Chapter Five
“A word, Captain Knight.” Jackson held open the door for him to pass into the house.
Here it comes.
At this point, Ben would welcome a dangerous mission. Hell, he’d go after ISIS singlehandedly rather than watch Jackson matchmake Dahlia with that desk dog Winters.
He ground his teeth and gave a nod as he passed into the house. Jackson closed the door and turned to face Ben. Their gazes locked.
“Have you been fucking my little girl?”
He might have choked on his tongue if his jaw hadn’t been clenched so tight. “Sir?”
“You heard me. Don’t give me that stupid act, either. I can see you sniffing around her.”
Ben didn’t have anything to say, so he stood stiffly, waiting for the bomb to drop, sure Jackson was shipping him off to Antarctica just to keep him away from Dahlia.
“Sir, I had no idea Dahlia would be here. I only came because of your order.”
“And Dahlia didn’t mention it?”
“I didn’t even know she was your daughter. She told me she had a date.”
At that, Jackson chuckled. “She does. A standing date every year on this day, with me for my birthday.”
It had to be done. Ben had to say what was on his mind.
“If I may ask, sir, what are your intentions with Winters regarding your daughter?”
His eyes sharpened. “That is none of your business, Captain. Now get out there and gather your men. The party is officially over for you.”
“Sir.” He saluted and went back outside. He did gather his men, but he had no intention of leaving.
“Uh-oh. I see that look. I like that look. What’s going on?” Sean rubbed his palms together like a child eager for ice cream.
He led them to the foyer, and each of them took his sidearm again. Ben leaned in. “We’re not leaving yet. That woman whose car you collected from the club for me? That’s Jackson’s daughter’s.”
Jaws dropped but amusement quickly replaced shock. Dylan grinned. “You’re screwing around with Jackson’s daughter?”
“I didn’t know it until today. But yeah. He is guarding her heavily, and I need to speak with her.”
“Say no more. We’ll bring her to you outside. Operation kidnap the colonel’s daughter is underway.” Sean waved toward the two exits, and the men broke off with Sean in command.
* * * * *
Dahlia came out of the powder room and gave a small cry as a wall of muscle clad in black cotton encircled her.
“What’s going on? Are we under siege?” At this point, she’d expect anything. She looked from man to man, her heart rate spiking. But not one of them was Ben.
“What is this?” She straightened her shoulders and met their gazes one by one. Judging by their appearance, several were his brothers, and all of them were doing his bidding.
“Our captain requests an audience, miss.”
Captain? Dear God. He’s not only in OFFSUS, but he’s leading the team.
The man speaking was almost as tall as Ben, with the same dark hair and his eyes were a warm green with gold flecks, but his jaw wasn’t as angled. Or maybe it was the playful tilt to his lips that set him apart from Ben.
“Come with us.” This guy could also be Ben’s brother. She swore his eyes were sparkling the same way.
She shook her head. “I’m not going anywhere with you. And I’m not talking to Ben.”
They just stared at her. Finally, one spoke up. “We have orders to pick you up and carry you if necessary, miss.”
She balled her fist. She wanted to punch something, but any attempts made on these hard bodies would only end with her wearing a cast. She closed her eyes and started counting.
“I don’t think she’s willing to come with us, Sean.”
“Doesn’t look that way.” The guy who must be Sean sighed. “I guess we just pick her up then.” When he started moving toward her, she threw up her hands.
“No! You’re not carrying me anywhere, and I’m not speaking to your captain.” Looking for an exit between the broad torsos barring her way was futile. She could barely see gaps of air between them. These Marines knew how to impersonate a cement block wall.
“We have our orders, miss,” one insisted.
“Fine! I’ll go.” That didn’t mean she had to listen to anything Ben said, and she definitely was not letting him touch her.
One kiss, her body said.
She mentally slapped herself and waited for the men to move. They walked out of the house with her between them as if she was going to make a break for it. Not that she wasn’t considering it, but now that she knew what type of work Ben did, she realized he’d be able to hunt her down and get her alone any time he wanted. At least if she spoke to him on her father’s property, chances were things wouldn’t get out of hand.
Who was she kidding? Ben could have her panties off and flung in the nearest shrubbery with a single flash of his eyes.
