KIRKLAND: A Standalone Romance (Gray Wolf Security) Read online

  Chapter 13

  Mabel

  I loved Ricki. Loved her as if she was the sister I never had. But I wished she would go away.

  Kirkland kissed me. And it was the most amazing thing I’d ever experienced in my life. I’d been kissed before, a few times. Chaste kisses at the dorm doors after the few dates I’d had in college. But this…there was no comparison.

  I hadn’t expected…I mean, I kissed him first. But I thought he wasn’t interested, that he would be horrified by what I’d done. He looked at me with the same weariness that most people did. That didn’t inspire confidence. But then he did. He kissed me. But we hadn’t been alone since, so I had no idea what it meant!

  Kirkland called Detective Warren from the SUV, and she came right away, taking the note and questioning Kirkland about everything the homeless guy had said. She asked him three times why he let the guy go, making me wonder if maybe he shouldn’t have. But she didn’t seem terribly concerned about any imminent danger.

  “Take her home,” she’d said, turning to me as she did. “You should take some time off, go home. You’re in David and Ricki’s wedding, right?”

  I nodded.

  “Then you’re wrapped up in all the festivities going on this week.”

  “I am.”

  “So go home. Spend some time with your friends. Enjoy yourself while we check this out. Maybe, by the time the nuptials are over, we’ll have the perp in custody.”

  Kirkland did just that, ignoring my protests that I had things to do. We stopped for Italian since neither of us had eaten much all day, and when we got to the apartment, Ricki was there.

  Obviously David had called her after Kirkland notified Ash.

  “There is so much to do,” she said, as she watched us come up the steps. “I need you to help me.”

  And now she wouldn’t leave.

  I caught Kirkland watching us a couple of times, but I couldn’t read his expression. I found myself wondering if he realized I was a virgin, and that kiss was the first kiss like that I’d ever had. I wondered if he knew how much I wanted another kiss like that.

  And then I reminded myself that he was Kirkland. He was a playboy who could get any woman he wanted and often did. Why would he waste his time on a girl like me?

  But he kissed me.

  I was so confused, I couldn’t tell heads from tails. And Ricki expected me to concentrate on wrapping groomsmen gifts and making little sachets full of birdseed to throw at the end of the reception.

  Kirkland slipped out to walk around the building and do his last check of the night before we all went to bed. I caught Ricki watching him go, her eyes on places I’d have rather they not wander to.

  “He’s something. You know he hit on me the first time we met?”

  “Did he?”

  “I think he hit on Kate the first time they met, too.”

  I picked up a new piece of lace and carefully set a handful of birdseed in the middle, not really interested in the turn of conversation. I could feel her watching me, and that made my hands a little unsteady.

  “Do you really like him, or are you only interested in getting him into your bed?”

  I could feel the heat of a blush rush over my face even as I continued to attempt to ignore her.

  “Maybe, I know you well enough to know when you’re distracted. Talk to me.”

  I tied a bow on the top of the sachet and stared at the table for a long minute.

  “He’s protecting me. I’m paying him to protect me. So it’s natural that I have feelings for him, right?”

  Ricki leaned forward a little, studying my face closely. “What kind of feelings?”

  I shrugged. “I don’t know.”

  “You do understand what kind of man Kirkland is, right? He doesn’t let people get close. No one knows his story, not even Ash.” She sat back, glancing toward the front door. “That’s why he’s a playboy. Because it doesn’t require feelings or trust.”

  “I know.”

  “When I suggested you hook up with him, it was based only on the idea that he has experience. He can teach you things that you can’t even begin to imagine, even if you watched all the movies offered on your website.”

  I blushed again, tossing a ribbon at her. She caught it, her eyes very serious when she focused on me.

  “Don’t fall in love with a man like Kirkland. He’ll just break your heart.”

  “But it’s okay to sleep with him?”

  “Now you’re figuring it out.”

  She laughed, and I couldn’t help but smile. I tossed a handful of birdseed at her and we somehow ended up tossing a whole bag of the stuff at each other, covering every surface of my kitchen in the stuff. We were laughing, clinging to each other as we tried to walk on the seed that had turned the kitchen floor into an ice rink. And this was the scene when Kirkland walked in my kitchen again.

  “Ladies,” he said, cracking a grin. “Is this a private game, or can anyone join in?”

  Chapter 14

  At the Compound

  David watched his future wife—in less than five days!—have what looked like a deep conversation with Mabel Watson when they began throwing birdseed at each other. He’d never really gotten what Ricki saw in Mabel. All they had in common was their interest in programming. But they were close, always giggling with their heads together whenever he saw them together. He supposed he’d never understand their relationship, just as Ricki would likely never understand his relationship with Ash.

  Speaking of which, he looked up to find Ash watching him from across the room. He had his phone stuck to the side of his head, listening closely to what someone was telling him.

