Chapter 3
Harlow Springs Ranch
Near Claremore, OK
Three Months Ago
Jax
Tossing my keys on the small bar that separates the kitchen from the living room, I pause in front of the monitors mounted on the wall of the tiny apartment living room over the desk on the far wall. On the most important screen is the small blinking red dot on the map where I expect it to be.
Pausing to watch it blink a few times, the deep-seated need to know where that dot is at all times is appeased.
Some might call it an obsession, some could even go so far as to call me crazy, but I call it safe.
Leaving things to chance has never worked out for me and I won’t take a chance with those I care about again.
Walking to the bathroom, I turn on the shower to get ready.
Pink and white blooms cover the trees along the quarter-mile driveway I’m driving on my best friend’s ranch, some curve over the drive to create a sort of tunnel to lead the way. They remind me of a garden that I dream about sometimes, something from my childhood.
Something about the dream is warm and safe, but it always feels so far away, and fuzzy. I can make out the big things, but faces and details never fail to quietly slip behind the veil of sleep, to be quickly forgotten when I wake up.
The sun is out, and the soft breeze is keeping the June heat away. The truck windows are down and the soft smell of the blooms on the trees is blowing through the cab.
As I get closer to the house, the trees, bushes and buildings are all decorated with ribbons and flowers. There is a banner hanging high between a couple of trees that reads ‘Congratulations Mason and Sloane’.
Mason’s my best friend, and he’s getting married today to the only woman who has ever been able to claim him, many have tried. Until he met Sloane, we fucked our way around the globe without a care, depending on where our off-the-books black ops team took us.
At first, I wanted to hold a grudge against her for taking my wing-man, but once I met her, I understood. Not only is she beautiful, she has a kick-ass personality. Mason was sunk the first time he met her.
Now I’m the best man in his wedding.
After parking my rented truck in the grass by the driveway, I grab my garment bag off the hook in the back seat and walk to the house.
The entire yard from the house to the barn is crawling with people, some are caterers setting up a table of food next to a table with a large cake, some are putting up decorations and some hanging flowers everywhere.
I distinctly remember Sloane saying that she wanted it to be small and simple, but I think Mason’s sisters might have taken the simple part out.
Speaking of sisters, I glance around to see if I see the one I’m most concerned with, who is also the maid of honor and will be standing across from me during the ceremony.
“Finally!” Mason is walking toward me as soon as I get through the front door. “I thought I was going to have to send someone to get you.”
I smile at him and hold my garment bag up. “I’m here and I even remembered my clothes.” He slaps me on the shoulder and pulls me in for a hug that I gladly return. “Congratulations, man. Is the rest of the team here?”
He steps to my side and pulls on the cuffs of his button down to straighten the sleeves. “Yeah, they’re milling around here and there, and I think Grace is in the kitchen with the girls.
Grace is our boss, Callum’s wife. He’s the only one of our team who is already married, well, until today. He plucked Mason from Delta Force a few years ago and poached me from DEVGRU shortly after. Mason and I had already met in previous years, the few times our units trained together.
Holding my garment bag up by the hanger looped over my finger, I ask, “Where do you want me to change?”
“You can have the library or the office, they both have locks on the doors. Sloane is still doing last-minute touch-ups in our room, so that is off limits to even me.”
I wink at him with a shit-eating grin. “I’ll bet I could get in there with a knock and a smile.”
“Then I would have to kick your ass.” He turns to me with a cocked brow.
“You wish, you can’t even best me in training exercises.”
“Maybe not weapons training, but I can definitely bring you down MMA style. But then we would be bloody messes and Sloane will kick both our asses.” He laughs as he tilts his head toward the stairs.
“Can’t have that, especially with all the horror stories you tell me about pregnancy hormones.”
“A pregnant woman will rip your balls off and stuff them down your throat while telling you to go get her ice cream in the middle of the night. The sad part is that they have no regrets. It’s like they’re possessed.
” Callum steps up behind us and we both turn while laughing.
He speaks from experience, he and his wife have two kids, a boy and a girl.
“I’m definitely learning all about that,” Mason says and tips his head to the kitchen. “Let’s go get a beer.”
“You don’t have to ask me twice.” I say and we walk through the people milling around, talking in every room of the house.
