Chapter Twenty-Two
When she arrived at Prometheus Security, Alexis looked up at the building before she got out of the car. It looked the part. From what Cal had told her, and from the digging she’d done herself, she knew that Prometheus was a solid organization. Dan Benson, who ran the place, was something of an enigma, and she was looking forward to meeting him.
He founded a tech company in his early twenties, sold it in a nine figure exit a few years ago and then disappeared off the radar. It turned out that he’d met a girl who lived here in Summer Lake, married her, and settled down. He’d been friends with Ryan and Leanne at Berkeley, and it turned out that Ryan had brought him in to do contract work for the agency. He’d never been in the field – he was a tech guy – and that was what piqued her curiosity the most. There were plenty of private security firms run by former agents and Special Forces guys, but the techies usually found their way into the corporate world – where their particular set of skills commanded the most money.
She only realized that she was sitting there ruminating when a black Hummer pulled up beside her. Lucky grinned at her and she got out to meet him.
“You here to talk to Dan about joining us?”
“I am. Do you have any pointers for me?”
He gave her a shrewd look. “If you’re asking if you’ll enjoy it, I’d say yeah. It’s far more laid back than I’m used to. I was concerned that I might feel like an outsider at first – I knew Dalton, but not the others. Then again, you know most of them, right?”
“I worked closely with Cal on and off for years. Ryan and Manny to a lesser extent, and I got to know Leanne years ago.”
Lucky chuckled. “Okay then – if I thought you needed a warning about anyone, it’d be Leanne, but …” He shrugged. “I like her, I’m not saying anything against her, but she’s tough. She’d be the one to prepare yourself for if you didn’t know her.”
Alexis just smiled, and he chuckled again.
“Then again, going by your reputation, I don’t think you’ll be worried.”
She shrugged. “I don’t find worry to be an effective use of my time – or anyone else’s.”
He grinned. “That figures. As for the work, you’ll have to decide how you feel about me – I’m the one who’s out in the field most often. We’ll be teaming up.”
She smiled. “I’m good with that. From what I’ve seen so far, I think we’ll get along well.” She cocked an eyebrow. “And you? Any issues about working with women in general or me in particular?”
The slow shake of his head was a less enthusiastic response than she might have hoped for, but from the few times she’d met him, she knew that he wasn’t the over-the-top enthusiastic type.
“Are you sure?” she asked when he didn’t comment.
“Yeah, no. By all accounts, you sound great. It’s not that I think I’ll have a problem with you so much as wondering if you’ll have one with me.”
“Why would I?”
“I’m not easy. I … have my issues.”
She pursed her lips. “I’m not one to pussy-foot around. You suffer from PTSD?”
He nodded.
“Would it bother you to tell me what I can expect? To be clear, I don’t have an issue, but I do like to know what I can expect – and can’t – from the people I work with.”
He smiled. “I’m way better than I used to be. Mostly it was sleep issues and nightmares. Sometimes, I still need to remove myself when my head gets overloaded. We can set something up so that I can warn you – some kind of signal if I’m going to need to step out. I haven’t and don’t expect to suffer from any kind of … panic attack or … anything like that. I could control it well enough to remove myself and regroup even when I was at my worst, and like I said, I’m doing much better lately.”
“Okay then. I don’t see anything that I would consider to be a problem. And fair’s fair – the issues you can expect from me are that I can be stubborn – but only when I believe that I’m right. I often am right, but I will always listen to other perspectives and I’ll change my stance when I’m wrong. I’ve been called cold, hard, and a bitch. I’m fine with all of those names, not because I believe them to be true, but because people who believe them aren’t capable of understanding where I’m coming from and aren’t worth me wasting my breath on trying to explain.”
Lucky laughed. “I like it. I can see why the guys speak so highly of you.”
“Thank you. So, are we good? You’ll be happy if I come on board?”
“I will.” He gestured for her to start walking. “In fact, I’ll look forward to it.”
As they walked across the parking lot, she asked, “Mind if I ask you something personal?”
“You can ask.”
She smiled. “But you won’t necessarily answer; I like it. It’s not because I want to learn about you – this is more about Shayna and, to some extent, Booker.”
“Fire away.”
“She said that you worked with a hypnotherapist in Salt Lake City – who was it?”
“Eli Thompson.”
“Really? Well, it is a small world!”
“You know him?”
“I do. I haven’t seen anything from him in a few years, but I heard that he’d started working with vets doing therapeutic work and that he was having some success with hypnotherapy. I told Shayna that I’d see if I could put her in touch with anyone who might be able to help guide her on her journey.”
“She’s a good kid. I told her the same. Eli said that he’d be happy to meet with her, but she didn’t seem keen to go to Salt Lake.”
Alexis nodded. She wasn’t going to point it out to Lucky, but she could understand why – Shayna was struggling to afford rent; she wasn’t likely to splurge on a plane ticket to Salt Lake City, no matter how much she might want to go.
When they reached the door, Lucky held it open for her to go in ahead of him. “You said you were asking for Booker, too, why’s that?”