  Their family was tightknit. When they were kids, Ash was always there for David, always came to his rescue when older kids were torturing him, always there when their parents were out on the campaign trail and they were stuck at home with a nanny they didn’t like. But then Ash went to college and then the Army, leaving David behind. And then there was the accident that killed their parents. Ash came home and arranged for David to be treated by the best doctors in the country, first flying them to Austin and then flying David to Los Angeles. If it weren’t for Ash, David probably would have died in that hospital bed in Austin.

  For a long time, he wished he had.

  And then Ash started Gray Wolf Security, naming it after a nickname their father sported when he was in college. David resented it when Ash practically dragged him here, using guilt and a little blackmail to get him to work for him. But now he had to admit that Ash gave him a reason to get out of bed every morning. And he, in a roundabout way, introduced David to his bride-to-be. He not only saved his life, but he gave him a life. Not that he would ever tell him that.

  David worried about Ash. He knew that his brother was still searching for Alexi, his fiancée. The problem was, David had found out some things about Alexi that he was pretty sure Ash didn’t know. Things he knew for certain Ash wouldn’t want to know. And he didn’t know how to go forward with that information. If he told Ash what he knew, Ash would be devastated. But if he didn’t, Ash would continue to cut himself off from life while he searched for Alexi. The question was, which was better?

  He really didn’t know.

  “How’s Kirkland?” Ash said, as he came over to David’s workstation.

  “Fine. They’re at the target’s apartment. Why?”

  “Detective Warren called. They couldn’t get anything off that note the homeless man delivered to Kirkland. And they’re not having much success in finding anyone connected to Cumming’s Treasure who might have a reason to hurt Ms. Watson.”

  “Then we’re back to square one?”

  “Pretty much. It’s going to be another week, maybe longer, before this case will be done.”

  “Great for our bottom line. Not so great for Mabel.” David sighed, as he looked back at the monitors and watched Kirkland laughing with Ricki and Mabel. “And not so great for Ricki. She’s worried about her.”
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  Ash looked at the monitors, too. “Those for your wedding?” he asked, gesturing to the little bags on the kitchen table in Mabel’s kitchen.

  “Yeah. Birdseed for the guests to throw at us when we leave the reception.”

  “Sounds…messy.”

  “Did you and Alexi ever think about doing something like this?”

  “We never got that far in the wedding planning.”

  David heard the grief in his brother’s voice. But he was talking about her now, which was a huge improvement over before. In the months before their parents died, Ash wouldn’t even discuss her—except to insist that she was still alive because, if she was dead, he would know it.

  “Did you want a big wedding?”

  “I was more interested in running off to Las Vegas, but she wanted the whole church thing.” Ash rubbed the top of his head. “I should get back to work. I have a lot to do before the wedding.”

  David watched him walk away, wondering what his brother would think if he knew the truth. If he knew Vegas wasn’t taboo to Alexi anymore.

  Chapter 15

  Kirkland

  Luncheon. Just the word was unpleasant in my mouth.

  I stood at the back of the garden, watching people I’d worked with, people I’d fought with, walking around with dainty little plates balanced in their hands loaded up with tiny sandwiches. Even Donovan had one of those plates, a teeny square of a cucumber sandwich in his hand.

  Love and women and weddings were ruining what was once a great gig. Maybe, after this, it was time to move on.

  And then my eyes fell on Mabel.

  She was laughing at something Ricki had said to her. She was beautiful, but laughter somehow made her even more so. I wanted to be there, a part of the glow of that laughter. But she was better protected if I was standing in a place where I could see the whole garden, and protecting her was my main priority. It was my only priority. This drive I felt to be close to her was…irresponsible.

  Whose horrible idea was it to have a luncheon in a damn garden, anyway? There was a whole hotel right in front of us. Why couldn’t we be in one of the banquet rooms, a room with four walls and only one or two exits? A room with security cameras that would help us keep Mabel safe? Damn stupid thing.

  “How’s it going, brother?”

  David came up beside me, amusement dancing in his eyes. He knew I was uncomfortable here.

  “A luncheon?”

  “Ricki read that it was a tradition that was making a comeback.”

  “Yes, well, does she realize most of your guests are military guys who don’t know the first thing about finger sandwiches?”

  “Only you, Kirkland. Everyone else seems to be having a good time.”

  “They’re all trying to be nice because they like you. I don’t like you that much.”

  David laughed.

  Ash came through the gates just then, looking surprisingly comfortable in the suit he’d donned this morning. I forgot sometimes that he and David grew up doing this sort of thing, standing at their parents’ sides and eliciting votes from their father’s constituents. I was so used to seeing Ash in jeans and a t-shirt. He didn’t even bother with a suit when he went to speak to clients.

  What really surprised me, though, was Mabel’s reaction to Ash’s arrival. She walked right up to him and said something that made him lean close to her and smile. I could count on one hand how many times I’d seen Ash smile.

  “What’s that all about?” I asked David.

  “Don’t know.”

  David seemed as curious as I was, though I’m sure for much different reasons.

  “She’s an interesting lady, isn’t she?” David asked.

  “Mabel?”

  “Some of the things she wears…I mean, look at her.”

