Chapter 2
Chapter Two
Kane
W ell, this day had just gotten a bit more interesting. I looked over at the woman with the gorgeous blue eyes and long strawberry-blond or maybe dirty-blond hair pulled back into a messy braid. Those eyes had a bit of fear and mortification set deep, and I leaned back in my seat, grateful to have taken my seatbelt off earlier.
My cousin Kingston and I had come out for a hike, and then I’d gotten a phone call from one of my clients at Montgomery Security, and he needed to call family as well. Then everybody had started screaming, running away like there was an actual bear running after them, and while the bear had rambled around, it hadn’t seemed interested in people. After all, we were on his land, invading his property, so he would’ve had the right to swat those giant paws at us. Thankfully it had been a black bear not a brown bear. I hadn’t gotten out of the car, though I had been on alert at the first sound of trouble, had my hand on the door, ready to jump out of the car if needed. I wasn’t armed, since we were on state park property next to a national park, and my concealed and carry permit didn’t allow me to carry in parks.
I was in security, and was one of the top bodyguards we had. And that wasn’t just me bragging on myself. I was the one they called when they needed to keep another person safe one-on-one. Kingston was too. Some of my cousins were better at electronics or setting up perimeters. Some could organize a group of eighteen and keep everyone exactly where they needed to be, when they needed to be there. I was better at one-on-one work. Mostly because I could smile and make the person I was keeping safe feel like they were actually safe.
None of that mattered right in that moment though, because there was a stranger in my car, a car I hadn’t locked because I had still been in it, and Kingston had just gotten out.
“So, Phoebe Phoebe,” I started, and she narrowed her gaze at me. That was good. The anger or frustration and irritation was better than the outright fear from before.
“Just Phoebe. You don’t need to tease me.”
I shook my head. “Didn’t mean to tease you.” That was an outright lie.
“Anyway, now that I am sitting here in a stranger’s car, and you could possibly be a serial killer, I’m just going to go now. Please let me go.”
Well, the reality of the situation sank in. And while I knew I wasn’t a serial killer or anything of the like, getting into a stranger’s car like that probably wasn’t the smartest thing for her to do. I nodded and gestured towards the door. “The door is unlocked. The rangers and everyone are going into the forest to go look for the bear, so we should be safe. Where are you parked?”
“I don’t think I should tell you that. In case, you know…” her voice trailed off.
I grinned. “In case I’m a serial killer, got it. Come on, how about we both walk to the area where your friend and my cousin are, and we figure out what’s going on. I promise I don’t bite.” I hadn’t meant for the words to sound so sultry, but she raised a brow.
“I’m pretty sure that’s a lie too. But still, your bite would probably be better than a bear’s.” She blushed so prettily, I just smiled.
Today had gotten interesting. I really hadn’t wanted to go on this hike. If anything, I had wanted to sit on my couch with a beer and watch sports and just do nothing. I wanted to be lazy and sit in my underwear and pretend that nothing mattered. We’d had a long case, one that had nearly killed Kingston, and the ramifications of everything that occurred weren’t over yet. Daisy was still healing from the explosion, and I was tired. So damn tired.
Kingston was healed enough to go on this small hike and had dragged me along with him. And whatever he needed, he got. He had almost died, and I hadn’t been there…I pushed those thoughts from my mind and opened my door.
“Come on. I’m not going to hurt you. I’m just glad that my door was unlocked for you to escape.”
She sighed and opened her door, getting out when I did. “I can’t believe it was unlocked. I would have kept trying until eventually I found my car. Of course, Claire has the keys in her bag, so that really wouldn’t have helped anything. I guess I could have broken into it, but that would have taken time since I have no idea how to do that, and the bear would have gotten me by then.”
Pink darkened her cheeks and she looked damn adorable. And lickable. Time to think of something else. “Claire’s your friend?”
“Yes. And her name isn’t Claire Claire,” she said dryly, and I threw my head back and laughed.
“Look at you, you’ve got this down. Everything’s going to be fine.”
“I don’t know if I actually believe that, but thank you. It’s just been a very weird day. Our tiny little hike turned into a strenuous one, because I didn’t realize the circle wasn’t a true circle.”
I winced. “A lot of people make that mistake on this one. We did the first time we were up here,” I said. She narrowed her gaze at me, probably because she thought I was making fun of her.
“Well, now I have to go make sure that Claire still isn’t trapped in a public bathroom, which I don’t even want to think about, and then get home and pretend this never happened.”
