After Kent took a shower and climbed into bed, he plugged his phone into the charger and noted it was going on ten at night. With a grin, he accessed his contact numbers and wrote a quick text.
“Thought you’d like some inspiration.”Was the short message. He quickly scrolled through the selfies he’d takenearlier, and though he sent fifteen of them, there was only two with his face showing. The others caught his chin, or the side of his face, and his entire chest. He wasn’t vain, but he studied the photos and liked how buff he looked. Before he chickened out, he sent the message, placed his phone on the nightstand, and settled in the bed with a grin. Rita strongly disliked him now, he couldn’t wait to see what her reaction would be when he saw her again on Monday. Hopefully, she would take the suggestion of the batteries and the photos he’d sent her. His one fear was whether she liked a man with tattoos or not. He had several, but because of his position in the military, he made sure they could be hidden beneath his uniform. Maybe Julie was right, and Rita needed to get laid. All night, Kent’s dreams were full of images of him and Rita having an all-night sex marathon. When he woke, he was so hard he could hammer nails. Before he took Tator out for his morning walk, he jumped in the shower and took care of himself. Afterward, he hung his head, and whispered, “Fuck me. You’re going to be the death of me, Rita Chambers. I hope you found some relief. Maybe next time we can do it together, in person.” After his shower, he dressed and took Tator out. Once back in his apartment, he made breakfast, and planned what he would do when he met up with his buddies in a couple of hours.
Rita flopped backon her bed, picked up the spare pillow beside her, smashed it over her face, and screamed. She didn’t know what was wrong with her. All she knew was that she was angry, short-tempered, and wanted to rip Kent Palmer’s head from his neck, with no clue as to why. After screaming a second time, she pulled the pillow away from her face when her phone indicated a text had come in. She snatched up her phone like a lifeline.
It took several minutes of shocked silence to grasp the concept of not only what the message referred to, but the photos that were attached.
“Damn,” she whispered as she scrolled through them. Never in a million years would she have thought that Kent Palmer had a body like that beneath his clothes. When she’d come home the night before, she’d used her computer to Google some of the things he had told the sheriff that he had done for his job in the military. She couldn’t get exact details, but with a little digging and patience she was able to get a broad idea of what he went through. Seeing the pictures of his naked chest, she knew it was him, because there was a mole on his neck that she had stared at several times when she had to interact with him. Seeing the tattoos on his chest and arms made her immediately think of a bad boy. Her ideal man. She didn’t have any, but it was her secret fantasy to have at least a one-night stand with a man covered in tattoos.
On a moan, she slammed her phone on the bed beside her, covered her head with the pillow again, and screamed into it. She didn’t let up until she felt a wet nose on her arm. Shaking her head, she removed the pillow to look over at her dog.
“It’s okay, Zeke, Mama’s just frustrated.” He continued to stand there and look at her funny with a cocked head. Rita reassured him that she was fine, and decided to get up and let him out one last time for the night. She went downstairs and unlocked the doggy door for him. Zeke gave a woof and quickly ran outside. Fifteen minutes later, she handed him a treat as he returned. He took it from her and went to his bed in the living room. Rita quickly locked up, and made her way back to her bedroom. As she settled back beneath the covers, she closed her eyes, and seconds later they popped open.
“Damn you, Kent Palmer,” she groused as she flopped the blankets back, made sure her bedroom door was closed, thengrabbed the box of batteries she had received earlier. With her toys recharged, she grabbed her phone and accessed her photos. She would deny that she ever did this, but with Kent’s face staring at her, she got down to business to try to relieve some of her stress. Almost an hour later she came out of the bathroom after taking a quick shower, opened her door a few inches for when Zeke wanted to come in during the night. This time when she closed her eyes, she had a smile on her face and was able to fall asleep after releasing a stress-free sigh.
Kent climbedout of his truck and held the back door open for Tator to scramble across the seat to climb down. Because he was still little, Kent picked him up and placed him on the ground. He told the dog to stay, as he clipped the leash on him, then reached in for the duffel he’d packed earlier that morning with both of their gear. Today Kent wanted to do some more training with Tator, and to keep up on his own physical training. He was at The Centre and wanted to talk with Logan to see if he had a climbing wall set up, or someplace he could rappel down the side of a mountain with Tator strapped to him. There was no time like the present to start training him with those skills. Kent figured the more Tator learned, the more versatile he would be out in the field. Today was also the day he was going to teach him to walk beside him without a leash. Armed with the pack, and the pouch of dog treats on his hip, Kent headed toward the front of the building.
It had been a few weeks since he’d seen his buddies. He was eager to catch up with Mason, Cruz, Asher, and Ryder. As soon as he walked in, he saw Mason Quinn standing at the desk, and after holding the door open for Tator, he immediately startedforward. As he approached, Asher Nolte joined Mason. They had looked up when the door opened, and turned to wait for Kent to join them.
“What’s up?” Mason asked as Kent approached. He frowned when he looked down at his feet. “What’s that?”
Kent looked down at Tator and grinned at his friends. “A puppy.”
“No shit, but what are you doing with it?”
“He’s mine.” Kent waited until Cruz and Ryder joined them. He waited as they gathered around to explain. “This is the dog I got when I joined CSAR.”
“What’s that?” Asher asked.
“Chambers Search and Rescue. It’s run by Rita Chambers. She provides the dogs, and we can purchase them outright or make a donation. I purchased Tator, along with giving her center a generous donation.”
“What do they do?” Ryder asked.
“She trains dogs and their owners to go out on search and rescue missions. You know, like we used the dogs while on a mission when we served. I had always admired the handlers, and because we’re not really working full-time for the Brotherhood, I thought I’d get a dog, take the courses, and relieve the boredom while between missions.”
“You can always help out here,” Logan Bishop said as he came around the desk and looked down at the pup. “What’s its name?”
“While he’s wearing his vest and in training, or on a mission, it’s Tate.”
“Okay, is there another name he goes by?”
“Yes, when he’s like this, without a vest, and around the house, he’s Tator, or Tator Tot.” Kent grinned when the others threw their heads back and laughed.
“Let me guess,” Cruz said laughingly. “It’s because he looked like he cooked a little too long?”
“Yep. He’s going to be huge when he grows into himself. According to Rita, Tator was the runt of the litter. He’s a blue brindle Bull Mastiff.”
“Holy shit,” they all said as one. “He’s going to be gigantic.”
“I know.” Kent grinned at them. He turned to Logan. “Do you have a climbing wall here? I want to start training Tator to rappel while on my back.”
“I do.”
“Can we join you?” Asher asked. “If we get called out on a mission, don’t you think it would be good if Tator is familiar with all of us?”
“Yes, I didn’t want to put you out, but if you had time, I would love for you to join us on the wall.” They all agreed, and it didn’t take long for them to follow Logan to the back of The Centre to where they needed to be. An hour later, they were all hooked up to their safety equipment. Kent looked at his friends, and said firmly, “While in his vest, he is to be referred to as Tate.”
“Got it,” the others answered as they nodded agreement. They allowed Kent to go first. Though they all knew how to climb, they decided that they would have three of them go up at once. Kent in the middle with a guy on either side of them, while the other two, along with Logan worked the safety lines at the bottom.
