Billi Jean Read online

  “I’m a structural engineer, drafting mostly. Nothing special, but there’s not much around in the way of jobs.” She disappeared practically inside the refrigerator with her bags of food, then popped her head back out.

  Damn. That was very cool. She was smart and beautiful. “And you can do this from home?”

  “Yep, Internet and all. Most of it is computer programmed anyway, and, well, since I am a girl…” She turned, then, and handed him a long-necked beer, smiling up at him again. “Beer? And it’s mainly a guy’s business, so working at home works great.”

  Yeah, he’d have to agree with that. She was a girl and he’d rather she wasn’t surrounded by a bunch of construction workers, either. “Yeah, that sounds great. Working at home. Nice.”

  Smiling, she leaned against the little shelf behind her and held her beer out. “Can you open?”

  Open? He grinned and knocked the top off with the counter, handing it to her. She took the bottle with a little quirk of her lips, as if she’d known he was completely capable of taking the cap off. Now, why did that make him hotter for her?

  “Thanks. So talented. So.” She took a sip and tilted her head. “Lock. What are these security systems you were talking about?”

  Taking his own sip, he glanced down at the bottle and squinted at the label. Saranac? Oktoberfest. It was good, too. He had a buddy, or used to have a buddy back at the base, who drank Saranac. He’d loved the brewery beers and had always had Saranac or some small microbrew on hand when Russell stopped by. So, Susan had good taste in beer.

  “Good, huh?” she asked. No doubt she had him pinned for a meat and potatoes guy and until her? He had been. Now, though? He was contemplating whether he could find out if she was wearing a silk or lace thong. It had to be a thong. He wanted to run his hands over her, spread those firm, slender thighs and taste her. Blinking, he pulled his brain back above her waist with trouble.

  “Very. From New York?”

  “A microbrewery, but they’re big time now, not so small scale. I found it in town. Not so bad, huh?”

  She definitely thought he drank Bud. Or Coors. “Yeah, it’s good. I like it. Now, that locking system is crap. Let me make a call, have some guys come out and they’ll hook you up with a system no one can break.”

  She made a face. “Your language sucks, Major.”

  He practically choked on his beer. Wiping his lips off with his wrist, he grinned. “Sorry. Navy does that to a man’s language.”

  “Really?” She sipped her beer, not cutting him any slack at all. Not that it really was much of a defence. “How much does this security system cost?”

  He hadn’t thought of that. She was going to baulk at spending five thousand dollars on a new system. “A couple hundred, but it’s worth it.” She gave him a long look for that, then glanced around her garage. Her clean, neat garage. “Well, maybe…”

  She bit down on her plump bottom lip and his dick jerked. Reaching out a hand, he touched her chin. She blinked up at him in surprise. He surprised himself. He’d touched her like he had the right.

  “Here, let’s make a bet, what d’you say?” He wasn’t letting her off this easy. She needed this system and being all sexy with her lip wasn’t going to distract him. “You let me set this lock up for you, make sure it works, then you let me show you how quickly I can get in.”

  “You?” She tilted her head, sizing him up adorably, as if she was picturing him creeping around in the dark. He didn’t bother to say anything. She’d never hear him coming. He got the job done. Now the job was her, and he was going to get this done. The sooner he did, the better he could think about something other than the pain of his dick against his suddenly too-tight jeans. She finally shook her head, the small smile on her face blooming into a grin. “You can break locks?”

  “Yes, ma’am. Very well. I did all kinds of dirty deeds for Uncle Sam. This? Piece of cake, Sunshine. Now, let’s get this on.” He finished his beer and tossed the bottle into her recycling bin. “You gonna let me in?”

  She laughed at that, a quick splutter that made him grin down at her. She was nervous. So was he. This was uncharted waters for him. He didn’t want to screw this up by jumping any fences he shouldn’t. He wanted to be patient, wait for the right signals from her, but that was proving to be a challenge. She was harder to read at times than anyone he’d ever met.