“It’ll be a story to tell though. How you wrestled a bear and risked it all to save a stranger.”
She gave me a dry look. “Is that the story you’re going with?”
“Hey, it could have happened. You never know.”
“There was no wrestling. There was just pure panic. I wasn’t even sure if I was supposed to get big and scare the bear away or run and save myself. Apparently I am a flight and not a fight.”
I shrugged. “What they told us in movies as kids probably wasn’t the right thing. None of us know what we’re supposed to do with bears, because bears don’t even know what they’re going to do with us. Though that black bear was probably more scared of you than you were of him.”
She blinked slowly. “I highly doubt that.”
The doors to the bathroom opened then, the rangers telling everyone that everything was safe. I saw Kingston scowl at me, and then look between Phoebe and me, curiosity in his gaze. A woman with shoulder-length hair and a bright smile came forward; she had the same look on her face.
“Phoebe? Are you okay. The ranger said that nobody got hurt and that the bear is off doing its own thing, but oh my God. We were trapped inside the bathroom, and the Amazon holding the door wouldn’t open it so I could let you in.” Claire scowled at the woman who had to be over six feet tall as she confidently strode to her car on the other side of the parking lot, oblivious to the fact that she had probably scared Phoebe’s friend half to death.
“I’m really okay. I’m just glad you were safe in there.”
“And where were you? I had the keys. I felt terrible.”
Kingston lifted his chin at me, and I did the same. There, we both knew we were safe, there was no need to go into it. But now I really wanted to know what was about to happen in front of us. I was bored. So help me.
“Oh,” Phoebe finally answered, that pretty blush staining her cheeks again. I’d like to see exactly where she blushed all over.
“Well, I sort of got into Kane’s car because he had the door unlocked, and he didn’t murder me, so I count that as a win.”
Claire blinked at Phoebe, and then looked at me. “You’re Kane.”
I grinned, absolutely entranced at this whole situation. If the bear had been anywhere close to Phoebe, it would have been different, but now I felt like we could sit back and laugh about it. “Yes, it’s nice to meet you. Don’t worry, your friend was safe. The bear wasn’t even looking at her.”
“That’s not what it felt like when I was trying to run for my life,” Phoebe snapped, and I lifted up the side of my mouth in a smile.
“Okay. If you like.”
Kingston snorted beside me but kept quiet.
“Seriously though, he was kind not to kick me out of his car and call me a lunatic. So I was safe. Thank you,” she said to me, holding out her hand.
I looked down at it, amused, and then looked up at her.
“Well, it was a huge inconvenience to have you in my car. Now it’s just going to smell like whatever perfume you have on.”
Kingston muttered something under his breath and I ignored him. I was rusty at this, sue me.
“Your car probably smells like I was just on a hike.” Then she let out a little oof as Claire elbowed her in the side.
“She totally owes you. And, I have a perfect idea. She can take you out to dinner.”
I looked at the soft-looking Claire, and at the flabbergasted look on Phoebe’s face.
Oh, this was going to be interesting. I liked Claire. Though she didn’t intrigue me as much as Phoebe.
“Claire,” Phoebe muttered under her breath.
“You know, that sounds about right.” I looked over at Kingston as he spoke, aware that I now had two people in my corner. This was a good day, bear and all.
“I don’t need to put you out.”
I held up my hands. “No, they’re right. You should take me to dinner. And that way I can make sure you’re really okay after the whole bear scare.”
I practically felt Kingston’s eyes roll to the back of his head as Claire beamed and Phoebe blushed.
“Dinner? Really?”
“Oh yes. Dinner.”
And I was just going to have to find a certain black bear and thank him for this. Because this was one way to meet a woman, one I hadn’t expected. And I sure as hell didn’t mind.
* * *
Later that evening, I sat across the table from Phoebe and sipped from my water glass.
We had exchanged numbers at the top of the hill, and then decided what restaurant we would meet at. I didn’t mind that Phoebe hadn’t wanted me to pick her up. It was safer for her in any situation that we meet up at a neutral location. As someone who worked more stalker cases with ex-boyfriends than I cared to admit, I liked that she was being safe about this.
Kingston had given me shit over how I had gotten this date, but that was Kingston, constantly giving me shit about everything. I didn’t mind though, because it just meant that I had gotten the girl, and Kingston hadn’t.
Now Kingston was off working with Daisy, while I had a beautiful woman in front of me.
“You’re an interior designer?” I asked, putting my brain back into the moment, and not over the fact that I was stressed that they were at physical therapy.
