Chapter 2
2
“ D on’t give me any sass, Honor,” Rhys Newman muttered.
The German Shepherd barked at him, letting him know she was ready to get out in the yard. She trotted behind him as he made his way to the kitchen. It was mid-morning, and he’d just woken up. Last night’s shift had been extremely busy and had taken a toll on him.
He wasn’t as young as he used to be, and working the graveyard shift was catching up to him. Rhys, a twenty-five-year veteran of the Columbia Police Department, loved his job, but working nights was getting old quick. His partner, Honor, on the other hand, loved nights.
But then again, she loved her job no matter what time they worked.
When he’d arrived home that morning, he’d showered then had fallen into bed. He was awakened a couple of hours later by Honor raining kisses on his face. Honor had barely allowed him to throw on a t-shirt and shorts before dragging him out of his bedroom.
For the past seven years, Rhys had been a member of the K9 unit. He’d always loved animals, and having a dog as a partner was the absolute best. There was never any doubt in his mind that she would have his back. When he’d become a K9 handler, Honor was his first dog, and they had learned together. Their training had been intense, and it helped them grow close.
Honor understood when she wore her tactical harness it was time to work. She was one of the most focused police dogs he’d ever met. She made him a better police officer.
But when that harness was removed, she became the family dog. She was playful and the queen of the house. They made it to the kitchen, and she instantly beelined it to the glass sliding door that led to the back porch.
She sat next to it and whined. Rhys ran a shaky hand along his face and stared at the dog. He sighed when he caught sight of her expression. This was the one she used to get what she wanted. He always caved when she used it, and the dog was smart enough to know it.
“All right, dammit,” he grumbled.
She was a cruel woman, not letting him get his coffee first. He went to her, and she immediately danced in place next to him. He slid the door open, and she took off. He watched her trot across the porch and down the stairs, racing off to her favorite tree.
There wasn’t anything Rhys wouldn’t do for Honor. She’d been the only steady woman in his life besides his daughter, Nova, for a while until recently. He pulled his phone out the pocket of his shorts.
I miss you. I’m off tonight…
Rhys smiled at the screen. Just the simple message had his heart skipping a beat. When he’d arrived home after his shift, he had sent Jordan a text before falling asleep. The woman was always on his mind. There was something about her that had him feigning like an addict needing his next hit. It had been two days since he’d last got to see her, and dammit, he wanted her to come back to him.
He looked up to eye Honor who was sniffing around the yard. She wouldn’t go anywhere. He owned thirty acres for her to run around on until she was tired, but she wouldn’t go far. He left the door slightly open where she could come back in when she was ready.
He moved away and went over to the counter where his coffee pot had just finished brewing. He ignored it and leaned back, staring at Jordan’s text. She had blown into his life and he hadn’t looked back. He was a lucky man for someone like her to entertain his attentions.
Jordan Knight was like no other lady he’d ever encountered. She was beautiful with warm brown skin, soft lips, a toned, curvy body, and wasn’t afraid to speak up for herself. She was one hell of a policewoman. He’d seen her in action, and that was how they had met. He and his team had assisted SWAT with a kidnapping that involved a fellow officer’s woman.
From the moment he’d seen her dressed in her SWAT gear, helmet, and a gun in her hand, he was a goner. He’d been nervous as hell when he’d approached her that day. He had sent his dog over to Jordan to break the ice.
Rhys wasn’t ashamed to admit that he’d used Honor. She was the best wing dog that day. Jordan had bent down and rubbed Honor behind the ears. Honor loved the attention from her fellow cop. The moment Jordan peered up at him and smiled, she’d stolen his breath and his heart.
It had been a long time since Rhys had dated anyone. He had married young, straight out of the academy. He had thought Sara Beth would be the one woman for him. They had met when they were sixteen years old. Engaged at nineteen. Married at twenty and had their daughter at twenty-five. By the time they were thirty, they had divorced.
