Page 2 of One Night With You

Ford, our co-owner and my cousin-in-law, gave me a sigh as he walked around the building. “What did I say about playing in the mud?”

It wasn’t only mud, but I wasn’t in the mood to explain that. “That I should do it with more vigor?”

“Come on, Bosley. Let’s go for a walk.”

Bosley tilted his head as he stared at me, even though he seemed quite interested in Ford’s words.

“Walk,” Ford repeated, and Bosley scampered off to go see his new best friend, while I tried to get out of the mud pit.

“I just bought these jeans,” I grumbled, as I slid once again, slamming my knee into the ground. “Fuck,” I muttered under my breath, grateful the owner wasn’t here to witness this.

Oh yes, top-notch security and professionalism. Me rolling around in damn mud because they had decided to leave their dog in the backyard rather in the housewhere they’d said they would. I liked dogs and wanted one of my own. But this one was a little rambunctious and didn’t listen to all commands. Bosley was headed back to training so he could provide a sense of safety for others, but he was just a little young and a little wild as of yet—hence why he’d knocked me off my ladder. We were almost done with the installation, and now I needed a damn shower.

“I’ve got a towel in the truck.”

I raised a brow at Kane. “Why do you have a towel in the truck?”

“In case it rained,” my best friend and cousin said, as if it made all the difference.

I just shook my head and toed off my boots so I wouldn’t drag mud splotches all over the pavement and stone pathway the owners had put in. So now in my socked feet, I tiptoed my way to the truck. Kane had graciously unlocked it for me, and I found the towel on the back seat before trying to wipe off some of the mud. It became this cakey substance, and I definitely smelled dog shit.

Great.

Great.

I’d had a shitty month. Hell, I’d had a shitty six months. Everything that I seemed to do these days turned to ash.Literallyin some cases. I was just tootired these days from watching things that I wanted to happen fall through.

Whether it was dates, plans, or even household issues.

I’d moved in the past few months because the place I had been sharing with Kane no longer worked for our situation. Considering Kane was now happily with Phoebe, and they were ready to start their lives and forever and all that bullshit. Meaning we all needed space. So I had a new place that needed work. Apparently saying that I wanted a fixer-upper meant I got one. It didn’t help that some of my family was in the construction business. So they all wanted to help, and could do it better than me, but I had wanted to try it myself.

And that meant everything was taking longer than it should. I just needed to get over myself and let them help.

I pulled off my shirt in the middle of the driveway and tugged a clean one on. I had extra pants, but I wasn’t about to get naked in here. I would just have to sit on a towel and shower when I got back to the office. Thankfully the security setup was almost done, and Ford would put the dog back in the house where he needed to be, and we would get back home.

I just wanted my house to fix itself, I wanted little things at work not to turn into big things like theyseemed to these days, and I wanted Claire to answer my calls.

I frowned at my thoughts, knowing Claire ignoring me was the source of my problems lately.

Claire Harlow.

Phoebe’s best friend, and a thorn in my paw.

It really wasn’t her fault, but it was. She had been hurt a few months back when Phoebe’s stalker, and a man that had wanted to hurt our family, had taken both Claire and Phoebe hostage. It was something that happened in my line of work far too often. Not our friends being attacked per se, but violent people were in our lives, and it was our job to protect those around us. We were the ones who stopped things like this from happening. That was why we were Montgomery Security. But we hadn’t been able to stop that man from hurting Phoebe and Claire.

Claire had beenstabbedin the process.

I could still feel the sticky blood on my palms as I had held Claire’s side, keeping the wound sealed as much as possible, telling her that everything would be okay, even though I felt as if I were lying to myself and her.

I could still see her reflection in the mirror when she had been staring at her stitched-upside and looking far more lost than I’d ever seen her.

Claire was a pistol. She had come into our livesbecause Phoebe and Kane started dating, and because Kane and I were best friends, Claire and I hung out. She was quiet, but nice. Always had good jokes and could make everyone at the table laugh unexpectedly.

And then she moved out of the apartment she shared with Phoebe to find her own place because Phoebe and Kane were going to move in together.

I had failed to protect her. I had failed to keep her safe. And all I really wanted to do was keep her safe.

I wanted to make sure she was okay because I hadn’t liked what I had seen in that mirror. But she hadn’t let me take care of her.

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