Billi Jean Read online

  “Don’t let this battery go down. Keep the phone with you at all times.”

  “Yep. I will.”

  “Be normal, blend in and you should be fine, miss.”

  What to say to that? That she wasn’t normal and she didn’t feel fine? That they’d taken her life and given her—what? This place, and a fear that wouldn’t go away? A fear that kept her up at night and made her cry unexpectedly during the day?

  “Great.”

  “Goodbye, miss. Don’t call unless you need us.”

  Like she would call to say hello?

  “I won’t.”

  “Remember, you need to activate your bank accounts by tomorrow. You can use the computer in the living room. Be careful and you’ll be fine. Goodbye, miss.”

  He hung up, not even waiting for a reply.

  Bank accounts? In her living room. On the computer. God, the man knew this home better than she did. Did they have it bugged? Carefully, she set the phone down on the spotless counter and gazed around at the empty house. She couldn’t sleep in here. She couldn’t. She had an extra mattress in the U-Haul. The agents had set up the mattress when they’d driven her partway. They’d made sure to hide her in the back when they’d left town. She’d been all for it. There was no way she’d wanted to chance being spotted.

  She’d since grown used to the U-Haul. One more glance around the empty house and she decided. The U-Haul would do for now. She’d lock this place up and sleep out there. It was cold, but she could do that. Sleep out there.

  First things first, she needed to go for a run. It was time to start putting her life back together. The physical therapist had said she was good to go. She’d done six miles on the treadmill at the clinic. Time to hit the road…or dirt? Maybe trail running would be fun. Now, if she could just find some running clothes in this museum they called a home…

  Russ made it up to the ranch in record time, gathered his gear, showered and was back down the mountain within forty-five minutes. Eagle was probably already hip-deep in his woman. Russell had managed with his fist. Life could have been better, but at least he had taken the edge off. And he was actually looking forward to something.

  If only he could look forward to being hip-deep in one dark-haired woman he’d only just met. Of course, he had no such hopes. But a guy could dream.

  He’d spooked her. She’d looked a bit dazed in the real estate office, but, by the end, she’d given him some clear looks that had had nothing to do with coming here and having sex until they needed a break for food, and had been all about shock at his interest. She looked eighteen, but was twenty-six. He’d seen her ID when she’d introduced herself to Irene. She looked innocent, and he had to wonder how innocent she was…

  When he rounded the bend near Saddleback Creek, he had to jerk the truck nearly off the road to avoid the runner heading down the dirt road.

  Son of a bitch. What was she doing? Not resting. Hadn’t she said she’d needed a nap?

  Without his boot on the gas, his truck rolled to a stop. He took a few slow, long breaths to calm down. He never got this heart-poundingly frightened by anything. But he could have hit her with his truck.

  A soft knocking on his window made him narrow his eyes and swing his head to see her smiling tentatively up at him. Her smile grew as his frown increased. Unbelievable. He had to bite back a smile in response at the wicked little gleam in her blue eyes. She was laughing at him. That was a good sign, wasn’t it? At least she wasn’t running scared.

  He hit the button and the window went down.

  “Going a bit too fast?” she asked, hardly even breathless. Her cheeks were pink, though, and she was sweating. And smelt wonderful. His cock swelled.

  “Did I scare you?” she asked, her smile fading when he didn’t say anything. “I was on the right side of the road and I heard you coming. There was no danger,” she added.

  “Yeah, didn’t expect you. Not many runners out here.” Except him. And Eagle. They'd left the SEALS, but stayed in shape for the security jobs they still helped out with, down south.

  Her smile returned, then she glanced away. “Well, got to go. Don’t want to lose my groove.” She waved and headed off at a good pace. If she’d kept that up from her house, she was fast. Except, he noticed, she favoured her left leg enough that she’d be sorer on her right by the end of the run. It was a five-mile loop, if she was on her way back to her place.

  She kept going, still at the same mile-eating pace. For some reason, that turned him on even more. But that slight limp was going to hurt her. Had she sprained her ankle?

