Chapter Seventeen
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
Owen raised a brow at Keeley, who tapped her mug and shook her head. “You tell them.”
So he did, giving Abby and Bruce the rundown of the events from the previous evening. He finished by saying, “I don’t want Keeley left alone, and I don’t want her staying at the cottage. She’s been attacked or threatened three times. I can take care of her at Easy Money, but she’s more vulnerable here.”
Keeley sat up, the cat jumping off her lap. “Wait a second,” she began, but he held up a finger.
“ This is nonnegotiable, princess. You’re not staying here.”
He bit into a biscuit smeared with Cider Mill Farm boysenberry jam. Swallowing, he said, “I can’t remember the last time I had homemade biscuits, Abby. These are damn good.”
“ Damn good,” Bruce repeated.
Keeley, more alert now, her hazel eyes glittering sharp green, said, “You can’t order me around, and then be all charming to my mom.”
“ I’m never charming.”
She rolled her eyes at him. “You can be, and you know what I mean.”
He wanted Keeley to understand, but there was a more urgent consideration. “Is there someplace you two can go for a few days where you’ll be away from whatever is going on?” he asked Abby.
“ I don’t want to go away,” Bruce protested .
Abby put her hand over her husband’s. “Only for a few days, Bruce, and I’ll be with you.” She addressed Owen. “Bruce’s sister lives in the Bay Area, and we’ve been thinking for a while we’d like to visit her while he still can. I can call her.”
“ Do that. I’m taking Keeley to my house. She’ll be safe there.”
“ Now wait a hot minute, mister. You’ve skipped a step or two. One of those steps being actually asking me if I’m willing to stay at your house.”
“ You’ll end up there anyway.”
“ Oh, will I?”
“ Yeah, you will. I’m saving time.”
She was probably right, but he couldn’t stop a grin. She looked fucking sexy in a sweatshirt that kept slipping off her shoulder, then add to that, this was the first time she was the one acting grumpy. He wished they were alone so he could scoop her up and take her back to bed.
With her brows pulled down in a scowl, she took her phone from her pocket and tapped the screen, then held it to her ear. Glaring at Owen, she spoke into the phone, “Delaney, give me a call when you get this. I might need to bunk at your place for a few days. PS, I hope the not-just-morning sickness isn’t kicking your butt.” She disconnected the call and arched her brow at him like a dare.
Abby rose from her seat. “I’ll let you two figure yourselves out. After I clean up the kitchen, I’ll call Carla. She’ll be happy to have us.”
Keeley rose to her feet. “Let us clean up, Mom. You go make your phone call.”
Owen stacked plates and brought them to the sink.
“ No, I’ve got it.” Abby made shooing motions. “You both go on. I’ll let you know our plans after I’ve talked to my sister-in-law.” She paused. “You’ll still be in town so you’ll take care of Iggy?”
“ Of course, Mom. I’ll check on him every day.” Keeley gave her parents hugs. “Talk to you later. ”
Owen got the mugs he and Keeley had brought over, hooking them on a finger. He opened the door and followed her out. She stopped midway across the courtyard and turned, primed to blast him, and he had to fight the instinct to duck.
“ Let’s get something straight, pal.” If words were bullets, he’d be a dead man. “If there’s a reason you think I should do something, you talk to me and explain yourself. Don’t talk around me, and don’t make decisions that concern me without my consent. I’m not in the Marine Corps, and I’m not a rookie police officer. You’re not the boss of me. Well, except at work, then you are the boss of me, but I still don’t take orders.”
He rubbed the back of his neck and sighed. “Okay, fine. You’re right.”
“ You’re admitting I’m right?”
His eyes narrowed. “Don’t get used to it, princess. I want you safe, but maybe I could have gone about it better.”
The wheels were turning in her head and he figured she was deciding if she still needed to give him shit. Then she smiled and he felt like the sun had come out from behind a dark gray cloud.
She went up on her toes, whispering, “You’re forgiven,” before pressing her lips to his. He responded before he could stop himself. The mugs clanked together as he brought her flush against him, taking her into a deep kiss with the flavor of coffee swirling between them.
Still fused at the lips, she went back down to her heels, her hands gripping his arms. He was breathing heavily when they broke the kiss. Her grip tightened. “Wow. I’m a little bit dizzy.”
He shook his head. “Last night I told myself that we’d have one night. We’d have great sex and get it out of our systems, and then each go our separate ways before anyone got hurt.”
She pressed her fingers to her lips like she wanted to contain the taste of him at the same time the sunshine went out of her expression. “Right. You don’t want a relationship with me.”
“ That’s not exactly right. ”
“ What exactly is it, then?”
The sound of a vehicle engine carried ahead of a black truck coming up the driveway.
“ Not going there.”
