Chapter 12
12
VAUGHN
“ N o way!” Hope shrieked, as though I’d just asked her to suck my dick in front of a room full of people. “I’m not going anywhere with you.”
I hadn’t forgotten Brandon’s request for diplomacy; I just didn’t have it in me to pander to anyone’s delicate sensibilities. It wasn’t my style. And in my experience, being blunt got me what I wanted. Why pivot now?
I folded my arms. “I’m sorry. Did I make it sound like a question?”
Hope stood quickly, her arms all in a flurry as she faced Daphne but gestured frantically toward me. “How am I supposed to work with this?”
The doc, to whom I had to give credit for being unflappable, rolled her eyes at Hope’s tantrum. “Maybe what he’s suggesting isn’t such a crazy idea. It’s not safe for you here anymore.”
“See?” I said, knowing my smug remark would only further irritate the fiery little brunette.
True to form, she hit me with the full force of her lethal stare. “Zip it, Grim.”
I didn’t even try to hide my amusement, because she was seriously fucking adorable when she looked at me like she wanted to murder me. Hands balled into fists, face and neck reddening by the second. I was surprised there weren’t clouds of steam erupting from the pocket rocket’s ears.
Daphne cocked her hip. “What did I tell you about stirring her up?”
She was right. I really ought to stop being such an ass, but for some reason I thrived on Hope’s attention, good or bad. I especially liked it when her eyes lingered on me longer than they should. I knew what that look meant, and I wasn’t upset about it.
“Fine.” I held my palms up. “But I meant what I said. You’re coming with me.”
“I can’t leave the country. I don’t even have a passport.”
“I can get around that,” I said.
The doc jerked her chin toward me. “Pilot.”
I arched one brow. “Impressed?”
Hope’s face twisted. “Don’t delude yourself. And I don’t care if you can smuggle me across the border. Daphne and the dogs need me. This is my home. My family. I’m not leaving.”
“Don’t be dumb, kiddo,” Daphne said.
“You can’t run this place without me. Your flare-ups are coming more often, and they’re worse each time. Last week, you could barely get out of bed.”
“I’ll find someone to help around here. This place will run fine without you.”
Hope clicked her tongue. “We both know no one else will put up with your crap just to help a bunch of stray dogs.” Then she snapped her attention toward me. “This isn’t up for negotiation. I’m staying.”
I faced Daphne. “Does she ever change her mind once it’s made up?”
“Not in my experience.”
Since it seemed like the doc was on my side, I figured I’d try another approach. “And are you going to get upset if I hog-tie her and fly her to Montana?”
She made a face like I was a moron. “What do you think?”
So kidnapping was a hard no. For now.
“You’re unbelievable,” Hope grumbled, and approached me with arms folded. “Do you care about your family?”
A rift between my dad and me meant I hadn’t spoken to him in years, but I cared about my mom and Owen. And my found family—Brandon, Sage, and the team—meant everything to me. “I do.”
“And would you abandon them when things got tough?” Her brow pinched. “Would they abandon you?”
Hope couldn’t have known how hard that question hit me. My Zulu brothers had put everything on the line to rescue me in Venezuela. The look on my face gave Hope the answer she needed. I might be an asshole, but I was loyal to my team.
She pointed to Daphne. “That woman over there is the only family I have. She saved my life. She gave me a home. I owe her everything . What do you think happens if the jerks from last night come looking for me and I’m not around?”
Shit .
She raised a valid point. In the event those dumbasses returned, it would be easy for them to lean on a local to get Hope’s address, and that would lead them to Daphne. She’d pull a weapon on them, just like she’d done to me, and it would get her killed.
“Fine.” I sighed. “There’s room on my plane for both of you.”
“You have an airplane?” Hope gawked.
“The team has several, and I’ll take you for a joyride in each of them if you make my life easy and come to the ranch.”
“I’d go with you if I could,” Daphne said. “But I can’t leave the dogs, and the people here need my clinic.”
Hope shook her head. “I won’t hang Dee out to dry when the one they’ll want is me.”
