His To Protect (Elite Force Security Book 2) Read online

  Happy Birthday. We’ll see you tomorrow. The message from Mom read.

  Sometimes it was a day or two before or a few days after, but in thirty-four years not a single birthday had gone by that she hadn’t seen her mom. Even when her parents were living in upstate New York and she’d been in college in Virginia, her mom had made the trip down—her father too whenever possible. And ever since her parents relocated to Virginia, neither had missed a single one.

  Can’t wait to see you.

  While she was looking forward to the visit, she was glad her parents were the ones doing the three-hour drive up from their vacation house in Virginia Beach, where they’d been for the past week, and not her.

  After tossing the phone aside, Kenzie checked the rearview mirror one more time before backing out.

  Thud. She didn’t need to get out of her car to know that sound meant she had a flat tire. “Just wonderful.”

  If she called the roadside assistance club, they’d change the tire for her—and probably in much less time than it would take her. But she knew from experience that unless you were stuck on the side of the road in the dead of the night, they took their sweet time getting out to you. She didn’t have time to sit around and wait right now. This morning she’d have to handle it herself and hope she didn’t get filthy in the process.

  Kenzie slammed the door with far more force than necessary and glared at the back tire as she passed it. Seriously, of all days to get a flat tire, she had to get it on her birthday. Popping the trunk, she reached for the jack.

  Backing out of his garage, Ryan ran through his mental to-do list. When he glimpsed Kenzie pulling a spare tire from the trunk of her car, he hit the brakes. The gym and his to-do list could wait.

  “Need some help?” he called out as he crossed the lawn separating their yards.

  Turning, she greeted him with a smile that got him every time. Her smile wasn’t merely the curving of her lips; it somehow lit up her face and reached her eyes. Actually, it’d been one of the first things he noticed about her when they met last year. Her eyes had been the other characteristic that caught and held his attention. He’d met people on every continent, but he’d never seen anyone with eyes the color of hers. A light gray, they reminded him of the sky during a rainstorm.

  “It looks like you’re on your way out. I can manage.”

  Self-sufficient, he liked that in a woman. Not to say he didn’t enjoy doing things for the people he cared about, but he liked knowing that if he wasn’t around his girlfriend could handle whatever came up. Especially since he sometimes was away for days or weeks at a time.

  “The gym isn’t going anywhere. Neither are the dumbbells inside. I really don’t mind.” And he didn’t. He’d never turn down a chance to spend more time with her.

  “In that case, it’s all yours.”

  He took the spare tire from her and then grabbed the cross wrench from the trunk.

  “Why do I get the impression you weren’t referring to the actual dumbbells you lift but your friends?” She followed him around to the side of the car.

  “Because I wasn’t. Don’t worry, I’ve heard Keith and Spike call me worse.” Some of them were words he wouldn’t repeat in front of her.

  Grabbing the jack, he slid it under the vehicle. Once he had the car high enough, he picked up the cross wrench and attacked the lug nuts on the tire. “Is three thirty still okay for this afternoon?” Ryan glanced away from what he was doing for a moment. Today she was wearing maroon-colored scrubs. He shouldn’t find the outfit sexy, but he did. And at the moment, his body was letting him know just how sexy.

  She crouched down next to him and held out her hand for the lug nut he’d just removed from the tire. “Yep. But how about a clue as to what we’re doing.”

  He knew today was her birthday. He’d noticed it on her wall calendar when he’d been over last week. Both his sisters and his mom liked surprises on their birthdays, so he was working under the assumption Kenzie did too. “Sorry, you’ll have to wait.”

  Kenzie accepted the second lug nut and nudged his arm with her elbow. “If I don’t know what you have planned, I won’t know how to dress.”

  Naked works for me. Immediately he regretted the thought as his brain conjured up an image of Kenzie naked—or at least how he imagined she looked. “Go with shorts.”

  “Guess that rules out the opera or the ballet tonight.”