  I had been looking at her, but I hardly saw the funny outfits anymore. Today, she was wearing bright pink stockings, a black skirt that ballooned away from her body, and a pink blouse that had blue and white flowers all over it. Her hair was pulled back from her face and twisted into a fairly sophisticated bun. I liked her hair that way. It showed off her slender neck.

  “She’s got a unique sense of style.”

  “It’s odd.”

  “We’re all a little different in our own ways, David.”

  “Have you ever known anyone like that?”

  “Nope.”

  David nodded. “It boggles my mind that someone like Ricki would be so close to a woman like her. But…they are close. And Ricki’s going to be worried about Mable while we’re on our honeymoon.”

  “You can reassure Ricki that everything’s fine here. I won’t let anything happen to Mabel.”

  “That’s a promise I’m going to keep you to, Kirkland.”

  I tore my eyes from Ash and Mabel, who appeared to be deeply engrossed in one another, and glanced at David.

  “You have my word. Nothing will happen to Mabel.”

  Surprise darkened David’s eyes for a second. I never offered my word, but he shook my hand and accepted it.

  I turned my attention back to Ash and Mabel, wondering why the hell Ash was touching her arm the way he was. He needed to back up just a little. Or maybe a little more than a little.

  I was making my way through the crowd to Mabel, not sure what it was I was going to do, and knowing deep down that what I was doing was wrong. What was it about her that made me ignore my instincts? But I didn’t like what I was seeing, and I needed to know that she was safe.

  Did she really have a crush on Ash? I could see how it was possible, and I remembered how she’d looked at him when he first walked into her office the day she met him. She even asked me about him a time or two, and he was a topic of conversation at the bridal shower.

  Why Ash? What was it about Ash that she admired?

  “I wouldn’t do that,” Joss said, coming up behind me just as I was a few feet from Mabel.

  “Do what?”

  She tugged at my arm and forced me to turn toward her. She was dressed more femininely than I’d ever seen her—in a simple white and pink summer dress with a pink cardigan pulled over her shoulders. She looked more pregnant now than she had the last time I saw her, her belly swollen and just beginning to poke out the material of her dress.

  “You know what,” she said, smacking my arm lightly. “She’s your target, not your girl.”

  “I was just going to check in with her.”

  “You were going to pull her away from Ash.”

  “What are they talking about, anyway?”

  “Don’t know, don’t care.” She slipped her arm through the crook of my elbow and pulled me away. “How’s it been going? Haven’t seen you much lately.”

  “Been working.”

  “Me, too.”

  I looked pointedly across the garden to where Carrington Matthews and his daughter were having a deep conversation with Donovan’s wife, Kate.

  “I can see that.”

  She smacked my arm again. “Be nice.”

  “Is he taking care of you?”

  “He’s taking very good care of me, Kirkland. He loves me.”

  “He better.”

  “And everyone says you have no heart at all.” She snuggled close to me, hiding her giggles in the sleeve of my shirt. “If they only knew.”

  I pulled away from her, pretending to be offended. But Joss knew me too well to fall for that. In fact, Joss was probably the only person who knew enough about me to realize that my feigned distaste for her boyfriend was more about my own demons than it was about Carrington. He seemed to be a good guy. I just didn’t want to see anyone hurt my friend. He could have been the Pope and I would have given him a hard time.

  Joss was nothing like my mother, nothing like my friend, Christy Anne, but she reminded me of both just the same. There was something about their personalities, something about the way they spoke and they moved and they looked at the world. Not that I knew my mother well. I didn’t. But from the stories my father used to
tell me when he was deep into the bottle, she was someone I would have liked. A lot.

  Too bad she hadn’t liked me enough to stick around.

  “I heard a rumor that some woman is coming to the wedding just because someone told her you’d be there. I guess your reputation precedes you.”

  “I heard that, too.”

  “The blonde over there,” she said, gesturing subtly with her chin. “Looks like she’s all alone, just waiting.”

  I looked over and spotted the girl she was talking about. She was definitely my type—if I really had a type. Young, beautiful, willing. And she was watching me with one of those come-hither looks that I love so much.

  But then my gaze fell on Mabel where she was still monopolizing Ash’s time. I really wished I knew what it was they were talking about.

  There was a thoughtful look on Joss’ face when I glanced at her again.

  “What?” I asked.

  “You’re still here.”

  “I’m working.”

  She nodded slowly. “Will you be working at the wedding?”

  “I’ll be working until Emily figures out who’s behind the threats against Mabel and declares her safe and sound.”

  Joss nodded, but there was still that thoughtfulness in her eyes that made me a little uncomfortable. I threw my arm around her shoulders and tugged her close to me.

  “Quit looking at me that way,” I said, even as I turned back to where I could see Mabel. “I’ve always taken my job seriously.”

  “I know.”

  But that look remained for the rest of the afternoon.

  Chapter 16

  Mabel

  “Who is that?”

  Ash looked up, following my gaze.

  “Joss Grant Hernandez. She’s another of our operatives.”

  “That’s Joss?”

  “You’ve heard of her.”

  “She’s one of the bridesmaids. And Ricki’s told me about the people David works with. She’s quite impressed with your company.”