  “Or you’ll blow the house down?” she teased, sipping her beer but walking over to the door to let him into the house. So far, so good. Then she opened the door. Without unlocking it. Her house was unlocked? “Before you ask, I couldn’t get the lock to work, and I can feel your need to say something but I suggest you really don’t.”

  She could feel his need, eh? He hoped not. And what could he say to that? Nada. “Well, we’ll fix this for tonight, then I’ll have my buddies come by. They’ll set you up, give you a code and no one will be able to get in.” Except him, but he wasn’t sharing that he could break any lock ever created. He was betting he wouldn’t have to break anything to get in.

  “If you can get this lock to work, then do some breaking and entering…”

  There went his hard-on, painfully rubbing as it jerked to attention. Shit, jeans were not the thing for a man to wear in this condition. “Right.” His voice came out low, but what could he do?

  She clicked over to the couch on her pretty little high heels and tossed her hair over her shoulder when she bent down to glance at him.

  “Whew, so do you know any of the local ranchers? Maybe anyone at the Triple Bar?” She unstrapped the heels he’d imagined digging into his back and swung her long hair off her face impatiently, casting him a questioning look when he didn’t respond.

  The Triple Bar? Why the… “Why?”

  He must have sounded too rough because she gave him a soft frown and tilted her head, pausing with one high heel in her hand. She looked like she was debating answering him. That was sexy. No one ever challenged him like she did.

  “Well, they have puppies.”

  “Puppies?”

  “You know, four legs, cute, furry little things?” She tossed the heel aside and bent to take off the other one. Her green silk top gaped, and he got a view of perfect, rounded breasts over some kind of low-cut, darker green silky bra.

  He needed a cold shower. Now. He’d seen a woman in cheap silk and lace, but he’d never been in the same room with one he wanted this badly. She was not out to look sexy—she just was sexy. She probably wore the silky things because she liked them, not to entice some sex starved solider to tackle her down on the couch and unwrap her like a Christmas present.

  “And I thought a puppy might make this big place less…empty.”

  He snorted at her logic. He’d make sure the place didn’t feel empty. “Yeah? Tell you what, let me set this lock up, break and enter, and if I can get in the house in less than—”

  “Five minutes?”

  Piece of cake. He nodded. “Five minutes, then you let me take you out to the best burgers in the state, and I’ll show you some good pups a buddy of mine has. They’re too young yet, but you can check ‘em out. You remember Tim? His blue heeler had a litter and there’s one little lady still unclaimed.”

  She sat down on the couch, sighed and tucked the tiniest feet he’d ever seen under her butt. She was adorable. He needed to slow the flood of blood to his dick. He was ready to break a zipper, not to mention her.

  Their gazes met and he thanked God she was unaware of his raging cock, because he’d most likely scare that smile right off her face if she knew.

  “Okay, Major, on second thought, five minutes seems like a long time. After all, you’re a SEAL, which means ‘sneaky’ in my book. So, how about, if you break and enter in less than three, I let you buy me a burger?”

  Like he wouldn’t have bought her the burger anyway? Ah, the little witch. He would have demanded to pay for dinner and she would have baulked. She was giving him an out for his macho, redneck attitude. Well, okay, maybe he w
as a macho, redneck cowboy, but he always bought a lady’s meal.

  He frowned. Had he ever bought a lady a meal? No, but he would. He crossed his arms over his chest and leaned a shoulder against the wall. “That’s a tough bargain. What do you get if I don’t make the deadline?”

  “Me?” She touched her chest with a finger and gave him a look that went right to his balls. And hurt. “I get to cook my own dinner, and I might let you eat with me, then take me to see the puppy.”

  Should he let her win and have her cook for him? The offer was tempting, but he had more than one game on, here. This mission included her wanting that system put in so she’d feel safe.

  “Hell, that sounds like a better deal than mine…”

  “No cheating.” She laughed and got up. “Another beer? I have plenty.”

