Page 20 of Mine to Protect

“You’re a good boy, aren’t you?” I said to Benny’s long snout.

Neither man said a word as I lavished Benny with the love I wished someone would give me and I could accept. Then without a word, Cas marched to the door and out of the cabin.

Chandler glared at the door and shook his head. “You ready?” he asked, extending a hand to help me up.

His hot hand wrapped around my freezing one. “Are all guys this hot natured? You and him both, your hands are hot even when it’s freezing. It’s not natural.”

Chandler’s brows rose up his tan forehead, deepening the fine lines etched across it. “Wouldn’t know, don’t hold hands with guys. It sounds like you don’t either, Officer Johnson, if you’re asking me that.” His eyes narrowed. “How is that considering—”

“Birdie,” I interrupted in an attempt to distract him from his train of thought. No way did I want the work friend of Cas to know I was completely oblivious to everything men. “If I’m calling you both by your first names, then you should call me, Birdie. All my friends do. Well, friend. I mean two friends. Two people call me Birdie. I have two friends.”

Hand still warming mine, he shook it up and down with an amused smirk, which kind of pissed me off and made me smile at the same time. “Nice to meet you, Birdie. Now let’s go catch this SOB before anyone else goes missing.”

I trailed behind Chandler through the cabin and down the porch steps.

“What situation?” Cas asked, making me pause. He leaned against a porch post, cigarette pressed between two fingers.

“Will you at least put an ashtray out here or something?” I shoved both hands into the pockets of my coat and shifted my weight. “And you know they say that stuff will kill you.”

“They said the same thing about the marines.”

“But you took that risk to serve your country. What’s this risk worth?” I asked, nodding toward his cancer stick.

“My sanity.”

“You sure you haven’t already lost it?”

A rusty chuckle rumbled through his chest. “Are you going to answer me or bust my balls on my life choices?”

My growing smile fell. “Let's just say we were mourning someone we lost.” I inclined my head toward the now-running SUV, Chandler smiling behind the wheel. “We’re ready when you are.”

7

Alta

A sharp biteof pain registered as I rapped my freezing knuckles on the boy’s front door. What was with this weather? This was when I missed Texas the most, the bitter cold and wind getting to me as the winter dragged on and on. Despite the awful cold temperatures, the winters here were somewhat magical. Snow-covered naked branches, frozen lakes, hot chocolate by the fire at night—everything about it was amazing, except when you had to step out in it and face the brutal elements head-on.

Huffing hot air into my hands, I waited impatiently outside the still-closed door, eager for it to open. Yesterday I told them I would come over late morning, which I guess technically meant around eleven, but to keep up my no-routine routine, I was early. Honestly, the coordinating of my no-routine schedule had become more daunting than ever for some reason. There were days I didn’t care if I did the same as before. But that was a mistake. That’s when someone would notice.

So there I was at a bit after ten in the morning, standing on their front porch instead of warm on the couch watching Netflix with Benny snuggled at my side.

I yawned wide into my cupped hands. Last night’s shift went by without a single incident, which wasn’t unusual but was welcomed. The peace of the night gave me time to think, process all the comments Chandler spouted as we surveyed the first and second crime scenes. The entire case was fascinating. All aspects of it, from the women who were taken in the Smokies to the special agent who was still missing to the two women here. Everything appeared well planned and executed with precision.

No witness. No evidence. No bodies.

‘How’ and ‘why’ were the first questions to find answers to.

I jumped back as the door swung open, revealing a mostly naked Chandler. Standing in nothing but a towel tied around his hips, he gestured inside the cabin. Wide-eyed, I scanned down his muscular chest and defined abs before averting my eyes and stumbling back even farther. A heel caught the first step, tipping my weight backward. The sense of falling flipped my stomach as I swung both arms in an attempt to right myself.

With a loud curse, Chandler lunged out the door and grabbed the waistband of my jeans, preventing my fall.

Heart pounding, both at the mostly naked man and the embarrassing almost-tumble, I pressed a hand to my heart, allowing my eyelids to flutter closed in an effort to regain some equilibrium over the situation.

“Birdie, if you don’t stop overreacting, I’ll start to think you don’t trust me.”

With a huff, I peeled my eyes open and focused past his bare shoulder into the cabin. “Sorry, just wasn’t expecting this.” I waved a shaky hand up and down his naked torso.

I wasn’t a prude. Well okay, maybe I was technically, but not by choice. Well, maybe yes by choice, since I hadn’t been on a date in years or been anywhere someone would have the opportunity to ask me out except for work. No one asked me out there though—not that I wanted them to. Most of the rangers were twice my age, with more hair in their ears than on their head, and the officers… well, they all knew my quirkstoowell to find me remotely attractive.

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