“Because he’s thinking that he’d like to follow in Shayna’s footsteps. Those two have grown quite close. At first, I thought it was just from spending time at the barn together, but a much more important issue that they’ve bonded over is that both their fathers were vets who took their own lives.”
Lucky blew out a sigh. “I’m glad I never had kids; I hate to think how my shit would have affected them.”
“Me too,” she told him with a wry smile.
He laughed. “What are you talking about? Seems to me like you’ve acquired two kids since you moved here. And I’d say that they landed on their feet with you and Davin, even if they don’t know it yet.”
“Alexis?”
They both turned when Leanne came hurrying down the hallway toward them.
Lucky grinned and said, “I’m outta here, she scares me.”
Alexis had to laugh when Leanne scowled at him and said, “Bullshit, Penney! I wish you were scared of me; you might listen then.”
Lucky hurried away, waving a hand over his shoulder as he went.
Leanne rolled her eyes at Alexis. “And you’re willingly signing up to work with these guys again? I thought you were a smart woman.”
Alexis laughed. “You know I am, and besides – you’re here working with them.”
“Oh no. I don’t work with them – I’d kill them all! What I do is try to cover their asses legally while they …” She stopped short and narrowed her eyes. “You! You’re going to be as bad as the rest of them put together, aren’t you? You’re going to go your own way and expect me to clean up after you – make sure that any minor inconveniences like the law of the land don’t slow you down.”
Alexis had to laugh. “I’m glad you understand me so well.”
Leanne laughed with her. “Oh well, I’m sure you’ll keep things interesting. Dan’s waiting in his office for you. I’ll walk you over there.”
~ ~ ~
“Are you sure you don’t need anything before we go?” Adam asked Alec.
“Not a thing. I promise you guys, I’m good.” He grinned at Davin. “If you want to know the truth, I’m enjoying having the place to myself after the workday’s done. So, there’s really no need for either of you to feel guilty.”
“Thanks,” said Davin. He had been feeling guilty. Adam had moved out of the guest cottage a while ago, and although that had felt strange to him, he’d understood and been happy for his friend. He hadn’t been left here alone, though, it’d been him and Alec.
“Go on; your women will be waiting for you. I’ve got this place covered.”
“You want a night off, you just say so,” Davin told him. “I’ll cover.”
“Or I will,” Adam added.
“Seriously, guys. You have lives.” Alec laughed. “That didn’t come out right. I’m not saying that I don’t have a life. I meant that you have a reason to be elsewhere in the evenings and overnight. I don’t. It’s working out for me just fine. I’m getting more time off during the day, and that’s when I can do the things that I enjoy. If I ever meet a woman, then we’ll need to renegotiate, but I don’t see that happening anytime soon.” He raised his eyebrows. “Not unless either of you knows any women who enjoy fishing, hiking, and camping, who you want to introduce me to.”
Davin laughed. “I’m afraid not, but if I run into any, I’ll be sure to point them in your direction.”
“In that case, I’ll see you tomorrow.”
Adam gripped Davin’s shoulder as they walked out to their trucks. “Do you and Alexis want to come over for dinner sometime soon?”
“Yes,” he answered without hesitation. “We were talking about it last night – that we wanted to get together with you guys. It seems like they get along well.”
“Good; I know Evie took a shine to Alexis, but I wasn’t sure that it went both ways.”
“It did. Alexis didn’t know what to expect since they don’t have much in common, but it turned out that didn’t matter.”
Adam grinned. “Evie said pretty much the same. She felt a little intimidated about meeting Alexis, but she was determined to find a way to be friends with her, for your sake.”
“So, it was just for me?”
“No! She was prepared to make the effort just for you, but it turned out that she didn’t need to – they got along because of who they are, not because of who we are.”
“Good. What do you think; what does your weekend look like?”
“I’ll check with her and let you know. What about you?”
Davin grinned. “You know what, if we can swing it, do you want to come over to the house and we can grill up some burgers? If we do it late afternoon, we can feed Booker before he goes to work, and Shayna might even … What?” he asked when Adam’s expression changed.
Adam smirked. “I don’t think I want to say.”
“You have to.” He punched his friend’s arm. “Unless you want me to knock it out of you.”
Adam laughed. “All right! You might want to punch me after I say it, though. Shayna.”
“What about her?”
“I was surprised but happy about you and Alexis. I was even more surprised and still happy that you guys took Booker in. And now … there’s Shayna.”
“You’re surprised but not happy? She’s a good kid. She’s all on her own in the world. She’s friendly with Booker and … what?”
Adam grinned. “All right! I’ll say it. You just called her a good kid, but she has to be right around the same age as Zoe.”
Davin shrugged. “I guess.”
Adam waited.
“What do you want me to tell you? Zoe was a mistake. I mean, she was a nice enough person but there was nothing to it. It didn’t last long, it didn’t mean much, and yeah, she was way too young for me.”
“I don’t mean to give you a hard time, bud. It just tickled me that Zoe was … a fling, and at the same age, Shayna’s a good kid. You’re seeing her as a daughter figure.” He chuckled. “Don’t worry, I won’t mention the word daddy.”