I’d expected resistance but not her flat-out refusal to leave. This placed me in a difficult position. I’d done my part by convincing Hope to help us, but leaving her here unprotected wasn’t an option. Someone had to stay to keep her safe, and I wasn’t cut out for bodyguard duty.
I’d ask Brandon or Sage to send a replacement as soon as they could. Anyone would be a better choice than me.
There was no way around it. For now, I had to stay.
Fuck .
I told myself to suck it up, because what was the worst that could happen? I was stuck here for one night, maybe two? What was the big problem?
The answer stood before me with her sharp tongue and curvy body beckoning me like a siren’s song. I either wanted to fight with Hope or fuck her. Combining the two sounded like fun. Even now, as she watched me keenly through stunning gold-flecked amber eyes, the urge to move closer to her felt instinctive.
Which had to be the dumbest fucking compulsion I’d ever had.
I kept people—women in particular—at a distance for their safety. One accidental brush of my scars could cause me to lash out and hurt them. It wasn’t worth the risk.
Plus, Hope was Carlos goddamn Espinoza’s daughter. Not to mention a woman I should be protecting. Wanting to claim her in the unholiest of ways was a severe conflict of interest.
Jesus, Decker. Get your head on straight.
What I needed to do was remain focused on the job. Keeping Hope safe was the priority, but just as important was keeping her amenable to feeding us information about her father.
That might prove difficult because the antagonistic jerk within me couldn’t help but have a little fun while on the job.
“I guess there’s nothing I can do about it, then.” I walked past Hope and headed for the front door.
“Wait. That’s it? You’re leaving?”
I glanced over my shoulder. “Why? You gonna miss me?”
Her lip curled. “Like a bad case of thrush. Don’t let the door hit your ass on the way out.”
“There’s no need to pine for me, Gatita. I’m not leaving. I’m getting my bag.” I gave her a shit-eating grin. “You’ve got yourself another stray to feed.”
Hope flinched. “What?”
“You heard me. I hope you’ve got a spare bed, because it’d be a shame if you had to sleep on the sofa.”
Footsteps stomped behind me on my way out. “You’re not staying here.”
I spun to face her. “There’s important information tucked away inside that pretty head of yours, and I want it. All of it. So if you won’t come to Montana, I’m sticking to you like glue to make sure you stay alive long enough to spill your secrets.”
She slammed her hands on her hips and frowned. “I don’t want a bodyguard.”
I stepped in closer, forcing her to tilt her chin up to meet my gaze. “Too bad. You’ve got one. And I take my job very seriously, which means from now on, wherever you go, I go, too.” My eyes shifted to her full pink lips, and—not for the first time—I wondered what they’d look like wrapped around my cock.
The filthy image I conjured made me curious how many other fuckers in town were thinking the same thing.
“You got a boyfriend?” I asked.
“That’s none of your business.”
“It is now, because if some asshole comes climbing through your window in the middle of the night looking to get between your legs, the only thing he’ll find is a bullet between his eyes. So if I were you, I’d tell any Casanovas to stay away. I’d hate to mistake them for an intruder,” I added sarcastically.
“This is bullshit!” she said with enough venom to take down a horse. “How long will you have to stay?”
“That all depends on how fast we find your father. Don’t worry. I’ll have Sage send a more suitable babysitter to replace me ASAP. Unless you really want me to stick around, in which case, you’ll have to offer something as incentive.” I sucked on my bottom lip, then scanned her body from tits to thighs.
I was totally being a jackass, but the appalled expression on Hope’s face made it one hundred percent worthwhile. As soon as my substitute arrived, I’d book it out of here faster than a fighter jet.
“Let me make this perfectly clear.” She sneered, and it was cute as fuck. “I don’t like you.”
“Keep telling yourself that.” I booped her on the nose because I couldn’t help myself.
Her nostrils flared, and her eyes went wide as golf balls. “You did not just do that.”
I turned and headed for the door. “If you want to take a swing at me, I don’t mind. In fact, I’ll consider it foreplay.”
“You’re a psycho!” she called out.
“Thank you.”
Her frustrated growl made me grin all the way to my truck.