The town Malik once couldn’t get away from fast enough, now gripped his heart with its charm and old country life. Such a contrast from the big cities he’d been stationed in through his military career, like Norfolk and San Diego. At eighteen, he couldn’t stand one more minute in the ranching town, small world life. At thirty-eight, he had no idea just how much he’d missed it until he drove through his old stomping grounds.

He pulled up to the feed store to grab supplies for his dad. The smell of fertilizer and leather hit him harder than his ma’s biscuits, and the memories swarmed him. His first job at fifteen was working in that store. A jab of homesickness filled his heart as he walked through the aisles he used to stock every day. Damn, he never knew he would be so emotional over a fucking store. Something messed with his mind. Maybe his mom put something in his food. He laughed at the thought.

He turned the corner and bumped shoulders with a tall man, near his six-foot height. That dusty brown hair and green eyes morphed into an eleven-year-old boy with similar features, striking his memory.

“Little Hank Patterson?” Malik said, tilting his head.

The man turned and stared at Malik with wide-eyes. “Damn, Malik Thompson? No way, I didn’t know you were back in town. Holy shit, it’s been damn near twenty years.” Hank extended his hand and Malik returned a firm shake.

“Yup. I’m on leave. Pops said you’d come back to Eagle Rock permanently. Heard you went on to be a SEAL, too.”

Hank nodded as a spark of sadness hit his eyes. “Yeah, medical discharge. FUBAR op. Lost a lot of good men that day.”

“Sorry to hear that, man. Been there. It never gets easier.” Malik shook his head.

“So, you still active duty?”

Malik gave a quick nod. “For a little while longer. I’m facing down my twenty and need to decide to re-up or retire.”

“Damn, going career is hard to give up.”

“Yeah, I don’t know what I’d do with myself outside of the SEAL life. My folks wanna retire and RV around the country. They’re trying to talk me into taking over the ranch and smithing business. But I don’t know. It’s just not where my heart lies right now. As much as I don’t want to lose the family legacy, I know it’s just not what I’m meant to do.”

“Well, if you do decide on retiring and need something to do, I’m looking for help at my agency.” Hank pulled a card from his wallet and handed it to Malik. “I specialize in helping servicemen transition from active duty. I have a security agency made up of all ex-military guys. Might fit what you’re looking for.”

Malik glanced at the card—Brotherhood Protectors. “Didn’t realize Eagle Rock had such a need for a security agency.”

“Lots changed in twenty years, man.” Hank chuckled. “Our land out here is calling to the rich and famous. We’ve got a lot of celebrities buying up old ranches, looking for getaways from the paparazzi. Not to mention the high-profile folks from the professional rodeos and some prized cattle ranches out here now. Lots of people leaving the big cities looking for a slower paced lifestyle. Trouble has a way of trailing the folks looking to escape their problems. Know what I mean?”

Malik nodded. “Yeah. Can’t slow time. Gotta roll with change.”

“Listen, if you’re up for it, why don’t you come by for dinner some night before you head back to base. I’d love to introduce you to my wife, Sadie. Give you a tour of the agency and fill you in a little more.”

“I’d like that. Thanks.” Malik extended his hand and gave Hank’s a shake. “I appreciate it, man.”

“Hey, SEALs stick together. We may not have been on the same team, but we’re a brotherhood. Hence the name of my agency. We’ve got a good mix of ex-Delta-Force and Army Rangers. We could always use another SEAL. Especially the infamous Steel.”

Malik quirked a brow. “I’m infamous?”

“Legendary. No one can wield a blade like you can. We held a contest one day on base to see who was the best on our team. I won only because I knew you personally as a kid, not on my ability to throw. Not saying that in the heat of the moment I couldn’t do some damage. But no one has your precision, timing, and finesse.”

Malik forced back a proud smile, trying to keep a skeptical facade. He had no idea the skill he’d learned from his dad and grandpa, both longtime cowboys and outdoorsman, would ever have taken him to this level.

Hank reached into his pocket and pulled out a buzzing phone. “It’s Sadie, she’s probably wondering where I went. So, listen, think about it and let me know. It was good seeing you, Steel.”

Malik nodded. “Likewise. I’ll be in touch.”

Hank gave his shoulder a pat before making his way to the door.

“Hey, Hank,” Steel called out to him.

He turned around. “Yeah?”

“Your mom would be proud of ya. You’ve done good, kid.” Malik tossed him a wink.

“I could take you down right here, grandpa.” Hank laughed as he ‘air’ quoted grandpa, as Malik was seven years older than him.