When the two men in front of her stopped walking, she nearly barreled into their backs. She skidded to a stop and the men flanking her on either side and behind her did as well.
The line of bodies broke and Ben shouldered his way in. A single nod from him had them all scattering, leaving Dahlia standing there with Ben—alone.
She let her gaze skitter away.
“I don’t blame you for being angry with me. I should have told you what I do for a living. But it’s classified information. I’m sure you understand that with a colonel for a father.”
“Oh yeah, I do.” The words tasted like acid on her tongue. Having a colonel for a father was one thing. She’d also grown up and moved out, which had eliminated some of the constant worry and stress of him being in that role. But she couldn’t do that with Ben, not if she let him into her life.
Which she wasn’t. Couldn’t.
He was staring at her, and her eyes betrayed her. A single peek of his burning expression had her weak in the knees.
“Dahlia,” he said softly, stepping forward and skimming his knuckles along her cheekbone, “can you forgive me?”
She wanted to lean into his touch like a stray kitten starved for affection, but she slapped his hand away. “There’s nothing to forgive. We’re nothing to each other.”
Lines appeared around each of his eyes. “Is that true? You don’t feel anything when you look at me? You feel nothing in my bed? Don’t tell me that you weren’t burning up for me each and every time I sucked your nipples or ran my fingers over your clit or plunged my cock—”
Her weak knees were threatening collapse. “That’s enough, Ben. Please, just stop trying to get me in your bed again. Things won’t work out between us. Not ever.”
Something crossed his face, and oh, how she wanted to examine that look further, but that meant falling harder for him.
“I felt horrible leaving your bed those times without explaining why. I should have broken the rules and told you. Especially after you told me about your job. It was the perfect opportunity.”
She set a hand on her hip and cocked it. “About that. You called my work looking for me and that got me in trouble.”
“I’ll smooth it out with your boss.”
“No, you will not. You’ll stay away from my workplace and you won’t call there again.”
He arched a brow in that bad-boy way that had her nipples bunching into tight knots. “What if I get into a car accident and need rescued?”
“Not even then.”
“If I’m trapped in the twisted metal and need the jaws of life.”
“Nope. Because I’m sure you can get yourself out, knowing what I know about you now.”
He moved closer, bringing his spicy, earthy scent with him. And God, he filled out black cotton like a… well, a Marine.
She breathed shallowly to keep herself from being overcome by manly, masculine… maleness, for lack of a better way of putting it.
“What if I’ve already wrecked, Dahlia? If I’ve careened out of control over a woman.”
Her heart skipped.
He lowered his head and used his knuckles under her chin to draw her face upward. “You’re driving me crazy, cher. I need to touch you.”
She ordered her brain to make her shake her head, but it never happened. In fact, she tipped her head up and closed her eyes.
“So beautiful,” he said faintly, warm breath washing over her lips. He traced a path down her jaw to thumb her lower lip. Juices flooded her panties, and she was ready to dive into the bushes with this man and to hell with Winters or her daddy and anybody else looking on. She wanted Ben.
“There’s so much more I want to know about you. I will know. As soon as I get back.”
Her eyes flew open. “What?”
He flexed his jaw, causing the tendon in the crease to flicker. “Your father’s sending us on another mission. We fly out tonight.”
She swallowed the hard lump that had suddenly risen in her throat. “I can’t do this, Ben. I can’t be with a man like you.”
He swooped in and claimed her lips, wiping her words off her tongue with a flick of his own. With a hand planted on her lower back and one on her nape, he drew her into his kiss, tormenting her for five heartbeats before drawing back.
She searched his face. Dammit, no matter how much distance she wanted to put between them, it was too late. He’d wormed his way close to her heart after only a few meetings, and she would never stop thinking about him if she didn’t give it at least a small chance.
“I’m sorry, honey. It’s my job. But I’m asking you to wait for me. When I come back, we’ll spend time together. Go away maybe.”
“Don’t make promises you can’t keep. You can’t even stay a whole night with me, so how are we leaving town together?”
His chest heaved as if he struggled with the idea. Finally, he nodded. “You’re right. I can’t make those promises. But know that I want to. Will you wait for me, Dahlia?”
Her mind might be screaming to run the other direction, but there was too much chemistry between them to be simple lust, and she’d always wonder what could have been with Ben.