  There were still a lot of things he didn’t know about her, but Kenzie didn’t strike him as the opera-loving type. And the only music he’d ever heard her play while working in her yard fell into two categories: rock and country. “You’re into opera?”

  He’d survived his younger sister’s boy band phase. But if the little he’d heard of opera was a fair representation of the music, he wasn’t sure he’d ever make it through an entire production.

  “Beats me. I’ve never listened to any.” She paused and accepted the last lug nut. “Unless you count the rock opera Tommy. I watched it in eighth or ninth grade. I’m pretty sure Mozart’s Don Giovanni sounds nothing like Tommy. Not that I’ve heard it performed.”

  He’d watched the rock opera but hadn’t cared for it. “Never heard of Don Giovanni, but I don’t think there’s anything out there similar to Tommy.”

  “I can’t disagree with you there. It’s probably one of a kind.”

  Her voice contained a gentle trace of humor, and he glanced over at her in time to catch her smiling, a sight he could truly look at all day.

  “You know, ‘wear shorts’ isn’t a lot to go on. I mean, should I wear a pair of old cutoffs, biking shorts, Bermuda style? A little more information would be helpful.”

  Ryan pulled the flat tire off and slid the spare into place. “Wear whatever you’re comfortable in. And that’s all I’m telling you.”

  “Okay, but if you show up tonight and I have on my ratty old cutoffs, it’s your fault.”

  He’d seen her gardening in her old cutoffs, and if she answered the door wearing them tonight, he’d have no complaints. Kenzie’s legs might not be long, but they earned an A+ in his book, and the shorts she was referring to showcased them well. In fact, everything about her earned an A+ in his opinion. While Hollywood and magazines might prefer women with thighs narrower than his forearm, he preferred women who looked like they ate more than once a month. Women he didn’t feel like he needed to tether to his body with a rope when it was windy out because they might blow away. Kenzie Armstrong was the perfect example of the type of woman he was attracted to. Her body suggested she worked out regularly but also enjoyed pizza and cheeseburgers.

  It didn’t take him long to put the lug nuts back on and lower the car to the ground. Grabbing the flat and the jack, he carried them back to the trunk.

  She dropped the cross wrench inside next to the other tools and then closed the gap between them. “Thanks for taking care of that. I know how, but it would’ve taken me a lot longer.” Her palms traveled over his biceps before settling on his shoulders.

  Except for the kisses he’d given her, he’d been a good boy and kept his hands to himself. While he never hesitated to ask a woman out, when it came to the physical aspects of a relationship, he either needed clear signs from the woman it was what she wanted or he needed her to initiate. Until this moment, the only signs he’d gotten from Kenzie were that she was open to some kissing. Not that it bothered him. Unlike others in his family, he had patience. And when it came to Kenzie, he suspected his patience would pay off.

  After changing the tire, there was no way his hands were clean, but with her standing this close and her touch burning holes in his old T-shirt, not even a gun to his back could keep him from placing them on her waist and moving forward so their bodies touched. Lowering his head, he zeroed in on his target. Before he reached it, her lips touched his.

  His body urged him to tease her lips apart, see what she tasted like this morning. His hands wanted to reach up and tug her hair free of the tight bun she wore so he could sink his fingers into it, find out if it was as silky as it looked.

  Self-control kept him from doing either. Kenzie was a lot different from the women he’d dated recently. She wasn’t the type who spent an hour drinking with him at the bar before inviting him back to her place or following him up to his hotel room.

  He felt the subtle change in their kiss and knew she was ending it. It didn’t matter. When Kenzie pulled her mouth away, a jolt of disappointment ripped through him. And only one thought raced through his mind: getting his lips on hers again.

  “If I don’t go now, I’ll be late for work.” Despite the statement, Kenzie’s hands stayed on his shoulders and she made no move to put distance between them.

  “We can’t have you getting in trouble.” He whispered the words near her lips before kissing her. “I’ll see you later.”

  She finally dropped her arms to her sides and stepped back. “Looking forward to it.”