Being back home suddenly came to a head. From the outside, it didn’t look like much had changed. A few more buildings went up around town. A few more cars in the dusty streets. His folks were a little older, but still spry and hard working as he remembered them, with a few more worry lines and a little grayer hair. But it hit Malik harder in looking at his friend, the little kid who he scrapped with when his dad would shoe their horses. The signs of war aged Hank a bit more than he should be at thirty-one, but it wasn’t a road-hard or weathered face. It was a face of maturity beyond his years and the weight of the world on his shoulders. Malik could relate.

“Without a doubt.” Malik flipped the business card between his fingers and gave him a nod.

The decision weighed heavy in his heart. He’d never been so torn about anything in his life. He needed someone to tell him which direction to go in. As team leader, he gave the directions, but he always had a higher up to go to for instruction. This time, it was up to him to decide what course of action to take. Did he give up his military career and finally settle down? But with his folks running about the country, he’d have no one to come home to. Yet, if he stayed in the Navy, he may never get the chance to find someone.

Sure, guys like Hound found their soulmates while enlisted. Hound’s turned out to be a CIA spy. While they led a crazy life, they both had a handle on deployments and duties and were able to work their way around it. Malik never liked the idea of settling down while still in the military, leaving them for months to a year at a time depending on deployment. Not watching his kids grow up, forcing the heavy weight of raising the family on his wife. He refused to do that. He never let himself get close to anyone long enough to form a relationship. Remaining unattached made it better for everyone. No heartaches or goodbyes. No missing out on life events. And most of all, should he not make it back from a mission, no tearing apart a family.

But if he re-upped for another five or ten years he may miss his chance on ever starting a family. At thirty-eight, he’d already passed the point most guys settled down and had kids. If he waited any longer, he’d probably be dead by the time his kid would graduate high school. He didn’t want to raise a child and not be able to keep up with them, be too tired to play ball or show them how to ride a horse or throw a blade.

He palmed his head, running it back and forth, letting the freshly buzzed hair prickle his fingers. Letty’s face flashed in his mind with her warm smile and bright eyes, not to mention her fantastic curves. Those painted-on jeans begged to be ripped off. She’d caught his attention, in all the right places. He liked a fiery woman who could hold her own, knew what she wanted, and had drive to get it. She’d be a force to be reckoned with, but he imagined all that explosive energy beneath him in the bedroom, and his jeans tightened to an uncomfortable level.

Maybe it was time to see if he couldn’t give it a shot. She blew him off yesterday, but Malik lived for the action, the chase. Nothing worth anything ever came easy. And he had a feeling Letty would definitely be worth it.

* * *

Tremors riddled her hands the entire drive to the Thompson Ranch. But from fear of the situation or nerves about seeing Malik again, she had no idea. More than likely a dangerous combination of both. She tossed and turned all night, unable to quell her anger at Stevi cheating, and fear of who this mystery man could be and why he had it out for her. The bags under her eyes could probably carry more than her horse. There wasn’t enough concealer in the world to mask them.

She parked the truck and climbed out, shaking the tingles from her fingers. Maurice popped his head out from the stables where it looked like he had been tending to Storm. A smile replaced her frown for a moment. She knew her horse was in good hands.

“Miss Stephens, come back to try again?” Maurice walked over, brandishing a bright smile as he wiped the sweat from his brow with a rag from his back pocket.

“Try what again, sir?” Letty returned the smile.

“Well, there’s only two options, either your horse or my son,” he said with a hearty chuckle.

She shook her head, forcing back a blush. “It’s not what you think, but actually I did come for both. I need to run Storm, and I was hoping to talk to Malik about something. I may need his help.”

“Oh?” Maurice tilted his head. “Well, come on in. He should be back from the feed store by now.”

The Thompsons had always taken good care of her horse each time she came to Eagle Rock. They almost felt like family. Letty remembered seeing pictures of Malik on their walls in the house, but for some reason she never gave them a second glance. Just a passing part of their world, he didn’t feel real because she’d never met him in all the years she’d been coming around. But today, those same pictures she’d seen for years stood out to her and burned the image into her mind. Malik “Steel” Thompson, the nameplate said underneath his formal dress blues picture. Steel? She’d need to find out about that one.

While the picture in his formal dress was handsome, it did little justice to the man in person. She remember his ripped muscles bugling from his tight t-shirt and jeans. He could probably move a Chevy with those thighs. For a fragment of time, she lost herself in the image of riding them.

A cough broke her fantasy and she spun around to find Malik behind her, a seductive smile playing on his lips. “Did I interrupt something?”

Heat crawled up her cheeks and she just about socked him one for spooking her. But she supposed as a SEAL he was trained to be stealthy. A good trait to have for the task she was about to lay before him.