“ I think big strong Owen Hardesty is running scared because he has inconvenient feelings.”
He could feel his face settle in a scowl.
The truck parked behind Owen’s Bronco in front of the garage, the sign on the door reading Ballard Security.
“ Who’s that?”
“ Friend of mine. He’s a little early.” He took her hand like he hadn’t just stated he didn’t want anything serious with her. “I want you to meet someone.”
Talk about mixed signals.
***
A tall man wearing a ball cap over dark blond hair stepped out of the truck. A broad grin split his face when he spotted Owen. When they were a foot apart, he grabbed Owen in a hug, holding him tight and slapping his back hard enough Keeley thought he could’ve knocked over a horse.
“ God dammit, it’s good to see you.” He held Owen at arm’s length, studying his face before releasing him. “You look better than you have in a long while, brother.” His green gaze swept to Keeley and he shot a wicked grin back at Owen. “You gonna introduce me to your girl? If she’s the one that’s got you back with the living, I’m already a fan.”
Owen said, “Jesus Christ, Luke,” but Keeley had a fluttery feeling around her heart when he let the “your girl” comment stand. He made a motioning gesture. “Luke Ballard, Keeley Montaigne.”
“ Crappy intro, man.” Shaking his head, Luke held out a hand. “Hello, Keeley. This guy tell you I’m here to set up a top-notch security system for you? ”
“ Hi, Luke.” She narrowed her eyes. “I’ve seen you before at Easy Money several months ago.”
“ I drop in when I can to see my best bro.”
“ That’s nice. Owen told me someone would be coming out to install a security system. I didn’t realize it was today, but you’re certainly welcome. When you have your estimate, I’ll need to go over it with my parents and see what best fits our budget.”
“ There’s no cost.”
Owen put his hands on his hips. “That’s bullshit, Luke. You give me an estimate like you would for anyone else.”
Luke’s expression turned dead serious. “You aren’t anyone else.” To Keeley he said, “This guy tell you he saved my life?”
Keeley looked from one man to the other. “You were his partner? You were with him when he got shot?”
“ He told you about that? Yeah, that was me.” He nodded at Owen. “That’s progress, brother.”
Owen’s face was back to its standard scowl. “We don’t need to go into all this.”
“ I know he was shot, but not the details.”
Ignoring Owen, Luke turned to Keeley. “We were in the LAPD Detective Bureau together and partners for five years. That is, until the night things went sideways in a shithole of a house in South LA.
“ I thought I was a dead man until our boy here charges in like he’s special forces, guns blazing. Bullets are flying. He takes one in the vest. Thank the gods he was wearing it. Vest takes a round and you’re going down, but not Owen.
“ I’m not in good shape so he grabs me by the shirt and tosses me over his shoulder. I feel the impact when he takes another. But he stays on his feet and runs through a hail of bullets to get my dumb ass out of there.”
“ You were shot too, on top of already being messed up.”
“ I was messed up because the fuckers were working their way up to killing me, but wanted to have some fun first. I was hit on the way out, but survived thanks to you.” Luke’s gaze shifted to Keeley. “Ask him who was awarded the department Medal of Valor.”
“ Shut up, Luke.”
Keeley wasn’t surprised Owen had earned the recognition, or that he had never mentioned it. He wasn’t someone who sought the spotlight. Without thinking, she slid her hand into his. His grip tightened around her hand.
“ In light of that, your girl’s family needs security? I put it in and there’s no charge.”
Owen shook his head stubbornly. “You already put security in at Easy Money at no cost. You don’t let me pay for this? I’ll get someone else to do it.”
“ How about you do it for cost? And my family pays that cost, not Owen.” Keeley gave Owen the side-eye.
Luke pulled on his bottom lip. “Okay, sounds like a plan. Let me get what I need from my truck and we’ll get started.”
Luke walked to his truck and Keeley turned to Owen. “You have a hard time with gratitude. You do big things for people, but are uncomfortable when they want to show appreciation.”
“ Maybe. I don’t like people making a big deal.” He brought her hand to his mouth and absently pressed a kiss to her knuckles.
“ You could just say thanks. It works.”
“ Okay.”
“ Okay?”
“ Yeah. It’ll take Luke an hour or so to work out a plan. Why don’t you get your stuff together.” He rolled his eyes before giving her a half smile. “Keeley, I’d like you to stay at my house so you’ll be safe. Would you please accompany me?”
“ See? That wasn’t so hard. Really formal, but yes, thank you for asking.” She went onto tiptoes to kiss his cheek. “I’d like to see your house.”
She turned to the cottage, then looked back over her shoulder. “Oh, and Owen? You may be relationship averse. Don’t let it scare you, but this feels like a relationship.”
