go than me,” Brock said. “But I probably understood it the most too.”
Brock was now the commander of their team and had been the shoulder that Travis leaned on more than once. When he’d been drunk and was falling apart after he’d made the decision to leave the Navy for good Brock stayed the night with him and made sure he got back to his bunk safely.
“I know. It’s in the past and I’m happy with the life I�
��ve got right now.”
“That’s good to know. How’s your mother doing?”
Brock had an early flight, then drove his rental car to Travis’s and they went right to Fierce without much time to really talk before this. “Good days and bad. You know how it goes.”
“Yeah.” They pulled into the brewery. “And now we can talk about beer and get all the idle chitchat out of the way.”
“We can grab a beer while we’re here too,” Travis said. “Right now, I need one.”
He didn’t realize how hard it was going to be to have Ella’s family meet someone from his personal life or have someone from his past see him in a different light than when he served.
***
Ella was putting the finishing touches on dinner knowing Brock and Travis would be over any minute. Aiden had prepared his famous black and blue burgers for her to just cook tonight and gave her everything she needed to assemble them. She had roasted potatoes in the oven, as she wasn’t about to fry anything. The burgers were going to be enough grease and fat for her for the night. But she also grabbed a few of Nic’s cannoli.
She heard her front door open and then close, leaned out and saw Travis come in with Brock. “How many times do I have to tell you to lock the doors?” Travis said to her.
“I knew you were coming,” she said back to him. “I only left it unlocked for that reason so I wouldn’t have to let you in.”
“Never argue with Travis,” Brock said. “No one ever wins against him.”
“Really?” Ella asked. “We haven’t had any arguments yet, but I’ll keep that in mind.”
“Please,” Travis said. “You’ve got me wrapped around your finger and you know it.”
She smiled, then frowned. “I’m not sure how I feel about that.”
Travis laughed and slapped Brock on his shoulder. “She’s complicated that way. Are you sure you think I’m so lucky now?”
Ella shook her head. She thought the comment was sweet but didn’t want to say that either. “Can I get you guys a beer?”