  He rolled up beside her. She gave him a surprised look then, of all things, rolled her eyes, but took her ear buds out.

  “You’re on the wrong side of the road.”

  He grinned at that.

  “You’re limping on the left. You’ll be sore if you don’t straighten out that stride.” And if he got what he wanted from her. Down boy. There would be no sex, not tonight or in the immediate future, but one day there would be. He had his new mission, and she was giving him a long look, then the road.

  “I can’t straighten out my stride. Not yet. I hurt my left leg; the right is just going to have to cowboy up.” She put her ear buds back in and moved off after giving him one of those cute smiles.

  Cowboy up, huh? He grinned after her. She was something. She’d hurt her left leg? How long ago? Should she be running like this? He was about to steer back over to her when she shot him a warning glance and headed off the road, down across the little creek where it narrowed out and crossed the open field. Damn. Obviously, she’d kept track of where she was and knew that this field led straight to the back of her property.

  Now, why did that make him even hotter for her? He usually didn’t care if a woman was smart or not. If she was half-decent looking, wanted hot, hard sex and was willing, that was enough. He usually simply needed to blow off some steam. And he had a lot of steam to blow off right now.

  Watching her, he considered that. It wasn’t the need to blow off steam that had his dick throbbing at the sight of her. His sex drive was pretty high, or had been until he’d moved here. But he had it bad. He was days off a mission and, now that he’d met Susan, his body was demanding some attention he couldn’t ignore. Usually, any generic woman would do. He didn’t get hot for a smart, teasing women with a sunny smile any more than any other woman when he was like this. Or that had always been the way of it, before meeting Little Miss Sunshine.

  Exactly. Before. Before he knew there was a Susan Fielding.

  And now?

  Here she was. She didn’t look all that willing for hot or hard sex any time soon. So why was he still zeroing in on her like she was the target and he was on a mission? His cock was practically urging him to jump out after her, tackle that sweet, sweaty woman and kiss her senseless. Black Adidas shorts, pink sports top and all.

  His mind knew better.

  Besides, once all the blood had started pulsing to his brain and not his cock, he’d think of something better than tackling her down. Whether or not he could understand the why of it, that sweet, soft—and, he realised now, stubborn and teasing—woman was the only one who could ease the pounding he had going on. Glancing down at the erection outlined under his jeans, he hoped it would be in the very near future.

  He spotted her easily when he looked back up. The muscles of his face softened and stretched in a rare smile as she jumped on a low log and nimbly followed it across the creek, before jumping down again and continuing.

  Oh, yeah. He was more than willing to show her how much he could cowboy up.

  Chapter Three

  Lacey glanced once more around the little hardware store, trying not to feel so open and exposed, but it was difficult. Clearly, this was a man’s domain. It made her want to grin at the way the old guys had watched her when she’d walked in, as if she was either a creature from another planet or a sweet little thing who might break a nail if she wasn’t careful. Maybe she was both, she conside
red, as she filled her cart with what she needed. She definitely didn’t feel as if she belonged here, that was for certain. But, for now, she had reasons for being here.

  Besides, she was on a mission. She had a wood-burning stove, but no wood to burn. She had trees down on her land. It seemed a waste of money to buy wood when she could use her own. She had eighteen acres of wooded, beautiful property filled with more timber than she could possibly need. All she needed was something to cut the fallen trees into fireplace sized pieces with.

  Easy peasy.

  She spotted chainsaws two aisles down and pushed her cart over to give them a long look, considering their size and how heavy they would be with all the vibrating and shaking going on. And noise. Could she even start one? And use it to cut up a tree?

  Geez, if Dad could see me now, she thought. He’d freak. He’d been all about her learning how to care for her car—no one should operate equipment they didn’t know how to run and repair, had been his motto—but she could guess chainsaws and his baby girl hadn’t exactly been what he was thinking about when he’d given her that little lecture.