“Do I at least get to know your last name?”
The corner of his lips flashed upward. “Knight. It’s Knight.”
“Well, Ben Bartholomew Knight, I guess I’ll see you when you return.”
She got an even bigger crooked smile, but it faded as quickly as it had come. He ran his thumb over her lower lip again as his gaze intensified. “Wait for me. And don’t see that asshole Winters in the meantime.”
* * * * *
“Get your ass on that chopper, Captain, before it takes off without you.”
The order came through Ben’s coms device and into his ear, but he recognized Colonel Jackson’s voice. He glanced around the airfield for the man but didn’t see him. He was probably happily sitting inside the hangar, sipping a Dewars and laughing his ass off at how he’d managed to get rid of his daughter’s love interest.
Chaz and Roades were waving at him from the chopper, and putting his head down against the wind generated by the propellers, he strode to the waiting aircraft.
He slipped in and someone shut the door. Seconds later, they lifted off. Knight Ops stared at him.
“Just coming from my brothers, this is bad enough, but Rocko is even glaring at me. I didn’t get us into this situation. You were all gung-ho to be in OFFSUS when asked.”
“We didn’t even have twelve hours between missions to sink our dicks into something soft and wet,” Chaz said.
Agreement sounded among them.
“It’s not my fault you can’t find a willing woman. But I am not the reason we’re leaving the country tonight.”
They looked at him as if to ask, Isn’t it?
“You’re sleeping with the colonel’s daughter, so he’s punishing us,” Sean said.
“No. He’s assigning us a mission and it is our duty to achieve it. Now quit whining about your pricks and buck up, assholes. We need to plan. Who’s got the maps?” He looked around the group.
Dylan patted his vest pocket. Each of them were strapped with ammunition, armed to the teeth with everything they needed to drop into a situation, ready to improvise. But he didn’t like the morale in the chopper right now.
“Look, I’ll buy you each a hotel room and a hooker for a weekend when we return. Okay?”
That got a few smiles. Rocko’s teeth flashed white in the camo paint of his face. Someday that smile was going to get him sniped. “I can get my own women.”
“Yeah? You exclusive with someone?” Ben thought asking about mundane life things might ease some of the tension shooting his way.
“Yeah, her name’s Jenna. And Karly. Gabriella is might pretty too.”
They all laughed, and the release was just what they needed.
He gestured to Dylan. “Give me the maps.”
Sean reached into his vest and pulled out his cell.
Ben looked up, pinning him in his stare. “You know we aren’t allowed cells.” If they were captured, it was too easy to find out their identities.
“I’m just checking on Lexi.”
Damn, Ben had almost forgotten about their issue with Lexi’s “boyfriend” trying to wipe out her bank account. The man would have to wait for their return to have his legs broken.
He slapped the cell from his brother’s hand. “We’re in the air, man. It will mess with the instruments. We’ll deal with the guy when we get back.”
“And what about that Winters dude?” Rocko asked.
Ben’s head whipped his way. “What about him?”
“You looked like you wanted to knock out a few of his teeth too, when he was talking to your lady.”
He wasn’t even going to deny Dahlia was his. As far as he was concerned, she was.
“Did you tell her we’ll be gone two weeks minimum?” Rocko cocked a brow.
He shook his head. “She’ll find out soon enough.”
In fact, she’d most likely forget about agreeing to wait for him. Why would she anyway? She deserved better than a half-ass, part-time relationship with a man who could be killed in the line of duty at any moment. Dammit, why had he asked her to wait? He shouldn’t have put that yoke on her to bear.
For a second, he considered texting her with Sean’s phone and to hell with the chopper’s instruments. But he placed it under his boot. With one hard stomp, the phone shattered, all communication with the outside world lost. Whatever happened with Lexi or Dahlia would have to wait until the mission was complete.
Hopefully Ben had someone to come back and explain to.
* * * * *
“Princess. I didn’t expect you.” Dahlia’s father leaned in to kiss her cheek and welcome her into the house. She stepped inside the grand entry, casting a look at the sideboard where the guns had been last.
“Hi, Dad. I wondered if we can talk about something.”
“Sure. My office or the living room? I can fix some mimosas.”