Rhys shook his head, not wanting to think of his ex. She’d consumed a big chunk of his life that he could never get back. Through all of those years, the only good thing he’d got out of their union was his daughter. After their separation, he had dated here and there, but there wasn’t anyone he had wanted to bring around his daughter. He had a few women that if he needed an itch scratched, they would only be too happy to invite him over for a little fun.
But he had never brought anyone to the farm, much less around his daughter.
Rhys set the phone down on the counter and continued to stare at it. He should respond. That much he knew, but he didn’t want to sound too cheesy.
“Fuck,” he murmured.
How was it he could stare down a bad guy with a gun pointed at him and not break a sweat but when it came to this woman he froze?
“Morning, Dad!” Nova breezed into the kitchen and headed straight to the fridge.
Rhys glanced up from the phone and turned around to lean back against the counter. Nova, his twenty-year-old daughter, was home for the summer from college. Rhys still couldn’t believe his little girl, who’d dragged around her baby blanket until she was seven years old, was going to be a junior at the University of South Carolina.
She assessed the fridge before shutting the door and faced him. She reminded him so much of his ex, but her eyes were all him.
He blinked, taking in her hair.
“When did you go pink?” he asked.
Her chin-length hair was now streaked with bright-pink highlights. She ran her fingers through it, a crooked grin spreading across her face.
“Oh, yesterday. It was a last-minute decision. You like it?” She spun around, allowing him to take it all in.
Rhys sighed and shook his head. Her mother was going to shit bricks when she saw it.
That meant he loved it.
“I do. It looks good.” He grinned.
She squealed and jumped in place.
“I knew you would like it. I think Mom burst an aneurysm when she saw it.” She smirked.
Sometimes Rhys got the feeling Nova purposely tested her mother by performing such stunts. The two were always at each other’s throats for one reason or another. Sara Beth had never understood why their daughter preferred to be with him after the divorce.
From the first moment he had heard his baby’s heartbeat, something in Rhys had changed. He knew he would do anything for their child. The first time he’d held her and breathed in her scent, he was a goner. He’d been smitten with her. She had grown up to be a daddy’s girl, and he was proud of the woman she had become. He never would have dreamed that he and Sara Beth would divorce. He had imagined them growing old together and having a house full of kids by now.
“I’m surprised she didn’t demand you return to the salon and fix it.”
“Oh, she threatened, but I reminded her, like she always does me, that I’m twenty now and a grown adult. I can do whatever I want with my hair.” She came over to him and peeked around him. She snatched up his phone and ran to the other side of the island. “Oh, you have a text from Jordan.”
“Hey, give that back.”
He jogged after her, but she ran around the island. Her giggles filled the air. Nova had been ecstatic when she had discovered he was dating again. She had encouraged him for years to jump back in the dating pool to try to find love. Rhys would have never imagined that his daughter would push for him to find someone. His career and raising Nova had been his life.
But apparently, Nova had worried he would be alone for the rest of his life.
Rhys loved her deeply, and it sort of made him feel good that she worried about him. It let him know that she had been raised right.
“Why didn’t you respond? She’s obviously telling you she wants to spend the night.” Nova wagged her eyebrows at him.
Rhys bit back a groan and rested his hands on the island. He didn’t want to have this type of conversation with her. What had happened to the days when she’d run up to him and want to be thrown in the air? That was something they used to do when she was about four years old. Now she was a grown woman offering him advice on dating. Where had the time gone?
“You can’t leave a woman like Jordan hanging.”
“I will answer, but you have my phone.” He moved over to the cabinet and took out one of his CPD mugs. He grabbed the carafe and filled up his cup with the hot brew. “You might not want to scroll up.”
“Eww!” Nova brought the phone over to him.
He laughed at her eye roll. She set the phone down and pulled a cup out of the cabinet and held it out to him.
“Well, you shouldn’t be so nosy. Never know what you will find.” He poured into her mug then returned the carafe where it belonged.