  Ryan waited until she backed into the street before getting into his car and heading toward the headquarters for Elite Force Security. Since the security firm needed all of its employees to stay in shape, they’d made sure to incorporate a state-of-the-art fitness center—complete with weights, cardio equipment, and a lap pool—when they’d had the new headquarters built twelve years ago. Although he could use a gym closer to where he lived, he preferred to use the facility at work and keep more money in his pocket. Most of the employees did the same, especially the other members of the Hostile Response Team or HRT, as they usually called it.

  There was no such thing as zero traffic between where he lived and Elite Force in Alexandria. But some days it was not too bad, while at other times it sucked. Thanks to the fact it was a Saturday and early in the morning, Ryan pulled up to the employee entran
ce thirty minutes later and punched in his security code.

  Except for fellow HRT member and good friend Keith Wallace, the gym was empty when Ryan walked in.

  “About time you got your ass here. Spending time with your neighbor again?” Keith called out as he added weight plates to the bar on the floor.

  “Hey, at least I don’t have to pay to get some.” Usually there was no shortage of women in Keith’s life, and they both knew it. Keith’s current lack of dates and sex right now was self-induced. Ryan wouldn’t let the detail stop him from busting the guy’s ass.

  In response, Keith flipped him the bird and then got in position to knock out a set of deadlifts. Once he finished, he dropped the bar to the floor and grabbed his water. “Did you lose track of time playing doctor with your neighbor?”

  Ryan selected the warm-up he wanted on the treadmill and hit Start. “Kenzie is a physician’s assistant, not a doctor. And I helped her change a tire.”

  Shaking his head, Keith put the water down and got into position for another set. “Damn, that means I owe Spike fifty bucks.”

  The door leading into the men’s locker room opened before Keith finished his sentence.

  “I told him you were doing things differently with your next-door neighbor, Salty,” Jonathan “Spike” Brockman said as he entered the room. Perspiration already dripped down his forehead, and a ring of sweat stained his sleeveless T-shirt.

  Out of everyone at Elite Force, Ryan was closest to Spike. They’d grown up together in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, and it had been Spike who gave his name to the firm’s director as a potential addition to the team. And while he hung out with everyone on the team and considered them his second family, he spent the most time with Spike.

  Grabbing the water bottle off a bench, Spike downed the rest of it before tossing it in the trash against the wall. “Maybe if you get some pointers from Salty, you won’t find yourself alone every night, Keith.”

  In the process of lifting the bar, Keith sent them both a dirty look but for a change kept his trap shut.

  Although clearly warmed up, Spike jumped on the treadmill next to him. “If you don’t have any plans, my parents and Audrey will be here this weekend. She wants to check out Georgetown and a few other universities in the area. Stop by. They want to see you.”

  It didn’t seem possible that Spike’s youngest sister was old enough to be looking at colleges. Ryan could still remember being over at the Brockman house and agreeing to partake in tea parties. He’d eaten more cookies and drunk more water from tiny plastic teacups than any man without a daughter should be expected to.

  He didn’t want to commit to anything this weekend, but if they were still around next week, he’d love to see them. The Brockmans had been his second family growing up. “How long are they staying?”

  His friend increased the treadmill’s speed and elevation. “They’re heading back sometime on Tuesday.”

  “I’ll stop by on Monday night.”

  Keith grabbed two more forty-five-pound weight plates and carried them over to the bar he was using. “What’s on the agenda tonight for you and the physician’s assistant?”

  “Heading over to a botanical garden. Afterward, I’m cooking Kenzie dinner and planning to watch the Nationals game.”

  “Maybe I need to give you and Keith help.” Spike shook his head in disbelief. “A visit to see plants and then the baseball game at your house, really? I suggest you cook her one hell of a meal tonight.”

  Keith’s cell phone rang just as he was adding the additional weight to one side of the bar. “I have to agree with Spike on that one.” Picking up the device, he checked the caller ID. For the most part, none of them interrupted their workouts for a call unless it was from either Ax, their boss, or family. “Be right back,” he said before walking toward the locker room.