She shook her head. “The office is fine.”
He arched a brow at her but didn’t ask her reasons for the formal visit. They walked to the office and he closed the door behind them. Turning to her, he said, “I’m not sure what to expect from you, Dahlia.”
“Sit down, Dad. I just want to ask you some things.”
“I hope this isn’t about life. After your mother passed, I never could quite get a handle on how to raise a daughter.”
“You did fine, Daddy.” She offered him a soft smile, the mention of her late mother making her yearn for understanding.
She folded her hands and waited for her father to sink into his big leather chair. She studied his lined face, wondering how much of those had been put there by his own missions and worrying about the men he led.
“You’re making me nervous, honey.”
She nodded and tried to focus what she wanted to say. “I’d like to know more about Operation Freedom Flag.”
He was still for a long minute and then sat back in his chair. “You know that’s classified information, princess.”
“Yes, but I’ve never asked before. Because it was never important before.”
He narrowed his eyes, but she caught a hint of resignation in them. “Is this about Knight?”
“Yes.”
“Damn. I knew he was screwing around with you.”
“Dad!”
“Look, you don’t want a Marine for a mate, and you definitely do not want that Marine.”
Like all contrary daughters, she squared her shoulders. “Why not?”
“He’s not for you. You need someone steady.”
“And in the country?” Her prompt didn’t even get a change of expression out of her father. The man could do a snow job on Santa Claus after he read her father’s name on the naughty list.
“Dahlia, I can’t tell you where the team is right now.”
She looked down at her fingers, inspecting the curves of her nails. “Would you tell me if he’s safe, Daddy?”
He pushed out a heavy sigh and pivoted to look out the window. He didn’t often show his age, but right now, his face seemed to droop with what she was asking him to disclose.
Finally, he nodded. “As far as we know, they’re safe.”
“All of them?” she asked.
“All of them.” He looked back to her and spread his hands. “Won’t you at least consider Winters? He’s a good man.”
“I’m sure he is, but…” She met her father’s gaze. “You know how Mom felt about you?”
“Goddammit.”
“Exactly. Goddammit.”
They sat in silence, bonded by something she wasn’t willing to explain more and he wasn’t willing to discuss.
“How long before he returns?” she asked.
“A few more days, we expect. I shouldn’t even be telling you that much.”
“But you did, and I’m grateful, Daddy. Thank you.” She got up and circled the desk as her father stood, reaching out to accept her into his embrace. With her cheek pressed to his uniform shirt, she knew what her mother must have felt each time her father left. She still wasn’t convinced the lifestyle was for her, but then again, Ben wasn’t asking for more, was he? He only wanted to see her when he returned.
Going on tiptoe, she planted a kiss to her father’s leathery cheek. “Thank you.”
“Well, don’t get used to it.”
She smiled as she pulled free of his hold. “I won’t.” At least for the moment, her heart was at peace. Ben was alive and would be home soon.
* * * * *
Dahlia dropped her huge tote bag containing her knitting to the floor and kicked it under her desk. Joanie eyed her, and Dahlia sighed. “I know, I know. I need to just end it.”
The older woman gave her a gentle smile that said she might know Dahlia was referring to more than the project. She hadn’t heard from Ben in three and a half weeks. And when she demanded that her father tell her something more, he’d only given her that look. The same one he’d given her when she was little, basically telling her that she wasn’t wearing the right uniform to be given that information.
Of course, she was older and refused to be sent away quietly this time. Fat lot of good that did. She’d wheedled and demanded but her father, hard ass that he was, had only given her his usual cold stare and changed the subject.
She hadn’t liked the new topic either, since it was about Winters and how the man had been asking about her each time he saw her daddy.
She plopped into her seat and with another heavy sigh, placed her headset on. Luckily, it didn’t take long for the calls to come in and distract her. She received a call about a fishing boat accident followed by one from an elderly lady who said someone was trying to break in, but once the authorities arrived on the scene, they found it was a loose board on her house rattling in the wind.
Then the afternoon shift slowed to a crawl and Dahlia added six more inches to her blanket before Joanie came to lean against her desk.
“Honey, if you don’t tie that thing off, you’ll never get it out the door to take home. Why don’t you start something new? I have some pretty blue yarn to share with you.”
