When Love Intrudes (When the Mission Ends) (14 page)

“Yes, ma’am.” He looked properly chastened which just made her giggle.

God, was she giggling? The incongruity of the situation wasn’t lost on her. Just yesterday they had been in a car chase with shooting guns and everything. If she didn’t stop to consider why they were actually here, this might turn out to be a really amazing vacation for the three of them. They were already having a lot of fun.

They were almost through with their amazing breakfast—even Nathan had said it was definitely worth getting out of bed for—when
Cherise came by the table to give Brian the check. She wasn’t subtle about leaving her phone number on the ticket ‘just in case Brian didn’t have it anymore and needed anything while he was in town.’

Toni looked over at Nathan and whispered, “You can see me, right?”

He chuckled. “I can, but you know I’m thinking you must be emitting some sort of low-frequency competitor waves which makes you invisible to her. I wouldn’t worry about it too much. They don’t seem to work on Alpha.” He nodded his head at Brian, eyeing the two of them like they were nuts while he pretended to listen to Cherise.

As they headed out the door of the bar, a handsome smiling man with huge dimples jumped up from his table and gave Brian a hard pat on the back. “Brian, I didn’t know you were in town.”

He wore a forestry service uniform with a gun strapped to his hip. Wow, who knew forest rangers carried guns? Toni looked curiously at his dining companion, a statuesque, leggy brunette who looked like she belonged on the cover of a swimsuit magazine. They fit as a couple because the guy was definitely good looking, his arm muscles bunching under the sleeves of his shirt. Was it something to do with the mountain air up here that made every person beautiful?

Brian pulled her forward.

“Trevor, it’s good to see you. I’d like you to meet two very special people. This is Toni and Nathan. We’re all staying out at Rand and Hudson’s place this week.” He turned back to the two of them. “I used to work with Trevor in the summers doing construction on vacation homes.”

“It’s nice to meet you both. We don’t get to see this guy up here enough.” He turned his focus back to Brian. “So are you still in Lubbock working with the police department?” Trevor asked.

“I’m still in Lubbock, but am exploring other work options right now. I figured with the time off, I’d earned a mini-vacation so I brought them along to keep me entertained.” He smiled at the two of them. “Listen, we’ll let you get back to your breakfast.” He nodded to the girl watching them with a bored expression. “I don’t want to pull you away from your companion. Call me this week and we’ll all get together, Jamie too, and catch up.”

“Sounds great, Brian. It’s good to see you, man.”

As they stepped back out onto the boardwalk, Brian explained, “Jamie and Trevor have always been inseparable, definitely best friends. We all worked for Jamie’s dad in the construction company that he owned so we spent a lot of hours together over the years. Now Jamie runs the company and as I’m sure you noticed, Trevor works as a law enforcement officer for the forestry service. Maybe I should hit one of them up for a job. I’d love to live up here like they do.”

Toni could see the allure of mountain living, but she didn’t like the idea of Brian moving so far away. When did she become so attached to him?

At the end of the boardwalk was a coffee shop advertising free Wi-Fi. When Nathan spotted it, he asked. “Hey, is it okay if I grab my laptop out of the car and check in and do some work while you guys do the grocery shopping?”

Brian frowned for a moment as he thought. “You can do that, but be sure not to do anything that could tip anyone off to where you’re located. No one. Remember, we have no idea who we can trust.”

“Relax, Alpha. I can mask my stuff when I’m online. Besides, I didn’t see you playing it all coy-like with your friends in the bar.” He nodded back toward the restaurant.

“That’s because none of them know you so they have no reason to try to kill you…yet.”

“So you’re saying it’s my incredible charm that has people trying to kill us now?”

“Something like that. Go on. It should be fine. You have probably thirty minutes while we get the groceries.” Brian threw the car keys to him and Nathan took off on a long-legged jog toward the car.