  Kenzie’s yard was an oasis of flowers and shrubs, and he regularly saw her working in the various flowerbeds. Someone who spent that much time gardening would enjoy a visit to a botanical garden. However, a trip to Meadow Valley hadn’t been his first idea for tonight. Before settling on the idea, he’d looked into getting them tickets to see the Nationals play. He knew Kenzie was a baseball fan, because she often wore a Washington Nationals baseball hat. He’d seen her wearing a sweatshirt with the team name on it as well. Unfortunately, the team was playing out in San Diego this weekend.

  “I’ve done my intel gathering. She’s going to love what I have planned.”

  “Hey, it’s your funeral.” Spike used the bottom of his shirt to wipe the sweat off his forehead. “I cannot get my head around the fact Audrey’s a senior this year. I still remember when she’d run around the house in nothing but a diaper. If she doesn’t go to a school close to home, Mom and Dad hope she goes to one around here so I can keep an eye on her. Unfortunately, Tulane and USC are still her top two picks.”

  “I hope your parents didn’t tell her that. She’ll cross anything within a hundred-mile radius of you off her list.” The running program ended, and Ryan grabbed his water. “If we didn’t work together, I wouldn’t want to be within a hundred miles of you either.”

  Next to him, Spike stopped running and got off his treadmill. “Keep telling yourself that. We both know the truth. You took the job here so you could be close to me.” After taking a swig of water from a new bottle, he pointed it toward a bench. “Do you mind spotting me?”

  Ryan didn’t understand the science behind it, but he could always get in one or two extra repetitions if he had someone spotting him when he bench-pressed. He knew the same was true for others. Moving into position, he glanced at the locker room door. “Do you think he’s talking to Mad Dog?”

  Thanks to a few too many beers one night, it was no secret to him or Spike that Keith had it bad for Maddie Dempsey, better known as Mad Dog to the other team members. Why his buddy didn’t just grow a set already and do something about it was a mystery to him.

  “Doubt it. She mentioned flying to Myrtle Beach for a girls’ weekend. She left sometime yesterday.”

  He was about to point out her current whereabouts didn’t rule out anything, when Keith walked back in the room. Ryan didn’t know whom his friend had been talking to, but his expression suggested someone had told him the sun did, in fact, revolve around the Earth and scientists had been lying to the world for years.

  Bench press forgotten for the moment, Spike moved into an upright position again. “Hey, is everything okay?”

  “Yeah.” Keith sat on the weight bench opposite them. “My sister wanted to talk.”

  Although he’d never met either of Keith’s sisters, his friend had mentioned them. As far as Ryan knew, they both lived in Rhode Island.

  Leaning forward, Keith rested his forearms on his knees and shook his head. “Jen is dating an army buddy of mine.”

  “Sorry, man.” Thankfully, neither of his sisters ever got involved with any of his friends, but one had dated a longtime friend of his older brother. Or maybe he should say a former friend of Kyle’s. After Kyle learned his buddy was cheating on their sister, both relationships ended.

  “I don’t care about that. Sherbrooke is a decent guy. But she’s been communicating with him for two years and neither of them ever bothered to tell me.”

  Yeah, he’d be pissed off too if either of his sisters did that to him. “Wait a minute. Your sister is dating Brett Sherbrooke? The dude running for the open senate seat in DC? A picture of him kissing a woman in a parking garage came up on my newsfeed the other day. That was your sister?”

  Ryan didn’t follow politics closely, especially when it didn’t involve issues in his own state. But the current special election in Massachusetts was getting nationwide attention because Brett Sherbrooke, a member of the wealthiest family in America as well as President Warren Sherbrooke’s nephew, was running. When the news first broke that the guy had entered the race, Keith had admitted he knew the guy well and would vote for him if he could.

  Keith shrugged. “Must have been. Jen didn’t mention it.”

  Laughing, Ryan shook his head. “Does that mean you’ll be getting an invitation to Uncle Warren’s for a family dinner?”

  “I think they have standards at the White House. Standards our buddy here will never meet.” Spike moved back into position under the bar.