totally take him,” he said.
Yeah, over Adam’s dead body.
Maybe.
“We really did have a lot of places to look,” Holly said. “We hit Diamond Ridge and Mount Eagle first, and then the Kaniksu Caves—”
“The caves?” Brady turned to Adam, mocking gone. He knew how he’d managed to avoid any caves at all. And perfect, now both brothers were looking at him like he was a ticking time bomb.
“You got inside the caves?” Brady asked.
Jesus. This got better and better. “It’s not a big deal,” he said before Holly could say that no, in fact, he hadn’t gotten all the way inside the caves before having a colossally fucking humiliating breakdown. Because he should have gotten inside that cave. It wasn’t like they’d been in enemy territory, with bad intel and half the good guys already dead.
“And then from there, we went to Fallen Lakes.” Holly reached out to squeeze Adam’s hand. “I’d never have found my dad without him.”
Brady was clearly surprised, and so was Dell. They were surprised because they’d been giving Adam the kid-glove treatment, and Holly hadn’t bothered with kid gloves at all.
“Huh,” Brady said, looking impressed. His gaze warmed considerably as he smiled at Holly.
She blinked, as if blinded by the sight, and Adam rolled his eyes. Brady had always had a way with the ladies. But then Holly turned to Adam and the look on her face was all for him, and the oddest thing happened. His chest loosened from a tension he hadn’t even realized he’d been holding.
He could trust her, really trust her, the way he trusted Dell and Brady—when he didn’t want to kill them, that is. The knowledge wasn’t expected, but he wasn’t quite sure it was welcome, either. He’d liked assuring himself that she was just a diversion. Nothing more.
But she kept being more.
He wanted to touch her. Not just for sex, though he wanted that, too, wanted to bury himself deep and lose himself in her again. God, how he wanted that, to put his hands on her and have her hands on him.
But he also just wanted her close. He wanted to hold her and not let go. And damned if that wasn’t a thought. Maybe he should sleep with her again, work on clearing up this confusion with some down-and-dirty sex.
Except with Holly, it wasn’t just sex. He shoved his fingers in his hair and tugged. This wasn’t helping. He realized everyone was staring at him, but just then Jade stepped out the front door of the center and waved him over. Thank God. No more time to obsess or further embarrass himself, he had work. “Gotta go.”
“Adam,” Holly said.
He slowed, though he didn’t want to, and looked down at the hand she’d placed on his arm. Dell and Brady moved off, giving them privacy. Privacy he was damn sure he wasn’t prepared for, not with her.
“I’m hungry,” she said. “Want to get dinner?”
He looked into her eyes and knew he had to be honest right now, or this would get as out of hand as it had the last time. “Dinner isn’t what I’m hungry for, Holly.”
Her mouth opened, then closed. He didn’t know what she’d been about to say, but he knew that her response should have been a slap across his face. He certainly deserved it, if not for the other night on the mountain, then for all those years ago when he’d touched her and shouldn’t have.
But as it turned out, Holly had no response at all—at least not one she was willing to share with him. She gave him nothing but a look that he refused himself the luxury of interpreting. With a nod, he walked away, telling himself he was doing them both a big favor, but especially her, one she’d thank him for eventually.
Nineteen
Holly knew damn well that Adam had tried to scare her off. But she was no young girl, and she was not easily scared off. In fact, nothing much scared her at all anymore.
Except hiding her feelings.
She watched Adam stride to the porch where Jade stood waiting for him. Gertie was lying at his feet in an exhausted heap on the front steps. Obedience class was hard work. At Adam’s approach, she rolled onto her back, her tail beating the ground, dust rising. He crouched down, ruffling her fur, giving her a smacking kiss right between her eyes.
Gertie writhed in ecstasy, giving him as much emotion as a dog could possibly give.
Adam gave it back, honest and uninhibited, and from across the yard Holly melted a little, even as she sighed.
A hand settled on her shoulder. Dell’s. “It’s not you,” he assured her.
“No?” She was pretty sure it was her.
“No,” Dell said. “It’s because Brady here dropped him on his head when we were teenagers.”
Brady smiled fondly at the memory. “That’s not why he’s an idiot. It’s because she’s his cave.”
“Huh?” Holly said, but Dell was nodding.
“Yeah,” Dell said. “That’s it exactly.” He looked at Holly. “You’re his cave. The thing he fears yet wants the most. You’re going to have to make it safe for him to come inside.”