  “One more, but, first, come here. Might as well show you how this is done…”

  Lacey hid a grin at Russ’ order. He was so used to giving orders, he didn’t even seem to realise how often he issued them. Grabbing him another beer first, she joined him at the door. He’d brought all kinds of tools in a big case, complete with three little shelves inside housing more tools than she knew what to do with. She had to admit it was pretty cool.

  “Now that’s a toolbox. I got one today in town, but it didn’t come with this.” She touched the step-up shelves on his and Russell grinned over at her. And oh, my, was he devastating with that smile. He’d been smiling a bit more. It seemed he alternated smiling or frowning at her without any hint of a neutral expression in between. It was like he was always on edge, then forgot and simply smiled.

  “Yeah? Mine took a while to make. Been adding tools since I was a boy.”

  “You’ve lived here your whole life? Except for the Navy?” She wondered about him. Irene had sworn he didn’t fool around, or hadn’t since he’d got back to town six months or so ago. He ranched, and the story was that he did jobs down in Florida for a security company. Maybe the buddies with the inside scoop on her new locks? she wondered. And she wondered about him a lot. More than she should, she knew, but it seemed like she was addicted to knowing more about Russell. And, well, Irene was a gossip.

  “Wasn’t born here, but we moved here when I was pretty young. I stayed until I was a teenager, then I moved down south,” he finally said.

  He was already taking out the lock she’d had in wrong, concentrating on the little parts inside and doing something to the inside of the door. His black hair looked shiny and smelt clean, fresh and a bit…spicy, maybe? Or maybe that was him. He’d taken off his jacket, but he had on a great cable-knit, dark blue sweater, with a hint of a white T-shirt around the collar. As usual, he had on a pair of jeans, but these looked brand new, still stiff and dark blue. And his boots. He looked fantastic. All man, and all lean and strong. She could see his biceps under the sweater. Guys in sweaters with T-shirts underneath just looked so good. And his thighs were impressive, too. They were so long and muscled. When he crouched down he filled in the jeans tightly, making her wonder what he looked like out of those jeans, completely naked. Would he have black hair on his legs? And his chest? She imagined he’d have some hair on his chest. He looked like he would.

  Blinking, she jerked her eyes off his body and tried to concentrate.

  “To join the Navy?” she asked.

  He grunted. It was a bit exciting, the sounds he made. And that was just plain odd. Her dad had grunted at her when she was pestering him with questions, or when he was working on something. But coming from Russell it was…sexy.

  “Yeah, after a while.”

  “Mmm…” He certainly didn’t say much about himself.

  “What about you? Drove here on your own and now you’re looking for work?” he asked, adjusting the lock in his hand and handing her the screws that would fix it to the door. Their hands touched and she felt a little jolt. Had it been so long since anyone had touched her?

  Russell looked over at her when she didn’t immediately respond. She was struck again by his grey eyes. The irises were so dark they were almost black, except they weren’t. There were some flecks of grey and blue there but a hint of brown stood out as well. Hazel? Maybe.

  “Don’t lose any of those.” He directed a look at her hand, making her blink down in order to focus on the screws.

  She’d been staring at him, but he was so absorbed in the lock, he didn’t seem to notice.

  Lock in his big hand, he flipped a few metal pieces around, added something else, and grinned over at her. “This way it might work better, but still not good enough.”

  “Right,” she muttered at his arrogance. As if she was going to drop the screws and, if she did, where would they go? On the floor? Men.

  His jaw flexed, as if he were gritting his teeth. He actually looked a little cute like that. Not that she’d tell Mr Big Navy SEAL that, but he did. She eyed his big shoulders and long arms and reassessed him—maybe not cute, but more approachable and less intense, she supposed. But still sexier than any man had a right to be. She couldn’t help noticing how long and capable his fingers were. His hands were big, rough and strong.

  But they’d felt wonderful the other day. And his mouth. She’d thought about that kiss all day after he’d left the hardware store. And all night. It’d been so masculine. And possessive. And so unexpected. Had he been planning it, or had he just decided to kiss her right then and there? It had felt like he hadn’t been able to stop himself. His hand had trembled a little on her face, she remembered. For some reason recalling that made her weak at the knees. What would it be like to have a man want her so badly he couldn’t control himself? The idea shouldn’t have been so thrilling.