“Naw, you just reminded me of my Uncle Rico. He was a beefy dude, always smoking a stogie. Specialized in poker and porn.” She cleared her throat and inched herself out of his personal space.

Malik’s dazed and confused face sent a ripple of laughter through her, and she fought hard to keep it at bay.

“You got that reference from looking at my picture?” He quirked a brow. “Was he Navy?”

“Nope. He runs a casino in Jersey.” Letty stifled another laugh at the quizzical expression on his face. “It’s the eyes. Rico had that stare every time he caught someone counting cards. You have it in your picture, like you’re out to shred the assholes of the Earth.”

Letty conjured up the image of Rico to tamp down the heat pooling inside her at the sight of Malik, let alone his orgasm-inducing cologne sinking into her every pore like he bathed in an aphrodisiac.

“Well, I hope I made a little bit of a difference in this world. So, I hear you wanted to talk with me. Have a change of heart since yesterday?” Malik guided her to the sofa.

Letty’s lip curled to the left as she narrowed her eyes. “Mmmm nope. I don’t flip my principles on a dime, sir. But I am here to ask for advice.”

Malik sat up and leaned his elbows on his knees. “About?”

She bit her lip and sucked in a long breath, unsure how to approach the topic.

“You okay, Letty? Are you in some kind of trouble?” Concern shadowed his eyes and all traces of the suave playboy dissipated, like he snapped into a different part of himself.

“I’m not exactly sure. I’m probably blowing things out of proportion. Maybe I just heard things wrong, or I don’t know...” Doubt crept into her mind, blurring the memories from last night in the arena. Did she really see and hear all that?

“Lay it out for me. What happened? First of all, are you hurt?” He placed a hand on her knee. The warmth soaked into her jeans and swirled all her thoughts together. Words left her and that heat circulated like an incoming storm, funneling straight to her core. Part of her longed for more. Part of her knew she needed to move, not lead him on. But the comfort in his touch gave her a sense of safety, and she didn’t want it to end.

“Well, last night I was at the fairgrounds, doing prep for the rodeo about to start. Everyone had pretty much left for the evening. But I like to walk the venues right before opening night and listen to the essence of the arena. It’s weird, but I kind of commune with the spirits of riders past, I guess. I soak it all in, imagine what awesome racers have come before me and kind of channel them for the event to come. It’s peaceful and settles my soul.”

“That’s not too weird. I can relate. I’ve never told anyone this before, but I do something similar on my missions. I think about all the brave men who came before me and kind of say a little prayer with them in my head, asking for strength and wisdom, channeling them like you said.”

Letty smiled and a piece of her wall cracked. Not only was he hot, but they had something so intimate, spiritual, in common. He was going to be the death of her for sure.

“Well, as I was about to leave, someone came into the arena. I thought maybe it was cleaning crew or someone who’d forgotten something. But turns out it was one of the barrel racers. I ducked behind the bleachers and saw her cheating the scoreboard.”

Malik’s head jerked up. “Really? I always wondered if those events weren’t rigged. How do you know she was cheating?”

“Someone else was with her, in the booth. She ran the course and the board lit up her score. Only she ran it again, but the next time a second and a half was shaved off her time. She did it a third time, and I pulled out my stopwatch app on my phone. I clocked her at her original run time, and the scoreboard still showed a second and a half difference.”

“Well that doesn’t seem like much. I’m sure there’s variances in devices measuring time.”

“Not in barrel racing, Malik. A tenth or hundredth of a second can mean everything. A difference of an entire second and a half in the three runs means something’s going on. Someone’s skimming time off the score clock.”

“She’s right, ya know. They take that stuff pretty seriously.” Mr. Thompson wandered into the room. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to eavesdrop. Was just on my way down the hall and caught the tail end of that.”

“It’s no problem, Mr. Thompson.” Letty scooted away from Malik’s hand in the presence of his father, like she just got caught making out with him or something.

“Is there someone you can go to about it? Like the rodeo commissioner or board?” Malik looked between his dad and her.

“I can talk to Dell Montgomery. I was the on-site rodeo farrier in years past. I stopped when we opened the knife shop. Just got spread too thin. But Dell and I know each other, I’m sure he can investigate the claims,” Mr. Thompson said.

Letty shook her head and the scene replayed in her mind, knotting her stomach. “That’s the thing, it was Dell who was in the booth with her.”

Maurice’s mouth dropped open. “You sure? I’m not calling you a liar, Miss Stephens, but in all my years, I’ve never known Dell to be a cheat, let alone a rule breaker of any sort. In fact, he was probably too stringent in the rules when it came to the rodeo.”