Well, gee, if that was all. “And how do you propose I do that?” she asked.
“Turn on all the lights and send him invitation?” Brady suggested.
Dell shook his head. “Too subtle. You need to set a trap and drag the big lug inside.”
Holly let out a low laugh. They loved Adam. That was beautifully clear. But they didn’t have a clue. She just hoped she did.
She walked to her Jeep and then took a call from her office about some billing mishap. By the time she disconnected, she was the last one from the class left in the lot. Dusk was falling but she had no trouble seeing across the yard to the very serious basketball game going on. Three-on-three and she knew the players on the skins team.
Dell.
Brady.
And Adam.
The three of them looking so hot that she was momentarily frozen, unable to look away. Dell passed the ball to Brady, who flung it to Adam. Adam caught it and flew toward the basket, where he was rudely and harshly fouled, his opponent’s hand chopping through the air, making an audible smack against his arm and hand. As if he didn’t feel a thing, Adam executed a layup with panther grace. Clearly his shoulder wasn’t bothering him in the slightest.
His opponent, one of Dell’s vet techs, swore viciously.
Adam gave him a steely-eyed look but didn’t retaliate for the foul or call him on it. “Game point,” he said, and passed the ball to Brady, who swished in a sweet three-pointer. Game.
Sweating, filthy, the brothers grinned and high-fived each other in triumph.
And from inside the chilly interior of the Jeep, Holly got a hot flash. She shoved the vehicle in gear and drove off into the night.
Holly was a half hour late to book club. By the time she got there, the food had been devoured, dessert included. Dessert was the whole reason for going to book club, dammit.
Kate was sitting next to Lilah and Jade. There were at least ten other women there as well, all of them discussing the chosen book with an intensity that matched the death and gloom of the plot.
Holly hadn’t enjoyed the book. She liked books with happy endings, and this one hadn’t had anything close to an HEA. She sat in the chair next to Kate and pulled the book from her purse.
“You’re glowing,” Kate whispered. “Why are you glowing?”
“It’s sweat,” she whispered back. “Thing One and Thing Two are a pain in my ass.”
“Sure it’s not the instructor making you sweat?”
Holly hid her face behind the book.
Kate pushed the book down and took in Holly’s expression, her smile fading. “Okay, now you’re scaring me,” she whispered. “This isn’t just fun and games for you. He’s not just fun and games for you.”
Holly glanced around and found Lilah and Jade listening in unabashedly. Great. Holly flipped through the book, pretending to listen to the discussion going on around her. They were talking about the characters.
“It’s all about the characters for me,” Jade said
, and looked at Holly.
Lilah nodded her agreement. “Character growth is everything.”
“How about compassion?” Kate asked. “Loyalty? Heart? Because this…this book that we let into our lives”—she sent Holly a long glance—“needs to be compassionate. It needs to be loyal to a fault and have heart. Flawed is okay as long as it has heart.”
“That’s a big order,” Lilah said. “But in this case, the…book,” she said meaningfully, “flawed as it may be, can absolutely live up to expectations—if given a chance.”
Holly looked at both Jade and Lilah, two very sharp women. Two very sharp women who loved Adam like a brother. “I don’t mind flaws,” she said carefully. “What book doesn’t have flaws?”
“You’re sure?” Kate asked. “Sure sure?”
Holly hugged the book to her chest and nodded, hoping like hell that was true, and that she knew what she was doing.
The next day Dell walked into Adam’s office and deposited a ten-week-old black Lab puppy on his desk. A female, who lifted her head and blinked at Adam with sleepy dark eyes.
“You look familiar,” he told her, scooping her up. “You’re one of the Moorelands’ puppies.”
The Moorelands raised Labs and were clients of Dell’s. And Adam’s as well, since he’d trained nearly all their dogs.
“She’s going to make a great watchdog,” Dell said.
“Yeah?” Adam cuddled her close. She stuck out her pink tongue and licked his nose. “Looks like maybe she’s more of a lover than a fighter.”
“Well, she has to be trained, of course,” Dell said.
Adam lifted his gaze to his brother, who was, for once, giving nothing away. “You taking on another dog? Gert’s gonna be jealous.”
“Not me.”
Ah. He saw where this was going now. “I’ve already got Milo.”
“Not you, either.” Dell dropped into a chair and slouched back, making himself comfortable. He smiled. His I’ve-been-meddling smile.
“Shit,” Adam said, eyes narrowing. “What are you up to?”
