It was now a veterans and first responder’s retreat that provided a safe space to rest and reinvent. It’s the reason Finn had come back to Pineville after all these years, and maybe, just maybe, move his family back.
My mind settled as I met his beautiful wife, Sami, and held my nephew Theo for the first time after having to settle for video chats since they got together. Maybe this was the reason I had a warm, fuzzy feeling as soon as I drove up. But the longer we chatted, the more my senses became tuned into what was happening on the porch.
And the more I snuck glances at the dark-haired man with muscular arms currently crossed over his impressive chest encased in a snug-fitting black t-shirt. Kane’s ropy, veined forearms ignited a never before damsel-in-distress scenario in my mind, which made mewant.
Want all over.
Want his arms holding me.
Want those sun-kissed, capable-looking hands and long fingers in some places that were now begging for attention and?—
“He could pass as a movie star instead of the stuntman he was, don’t you think?” Sami had taken a sleepy Theo from me, settling him expertly on her hip.
When I tore my gaze from the towering mountain man, now bodyguard, a heated flush covered my cheeks as my sister-in-law grinned.
“Those former Rangers make it hard for a gal not to stare, and even harder to?—”
“Don’t finish that sentence. The less I know about you and my brother, the easier it is for me to believe Theo was an immaculate conception.” Ridiculous, but that’s how I dealt with my siblings' sex lives. They didn’t have one. And as far as they’re concerned, neither did I.
But, oh, did I want to restart mine. Not only thanks to my new estrogen patch, but because my brother, whether or not he realizes it, just dropped a tall, dark snack and a half into my long-neglected orbit. So, if the opportunity arose, I’d be saying yes to a ride on Kane’s, er, rocket.
Wow, where had that pun come from? Probably the same place my mind had been ever since I locked eyes with the handsome former stuntman, deep in fantasy land.
“You’ve got a bit of drool…” Sami reached up and wiped the edge of her mouth. “Right about here.” She winked just as Finn and Kane stepped off the porch and headed toward us, Theo now snuggled into her neck, sound asleep.
“What?” Panicked, I flipped my head, and my sunglasses went sailing into the air and landed at Mr. Walking Fantasy’s feet. Holding back a groan, I gave Sami an exaggerated eye-roll and then whispered, “Is it gone?” She didn’t hurt my feelings, but I would get her back. Some women would be hurt or stomp off in a snit. Not me. Teasing was my love language, and Sami just cemented our relationship.
As our chuckles died off, I could only hope she dished it out to my brother just as easily. He’d been so damn serious growing up. Yet seeing his face light up as their gazes met and how he sweetly took Theo into one arm—the baby never even stirred — then wrapped his other arm around his wife and pulled her in close made my chest tight.
I was happy for him. For them, I really was. It’s just I was firmly in the no-relationship camp, but that didn’t mean I didn’t hope like heck theirs would last. If anyone deserved some happiness, it was Finn. Our dad had been a shitty role model, and our mom wasn’t any better. About the best that could be said for either was they never struck us, just fought like cats and dogs and were emotionally unavailable. That’s why for me, it was fun times only.
And thanks to early perimenopause, those fun times had not been a thing the last few years.
“Chassie, this is Kane. Kane. Chassie.” Finn was brusque and made me feel like I got a glimpse at what he’d been like when he’d been active duty.
“I brought Kane up to speed on the situation. He’s got a cabin behind the lodge where you can stay until the cops or the feds locate who's harassing you. We were in the same unit, and he’s like a brother to me, so I know he’ll be one to you too.” Eyes narrowed, Finn swung his gaze between Kane and me.
Thirty-nine, almost forty and my brother was still warning men off, even the one he hand-picked to be my bodyguard. I glanced at Sami to see her reaction and caught the tail end of an eye-roll. Yup, we were sisters for life. Too bad for Finn. I couldn’t wait for the holidays and this crap to be over. And once I convinced him and Caitlyn to move back, it would be three to one. It’ll be so much fun.
“Chassie, you still with me?”
“Sir, yes, sir.” I saluted and then curtsied. As expected, he released a heavy sigh, but my new bodyguard laughed even though it felt a bit sarcastic. But that deep rumble from his massive chest, and oh, my! It set off a zap, then a rush of warmth filled my lower belly and settled lower still. And yes, please, that was a sound I needed more of. Because that reaction was the first physical reminder I still had a healthy libido since my surgery.
But I wasn’t going to let him know how he affected me. Hot guys, especially the beautiful ones, usually meant they had a type, and I was never it. Besides everything about him screamed broody heartbreaker with a side of arrogance. I mean, if I looked like that, I might be too.
Then he caught me staring, and our gazes held, and that tiny voice deep down inside me, which until this point had never led me wrong, whispered,“But what if?”
THREE
KANE
“So, you have a stalker?” Jeez, smooth. Real smooth. I was trained for war and taking punches, not therapy sessions. I needed to try again. But she rolled with it and answered without so much as a flinch.
“I’m not sure if stalker is the right term. The local police think so. Somehow this person got my personal cell number and has been texting me nasty messages. Vague, creepy and, yeah, a bit stalkerish.”Chassie didn’t sound as upset as I’d expect a woman would be when getting threatening messages. Finn had shared some of them with me, and they all seemed targeted at her “platform.” I wasn’t sure what that meant, although I knew social media was a cesspool, and I’d figured it all out when I got her to my cabin.
I just needed to keep her under my watch, and off the grid. Hope she was ready because my place, the furthest one from the main lodge, was just that. I was still waiting for the final permit from the county to hook up to the electrical grid. Right now, I used a propane generator for lights and to heat my water. Plus, I’d gotten damn good at chopping wood and had several fireplaces, so warmth shouldn’t be an issue.
“So, what’s the plan?” Chassie was behind me, which was a shame since I’m sure I would have enjoyed the view much better if our places were switched. I preferred women who had ample curves to the thin look prevalent in LA.