  Still, they didn’t look too bad. She was a woman. She could conquer such loud, vibrating and annoying things. Right?

  Well, Lacey had thought so until getting up close and personal with the monsters. Geez, would the little ear buds she’d picked up on aisle two be enough? The package holding the tiny ear buds looked way too wimpy for the amount of noise one of these heavy beasts made. The ear buds were ugly, too. Why orange? Yuck. Who would want slightly soft and squishy orange foam in their ears? They were supposed to go right inside each ear, too. No strings attached, no band to hold them together, just two odd little buds that looked reasonably able to keep out the sound of a cricket.

  Lacey paused with the ear buds in her hand and glanced around at the rickety shelves, which were lined with anything anyone could want. There were a lot of things she’d had no idea a man could want, she realised. What she wanted was the old drill sergeant who owned this place. He’d been here all three times she’d come by the store previously, though why he’d followed her she still didn’t have a clue.

  Or maybe she did. It must be obvious that she had no idea what to do with her time, so she’d come in three times for different things. Paint, the first trip, and then back again for rollers, drop cloths and paintbrushes, before driving back over for a ladder, which he’d convinced her she didn’t need and hooked her up with some extension thing that twisted on the end of a roller. Pretty cool, actually. She’d told him that when she’d walked in today she’d disturbed all three old guys from their talk and coffee. He hadn’t been pleased. But now, when she could use the little guy, he was where?

  Maybe he actually did do more than follow her around. Eyes back on the task. She sighed. So, chainsaw. Black ones, orange, some red huge-looking thing, but no pink ones. That made her laugh. Picking up a lightweight one, she hefted the thing, wondering how it would feel once it was switched on. The weight wasn’t too horrible. She was about to set it down when a deep voice behind her made her nearly drop the thing on her toes.

  “You’ve got to be joking.”

  Her heart fluttered like a butterfly on the breeze. Russ.

  It’d been two days since she’d talked to the handsome Russ Ryland. She’d spotted him yesterday when she’d had lunch with Irene, but he’d merely passed by the diner in his big truck, giving her a long, slow look. He’d tipped his hat when she’d glanced at him, but he’d not come in. And, of course, she hadn’t been the least disappointed that he hadn’t. Sigh. She had been, but he’d made up for it by tripping all over himself at the one and only little grocery store in town, when he’d turned down an aisle and seen her. He’d looked so cute, all big and pushing a grocery cart.

  She kept hold of the chainsaw and didn’t stop the happy grin from splitting her face when she turned to confront Mr Russ Ryland. She might get the thing, simply to see him have a small fit. The man was impossibly chauvinistic and more than a little arrogant, but sexy enough to take her breath away.

  Dark black brows went down at a sharp angle at the chainsaw, then zeroed in on her face. God, he was handsome. Such a bad boy. Why, oh why was she drawn to someone who looked like he could eat her for lunch? The idea of this man and his mouth between her thighs… She was not going there. Keep him off balance, not yourself, Lacey.

  “Good afternoon, Mr Ryland.” They had some kind of unspoken battle going on over the name. He kept telling her, quietly, that his name was Russ, and she just as quietly called him Mr Ryland. He’d done it at the real estate office but, when he’d done it again at the grocery store, she’d been tickled to watch him when she ignored his request to call him Russ. Each time his jaw would clench slightly, like he was gritting his teeth. It was fascinating stuff, but she felt a bit like she was bear baiting.

  “Listen, S—”

  “Hey! Major! What the hell are you doing back? It’s good to see you, sir.”

  She glanced away from Russ’ deep grey eyes to see a young man—a soldier, his look said—grinning and striding up. The short blond hair recently shaved to the scalp, the broad shoulders, lean body and the way he walked all said he was probably about a year out of boot camp. Long enough for him to feel like a man. Geesh. Her dad had loved to show them how they weren’t quite there yet.

