Page 6 of Critical Strike

He started to wince, but she smiled. “Yeah.”

What now? A handshake? A hug?

Nothing seemed right for the girl who’d never been far from his mind, even though he hadn’t seen her in fifteen years.

She loosened her hold on the giant cat, who jumped from her arms and landed gracefully on the chair in front of Luke’s desk.

Stepping forward, Claire offered her hand. Her palm trembled against his, her skin cold. Dark circles hung under her eyes, revealing exhaustion and fear.

“What are you doing here?” He forced himself to let go of her hand after briefly shaking it.

Claire withdrew her palm and hugged herself. “I saw you on TV a few months ago.”

Behind her, Brax snickered.

“Right.” Luke’s jaw tightened. “I remember that.”

It had been following the successful resolution of a kidnapping case. After a heated custody battle, a preteen girl had been taken by her father, who’d then proceeded to barricade the two of them in an abandoned house. As the Pattersons had been hired by the girl’s mom to help locate her, they’d assisted the police in recovery.

A news crew had shown up and stuck the microphone in Luke’s face before he’d gotten a chance to duck away. His brothers still made fun of how awkward and stiff he’d been on camera. But it had brought in even more business for San Antonio Security.

“Hey, did we hear the front door chime?” Weston’s head popped around the doorway, Chance close behind him.

Claire turned and took a rapid step away from them. The cat jumped into her arms and she clutched it to her, discomfort clear on her face.

Luke cleared his throat. “Claire, these are my brothers, Weston, Chance and—”

“Brax.” Brax stepped forward and offered Claire his hand. “I’m the mutt of the bunch.”

Most people did a double take when it was revealed the four were brothers. Since Luke was white, Chance was Hispanic, Weston was Black, and Brax was biracial, they looked nothing alike. Brothers, just not by blood.

Claire seemed to take it all in stride. But she wasn’t most people. She knew Luke hadn’t come from a traditional home.

Brax shook Claire’s hand against the cat for an unnecessarily long time. Luke had to swallow a growl in his throat.

Brax never had a problem finding a woman to date. His charm and wit made him pretty irresistible, not to mention his looks.

It was Chance who read the potential disaster of the situation and hooked a hand over Brax’s shoulder, pulling him back. “We, uh...have the storage closet to clean out.”

Brax’s nose wrinkled. “Since when?”

“Since now.” Weston tugged on Brax’s other arm. “It’s nice to meet you, Claire.”

Luke could hear his brothers whisper and the whoosh of air as either Chance or Weston no doubt hit Brax in the stomach.

And then he was alone with Claire.

With the others gone, the cat jumped to the floor and sat in front of Claire like he was her guard, his hard gaze locked on Luke.

“That thing looks like a watchdog.”

“Khan thinks he’s a dog. He’s protective.” Claire rubbed him with her foot. The cat looked at Claire, somehow knowing she was talking about him.

“Maine coon, right?”

Those cobalt blue eyes lit up with surprise. “Yeah.”

Back when they were kids in their group home, Luke gave Claire the nickname Kitten because she dragged around a stuffed animal cat. Half of what that little girl with braids made of sunshine and eyes cut from the sky talked about was getting a cat one day.

---