by Dale Mayer
“A lot of men can’t do even a fraction of what you do. Or what any of you do. Why not start some kind of retraining program? Physical, mental, emotional, whatever it is you feel you can do to help your own people.”
“Help my own people,” he said for emphasis.
She chuckled. “I mean military. Navy, air force, marines, army. However you feel you could help, do that to help them. Start a mentorship program.”
He shook his head. “You know? We could do that on a volunteer basis, but it’s not like we’ll do that on a full-time basis. We have to have money incoming to keep everything flowing.”
“So set up a business and bring on more people to train other former military people for something. Start something like what Levi has done, as we’ve discussed before. I still think that’s a great idea. Levi started his business with just the four of them. Now how many does he employ?”
“Fifteen, sixteen, maybe twenty.” Badger shook his head. “No idea. By the way, he called to say he and Ice were coming into town in a bit.”
“Good. Will they stop by?”
“There was talk of it.”
“It would be lovely to see them.”
“The house is big enough, if you are okay for them to stay here. I mentioned it,” he said, “but I had to check with you first.”
She looked at him. “They are your friends.”
He smiled. “But you live here too.”
“And thank you very much for thinking of me,” she said gently. “I’d love to see them.”
He nodded. “Then I’ll tell Levi. He didn’t really have a set date. He said it could be next week or it could be in a couple months.” He leaned over. “I’m thinking that he might be ready to ask Ice to marry him.”
Kat stopped and stared at him for a long moment. “That would probably be a very good idea.”
He frowned at her. “Why?”
“They’ve been together a long time,” she said quietly. “I think Ice would like that.”
“But she knows he loves her.”
Her lips twitched. “Yes, and marriage isn’t for everyone,” she admitted. “But I think, inside, Ice would love to get married.”
Badger nodded, but he was frowning too.
She chuckled and patted his hand. “I’ll go grab the take-out menus.”
“You want to grab me a beer while you’re up?”
“Will do.” She walked inside, straight through to the living room, where she knew he couldn’t hear her and laughed. And laughed and laughed. Good for Ice. She was putting the first play in motion. Kat knew that she was taking a hell of a chance doing this, but she figured there really wasn’t any other way. She’d need their support. All of them.
It was supposed to be a fun, happy event. But she definitely needed help. She’d been cajoling Stone to give them a hand, but he’d been less than amiable as it would put him in a difficult position himself. The thought just made her chuckle again. She picked up the take-out menus, grabbed a cold beer from the fridge and looked inside, thinking, What the hell? and pulled one out for her too. Outside she gave him a beer and sat down, still a big smile on her face.
“There you go again. You’re making me suspicious,” he growled.
She turned to look at him. “And what’s bugging you now?”
He stared at her intently. “My intuition is going off on a full-tilt fire alarm.”
“Yeah? Why?”
“I want to know what you’re up to.”
With a twinkle in her eyes, she leaned closer. “Maybe we should take the Chinese to bed.”
His eyes lit up. “Now that’s an idea I can get behind.” And he started to get up.
She placed a hand on his thigh. “We haven’t even ordered it yet.”
He frowned as if trying to figure out the logistics.
She shook her head. “No way are we having sex, and then I have to get dressed to come downstairs, pay for the Chinese food and take it back upstairs again. I’ll order it, and we’ll eat first. That will give us a time frame.” She motioned at the beer in his hand. “Besides, you haven’t even had a drink yet.”
He tilted the bottle back and downed almost half of it in one gulp.
At that, she burst out laughing. “What’s the matter? A big strong man like you can’t wait that long?”
He glared at her. “I waited two years to find you,” he said. “Like hell we can’t make good use of the ten-minute delivery time, so place that order. Then we’re going in the pool and …” He wiggled his eyebrows suggestively.
She smirked, picked up the flyer, grabbed her phone and placed an order. Then she stood, tossed off her T-shirt, dropped her shorts, exposing the bathing suit she had on underneath. She looked at him with a big smile as she unclipped her leg, dropped it on the lounger, took one hop and fell into the water.
“Hey, that’s cheating. I didn’t even know you had a bathing suit on.”
She broke through the water, laughing. “What difference would it have made?”
“I would have had you in there earlier if I’d known,” he groaned. But he followed her into the pool within seconds.
She waited until he reached her, and then she slid her arms around his neck. “Our Chinese food will be at least thirty minutes.”
He grinned, pulling her up tight. “That should give us lots of time.”
“Yeah? Time for what?”
He slid his hands down her back to cup her cheeks and press her up tight against the hard ridge of his erection. “For anything you want.”
She slowly slid her thighs up around his hips and wrapped her arms around his neck and smiled. “I was always into water sports.”
“Thank God,” he whispered fervently. And then he slid his hands up to her hair, holding her close, and kissed her.
The kiss was so much like everything she’d experienced since the nightmare of Mouse had come to an end. There was a freedom in his kiss, now that the fervent panic was gone, where they had to make every moment count because there might not be another one. Instead, now there was just that sense of their joy in coming together in peace and harmony and love. Like he’d said, she could get behind that.