She glanced down at the thick wad of knitting under her desk, taking up all the knee space. “I guess you’re right.”
“I get the feeling you’re holding on to something else.”
“Absolutely not. This… blanket… is stress relief and something to keep me busy between calls. Same as you and Bill and even Kyle over there.” She waved toward her boss, who was clacking away with the needles on an ugly green yarn she hoped wasn’t a sweater vest, but it probably was.
Joanie’s eyes crinkled when she smiled but her lips crinkled when she frowned. Right now, she was frowning at Dahlia. “Sweetie, this job can get to you, but you can’t let it. You have to leave things at the door.”
“I know. I try.”
“Why don’t you sneak to the break area and give one of your girlfriends a call? Meet for drinks?”
She sighed again. “Serena’s upset with me and Rachel is busy tracking her ovulation so she and Kip can make babies. I haven’t heard from my other two friends since their honeymoons. I guess that means they weren’t really great friends to begin with.”
Joanie patted her arm. “Friends are difficult to keep up with when we’re all so busy running separate directions. What about dating?”
Dahlia stiffened in her seat. “I thought I was seeing someone. Well, sort of. He asked me to wait for him while he was away for work, but it’s been nearly a month and I haven’t heard from him.” The fact that she was confiding in this older coworker spoke of how desperately she needed to discuss the matter.
Having the unbiased opinion was golden, though.
“Is it usual for him to get tied up this way for work?”
Dahlia nodded, looking down at her hands.
“Is he worth waiting for?”
Now, that she wasn’t quite so decided on. She and Ben hadn’t made any commitments, only had a good time. Sure, they hit it off and she enjoyed everything from his body to his humor.
But she didn’t like his career or the roller coaster he kept strapping her onto.
“It seems like you have some thinking to do,” Joanie said as Dahlia received another call.
Putting on her calmest tone, she responded. A woman screamed her panic and Dahlia’s adrenaline kicked in. Within seconds, she hunched tensely over her desk, knitting squashed under her boot and Ben the furthest thing from her mind as she walked a caller through performing rescue breathing on her husband.
During these times, Dahlia had a habit of counting down the seconds before the medics arrived. Numbers seemed to flash behind her eyes as she told the woman to once again listen for her husband’s breathing.
“H-he’s breathing! It’s light but I feel it on my cheek!” the caller cried.
Tears hit the backs of Dahlia’s eyes. The emotional storm inside her called for a visit to the club, to Ben Knight’s bed… But she didn’t know when or if she’d ever see him again.
Seconds later, the medics arrived and took over. Dahlia slouched in her chair as relief left her as wrung out as an old dishrag.
“All right, dear?” Joanie asked, seated with her knitting in her lap again. “That was a tough call.”
“Yes,” she managed to say, because her mind was going a hundred miles a minute. Joanie had asked if Ben was worth waiting for, and she hadn’t known how to reply. After that last call, she had a bit more perspective on life.
Just as she was determined to help the people who needed her at the worst possible times of their lives, Ben was out there doing the same—protecting the lives of citizens. And he was no less passionate about it.
She stepped up to Joanie and rested her hand on the woman’s shoulder. “I don’t know him well enough to say if he is worth waiting for, but I guess I owe it to myself to find out. Thanks for listening to me.”
She hurried to the break area and found her phone in her purse. After her father had refused to tell her anything about Ben or his whereabouts, she’d done some digging on her own. It wasn’t hard to find a whole family of Marines named Knight. She’d saved a phone number, and now it was time to make the call.
As she leaned against the break table, she tried to slow her heart. The phone rang twice. Halfway through the third, a woman answered.
“Hello, I’m looking for Ben Knight.”
“He’s not home right now.”
“Um… Well, do you know when he may return?”
Was this Ben’s mother? The woman sounded too young. Perhaps a sibling.
“I’m not sure of that. Ben is known for going his separate way and coming back with stories about being shacked up with some woman in Miami or Cabo for a weekend.”
The words punched Dahlia squarely in the gut. She leaned forward, trying to wrap her head around it.
“Are you one of his girlfriends? I can take a message for him, but I can’t guarantee he will get back to you.” The woman’s accent was deep South. And her sweet drawl was slicing Dahlia to the heart.
