Chain of Command (5 page)

With only a few words Marcus let Sawyer off the hook. He guessed that was the point. But there was another piece. The one Sawyer didn’t generally talk about. Refused to think about. “Rob asked me to come back here.”

“Right.” Marcus nodded. “But unfortunately, he forgot to mention that to Hailey.”

Marcus had an answer for everything. Sawyer wished he did. “I’ll figure it out.”

“You don’t have to.”

Whip smart and usually right...except for this time. That much Sawyer knew. “Yeah, I do.”

Chapter Five

Nothing ruined a good lunch like running into a huge jackass. Hailey wished she had that slogan on a T-shirt because she’d flash it now.

She let the door of The Bakery, Kat’s sandwich shop and market, shut behind her. Stepping out on the sidewalk, Hailey fought the urge to dive in front of Jessie and protect her. Not that she needed it. Jessie radiated strength...or she had before Pete.

“Just keep walking,” Hailey mumbled under her breath as the jackass jogged the rest of the way across the street and walked toward them.

“What are you...” Jessie finally looked up from her cell and slammed to a stop. “Oh, come on. I can’t be this unlucky.”

“He’s like a disease.” If being a big enough jackass amounted to an infectious disease. Hailey hated few people but pretty-boy Pete Sanders sat at the top of that short list.

He stopped in front of them. Right in front so that getting around him would take deflection and possibly a full body takedown. The short blond hair. The green eyes. Wearing his khaki service uniform he gave off a professional vibe. All cleaned up and safe. The big Navy man with the recent promotion to support his competence.

But history proved it all to be a joke. He was the exact opposite of what anyone would expect. The kind of guy a woman should run from and fast.

Hailey seriously considered kicking him in the balls.

He treated her to a curt nod. “Hailey.”

Because that wasn’t an annoying greeting
. As a sign of her lack of respect, she treated him to the same curt welcome. “Pete.”

He turned to Jessie and took a step forward. “I need to talk with you.”

Hailey shifted her weight, easing her shoulder slightly in front of her friend. “I don’t think so.”

Pete’s smile never wavered. “This is between me and Jessie.”

“We’re over,” Jessie said in a voice as clear and loud as a clanging bell.

“You’re not returning my calls.”

With her shoulders stiff and her body straight, Jessie did not back down. “Because, like I just said, we’re over.”

Hailey almost cheered. Seriously considered dancing around in a circle pounding her fist in the air in triumph. Instead she went for taking a knock at Pete’s ego. “You could take a hint and go.”

“Why don’t you mind your own fucking business?” A red flush washed over his cheeks as he spoke. He was nearly spitting by the end.

Gone was the smooth-talking, good-looking officer. The sleazy piece of garbage made an appearance.

“Hey.” Jessie stepped in front of Hailey. “Don’t talk to her that way.”

Shock kept Hailey riveted to the sidewalk even as an older couple tried to move around her to get into the sandwich shop. For the first time in weeks Jessie didn’t bite her bottom lip or debate listening to whatever argument this jackass offered. After months of him pummeling her self-esteem, of her doubting and forgiving the unforgivable, her eyes sparked to life with fire. Hailey welcomed her friend’s change from hurt to angry and hoped it stuck.

Pete reached out to grab Jessie’s arm. “If you would just—”

“Hello.” Sawyer appeared out of nowhere and stepped in between Jessie and Pete. The move knocked Pete’s hand away but Sawyer didn’t seem to notice. “Everything okay here?”

Hailey’s breath caught and a strange dancing took off in her belly. The odd sensation didn’t make sense. She didn’t get all hot and sweaty over guys. Well, she did but the normal kind of hot and sweaty. This felt more like a tumbling. A dizziness that shook through all of her.

While she didn’t understand her body’s reaction, she loved seeing Pete’s. His gaze moved over Sawyer’s large frame and his mouth snapped shut. Some of the color left his face.

“Problem?” Sawyer managed to pack the promise of pain into the simple word.

After a bit of verbal stumbling Pete got a sentence out. “Who the hell are you?”

The menace had moved back into his voice but from the way Sawyer shrugged it off, it didn’t look as if he was all that impressed with the guy standing in front of him in uniform. “A friend of Hailey’s.”