She tightened her hold on him and hugged him and kissed him back with all the passion she felt.
The next morning Badger and Kat sat at the kitchen table, both drinking their coffee. Kat worked on her laptop, a big bright grin on her face, but then it fell away.
Badger was once again struck by Kat’s actions. He studied her for a long moment.
She glanced at him, her smile back.
“Still not ready to tell me, huh?”
Her eyes went wide and innocent.
He sighed. “You wouldn’t be trying to pull a surprise party or something on me, would you?” He glared at her in mock ire. “Because that’s, like, not cool.”
She sat back and chuckled. “What kind of surprise party would I throw? We have the guys over here every damn weekend as it is.”
Maybe it was her swearing about the issue. Maybe it was a diversionary tactic. But he let himself be persuaded into the new topic. He leaned forward, crossed his arms on the table, his big hand wrapped around his mug. “It’s not a problem for you? We never really talked about it.” This time her smile and look of astonishment was real, and he knew enough about her to see that honesty.
It took her a moment to find the words. “You mean, the guys coming over every weekend?”
He nodded. He really wanted her to be okay with it. He wanted everyone to be okay with it. Because these guys were his brothers. And he’d hoped that somehow, somewhere along the line, the women would become like sisters as well. But that was asking a lot. They didn’t have the same bonding by fire that he and his unit had experienced over the years.
The women didn’t have the same history, the same level of traumas. And, for that, he was grateful. He’d never want that for anybody. Yet it was almost too much to ask that seven unique women with various careers come together in the s
ame unified front as the men in his unit had done. He knew every one of the women would do so out of respect for the strong bond between the men, and the women wanted their partners to be happy. Badger knew it would take more time for the women to come together in any kind of similar fashion. He just wanted that to happen now. He wanted to know in his heart of hearts it was all good.
She smiled, reached across and picked up his hand, stroking her thumb across his. “I love the guys. I think having everyone come on the weekend, like we do, as if Sundays are our time together as a group, as a family unit, is amazing. I think what you guys have achieved as friends is an incredible feat. And I don’t think you realize how special it is.”
He shrugged, feeling self-conscious. He knew how special it was, but he hadn’t thought she did.
She chuckled. “And, yes, you should take a lot of the credit for that.”
He shook his head. “No credit is due to me. It took all seven of us.”
“Of course it did. At the same time, it also took your efforts to understand and to love each and every one of them as they are. And so you should be proud of what you’ve accomplished.”
“I am. That doesn’t mean I’m not a little worried about all the women’s participation.”
Her head tilted to the side, she studied him. “Participation?”
Uncomfortable now, he sat back, almost groaning silently.
But she knew him too well. She leaned forward. “Participation?”
“So maybe it’s not the right word. I’d hoped …” He had a hard time choosing his words. “I’d hoped that the seven of you would come to be as close as the seven of us are.”
“Oh.” She sat back, a smile playing around the corner of her lips. “You know? I think what we have is the grounds for a wonderful friendship between all of us. But it will take time. We’re all very different. We’ve all come from very different backgrounds. We were thrown together for one common cause—Mouse.”
“Just like me and the guys getting back together,” Badger said with a quick nod. “Just like us.”
“Exactly.” Her grin got wider. “But the common issue, Mouse, has been resolved. And the women didn’t have the years of training, of working together, that past which you men share. We didn’t have all those years where you were forced to accept and deal with each other’s weaknesses and strengths.”
He frowned. “I know. And there’s nothing I can really do about that.”
“No, there’s nothing you should try to do about it. You can’t force a friendship. And I don’t see that there’s anything wrong with what we have. It will develop stronger and become easier over time.”
He thrummed the table with his fingers. “And if I said I want it now?”
Her grin turned to laughter. “Just because you say so, doesn’t make it so. Remember?”
He groaned. “I know it’s foolish. But …”
“But?” And then she got up, grabbed the coffeepot, returned to the table and refilled their cups. “You’re afraid.”
“I am not,” he said in astonishment. But damn her smile was so gentle, so soft and so understanding that he could feel everything defensive inside him melting. She always had that effect on him.
“Yes, you are. You’re afraid, if the women can’t pull together like the men have, that we will end up being what breaks you all up.”
He frowned. “I wouldn’t have said that.”
She chuckled. “No, you wouldn’t. So I said it for you.”
“Yeah, but, now that you’ve said it, I have to consider that possibility. And I don’t like it,” he announced.
She sat back down again with a tin of cookies in her hands.
He opened them and smiled. “Morning left these for us, didn’t she?” He reached in eagerly. “Damn Geir for finding a cook like Morning.” Immediately he looked up. “But I wouldn’t trade her for you,” he said hurriedly. At the knowing look in her eyes, he settled back. “Okay, so I might be a little nervous that everything is going so well right now. Nobody’s shooting at us. Nobody’s trying to kill us. Nobody’s attacking our friends and family …”
“You’re getting bored, so you needed a problem to solve,” she said in understanding. “Which is why I’d love to see you set up a business.”