“Can’t miss his ten-gallon white Stetson and his blue ostrich boots. I know it was Dell, and I know his rep. It’s probably the fact that Dell has that kind of reputation that no one would even think he would be involved. But there was a third man in the arena. He showed up at the end, started pushing Dell’s buttons about some agreement they had. What bothers me the most, he mentioned my name. Said something about getting back at those who put him in jail, that we’d get our comeuppance. But the thing is, I don’t know of anyone who’s been in jail, let alone put a man in there.”

Maurice and Malik glanced at each other and worry spread over their faces. Malik turned back to her. “Have you gone to the police or someone else on the rodeo committee?”

Letty shook her head. “No one would believe me, like your dad said, Dell’s got a pristine rep. It would be three against one. Not to mention I’m the ex-champion, and Stevi is current title holder. She’s been riding in glory since I got knocked out two years ago with a nasty fall. This is my first year back and we’ve been battling it out all year long. It would look like jealousy on my part if I accused her of cheating. Everything is kind of stacked against me at this point, and I don’t know what to do.”

If circumstances had been different, Letty may have just walked away from the cheating scandal and called it quits. Not that she would have wanted them to get away with it, but it wouldn’t have been worth it to put her life on the line just for glory, since it would be her last rodeo anyway. But in dire straits, she had to win the championship and pull in that purse to pay for her mother’s treatment and save her ranch. She didn’t have a choice.

Malik took her hand in his. “We’ll think of something. You know, I ran into Hank Patterson today. He’s an ex-SEAL and has a security agency. We can see if they have someone available to be your bodyguard during the rodeo.”

Letty sighed and eased her hand away from his, curling her arms around her stomach that roiled with anxiety. “I don’t know if I’m overreacting or if I really do need to be concerned.”

Malik pulled out his phone and dialed up Hank’s number on speaker-phone. “Better safe than sorry.”

“Brotherhood Protectors, Hank speaking.”

“Hank, it’s Steel.”

Letty tilted her head at his nickname and a small smile replaced her worry for a moment. She still wanted to know what the name stood for. Balls of steel? Hard and ridged personality?

“Steel, man, didn’t think I’d hear back so soon. What’s up?”

“I have a job for you. A friend of mine needs a bodyguard for the rodeo stint. You have anyone available?” Letty eyed Malik as he said the word friend. They were barely acquaintances let alone friends, yet the urge to be more than both took control of her heart and head. She forced it down, not needing to get lost in a hormone fog while her life was on the line.

A sharp intake of breath hissed out of the phone. “Sorry man, all my guys are on jobs right now. Told ya that’s why I wanted to hire you on. I could use some extra bodies around here. But tell you what, you’re on leave right now, so why don’t you take on the job. We’ll call it your probation period.” He laughed. “Then you can decide if you want to give it a shot full-time, like we talked about earlier today. What do you say?”

Maurice tilted his head and stared at Malik as if he’d been shot through the heart. Letty had no idea why his dad looked so hurt. But Malik’s deer-in-the-headlights look back at his dad said there were some underlying issues they had to resolve.

“I guess I don’t have a choice. Someone’s gotta look out for her, so I might as well make a go of it. I’ll stop by later for details,” Malik said, pinching the bridge of his nose.

“All right, man. Catch you later, Steel.”

Malik put the phone back in his pocket and clasped his hands together. “Guess that settles it. I’m your new bodyguard.”

“Look, Malik, I didn’t come here for you to be my bodyguard. I don’t want to cause a rift.” She pointed between him and his dad. Nor did she want him to feel forced to take care of her. It was a bad idea all around. “I just came for advice or help making a plan. I don’t really know what I wanted to happen as a result. I think I just freaked out more than I should. So, I’ll just get out of your hair.”

“Sweetheart, I don’t have any hair.” He chuckled and pointed to his nearly bald head. “And there’s no rift.” He glanced to his dad and then back to her. “I want to help you. I think you have legitimate cause to be on guard. I don’t want anything to happen to you. We’ll figure something out together.”

“Malik’s right. Your safety is the main concern. You’ll be in good hands with my son. If I can help in any way, let me know.” Maurice patted Malik’s shoulder and left the room.

Letty huffed out a breath, but somehow her stomach eased its knots. While not sure she really needed a full-on bodyguard, at least she wouldn’t be alone in this anymore. “Okay, so what do we do?”

Malik’s warm, concerned eyes narrowed a bit with a sexy, sinister flare that sent a spark of adrenaline through her heart and a smile that melted her soul. “Well, first, I become your boyfriend.”

Letty blinked. “Say what?”