Page 234 of Tangled up in You

Once she’d gotten to her seat, put her bag in the overhead compartment, she sat in the first-class seat and leaned back, closing her eyes. She could finally relax and let the ugliness of today go once and for all.

Beth didn’t even stir when the flight attendant went through the preflight humdrum that they are supposed to go through. She slept through the takeoff and climb into the air. She was officially done. First stop was to catch her connecting flight in Los Angeles.

Beth slept the entire flight to LA. Once she had switched to her connecting flight, she pulled out her kindle and started reading the latest book by Lexi Blake. Now if only she could find a real man like Ian Taggert.

One who didn’t take shit from her. Wouldn’t allow her to walk all over him and had no problems telling her she was being a bitch. One that would fuck the living shit out of her, too.

CHAPTER 2

Jack Ferguson and his teammates Angus Blackwood and Brodie MacDonald arrived at the cabin that they had rented for the next week. Jack got out of his truck and stretched as he discreetly looked around the immediate vicinity.

“Ah! Clean air.” Jack breathed in deeply.

“Aye. No bullshite!” Brodie agreed with a chuckle as he closed the passenger side door.

“I’m just glad we are unreachable for the next week.” Angus grumbled as he stretched before reaching in the back of the truck bed to get his bags.

“You and me both. The last two months have sucked balls.” Brodie shook his head.

“Aye. Especially with you having to deal with that twat saying you were the lads da. I feel for that wee one as he gets older.” Jack agreed as he grabbed his bags out of the back of the truck bed.

“I’m glad we didn’t share that cunt.” Angus mocked gag as if the thought of touching the woman was horrible.

“Aye. You and me both, brother.” Jack agreed, laughing when Brodie shot them both the middle finger.

“The sky is looking right nasty right now. Looks like we have a bad one coming in. Did you check the weather reports?” Brodie looked up as he checked the skies and the way the tree’s leaves blew in the heavy wind.

“Aye. We have a snowstorm coming in tonight. According to the weather report, it is supposed to last a couple of days. It’s a good thing we got our groceries when we stopped in town. Supposed to have about six to seven feet of snow dropping tonight.”

The three men did a quick visual sweep of their surroundings as they grabbed their groceries and bags before going into the rental cabin. Just because they were on a week’s vacation didn’t mean they were letting their guards down.

During their sweep, Jack had noticed a shed nearby with firewood stacked neatly outside for them to use. He had also noticed there were several piles that still needed to be chopped as well.

Letting themselves into the cabin, the three men went about putting their things into the rooms they were claiming before opening the drapes to let in the light. They each opened a window to air the cabin out a little bit while they got everything set up.

Once that was done, Brodie set about to check the water system while Jack went out to get several stacks of firewood to get a fire started so they could get heat going in the cabin. They wanted to be relax once they did their nightly routine.

While the cabin had central heating and air, snowstorms in the Highlands of Scotland were known to knock out power for days at a time. With the fireplace and a wood burning stove, the three men would be prepared for anything Mother Nature threw their way.

Once the evening had started descending on them, Jack started getting the things together to make their dinner. Jackknew they were all hungry for a good meal after the shitstorm they had dealt with the last couple of weeks.

They didn’t want to have to venture to town for anything. They were taking a solid week away from civilization after their last mission had gone to hell in a handbasket.

All three men were members of the United Kingdom’s British SAS forces. They were considered the best of the best that the country could train.

All three men grew up in the Highlands of Scotland. They knew the terrain, and now and then needed to get away from England and the depravity of society, as they called it, to get their heads back on right.

While their team consisted of seven men, Jack, Angus and Brodie were best friends and worked well together. They could look at each other and know what the other was thinking without the use of words. It was part of why their team was so successful on their missions.

Their last mission was a major clusterfuck and had messed with their heads. Had them questioning if they weren’t ready for retirement already. They all knew deep down that they weren’t ready, but the mission alone had them wondering.

When they got back to base, they had decided it was time for a much needed break away from everything and put in the paperwork for a week away. It was granted and everything else fell into place for them.

Jack had just put the last steak on the grill like stove when he saw the light from Angus’s flashlight coming up the steps with more firewood. Good thing he did since the storm looked like it was going to be worse than predicted.

Jack nodded over at Brodie who headed to the door to let Angus in. Once they were done with the wood, it would be time for everyone to eat.

“How did it go with Flemmings? You didn’t really say much on the drive up.” Jack asked, looking over at Brodie.

---