“Funny seeing you here,” Justice said.

“I heard you were in town. It was just a matter of time until we ran into each other.”

“You live here?”

Gideon nodded. “Moved here last year.” He glanced around at the quiet street and tidy storefronts. “Hell of a place.” He returned his attention back to Justice. “Ford told me about it. One day I had nowhere else to go, so I thought I’d swing by. Decided to stay.”

Justice knew there was a whole lot more to the story. Gideon had worked black ops. The kind that took a man so deep he often couldn’t find his way back. From what Justice had been told, Gideon had been captured. The nature of his mission meant he wasn’t sanctioned and therefore couldn’t be missing. And if you weren’t missing, no one came looking.

From what Justice had pieced together, nearly two years had passed before Ford Hendrix and Angel Whittaker had found Gideon. After that much torture and captivity, he’d been more dead than alive.

Obviously he’d recovered. At least on the outside. There was no way to know about the internal scars. People thought the real danger of what soldiers did was physical. The truth was the worst damage was often in the heart and in the mind. How you were changed by everything you saw during war. That’s what couldn’t always be fixed.

“What do you do here?” Justice asked.

“I bought a couple of radio stations. I’m the night DJ. Oldies mostly. Some talk. Hell, I don’t know if anyone’s listening, but so far I haven’t been run out of town.” He offered a brief smile that didn’t reach his eyes.

The smile faded. “I wouldn’t have thought Fool’s Gold was your kind of place.”

“I spent a year or so here when I was a kid,” Justice said. “Ford kept reminding me about it, and one day I decided to come back.” He pulled a business card out of his shirt pocket and passed it over.

Gideon took it. “CDS. Cerberus Defense Sector.” The smile returned. “The three-headed dog that guards hell? Talk about delusions of grandeur.”

Justice chuckled. “It seemed appropriate. It’s me, Ford and Angel.”

“Angel’s moving here, too? Seriously? Do you think he’ll fit in?”

“I think Fool’s Gold can handle him.”

“We’ll see.” Gideon started to return the card.

“Keep it,” Justice told him. “Maybe you want to join us.”

“I have my gig.”

“You could teach a couple of classes. Keep your hand in, so to speak.”

Gideon shoved the card into his jeans pocket. “I don’t think so. Keep my hand in for what? Have you seen this place? We’re all pretty safe here.”

That might be true, but Justice knew the danger never went away. That for the rest of his life, Gideon would be on guard against the dark, if nothing else.

“You might change your mind,” Justice said. “If you do, call me. We could use a guy like you.”

Gideon held up both hands. “I’m a civilian now. Just doing my thing.”

“Married?” Justice asked.

Gideon dropped his arms to his sides. “No. I haven’t settled in that much.”

Which might be a problem, Justice thought.

Gideon’s gaze sharpened. “I saw that,” he said. “Why do you care if I’m—” He swore. “No way. She’s coming here?”

They both knew who the “she” was. Felicia.

“She is and you’ll stay away from her.”

Gideon’s posture tensed. “You’re going to make me?”

“She’s important to me. Like a sister.”

Gideon winced. “That makes it worse.”

“Yes, it does. It means I’ll always care about her. She’s family, Gideon, and if you hurt her, I’ll kill you.”

They both knew Justice meant what he said. They also both knew that Gideon wouldn’t go easily. Which left them at an impasse.

“I’m sure she’s forgotten about me,” Gideon said. “It was a long time ago.”

“I’m sure, too.”

But as the two men walked away from each other, Justice found himself wondering if both of them were lying or only him. Because Felicia was family to him, which meant he knew she’d never forgotten anything. Not about Gideon or their night together. And when she found out he was in town, there was no telling what was going to happen.

CHAPTER EIGHT

PATIENCE SAT ON the sofa in her living room and ignored the folder Justice had set in front of her. “Are you sure?”

“You sound disappointed.”

“I was hoping you’d tell me that Lillie’s grandfather is a known felon, wanted in fifteen states. That would make my decision easier.”

“Sorry. He has no criminal record. A couple of traffic tickets over the years. He doesn’t seem to be very successful with his personal relationships, but other than that, he’s paid his taxes on time and runs a fairly successful business. He sold that a year ago, put the proceeds into safe investments and moved here about four months ago.”

Patience grimaced. “He’s really close?”

“Renting a house on the outskirts of town.” Justice sat on the sofa and faced her. “I can’t speak for his character, but for the rest of it, he’s a regular guy.”

“Which means I have no real reason to keep him from Lillie.”

“Not the answer you wanted.”

She shrugged. “I know that makes me sound like a terrible person, but I’m willing to live with the judgment.”

“You’re trying to keep your daughter safe.”

Patience wished she could accept the compliment, but she wasn’t being completely truthful. “I might have other motives. I’ll admit there’s a part of me that doesn’t want my relationship with my daughter to change. I don’t want to share her with Steve. I’m also scared that if he gets involved, Ned might find out and have a spiritual awakening or something.”

Justice shifted a little closer and took her hand in his.

She let him, liking the physical contact and sign of support. He had big hands, she thought idly, then had to clear her throat when the slutty part of her mind whispered that old wives’ tale about men and the size of their hands.

Foolishness, she told herself. And not the point.

“I checked out Ned, too,” he told her. “He’s a jerk. For what it’s worth, I don’t think you have to worry about him suddenly having a guilty conscience. From what I can tell, he doesn’t have much of a conscience to begin with.”

“Which makes me really stupid for getting involved with him.” She held up her free hand. “I’m being scattered. The point is Steve isn’t a bad guy and I should probably give him a chance.”