“Nila’s place was broken into last night.”
Their mom lived in an unsecured trailer on acreage that yielded no crops or anything else of value. She had nothing to steal. “Was she hurt?”
“No. Pissed off but not hurt. Probably just some stupid teenagers, bored and looking for trouble.” A touch of a smile crossed Dell’s mouth at that.
They’d both been there.
“So you’re giving her this killer to watch over the property?” Adam asked, laughing softly because the “killer” was already fast asleep, her head on his chest.
“Not me,” Dell said. “I’m booked today.”
Adam’s laughed faded. “No.”
“Why not?”
“For starters, Nila hasn’t spoken to me in months.”
“Yeah, not since she came here and threw your money back in your face. I know. Does it really matter, Adam? This has to be done.” Dell stood up. “Oh, and bring your toolbox. She’s got a lock that needs fixing and a leaky sink.”
“Shit. She’s not going to let me fix anything for her.”
“Yeah, she will, because it doesn’t require you putting out any money.” Dell moved to the door. “I loaded some supplies for the puppy into your truck.”
“I didn’t say yes.”
“You didn’t say no, either.”
“You’re the one who goes out there and provides actual services,” Adam said. “I have nothing to offer her, we have nothing to talk about.”
“You know damn well what you have to offer. You can fix what needs fixing, and she won’t have to pay for it. Bring her the damn dog, Adam. See your mother. Help her out. I’ll give you a Boy Scout badge for it.”
Adam flipped him off. Dell returned the gesture and left.
Adam looked at the sleeping puppy. “Well? You going to be a watchdog or what?”
She opened her eyes and licked his chin again and then set her head back on his chest. Trusting. Sweet. A real badass.
Adam shook his head and walked out to his truck, puppy in tow. Just outside of town, he came upon Holly on the side of the highway, kicking her tire.
Adam spent a moment wrestling with his conscience and then pulled over. “Stay,” he said to the puppy, and got out.
Holly watched him come toward her. She’d stopped kicking her tire and was now leaning against the Jeep as if she was just out for a little sunbathe.
“Problem?” he asked.
“Nope.”
He eyed her very flat tire and, unbelievably, the pair of pliers sticking out of it. “So that’s what, a figment of my imagination?”
“Ran over the stupid thing. I mean, who does that?”
“You, apparently.” Adam crouched down and studied the tire.
“It’s dead.”
“Yes,” he said. “Very dead.” He rose. “Spare?”
She shook her head. “It’s flat, too. I’ve called Red. He’s coming out, but he’s going to be an hour or so.”
Adam nodded. “I’ll give you a ride.”
She looked at him for a long moment. “I can tell you’re on a mission, and it’s not a happy one. I can wait for Red, Adam.”
He met her gaze. How the hell she managed to read him like she did, when no one else could, he hadn’t the foggiest idea. “I’m not leaving you out here on the road like this.”
“But—”
Jesus. “Just get in the damn truck, Holly.”
Unbelievably, she smiled. “And you think you’re not sweet.” She sashayed toward his truck and hopped up into the shotgun position. He stood where he was for a moment, taking a deep breath. Then he ambled over and got in behind the wheel.
Holly was snuggling the puppy, who was practically beside herself in ecstasy. “She’s the cutest thing I’ve ever seen,” Holly said. “Where did you get her?”
“She’s not mine. I’m delivering her.” He put the truck in gear and looked over his shoulder to make a U-turn.
“Oh, please don’t,” Holly said.
“Don’t what?”
“Don’t go out of your way to take me home. I’ll come with you to deliver her.”
“No,” he said.
Holly blinked, and he cursed himself for making the reveal. She was sharp as hell, and the wheels in her brain were whirling so fast there was almost smoke. There was no way he’d get rid of her now. “It’s a forty-five-minute drive,” he said.
“I don’t mind.”
She didn’t mind. Perfect. Jaw tight, he drove. And drove. Out of town. Into the hills. Past the hills to a tiny dirt road to Nowhere, USA.
And stopped at the double-wide trailer that Nila called home.
The puppy was asleep in Holly’s lap. Holly had gifted Adam with silence on the ride, but he could tell it was costing her. He gestured to the trailer. In the open doorway stood a tall, willowy woman in jeans and a long sweater. No shoes. In spite of it being winter, Nila rarely ever wore shoes, even though he’d made sure that she had some. “Nila,” he said. “My mother.”
“I thought she was mad at you.”