“Dad, please don’t tell me you send d-pics.” She moved over to the fridge to get her creamer.
Rhys never understood the notion of doctoring up coffee. Black was just perfect and was the way he liked it. Adding all that other fluff to it took away the appeal. A good strong brew was all a person needed.
“Excuse me? What do I look like?” He took a sip of his coffee and leaned back against the counter and watched her fix up her drink.
Nova was like him with a coffee addiction. Sara Beth used to yell at him for allowing Nova to sip on his coffee when she was younger. Hell, it hadn’t hurt her. Look at her now. All grown up and a college woman. His father had allowed him to drink coffee as a kid, and as much as Sara Beth would say he was touched in the head, there was nothing wrong with him. Newmans drank coffee.
“Only pervs do that, and you are not one.” She tossed her spoon in the sink and leaned her hip against the island. She took a sip of her drink and shuddered. “Guys who do that apparently think it will make women trip over their feet to date them.”
He narrowed his eyes on her.
“Who has sent you a picture of their dick?” he growled.
He and Honor would take a trip and visit whoever had sent Nova a picture of their fucking junk. They would ensure that whoever the punk was, he would never think of sending another X-rated photo again. As if sensing he was thinking of her, Honor arrived back at the door. She stuck her head in first and whined before joining them in the kitchen.
“Dad, you can’t go around arresting everyone.” Nova sighed.
Honor went over to Nova and barked.
Apparently, Honor disagreed. She was just as protective of Nova as he was. It was good to know his partner would lay down her life for his child. From the moment he had first brought Honor home as a pup, there was a bond forged between not only him and Honor, but between the dog and Nova.
“I can arrest whoever is showing my daughter their damn dick,” he muttered and took another sip of his coffee. Rhys just didn’t understand how Nova was still clueless about how far he would go to protect her.
He glared at her, but Nova rolled her eyes and motioned to his phone.
“Back to our prior discussion. What are you going to say to Jordan?” she asked.
The fight in him immediately dissipated the moment she brought up Jordan.
Fuck .
What was he going to say? Wearily, he ran a hand along his jaw. Honor whined and disappeared out of sight for a moment. Her claws scraping along the floor filled the air while she rushed out of the room.
“That is none of your business,” he replied.
Honor returned carrying her bowl and dropped it at his feet. She sat and stared at him.
He rubbed her on her head and laughed. “I got it, Honor. Your Majesty is ready to eat.”
“I’ll do it. You respond to Jordan and I’ll feed Honor.” Nova tapped her thigh to signal for Honor to come to her. “Bring your bowl, sister. Dad needs to do something important.”
Honor grabbed her bowl and followed behind Nova.
Nova turned around and grinned at him. “And don’t say anything corny, Dad!”
She and Honor disappeared around the corner, leaving him alone in the kitchen. He stepped forward to where his phone rested on the counter and stared at it. He placed his cup down and decided to just be simple. Jordan apparently liked him for who he was. He picked up the phone and typed out a response.
Bring your bag, I’ll start the grill.
Rhys closed the hood of the grill and basked in the warm sunshine. The fire had died down, and the coals were ready for him to throw the meat on the grill. It was a perfect day to eat out on the patio. The weatherman had announced plenty of heat and sunshine. The sky was a beautiful, picturesque blue with not a cloud in sight. Rhys enjoyed the outdoors. There was nothing like breathing in fresh air and being one with the land.
Rhys and his brother, Layton, had spent much of their childhood camping and hunting with their father, Tate Newman. Rhys had much respect and love for the old man. Tate was a man who had ensured his boys had never wanted for anything and knew how to take care of themselves. They had lived out in the country where their small town was the posterboard for Southern living.
Rhys gazed out on his property, and pride swelled in his chest. The plush greenery, the barn off in the distance, the coral with a few of his prized horses grazing the land, all belonged to him.
Honor trotted back over to him carrying one of her squeaky rope toys.