  She could admit now that she wanted him to kiss her again. Maybe a bit more than such a quick kiss, too. But she still wasn’t sure how much more; and he didn’t look like the type of man that would simply be satisfied with a kiss or two. He glanced at her, then, and she blushed. No doubt he’d caught her staring.

  “And?”

  “And?”

  “You were going tell me why you ended up in Troy, Montana.”

  She handed him the first screw. “I was?”

  He didn’t look at her but, from beside him, she could see his lip curl up at her teasing.

  “Yeah.”

  “You don’t know yet?” she asked instead. Irene was a gossip. And her husband was too.

  Russ gave her another quick look and took another screw. “I might have heard a bit. But I like to hear it from the source.”

  She laughed at that, and he did, too. He had a soft, deep chuckle. Wouldn’t you know it? All masculine, and no doubt meant to make her more at ease. He seemed to think he had to walk on eggshells with her. She’d noticed that about him, and wondered suddenly if she made him as nervous as he made her. He didn’t look it. How could anyone make him nervous? He was trained for battle—had been in battle, she corrected herself. Her making him nervous didn’t add up.

  “All right, I moved here because I thought a change would be good. My dad passed away recently and this is”—different? Bizarre? Miserable?—“as far from that as I could come up with. Except maybe Australia,” she added, to soften the mood. She didn’t want to talk about her dad with Russ. It was too intimate. And she didn’t want to lie, and she’d have to lie if she said more. “Now, is that it? Because, if it is, that is seriously unfair.” It had taken him less than five minutes to undo her mistake and put the lock back in.

  “Sorry about your dad. It sounds like you two were close.”

  Close? She was not going there with this big man. She didn’t know him, she reminded herself. “Yep, we were. Now, is that really all it took?”

  He gave her a long, steady, grey-eyed stare. Slowly standing, he lifted her up as well with a hand on hers. Without letting go, he nodded. God, his hand was strong and warm.

  “That was it. Now, ready to set that timer?”

  She tried to take her hand back, but he didn’t let go.

  “I don
’t hit on women, Sunshine, but I’m not backing down. I might not know how to flirt, but with you? I think I just might have to learn.”

  Whoa. A breath escaped her lips, sounding way too much like a sigh. She licked her lips nervously, and suddenly Russell was almost on top of her. She shifted a hand up to press against his chest, and he froze. A heartbeat later, he nodded slightly. Another shiver hit her stomach and raced through her veins.

  Oh, my. She wanted to kiss him. Let everything go, forget it all and kiss him until she couldn’t remember her name, or her past. The attack, her father’s death, her being in hiding, this house that wasn’t her home, everything. Only, everything would all be there afterwards, wouldn’t it? Even if they ended up in bed, it would all be there when he was gone. And somehow she knew it would be that much worse, afterwards.

  “The lock. You set that timer. Then maybe change and we’ll do that burger, right?” He sounded so confident she almost missed the note of loneliness in his tone. For once, his grey eyes reflected hesitancy under the outer persona of bold, secure warrior. Maybe he was nervous around her. She wasn’t sure, but she recognised the loneliness in his eyes. She could see it—a kinship, sorta.

  Somehow, Russell made her feel braver, she realised. More herself. She used to make men nervous. She used to drive the MPs crazy. And some of her dad’s friends, too. She used to flirt and tease and skip away without a problem. But she’d always had her dad, too. He’d always managed to keep the guys at bay, provided that buffer they weren’t willing to cross. Not that she’d have let them.

  But she was tempted—oh, God, she was more than tempted with Russell. She could admit that. And there was no one to fall back on. To guide her. And that plain sucked, because part of her really wanted to take Russell’s hand and surprise him by leading him to that bed she had yet to sleep in. Wouldn’t that be something, to shock this big warrior like that? And she knew he’d utter not a word of complaint, either.