“What does your mom say about him?”

“She’s on his side, which surprises me. I would have thought she would be more concerned about him. But she’s all in favor of Lillie getting to know her grandfather.” Patience bit her lower lip. “That worries me, too. Her agreeing. She’s been odd lately. Getting calls and taking them in private. Not saying what they’re about. I don’t expect her to share every detail of her life, but there’s something going on.”

Justice’s gaze was steady. “Do you think it’s about her health?”

He’d voiced her greatest fear. “I hope not, but I do worry. What if she’s sicker than she’s letting on? She could be eager for Lillie to have more family because she’s not going to be around as long as she would like.”

Pressure built up in the back of her throat and her eyes began to burn. Patience blinked and swallowed, not wanting to break into hysterical sobs just now.

Justice grabbed her other hand. “Hey, look at me.”

She did as he requested.

“Your mom isn’t dying. You’ve seen her around here. She’s moving great. She’s doing as much as she used to and she’s completely involved with Brew-haha. Right?”

“Yes.”

“So whatever she has going on, it’s unlikely to be her health. But if you’re still concerned, ask her.”

“That’s so sensible.”

“Not your thing?”

“Not on purpose.”

He laced his fingers with hers. “Ask her.”

“I will. After the opening. I don’t want her to feel I’m spying on her, and we’re both stressed right now.”

Plus, his observations about how Ava was dealing with her activities were right. There hadn’t been any changes, except for the mysterious phone calls. Ava was still going out with her friends and working regular hours.

She drew in a breath. “I guess I have to call Steve and let him know he can see Lillie.”

“Want me to be there for the first visit?”

She leaned toward him. “You wouldn’t mind? It would help so much.” She managed a smile. “I know you can step in if things get difficult.”

Justice would also be a nice distraction for her daughter. And hey, if the professional bodyguard made Steve a little nervous, all the better. Patience acknowledged that her plan of keeping Justice and her daughter apart had just gone down the toilet. But right now Steve was the bigger threat.

“I wouldn’t have offered if I hadn’t meant it,” he told her. “Lillie’s a great kid. I’m happy to make sure nothing bad happens.”

“Thank you. You have your secret bodyguard trip coming up. I’ll schedule the visit before that.” She laughed. “It’s some rock star, right? Like a band, and you’re embarrassed, so that’s why you’re pretending it’s dangerous.”

His blue eyes flashed with an emotion she couldn’t read. “You’ve caught me.”

“I knew it.”

“You’re pretty smart...for a girl.”

She straightened. “Seriously? You did not say that to me.”

“I like that you’re a girl.”

“Don’t try to be all nice now. I’m insulted.”

She started to stand, but he grabbed her around the waist and pulled her against him. She wasn’t really trying to stop him, but even if she had been, she was suddenly not in control of the situation. He shifted and twisted and there she was, sitting on his lap, his face inches from hers.

His thighs were rock hard beneath her butt. His arms came around her and both supported her and held her captive. She could inhale the scent of him—clean soap and something slightly more sensuous and masculine.

“Are you taking control of this situation?” she asked softly.

“I am.”

She knew there were concerns. That who he was and who he had been weren’t the same. She was assuming the boy she’d known had grown into the same kind of man. Her gut said to trust him, but it wasn’t her gut she was worried about. It wasn’t even her body. It was her heart.

Justice was a blue-eyed knight riding to her rescue. After years of taking care of herself, that was tough to resist. But she had her questions. At the risk of sounding like a father in an eighteenth-century novel, what were his intentions? This was not a good time to get her heart broken.

But when he leaned in and kissed her, she couldn’t find it in herself to resist. The man was hot, and she had been without any hotness for what felt like a lifetime.

She welcomed the heat and pressure of his mouth on hers and parted her lips instantly. He slipped his tongue inside and she got lost in the erotic dance as shivers rippled through her. Her arms settled around his neck and she leaned in to feel his body against hers.

Closer, she thought, tilting her head and kissing him deeply. She needed to get closer.

Fortunately mind reading seemed to be one of his skills. He shifted his hands, then shifted all of her so she was straddling him. They were close enough to do a lot of intriguing things.

She opened her eyes and stared at his face. Slowly, not wanting to rush the moment, she touched his cheek, then traced the line of his jaw.

“Tough guy,” she murmured.

One corner of his mouth turned up. “That’s me. Tough.”

She supposed lethal was a better word, but not for her purposes. She rested her fingertips on his broad shoulders and let herself get lost in his gaze.

“You sure about this?” she asked.

“About moving back to Fool’s Gold, opening the business or being here with you?”

“All of them, I guess.”

“You think I’m better than I am.”

Talk about not answering the question. “Shouldn’t that make you happy?”

He put his hands on her waist. “I don’t want to disappoint you.”

“Is that possible?”

“In life if not in bed.”

“Oh, please. That is so like a guy.”

“Guilty. And I still want you,” he said quietly. “Kiss me, Patience.”

She leaned in to comply with his request. As her mouth touched his, she felt his hands settle on her breasts. He cupped her curves in his palms. Long fingers brushed against her ni**les and sent jolts of desire all through her. She sank into him, wanting that and more.

She pushed her tongue against his. They circled and stroked even as he rubbed her ni**les a little harder and a little faster. She found it more and more difficult to breathe. When his hands dropped to her hips, she nearly whimpered, then realized he was pulling her closer. Settling her on his erection.

He was hard and thick and she pulsed against him, wishing there weren’t layers of clothing between them. She was starving for what he offered, desperate with need.