She wasn’t sure if that was true or how she felt about the word when he said it. When she thought about him, a vision popped into her head of clothes scattered all over the bedroom floor and her legs hooked around his hips. She’d never just laid it on the line like that before¾sex right now. It stung when he picked a pile of dirt over her. But if he shook up Pete, she’d forget the regret and maybe give Sawyer one more shot to give her the right answer to the sex versus land question.

Pete held out a hand. “Come on, man. Take her somewhere else. I need to talk with Jessie alone.”

Sawyer didn’t even glance down. Didn’t shake. “Well,
man
. I’ll go if the ladies tell me they’re okay and want me to go.”

Pete didn’t even spare Jessie a glance. “She’s fine.”

Sawyer never broke eye contact with the other man. “I think I’ll stay anyway.”

“This is bullshit.” Pete’s charm slipped another notch as he pointed at Jessie. “Call me when you’re ready to be reasonable and stop hiding behind your friend’s skirt.”

Hailey watched the jackass leave. Didn’t point out that she wore jeans because she guessed that wasn’t really the point. Compared to Sawyer, Pete came off as small. Childish. Not so tough without the harsh words that wounded a woman inside and kept cutting long after he moved on.

Sawyer studied Pete until he got into his car and pulled away. “He’s a bit of a dick, isn’t he?”

“I’m sorry,” Jessie said with a sigh.

Sawyer spun around to face her. “Why? You didn’t do anything.”

The guy drilled right down to the truth. Hailey appreciated that. She’d been about to say the same thing. “He’s right. Put the blame where it belongs. On Pete.”

Jessie nodded. “He’s getting worse.”

“But we did have it under control.” Hailey didn’t know why she felt the need to point that out. Maybe the fact he turned her down wasn’t as tucked away as she’d thought.

“I didn’t say you didn’t.” He met her gaze for a second before turning his attention to Jessie. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah, thanks.”

He held out a hand. “I’m Sawyer Cain.”

“Jessica Mann.” She took his hand and didn’t flinch when he guided her out of the direct line of the door and out of the way of the people trying to leave the shop. “You can call me Jessie.”

After another second, Sawyer dropped his arm and slipped his hands into his back jeans pockets. So secure and confident. There wasn’t much sexier than that.

“I take it that guy is an ex.” When Jessie nodded, Sawyer continued. “Good.”

“You sound like Hailey.” Jessie smiled as she said it. “I’d like to stay and talk about that but I better get back to work.” She winked at Hailey. “I’ll text you later.”

Not the most subtle exit Hailey had ever seen. But at least Jessie wasn’t the shaking mess she’d been when she showed up at the property gate with a packed suitcase a few weeks ago in her race out of her relationship with Pete.

“I bet.” Hailey would also bet Jessie didn’t get two steps inside her poster and framing shop two doors down before texting Kat.

Sawyer gestured toward the front door of The Bakery. “You going in or out?”

“What?”

His eyebrow lifted but that’s all the visible reaction he showed to her confusion. “I was going to get a sandwich.”

Not a surprise since this is one of the places where Sawyer came looking for information about her. “Are you asking me to join you?”

This time he frowned. “That wasn’t obvious?”

“I guess so.” Hailey shifted and opened the door, going inside as Sawyer held it for her.

With a nod to Kat, Hailey headed to the one open table in the corner. The place had a cozy coffeehouse feel with couches in the middle and a long wooden counter separating the open kitchen from the dining area.

To the right sat the small market filled with cases of pre-prepared entrees and stacks of perfectly wrapped fresh baked goods. The large open room smelled like the best food dream. Scents of butter and sugar filled the air. Hailey swore she gained two pounds every time she walked through the door.

But she had other things to worry about at the moment. She had about a hundred questions to ask Sawyer but for some reason seeing him again proved to be an even more potent hit to the senses than last time. Likely had something to do with pulling out the messages Rob sent and trying to reconstruct every conversation for some hint about his hopes for the property.

Sawyer’s name had come up a lot. She’d ignored the references back then, figuring the matchmaking might go away if she pretended she didn’t hear it. Now she wished she’d paid closer attention.

Not that she needed a rundown on the guy. He looked good. Damn good. So good that her stay-out-of-trouble radar went haywire when he stared at her.

Watching him drop his impressive frame into the wooden chair across from her, seeing how he reacted to Pete—the locked jaw and expression of pure male disgust—told her some of what she wanted to know. The way his shoulders blocked her view of Kat at the counter behind him and the fit torso filling out that T-shirt didn’t leave much to the imagination. Yeah, some things about the guy were not a big secret, including his desire to get her into bed. That was one of her favorite things about him.