“Yes. I work for a company that was thankfully there for me during my internship when I was in college. I’m just grateful that it all worked out and they had a spot for me when I graduated.”
I nodded, watching as her face lit up any time she talked about her job.
“I have no artistic talent when it comes to that. My house that I share with Kingston looks like an actual bachelor pad.”
“You live with your cousin?” she asked and then winced. “I mean, I live with Claire, so it’s not like I can judge.”
“Yes, we live together, though at this point I think it’s just because we’re used to it. We each own a part of our business, but we share it with a few more cousins, so it’s not like we’re rolling in business ties.”
She smiled at that. “I like the fact that you work with your family. I do not, and I’m a little glad that I don’t.”
I scowled. “Do they treat you badly?”
Her eyes widened and she shook her head.
“No, the exact opposite. They’re so caring. But I’m the baby sister. So they’re constantly wanting to know what I am doing, and asking how they can help me. They wanted me to move back in with one of them after I got out of college so I could be under their care and not have to worry about rent or anything. But it’s not like they’re so much older than me that they have multiple homes or something for me to stay in. They just want to take care of me. I don’t think they realize that I’m an actual adult.”
“I have more cousins than I can count, and we’re all pretty close, even the ones far younger. I have to say I’m one of the overprotective ones. Sorry.”
She gave me a look, and then rolled her eyes. “You know, I’m not exactly surprised by that statement.”
I laughed. “I feel like I should be offended at that, but I’m not. I’m an asshole when it comes to people hurting my family. And in my job sometimes I see the worst of the worst, so I’m an asshole all the time.” I frowned. “Do you want me to stop cussing?”
She shook her head.
“No, I think my older sister can curse more than you.”
My brows rose. “Well, that’s good to know.”
“She has to deal with men who ignore her or try to take advantage of her brain day in and day out. She can stand up to any one of them. I love her for it, and I want to be her when I grow up.” Phoebe winced. “Here I am saying I’m an adult, and I say something like that.”
“My parents use that phrase all the time. It’s not a bad thing.”
“You work in security?” she asked, frowning.
“I do. It’s not as scary as it sounds.” Or maybe it didn’t sound scary enough. But I didn’t say that. No need to scare her on our first date. I had enough trouble dating when it came to my job, and I did my best to downplay what I did. If I didn’t, I either got women who only wanted danger—or at least they thought they did—or they ran away the first time I explained exactly what it was I did.
“So, do you install security systems, or are you like a bodyguard or something?”
“Most people think that it’s either one or the other, not a mix.”
“Well, I don’t know. I just know security from movies.”
I shook my head. “It’s nothing like that. A lot of its research. I’m more on the bodyguard side of things, while my cousins do the installations more often than not, as well as the total recon setups. I do better on one-on-one.”
Her eyes darkened as I said that, and I hadn’t even meant to sound like I was flirting. Okay, that was a complete lie. I always wanted to sound like I was flirting when it came to her. Interesting.
As we continued to eat and talk, I fell more into being relaxed than I thought possible.
I liked this Phoebe. She was sexy, smart, and her sense of humor was top-notch. Plus, meeting her thanks to a black bear just seemed like a good story to tell about how we met.
The evening sped by, and before I knew it, I was walking her to her car door. I knew I wanted her, but maybe not the first night. I could see the hesitation in her gaze; it had been a long day after all.
So I pushed her hair back from her face, and cupped her cheek.
“Can I kiss you?” I asked.
Her eyes widened. “That line is directly from my favorite movie as a kid.”
“Well, can I?” I asked, my voice a growl. Holding back was killing me but I’d never do anything to hurt her.
When she nodded, I pressed my lips to hers, softly at first, then a bit deeper.
Her hands went to my hips, gripping tightly, as I deepened the kiss, my tongue brushing along hers.
But we were in a parking lot, right under a light where anyone could see, so I leaned back and licked my lips. Her gaze followed the motion, and my cock pressed against my zipper.
“Can I take you out again?” I asked, my voice a growl.
“Oh. Yes. I’d like that.”
I smiled, relieved and delighted.
I liked this Phoebe. This sweet woman who didn’t have all the baggage that came with knowing the Montgomerys and our huge family. It wasn’t that my family was a burden, but more like everybody seemed to know us, and sometimes it was nice to be with a woman who had no preconceptions about my family, my job, or who I was.
I kissed her again and squeezed her hand—I had a good feeling about this.
It was a promise. A beginning.
I hoped I didn’t fuck it up.