Davin punched his arm harder this time. “I know. I don’t know what to tell you.” He smiled. “Other than Alexis turned everything around. Now that I’m with a woman who’s my equal, I can see a girl for who she is, and what she needs.” He frowned. “Are you saying that Zoe was just a kid, too, and I …”
“No, I’m not. And don’t even go thinking it, okay?”
“Okay.”
“You talk to Alexis; I’ll talk to Evie, and we’ll see what we can figure out for the weekend. And you know, it might be time to talk about what we want to do about the job.”
Davin turned to look up at the house. “Right. Clay doesn’t need all three of us anymore, does he? It’s not right to keep billing him for full security when I’m not sure he even needs any.”
Adam shrugged. “We’ve had that conversation with him a few times already. We both know that he keeps us on more out of friendship than necessity, but it can’t go on forever.”
“I know. I don’t want to take advantage of his kindness.”
“And we won’t.”
Davin met his friend’s gaze. “Do you want me gone? It’s what makes the most sense; Alec’s the best fit for the job as it stands. I …”
“Hell no! We’re a unit you and me. You know that. That’s why we need to talk about it. I was thinking that we could share a job between us, but that’d mean that we never got to work together. That doesn’t work for me.”
Davin grinned. “Me neither.”
“Okay. So, whenever we meet up this weekend, we’ll put our heads together. For now, I need to get home – and so do you.”
“Shit, I do. Alexis went to see Dan today. I want to hear how it went.”
“I’m sure it went well. She’ll kick those guys’ asses into shape. Oh, and speaking of, when’s she setting this self-defense class up for? Evie’s keen to take part, and I want to be there just to see Alexis throw Cal around.”
Davin laughed. “Yeah, I almost feel sorry for him.”
“Almost?”
“Yup. If it weren’t him, it’d be me, and …” He shuddered. “Knowing that she could hand my ass to me if she chose is one thing, having her do it in front of everyone would be something else.”
“Ah, yeah. You have a point.”
“But as for the when, it’s on Tuesday night next week – although from the sound of it, the women want to make it a regular thing, and Russ told her she can use the gym weekly if she wants to.”
“That’d be good.”
“Yup. And now, I really need to go.”
“Me too.” Adam grasped his shoulder. “Look at us – both hurrying off home to our women.”
Davin grinned. “Yeah. Awesome, isn’t it?”
Adam nodded and headed for his truck, while Davin climbed into his, eager to get home to Alexis.
The second he walked through the front door, she came to him and wrapped her arms around his waist. He lowered his head, and she pulled him down into a kiss that had him hard for her and forgetting all about everything that wasn’t the feel of her body against his.
When they finally came up for air, he cocked an eyebrow at her.
She shrugged. “Welcome home.”
He pressed a peck to her lips. “Happy to be here. Although, I’ll be even happier when we have a home of our own. Is there any news on the sale of your place?”
“There is! I accepted an offer not half an hour ago.”
He grinned. “Then we can start looking for a place?”
She nodded happily. “Yes. My sale still might fall through, but even if that happens, we’ll make it work. I don’t want to delay things any longer.”
He chuckled. “Even with a delay, we’d still be moving faster than most people would think is wise.”
Her smile faded. “Are you getting cold feet?”
He wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled her to him, none too gently. She landed against his chest with a little oof sound.
He trailed his fingers down her cheek as he said, “I am not getting cold feet, and I don’t give a shit what people think. I was only pointing out the obvious.”
Her body slid against his as she went up on her tiptoes to press a kiss to his lips. “I’m glad. So, do you want to go for a walk through town? We can go window shopping at the realtor’s office.”
He grinned back at her. “You want to go now?”
She laughed. “I wanted to go as soon as I heard about the offer on my place, but I wanted to wait for you more.” She tugged his hand as she headed for the front door, but he held still and tugged back.
“What?” she asked with a puzzled smile as he pulled her back to him.
“What you just said made me think about all the different paths life could have taken me, but I wanted to wait for you more.” He kissed the tip of her nose. “I didn’t even know that you existed, but I wanted to wait for you.”
She cocked an eyebrow. “Is that really true? I mean, if Zoe hadn’t ended things with you …”
He rolled his eyes and slapped her ass as they headed toward the door. “Now who’s a nitpicker? Let’s go find us a house if you’re not going to let me be romantic.”
When they reached the front gate, he closed it behind them. She gripped the front of his shirt and pulled him in close.
“Can I tell you a secret?”
“You sure can.”
“I love you.”
He grinned. “I love you right back.”
She nodded. “I know. I know it with my head, I know it with my heart, I can feel it right down to my bones, that’s all the romance I need.”
He took her hand, and they started walking toward town. “I wasn’t really trying to be romantic. I was telling the truth. I could have gone out and found someone – anyone – so that I wouldn’t grow old alone but … I’m glad I waited for you.”
She looked up at him, her hazel eyes shone, and she laughed. “Whatever you say, Mr. Johnson, I’ll take your word for it. All I know is that I love you.”
He laughed with her. “And I love you – and now, I also know that you are not interested in romance.”
“Nope. I told you. Knowing that you love me? That’s all I need. Now, let’s go buy a house.”