  Her dad. All things went there, it seemed. Stilling the urge to sink into a self-pity party, she glanced back up at her big bear instead. Her big bear who had not looked away from her for more than an instant, it seemed. Her heart fluttered, but she still mouthed, “Major?” at him. She mocked a shiver at the forbidding look he gave her and turned back to set the now much heavier chainsaw down. To jerk his chain, she squatted down to examine the boxes on display, as if she was going to buy one.

  “Bud, good to see you. How was your stint? Heard you were headed back in a few.” Russ’ voice seemed to be more gravelly than usual. It made her shiver.

  “Yeah, it was good. Nice stint, sir. I have leave for a few weeks—elk season, and you know my dad.” His words trailed off slowly as Lacey stood back up. “Hot damn…ahem, Miss, can I help—?”

  “I got it. Tell your dad to come by any time. The elk have been pasturing about a half-day ride from the ranch, heading southwest. Good little five point buck.” She felt Russell’s body heat against her skin and suddenly she was being ushered down an aisle by a firm, but gentle hand and a large, hard body. A very firm, strong hand, she noticed, and a body that felt like velvet over steel. “Call me later. I have to have a word, here,” he called back over his shoulder.

  She got a glimpse of the guy’s surprised face before Russ had all her attention. Holy cow, did he have her attention. He had manhandled her down an aisle, away from her cart and the fun of teasing him with the chainsaws. So maybe bear baiting wasn’t the smartest move, but, wow, did her body go hot for him. Just the touch of his hand on her arm had her breathless. Why was that more exciting than irritating?

  “A word, here?” she echoed, glancing up at his worried expression. A word, here? Was he completely nuts? It was one thing to be so sexy he had her all hot and bothered, but to pull her down an aisle as if he were entitled to? Wow. She so couldn’t let him know how hot that was. Right? “Hey, I have my things back there, big guy, and this is a free shopping zone for everyone, right?”

  His grey eyes darkened in warning and his nostrils flared. And no, that should not be sexy, but man, oh, man, could he not be sexy? Impossible. Too bad he was also a bit arrogant and bossy.

  “Listen here, Sunshine, I’ve had about enough of that. You are not buying an axe or a chainsaw.” Her body felt a happy little burst of adrenaline at the cute nickname, but, when he turned her gently but firmly to cup both of her upper arms and look down at her, she lost the ability to breathe. His hands were rough with calluses, but he made sure to hold her carefully. Not so with his fierce expression.

  Well, he was about to get what her dad called an education.

&nbs
p; She pulled back her arms, forcing him to either tighten his hold and hurt her, or let go. He let go. Quickly, too. But his frown deepened.

  “Now, would you like to repeat that? Because I’m certain I’m well over eighteen and able to think on my own. Oh, and chew gum and walk, too. I can even count higher than ten.”

  Hands on lean hips, now, he eyed her as if reassessing her. Good. He should. She might have got beaten up badly and been scared half the time—well, most of the time—but she wasn’t scared of this man. Her dad had been a guy like this—big, tough and meaning business with that look. Only Russell wasn’t her dad. Not even close.

  “And Major?”

  He broke eye contact to contemplate the floor. She chose to believe it was most likely the first time he’d been forced not to do what he pleased. If he was in the military, which was beginning to fit, and a major, for goodness’ sake, he wasn’t used to hearing ‘no’. Or being questioned.

  His broad chest expanded and she blinked. Could a man have that many muscles? He wasn’t wearing his jacket today—the light brown one that hung down over his hips and made his broad shoulders look huge. No, today he was wearing a grey tee that hugged his big biceps and thick chest, and made her heart flutter a bit too much at how it also stretched over thick stomach muscles. Oh man, oh man. And for some reason he looked even bigger without the jacket. His dark hair still looked wet. From a shower? She even noticed how his skin looked as if he might have a tan line where his neckline met his firm throat.

  He looked back up and she was glad he spoke, because she had to swallow at the intensity in his face.

  “I was in the Navy.”

  Navy. God. Her stomach bottomed out. “And a major?”