“Again, girl?” A deep chuckle escaped him. Honor was still a pup at heart and loved playing games. He reached down and grabbed the end of the rope and tugged.
A growl escaped the fawn-and-black German Shepherd. She refused to drop it and pulled back hard, trying to get him to release it.
“How can I throw it if you won’t let it go?”
Honor was a highly intelligent K9, and she must have thought about his words. She released her end, with her tail wagging so hard it caused her entire back end to wiggle. She practically grinned while waiting for him to throw her toy. Rhys grimaced at the amount of dog saliva coating the end of the rope.
“Ready?” he asked.
She spun around, facing the yard with her muscles going taut and her body still. Rhys tossed the toy as far as he could and watched Honor take off after it. The dog sure had speed to her that came in handy when she was in pursuit of a bad guy. The toy bounced off the ground and landed. She skidded to a halt, snatching it up in her mouth while spinning around to face him. She paused as if to show Rhys that she had obtained her target.
“Good girl.” Rhys clapped and tapped his thigh, signaling for her to return to him.
Honor trotted toward him. He reached over for a bottle of water sitting on the table and took a swig. He glanced down at his watch and took note of the time.
Jordan should be here at any moment.
Honor arrived at his side and dropped the toy at his feet and sat. Her keen eyes were on him, the dog waiting for the next command. He gave her a good rubdown on her head and focused on her ears. She loved when someone scratched behind them.
“Go get some water, girl,” he said.
She got up and went over to her bowl where fresh, cool water waited for her.
His phone buzzed. Rhys pulled it out of his shorts pocket and took in the name displayed across the screen.
Zayden Gipson .
He grinned and slid his finger across the screen to answer it.
“Me and Honor are off duty today,” he said, answering the call.
Zayden, a sergeant for the K9 unit, was a close friend of Rhys’s. With Rhys being a twenty-five-year vet on the force, he had a hand in training some of the new recruits when they were starting out. From the moment he had met Zayden, he’d known he would make one hell of a cop. Zayden had moved up the ranks and then joined the K9 unit a few years before Rhys had. His friend had busted his ass to make sergeant, and Rhys couldn’t be happier for him.
Zayden was in charge of the K9 team, and they had a damn good squad. Along with Zayden and Rhys, there was Lane with his partner, Colt, Arlo and Kimbo, then Daxton and Hawk. The K9 unit was one of the more popular teams amongst the community.
Not so much for the bad guys they’d had to chase down.
“Well, aren’t you a lucky bastard.” Zayden chuckled.
Rhys took another swig of his water and finished off the bottle. He walked over to the recycle can he kept on the patio. A yip in the background came from Duchess, Zayden’s partner.
“While some of us are hard at work patrolling this town, others are relaxing. Tell me, Rhys, do you have the grill going?”
“You know I do.” Rhys grinned. His friend knew him all too well. Rhys never hesitated to light the grill and cook outdoors. He headed back over to the grill and lifted the hood. He was greeted by a billow of heat and coals that were light gray in color. “Beer in the fridge, my dog has water in her bowl, and Jor?—”
He’d almost said her name. The one thing he hadn’t been too keen on agreeing with Jordan was the secrecy of their relationship. He wasn’t one for sneaking around, but Jordan was determined to keep everything professional when they were on the job. It pained him to see her around the precinct or get called in to assist SWAT but couldn’t go over and kiss her like he wanted to do every damn time his gaze landed on her.
But no.
She wanted—no, needed—to ensure everyone respected her as an officer. But there wasn’t a person who didn’t respect her. The woman had made a name for herself the second she’d made the SWAT team. She was the first woman to do such a thing in their precinct. Rhys was damn proud of her.
“My friend.” He coughed. Not that he didn’t trust Zayden to keep a secret, but his friend was the brother of Brodie, Jordan’s SWAT brother. He couldn’t take the chance Zayden wouldn’t mistakenly say something to Brodie, and then the entire SWAT team would be sure to know then. “She’s coming over soon.”