“I-I… No, not his girlfriend. No message.”
She ended the call and pressed the phone to her chest. Dammit, how stupid could she be? Even if Ben was actually still on some dangerous mission to protect their freedoms, he was a player. Just as she’d suspected early on. But his honeyed request for her to wait for him had been playing around her brain far too many weeks, until she’d forgotten that part of her hesitation.
He was probably just in some tropical climate, sleeping off a sex-a-thon with some gorgeous woman while Dahlia stupidly wasted her thoughts on him. Clinging to a man was not her way, and she was going to break the bad habit starting now.
She deleted the number she’d just called and returned to work. After she took a seat and had her headset at the ready, she reached under her desk, grabbed her knitting and tied it off. The snip of the scissors made Joanie look up and smile at her, but Dahlia wasn’t feeling so positive about the break. She needed a little more time to get Captain Ben Knight out of her system.
* * * * *
Ben’s skin burned where they’d taken a flame to him. The smell of burning hair had haunted him for days after, even though the hairs on his forearms were long since shriveled and the burns treated.
Fuck, things hadn’t just gone sideways—he and his team had dropped straight into the pits of hell when they’d walked into the South American hovel to rescue a US special ops force being held hostage. Then Ben had become the hostage.
He leaned forward and dropped his head into his hands as memories swept him.
Rocko had taken the first bullet, followed by Roades. Dammit, Ben couldn’t quit thinking about the pain twisting his little brother’s face as he fell. Yet his other brothers kept assuring him Roades was fine, a superficial wound that was on the mend and he was already back to being his usual, snide asshole self.
Ben watched the memory play like a movie again through his head, thinking that at some point his baby brother had grown up and become a true credit to the team he served—he hadn’t even made a noise when the bullet had ripped through his leg.
The moment had shocked Ben so much that he hadn’t noticed the guy coming up behind him. In seconds, he’d been fighting for his life, a wire around his neck as he was dragged away. To his relief, he hadn’t been strangled, but that was short-lived because they’d placed him with the other hostages and added him to the ranks of the tortured.
What he knew of the rest of the mission was cloudy, given in bits and pieces by his brothers. Sean had taken charge, managed to kill a few of the thugs guarding the place and scrambled to get Knight Ops out.
But it was too late to get them all out and he’d had to make the hard decision of saving five and leaving Ben behind. He kept telling Ben that he knew as captain, Ben would have done the same, and that was the only way he’d managed to walk away. Ben knew by that speech that his brother was still aching over being forced into making the choice.
He rubbed at the bandage covering his forearm. He was told to stay out of the sun while the burns healed, but the warm rays were the only thing he had right now. Even thoughts of Dahlia made his stomach roll.
Dear God. Dahlia.
Though she couldn’t know it, she was the only thing that had gotten him through that hell. When the enemy came for him to deliver that final beating, Dahlia’s beautiful face had given him the strength to break the guard’s neck and then turn his own weapon against him.
Sure, four US hostages had gotten to escape, but not before two others were killed. At least Ben had the satisfaction that he’d sent the bad guys on their way to hell and maimed several others who had kept them imprisoned and taken hourly joy in torturing fellow countrymen.
Dahlia had gotten him through it all, and now he was avoiding going home to her. He’d told her two weeks and he’d lost count of what month it even was now. All he knew was he’d probably lost her.
For the best, he kept telling himself. The woman deserved all the good in the world, and that was having a man who was there for her. How many of her smiles had he missed? All those nights he could have been holding her. Hell, he didn’t know nearly enough about her, only that he’d never felt this way before. None of the Maddies, Kylas and Isabellas had kept him full of hope in that prison.
Sweet Dahlia… he had to go back to her. But not yet. First, he needed to shake what they’d done to him.
Water glistened on the dancing waves. The Gulf had always brought him solace, but today it was just water and the sand clinging to the hems of his jeans just grains. Neither was enough.
He shifted his jaw. It wasn’t broken as he’d once thought, and the bruising had gone down considerably. His skin was fading from black and blue to green and yellow. A few more days of sunshine and he’d be ready.
After he’d been debriefed, they’d given him a cell phone but he’d yet to use it. How easy it would be to dial Dahlia. Hell, even if she was at work, he could call 911 again. A small smile twisted his lips. She’d been so pissed that he’d called there. He couldn’t blame her, but her annoyance had only fired his blood.