* * *

Brian glanced across the grocery store with interest. It didn’t look like too much had changed over the years. Thank God. The Mountaintop Grocers was a tiny little grocery store that served Snowcroft and the surrounding communities. As a teenager who could eat anything and everything while also burning calories like only manual labor could, Brian had spent his summers salivating and spending every spare dime here.

The store didn’t carry a lot and what it did carry had incredibly inflated prices, but the bakery made it all worth it. Marge, the head baker, created pastry masterpieces. Smells of jelly and cream cheese-filled croissants, breads, doughnuts, and amazing pies emanated across the mountaintop town. Just thinking about those sweets had Brian’s mouth watering.

As he stood at the counter trying to make a decision between the cherry and cream cheese croissants or the strawberry rhubarb pie, Toni laughed at his indecision.

“Stop,” he scolded her. “This is serious business. You’ll completely understand my dilemma after you discover just how good everything tastes. After trying these today, you and Nathan are going to wake
me
up early tomorrow so we can get down here while the pastries are hot.”

“Don’t let him fool you,” a man interrupted from behind them. “He’s definitely going to buy both.”

Brian turned around in surprise. His friend from summers working in Snowcroft during college, Jamie was a tall, muscular guy with messy blond hair and smile lines in the corners of his eyes. He gave a short wave to the women behind the counter as he smirked at the two of them, before shaking Brian’s hand.

“It just takes him a while to remember that he’s totally helpless against Marge’s temptations.”

“It sounds like maybe you know him well.” Toni mused. “You wouldn’t happen to be Jamie, would you?”

“Guilty as charged,” he said as he raised an eyebrow in question. “But should I be worried that my reputation precedes me?”

Brian grinned at his friend as he unabashedly flirted with Toni. “You don’t need to worry too much. We just got into town so I haven’t had the chance to regale her yet with all your exploits. We just saw Trevor over in Loggers.”

“So I guess you saw his latest bit of fluff, too. Man,” he shook his head, “I don’t know where he finds them. They’re gorgeous but as vacuous as a person can get and still be able to stand on two legs without assistance.” He turned his dimples to Toni again. “Unlike your gorgeous lady here. Who might you be, beautiful, and what are you doing with this guy?” He twisted his extended thumb at Brian.

She giggled with a sidelong look at Brian. “I like him.” She nodded at Jamie, before reaching out to shake his hand. “I’m Toni.”

Even though most women found Jamie extremely attractive, Toni was safer flirting with him than just about anyone else because Jamie was gay. In fact, Brian hoped while they were here he could get Nathan and Jamie together so Jamie could give the kid some advice on how to connect with other guys safely.

Jamie looked as exhausted as Brian felt most of the time. His smile wasn’t reaching his eyes like it usually did. Were they running behind on a construction project or were there issues with the company? The normal smile lines that his eyes usually featured were marred by new stress lines and dark circles. Concerned, Brian asked, “Is everything going okay with you? I haven’t gotten many emails from you lately.”

A guarded expression momentarily came over his face before he shuttered it with his normal smile. “Yeah, things are great.”

Brian wasn’t buying it. “We’re getting some stuff for burgers to cook out tonight. Do you want to come over? Bring Trevor if he’s free, too.”

Jamie grimaced. “Trevor probably has another hot date lined up with someone named Bambi or Candy, but I’ll ask him and I’ll definitely be there. What time?”

Brian exchanged glances with Toni. With a shrug from her, he said, “How about six or six-thirty? We’re casual so whenever you want to show up is good.”

“Can I bring anything?”

“Nope, just bring your appetite and we should be set to go.”

After saying goodbye’s to Jamie, they spent another thirty minutes filling up their grocery cart with enough groceries to get them through the week. Then they walked over to the Wi-Fi café to pick up Nathan. This was definitely one of the luxuries of small town life—everything within walking distance.

Just as they got to the doorway, Nathan stormed out, running into Toni and knocking her to the ground before Brian could catch her.

“Hey, careful, kid. Where’s the fire?” Brian asked as he offered Toni a hand to pull her off the ground.