She rested her elbows on the table and stared Sawyer down. Tried to assess him, throw him off his game a bit and see how he reacted. “You always ride in to the rescue?”

His head tipped forward a bit. “You’re mad at me for helping?”

More like she was trying to confirm her suspicions that he was
that
guy. The rescuer. The one bound by duty who thrived on danger. The exact type she was attracted to and so afraid of getting tied to again. “No, because that would made me a gigantic ungrateful ass.”

A smile played on the corner of his mouth. “You sound like you want to argue with me but something’s holding you back.”

That face. He made her brain misfire and babble fill her head. She picked up a spoon and tapped it against the table to keep her fidgeting somewhat under control. “Let’s say I’m wondering if you’re working an angle.”

That was the problem. He wanted the property. He wanted her for at least a few hours of great sex, and she guessed with him it would be pretty great. A guy who looked like that and talked like that should be able to deliver. If he couldn’t it would be damn disappointing.

His gaze bounced to her hand. “What kind of men do you know?”

“Like most women, some good and some bad.” Rob had been the best. A few boyfriends had been nice but not
the
one. A few guys made her want to fetch a shovel and start hitting. So, the usual.

“Which am I?” His fingers covered hers, causing her to jerk. He caught the spoon before it spun away and off the edge of the table.

She should move her hand. Really. Just slip it out. She flattened it against the table instead. In her head that made some sort of weird sense as a compromise between enjoying the heat of his skin and putting her hands on her lap.

“I don’t actually know you.” Not that she meant to point out the obvious, but there it was.

“Yet.”

A zapping sound filled her head. She sat back until she leaned against the booth, all while trying to remember how to swallow. “Fair enough.”

He hesitated a second before answering. “That’s not what I thought you were going to say after delivering that ultimatum.”

Because she continued to hope he’d pick a different answer and not sweep her right back into business talk. “Surprised me too.”

If only he didn’t look like that, all delicious and ready. She’d bet the property she refused to sell or barter away that this guy knew how to get a woman in bed and keep her there until she moaned. That’s all she’d thought about for days now.

“Is your friend still with that guy outside?” he asked.

It took a good thirty seconds before Hailey’s brain rebooted and she found the thread of the conversation again. That’s what happened when you wove sex fantasies about a guy sitting two feet away. Your mind blanked and your body begged to crawl over the table to get to him.

She blinked a few times because clunking her head against the table seemed like a bad idea. “No, Jessie broke it off. As you could see, Pete is not happy with her decision.”

“Asshole.”

If Hailey hadn’t found Sawyer hot before now she would have starting right then. “She’s living with me temporarily.”

Sawyer nodded when Kat swooped by for a second to drop off menus and say she’d be right back. “Did Jessie live with this guy before?”

“He moved into her place. She kicked him out when his controlling behavior went into overdrive.” Hailey clamped her mouth shut. Here she sat, spilling details of her friend’s personal life to a guy she barely knew. Not her style and not a great idea.

“Sounds like a good call, but if she has her own place why is she with you?”

Because Pete had them all convinced he had some sort of power. After seeing him slink away from Sawyer, Hailey wasn’t so sure now. “She needs a little space from him. I provide a buffer.”

“Did he threaten her?” Sawyer leaned in, every muscle in his body stiff as if he’d switched to high alert.

Just as she suspected. A protector. Again, pretty hot but it set off alarm bells in her head. “More like he gave her the ‘no one else will ever want you’ speech over and over. Wore her down. Gets angry and grabs her.”

“He sounds special.” Sawyer swore under his breath. Mumbled something about men being stupid. “Is she afraid of him?”

“Wary. He’s never been violent in the sense of hitting her, but I don’t think that’s the test.” But Hailey knew from every mystery she’d ever read and every true crime show she’d ever seen on television how that could change in a second. If it meant being overprotective she didn’t care because her best friend would not become a statistic.

“Me neither. The space between grabbing women and hurting them is not worth noting. Both suck and one can easily escalate to the other.”

Sounded like he knew the type as well. Something about the calm way he spoke kept her talking. “I was never a big fan of the guy, but lately he’s more intense or something. Very dominating. Wanted to control every aspect of Jessie’s life and when she said no he said awful things to her.”