For the first time since he’d last been with her, his cock stirred. If she walked up beside him right now, his chest would lose some of that empty hollowness and he’d pull her down on his lap, slanting his lips across hers as he stroked her body into a frenzy of need.
One call and he could make that connection again.
Leaning back in the sand, he fished the device out of his jeans. He’d kept it on silent so had missed the texts from his family.
Maman: When you’re ready to come home, I’ll have your favorite grits ready.
Tyler: Hey, butthead. When you coming home to teach me how to ride that old motorcycle?
He might have chuckled if he had it in him, but after the past weeks, laughter felt like foreign territory. And the last thing he was doing was teaching his little sister how to ride that bike. Ben continued thumbing through the messages.
Rocko: I didn’t get a chance to thank you before they dragged me out of there and onto a plane for surgery, but I will thank you now. If you hadn’t slammed into that guy at the last minute, the bullet would have taken a much different path and I wouldn’t be lying here convalescing with sexy nurse Addison bringing me drinks and giving me back rubs. Cheers, Cap’n. It’s a pleasure serving with you.
Sean: When you get back, whattaya say about you, me, a couple of fishing poles and some bait? The catfish are biting.
Ben swallowed hard and pushed himself to read them all. Each text a sort of get-well card, and they touched him.
Roades had sent a photo of his leg and a pretty woman posing over it, her skirt riding high on her tanned thighs.
Ben grunted with amusement. Typical Roades. Injured and living it up. The kid probably had a beer in one hand too.
Dylan: I hope this eases your mind a bit—Chaz, Sean and I paid a visit to Lexi’s asshole “friend.” You don’t need to worry about him anymore. He isn’t even in the state.
Sitting up straighter, Ben re-read that message. He didn’t know what he isn’t even in the state meant, but he wouldn’t put anything past his brothers when it came to their little sis. She had wrapped them all around her fingers from birth, and each brother was more protective of her than the next, resulting in her own personal hitman squad. The fact that some men would prey on her weaknesses meant Ben would have to step it up. He needed to get more involved, watch over her more. Screen her boyfriends.
Not that their daddy didn’t do a good job of that, greeting them at the door with a shotgun resting on his knees.
Chaz: Dude, you are missing out on Maman’s home-cooking. She’s outdoing herself. Come home quick and we’ll do some fishin’.
Typical Chaz. Keeping things light when it was clear he was concerned about him. Ben pressed his lips together and read on.
Another from Dylan: Catfish are hot right now. Come home and we’ll go to the cabin. You can bring your girl.
Ben’s heart shot into his throat.
Sean: I know Dylan let you in on the Lexi thing, but don’t worry about anything. We took care of the guy.
Damn, that didn’t ease Ben’s mind one damn bit. What the hell had his brothers done to the guy—trussed him up and tossed him in the swamp?
Sean again: Lexi’s pretty pissed. If she asks you, you don’t know anything.
“Jesus Christ,” he muttered.
Maman: Your pére got the spit out and a hog ready to roast when you get home. We miss you, Ben.
Pére: Could use some help from someone who isn’t full of estrogen to control these brothers of yours. Do you know what they did?
No, and Ben wasn’t sure he wanted to. Maybe he’d never go home. The sun, sand and surf were all he needed.
Except it wasn’t. He wanted to sit down at the dinner table to his maman’s good food and hear exactly what had gone down between his brothers and Lexi’s boyfriend.
Lexi: You guys all think you have to protect me, but when are you gonna learn that I can handle myself?
Finally, a chuckle escaped Ben. If Lexi was giving sass, then she was okay.
Lexi: Some woman called the house for you a few weeks ago. She didn’t leave a message.
He stopped breathing, just staring at the screen. Those little black letters held so much hope for him. Could it be Dahlia who’d called? He hadn’t given her any number to contact him, but he knew her—she’d be resourceful.
With all the messages read, that chasm opened inside him once more. He was sitting here waiting for the things he loved to help him move on, when what he really needed was one woman who had made him forget before.
He stood, not bothering to dust the sand from his jeans. Then he raised a hand in salute to the water. He was going home and find Dahlia to let the healing begin.