** *
Keeley showered and dressed, then fielded a call from Delaney while packing a small suitcase. Putting her friend on speaker, she set the phone on her nightstand while she folded a pair of jeans.
After she’d told Delaney she’d be staying at Owen’s and would no longer need to bunk with her, Delaney said, “You’re staying at his house? I know he’s doing a lot of work on it and Walker and Shane helped him with a job that took three strapping men to do, but I’ve never seen it myself. He’s pretty private and I’m thinking that him being willing to take you there to keep you safe is a big deal. Am I right that you and Owen are together now and it’s official?”
“ It’s complicated. A friend of his is here to put in a security system and Owen didn’t correct his assumption we’re together. But I don’t know. Last night we, um, were together together, if you know what I mean.”
Delaney’s shriek nearly popped Keeley’s eardrums, and she was three feet from her phone. “You and Owen did the deed? Oh my god. Was it good?”
“ Oh yeah, it was good. Very good. That’s all I’m going to say about it.”
“ With all those sparks between you two, I don’t think there’s any way it could be bad. I’m so glad you each got out of your own way.” Delaney paused, and when Keeley didn’t say anything, asked, “Are you okay? I know you have strong feelings for him. He feels something too, but Owen’s harder to read. It’d be bad if you’re more into him than he’s into you.”
“ I do have strong feelings for him. And I know he feels something for me. I don’t want to overanalyze it. This is new and we’re in a weird situation with me being caught up in something sketchy, which makes him all protective.
“ Where things currently stand? He made a point of saying he doesn’t do relationships, but this morning felt really relationship-y. Include in that him thinking he can be bossy and make decisions for me.”
“ Alpha male is going to act alpha male. Call him on his shit and you’ll be okay. Ask me how I know.” Keeley could hear the humor in her friend’s voice, but then her tone changed. “Sawyer told Walker about Jaxon being outside your house last night, but you gotta fill me in. They were way too skimpy on details.”
Keeley explained how Jaxon had texted asking her to meet him, but that it’d been a ruse. Continuing the story, she continued, “So then Jaxon shows up at my house and starts pounding on the door and yelling.”
“ That would’ve scared the crap out of me.”
“ He sure scared me. He was ranting, demanding that I help him. He said he was in danger and could be killed.”
“ Killed? Do you think he was serious?”
“ I’m not sure. He tends towards the dramatic so it’s hard to tell if he was being performative to manipulate me, or if he’s really in danger. He also said I have something of his and he wants it back.”
“ What do you have of his?”
“ That’s the thing, I don’t have anything of his. You can add delusional to his issues. Oh, and get this, he said he needed money.”
“ What a jerk. No offense, but I don’t know what you ever saw in him.”
Keeley had asked herself that a lot lately. “Honestly? I want what you have, Delaney. You and Emery and Cam. I want a husband and a family so I’m trying to put myself out there to meet guys. I thought Jaxon was kinda cute, but that soon wore off. I seem to attract the weirdos.”
“ Owen’s not a weirdo.”
“ No, but he’s also taken pains to tell me there’s no future for us together.”
“ Maybe if you could get him to open up about whatever it is that makes him think that way, you could help him work through it. It’s obvious he cares about you. ”
Keeley nodded even though her friend couldn’t see her. “I’ll think about it.”
“ Good. So what happened with Jaxon outside your cottage?”
“ I called 9-1-1. The dispatcher was calm and reassuring, but officers were seven minutes out and Jaxon was on the back patio. He was pacing back and forth and becoming increasingly agitated. Then he picked up a chair and raised it over his head. I’m sitting on the floor with the dispatcher on the phone and a butcher knife in my hand getting ready to scramble out of the kitchen so I won’t get cut by flying glass if he throws the chair through the window. Then Owen’s there, gun drawn, so calm and in control.”
“ Oh wow. Sawyer wasn’t with him?”
“ He was on his way. Owen was a cop, and it showed. I couldn’t make out what he was saying, but Jaxon simply deflated. All the bravado and energy evaporated out of him. Owen gave him orders, and Jaxon obeyed. Then Sawyer arrived and cuffed him.”
“ Hot damn. I bet Owen was all me big protector man, my woman’s in danger, which led to get-it-out-of-your-system sex. That’s the best kind.”
She wasn’t wrong.
Owen appeared in the doorway. “You ready, princess?”
“ I still need to pack my toiletry bag. Five minutes.” Owen disappeared and she said to Delaney, “I’ve got to go, friend.”
“ Okay, but remember you’re welcome to hang out at our place or stay overnight if that’s what you want to do. Don’t hesitate to call.”
“ Thanks, Delaney. You’re the best.”
“ That’s what bffs since fifth grade are for.” She paused. “One last observation? Every time Owen calls you princess, he’s announcing you’re his.”