When I step out of the office after changing, I almost run right into a five foot six, blond-haired vision. Mason’s twin, Marley, jumps back like someone threw a firebomb at her, and when I grasp her arms to make sure she doesn’t fall, the flash of fear on her face angers me.
That fear that has made her the shy but beautiful woman in front of me today angers me every time I think about what happened to her when she was in high school.
From the first moment I saw her eight months ago, she has been a permanent part of my thoughts and no woman has been able to evoke any kind of feeling from me.
Marley doesn’t like strangers or crowds, and she sure as fuck doesn’t like being around men she doesn’t know. I hate to see that fear in her eyes.
Being around all these people probably has her on edge.
“Hey, hey, it’s just me.” I softly say.
When she tips her head back and her eyes meet mine, relief replaces the fear. Her hand slaps over her chest before a small smile tips up one side of her lips. “Jax, you scared me.” Right above her hand is the delicate white gold chain with the hammered horseshoe necklace she wears all the time.
The relief that replaces the fear, when she sees it’s me, sends a rush of happiness through my chest. But when I let go of her and reluctantly take a step back, I’m speechless as I look at her in her maid of honor dress.
My eyes move down the peach sun dress that is form-fitting on the top, but flares at the hips to her knees, down to the flat ballet shoes and back up.
The thin straps of the dress expose her tan shoulders and her long blond hair is half up and hanging in big, wavy curls down her back.
Her big blue eyes look away and she starts to squirm under my stare.
“Tako lepa.” I whisper. [So beautiful.]
Her eyes snap back to me and her eyebrows pull together, forming that cute little line over her nose. “What?”
Reaching out, being careful not to move too fast, I touch her elbow with the tips of my fingers. “It means beautiful.” When her face softens and her cheeks turn pink as she looks down, I repeat, “You look beautiful, Marley.”
Just eight months ago, she wouldn’t even look at me, and every time I attempted to stand next to her, she moved away. It’s taken me five visits to the ranch and innumerable, brutal attempts to communicate with her just to get her to give me the gift of those beautiful eyes.
My heart skips a beat or two.
The soft rosy pink on her face enhances her beauty even more and makes her blue eyes the color of the deepest ocean. She looks back up and sheepishly asks, “What language is that?”
“Serbian. But if you don’t like it, I can say it in French. ‘Si beau’.”
Her eyes drop to my lips, and she barely shakes her head. “No, it sounded more natural the first time. It matches you. I like it better.” She shrugs her shoulder a little and looks away while rolling her lips together.
She’s embarrassed and uncomfortable. I’ve spent hours watching this woman and learning all her tells, so I joke and say, “hajde da zapo?nemo ovu zabavu?” [Let’s get this party started.]
The smile is back and her eyes volley between mine. “What does it mean?”
I wink at her with a smile, but I don’t touch her. “It means let’s get this party stared, beautiful girl.”
An hour later, I’m standing across from her as Mason and Sloane exchange their vows. I’ve learned that Mason and Marley are very close, bonded twins since utero, so it doesn’t surprise me when she starts to wipe tears from her cheeks as she smiles at her brother.
Taking a handkerchief from my pants pocket, I lean behind the couple and hand it to her. I hear several ‘Ahhhs’ from the crowd of onlookers seated behind us and I wink at her when her eyes briefly meet mine.
At the appropriate time, I give them their rings, and as they declare their love for each other, my eyes are glued to Marley. The first time I saw her, she took my breath away, and she’s done it every time since.
The priest declares them man and wife and after they kiss, Sloane turns to Marley and gives her a hug. Marley softly says next to Sloane’s ear, “We’re truly sisters now.” She looks down at Sloane’s rounded belly and puts her hand on the bump.
At the same time, Mason turns to me, and we clap hands in a tight handshake that turns into a hug, “Congrats, brother.”
Right on cue, as planned, every guy from the team stands up and pulls a party popper, streamers and confetti rain down on the couple as everyone laughs. Including Marley. It’s the sweetest sound, and one I don’t hear very often.
Everyone gathers near the barn, where the band is set up, to eat.
Marley and I are sitting next to each other and when it’s time for the traditional best man and maid of honor toasts, Marley has a folded piece of paper in her hand, but her face turns scarlet when I look at her to see if she wants to go first.