“Fucking dammit,” Nathan growled. “I’m sorry, Toni. I didn’t see you there.” He ran his hand through his hair in an aggravated, helpless motion. “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine,” she said and began to brush off her ass.

Brian assisted her. Well, it may have been more of an opportunity to just grope her a bit, but a guy had to take his opportunities where he could. He gave her a little squeeze and murmured, “Are you hurt anywhere?”

“No, I’m fine.” She smirked at him. “I think my ass is clean, too, so you can stop brushing it off now.”

“Are you sure? I think you may have missed a spot or two.” He gave her an exaggerated wink as he perused her ass once more.

“I’m so happy this little vacation is working out so well for the two of you,” Nathan said angrily as he scowled at them. He took a deep breath as if trying to gain control of his temper before he threw up his arms in disgust and stomped down the boardwalk to the car.

“What was that all about?” Brian asked.

Toni frowned as she watched Nathan stalk off. “I’m guessing he didn’t get any good news. He has a computer client he’s been having issues with. Between that and having to take time off because of his broken arm and this situation, he’s dealing with a lot of stress. He’s barely making
it financially. It won’t take many hits before he’s homeless. Come on. Let’s go talk to him and find out what happened. Maybe we can figure something out.”

Brian reached around her and gave her a small hug. “We
will
figure something out.”

When they got to the car, Nathan leaned up against it with his arms crossed.

Brian silently unlocked the car and let him into the backseat where he continued to sulk. In the ten minutes it took to get to the cabin, nobody said anything, although Toni kept sending both of them worried looks. He tried to reassure her with a squeeze to her hand, but she pulled it away in deference to Nathan’s annoyance over their public displays of affection.

Brian held in the sigh and clenched his jaw, trying to not get too annoyed with the teenager. He had a lot of stress in his life right now on top of rampaging teenage hormones. It was a testament to how good of a kid he truly was that he hadn’t lost it before now.

When they pulled in behind the cabin, Brian asked him, “Can you help us unload the groceries? Then we can talk about it and see if maybe all of us together can figure out a solution.”

Nathan rolled his eyes. “Of course, I’ll help, but it’s just my life that’s fucked up. It’s been that way from day one. There’s nothing you or Toni will be able to do to fix that. I’m just screwed.”

Brian gave him a reassuring squeeze of his shoulder. “Give us a chance. Sometimes it just helps simply to talk it through.”

The teenager sighed heavily. “Okay. Whatever.”

Nathan took the first load of bags out of the trunk and into the house. Brian could hear Sam’s barking in greeting. Toni met him around the back of the car and enveloped him in a hug. “You’re a good man, Brian Barnes.” Then she gave him a slow and seductive kiss that sent shivers of arousal racing to his cock.

She pulled back with a caress across his pectoral muscle and a flick of his nipple that had hardened through the fabric of his shirt. The pleasure almost had him groaning out loud. “Hmm, do I still get brownie points now that I’m trying to figure out how to kick the teenager and dog out of the house for the next hour?”

With a low, throaty laugh, she shook her head. “No, I’m afraid that won’t win you any favors. Anticipation, detective, it’s a good thing.” Her look was pure mischief. She knew she was driving him crazy.

This time he did groan out loud which just had her laughing at him as she walked off with a couple of bags of groceries. He leaned against the car, trying to ease the pain of his erection. Damn, it was going to be a long day before he could get her back into bed with him. He reminded himself that he also had to convince her that she wanted to join him in his bed, too. That wasn’t a foregone conclusion at this point yet. He could only hope.

As he glanced across the rustling aspen trees while waiting for his body to cool, he realized he wanted much more than Toni just in his bed. He wanted her in his life so he could smile like this every day. He felt alive when he was with her. It shouldn’t be such a revelation, but he’d never thought he would feel like this. A dry, mocking chuckle rose from his chest. His life was a mess right now, but she made it all feel right regardless of what else was happening.