“We’re talking about it, but we haven’t really gotten any further than that. We’re still recuperating.”
She nodded. “Indeed. Yet there are seven of you. Very capable, very strong men, who are bored to tears.”
He shrugged. “Not necessarily,” he said cagily. “We’re knocking around ideas.”
“Good. Glad to hear that.” She glanced at the clock. “I have to leave for work soon.”
“Okay, the guys might be coming over in a bit, if that’s okay?” He glanced at her wearily.
She stopped and studied him for a moment, then nodded. “Of course it’s okay. It’s your home.”
“It’s our home,” he corrected.
“Any plans while they’re here?”
Badger shook his head. “No. I think just more discussion about our futures and job options.”
“Good. I’ll see you later today.” She stood, took her coffee cup to the kitchen sink, walked past him and snagged her purse. “Remember, I love you.” She leaned over and kissed him gently on his temple. Dropped to give Dotty, always at Badger’s side, a quick pat, and just like that she was gone.
He stared after her. He knew she was up to something. He just didn’t know what.
She hadn’t been gone ten minutes when a knock came at the front door. Dotty raced in front of Badger, barking, her tail wagging like crazy. He opened it to Cade and the others. He raised an eyebrow. “You just missed her.”
“No, we were waiting for her to leave,” Cade said with a grin. “Nothing like a little guy time.”
“And you still made me get up and come to the door instead of letting yourself in?” growled Badger as he led the way back to the kitchen.
The guys spread out, some heading for the coffeepot, the others getting out cups.
“Of course. Otherwise you’ll get lazy and sit too much. You know the doctor said you have to get up, move around for your leg’s sake.”
“Damn doctors.” Badger flung himself onto the chair. “So what are we doing?”
“Well, we’ve tossed around a bunch of ideas, but the bottom line is, we need to start with something, then tweak it as we move forward.”
Badger perked up. “Tell me more.”
Chapter 2
Kat walked into her office, dropped her purse and headed straight for the coffeepot. Her assistant wasn’t in yet. She frowned. It wasn’t like him to be late. But she could hear his whistling as he came up the stairs now. She smiled as he walked through the door.
He raised his eyebrows and said, “You’re not usually this early.”
She glanced at her watch and shrugged. “It’s not that early.”
He chuckled. “Head on into your office. I’ll get the coffee on.”
She still had a good forty minutes before her first patient. Seated at her desk, she picked up the phone and called Honey.
“Kat, this is early for you,” Honey said. “Are you in your office?”
“I just got in. I was thinking of something. I know it’s probably very audacious, and it’ll only work if you all back me on this. And it probably won’t appeal to many in the group, so I’m looking for a saner head to tell me how this is a stupid idea.”
“What’s that?” Honey asked, her voice curious.
But then Honey was always up for something new and different. Which reminded Kat of Badger’s conversation this morning—about him wanting the women to be best friends. She and Honey had already been friends for years, but they were definitely closer now.
“I was thinking about a surprise wedding,” Kat said in a rush. She kept her voice low so her assistant, Jim, wouldn’t hear.
“A surprise wedding,” Honey said as if trying on the words. “You mean, you and
Badger?”
“Yeah,” she said hesitantly. “As in, he comes outside one day when all the guys are there, and there’s a minister.”
“Oh, wow.” Then Honey didn’t say anything more.
Kat winced, and her stomach sagged. “It’s a shitty idea, isn’t it?”
“No,” Honey said cautiously. “You guys are great together. But how does Badger feel about surprises?”
“He doesn’t like them.” She stared moodily out her window. “I don’t know why, but I just can’t get this idea out of my head.”
“Well, you could ask him to marry you first.”
“I could, or he could ask me,” she snapped, then groaned. “Shit.”
Honey chuckled. “Why so impatient?”
“I don’t know,” Kat said. “But I have a feeling these men won’t take that step easily. I mean, look at Ice and Levi. How many years have they been together, and they aren’t married yet? But it’s more than that with our guys. Something in these injured military men’s psyches say they’re broken, not deserving of a full and happy long-term future. Like they found us, and they should be damn grateful they’ve got us, but …”
“But they’re afraid to rock the boat in case we think this is short-term and how a more permanent outlook on our relationships could send any of us running away.”
“Right. See? I knew you’d understand,” Kat said. She could feel the relief washing through her. She started to pace her office. “I know it’s kind of pushy, and I know it could possibly end badly, but I would really hope not. I’ve been talking to Ice about it, and she likes the idea.”
“I guess the real question you have to ask yourself is,” Honey said cautiously, “why now? Why the panic?”
“I’m not sure it’s a panic. I’m not sure it is a rush. But I feel like the guys are dragging their heels on coming up with jobs, and that’s okay. I’m not saying they have to get jobs or anything. They’re all financially stable because of their pensions as it is. But I know they’re bored, and I think bored men are dangerous.”
“Well, a lot of renovation projects are going on because of their boredom,” Honey said. “And we’re still trying to get Geir a house on the block, at least within walking distance. So definitely some change is happening.”