“This friend of yours, still a secret, huh?” Zayden murmured.
“At least for now.”
“Well, hell. I can’t wait to meet her. She must be one hell of a woman.”
Jordan’s face came to mind. Rhys’s heart skipped a beat at the pure thought of her. He had never felt like this with anyone and wasn’t sure what to think of it. When thinking back to when he and Sara Beth had first started dating, they were young and foolish. There had been plenty of signs he had ignored at the time. But they had been in love, or at least he had thought they were.
This with Jordan was different.
He was much older. More experienced. What he felt for her was in an entirely different category than what he’d had with his ex-wife.
“I will get to find out who this mysterious woman is, right?” Zayden asked after Rhys hadn’t responded.
“We’ll see. We are just making sure everything is right before us. We don’t want to rush anything,” Rhys said. He headed back into the house through the patio door.
Honor had lain on her doggy bed Nova had purchased for her. She lifted her head for a moment to see if he wanted her to come with him, but he signaled for her to stay. She lowered her head back down and rolled over onto her side.
“I hate to cut this short, but are you calling about my love life or is there something you need?”
He didn’t care that he probably sounded like an ass, but he was sure his friend would understand. He headed over to the counter where he’d prepped the meat. He was keeping their meal simple. A few steaks, some burgers, hot dogs, and even some chicken breasts for Honor. He had a few sides in the warmer and drinks chilling in the fridge.
Rhys was a man who was always prepared.
“Nah, didn’t want much. Just living vicariously through you at the moment. You’re living the life, it sounds.”
“Whatever.” Rhys snorted.
Zayden was single, mid-thirties, a great guy, and never lonely. Rhys could never keep up with the women Zayden was attached to. He grabbed the utensils he needed and headed back outside.
“I did receive an email that one of the news channels wanted to do a spotlight on the dogs, and I threw yours and Honor’s names out there. Arlo already volunteered him and Kimbo. I figured you wouldn’t mind.”
Rhys grimaced. He hated being in the spotlight but understood that occasionally this was a part of his job. With the community taking interest in the K9 program and their training of the dogs and their handlers, it could lead to a higher budget and possibly the hiring of new K9 handlers.
“Sure. Just text me the details or forward me the email,” he replied.
“I knew I could count on you.”
“Yeah, yeah. You don’t have to kiss my ass, but you are buying me a case of beer for this shit.” Rhys chucked. He arranged his tools on the grill’s shelves and was ready.
All he needed was his woman to arrive home.
His breath caught in his throat.
Would Jordan consider moving out to the farm with him? They had already moved fast, and he knew she felt something for him. She never wanted to leave when it was time for her to go. Why keep separate residences in the same town?
Rhys exhaled and blinked.
“I already know. Daxton will be there, too, and has already told me what bottle of bourbon to buy him and what treats Hawk likes.” Zayden sighed.
It didn’t take much to please the men of the K9 handler team or the dogs. Rhys grinned. That sounded like Daxton. He could be a grouch but was one dependable cop.
“Well, if Dax is putting in orders for Hawk, just know that Honor loves her some chicken,” he replied.
“Got it.”
Rhys disconnected the call and slid his phone back in his pocket. He washed his hands then returned to the patio. A low growl emanated from Honor. She pushed up, her ears erect as she listened to whatever it was she heard.
It was then he caught the faint sound of a car.
“Who is it?” he asked.
Honor gave another growl and began creeping off the patio. Rhys figured it was Jordan. She was the only one due to come over, and Nova would be leaving soon to go visit with some friends since she was home.
“Is it Jordan?”
At the sound of Jordan’s name, Honor’s tail wagged furiously. She took off running around the side of the house. Rhys chuckled. He wasn’t sure who would be more excited to see Jordan—him or the dog. He’d share Jordan for a little while, then he would have her all to himself. He was a very patient man.
Waiting on her was completely worth it.