Page 6 of Tice's Kind of Trouble
Eagle, Kane’s girl, opens my passenger door, making way for me to lower Bethany into the seat.In my truck where I can keep her safe.
Eagle steps back, twisting her fingers. She has her lips parted like she wants to say something, but isn’t sure how to navigate my black mood.
After buckling Bethany in, I check the seatbelt’s tension. “I’m taking her home with me. Here’s Kane’s phone.”
Eagle blinks, shocked, takes the phone quickly. “Oh. Um. Yikes. I’ll tell Kane.”
The other SEAL is already inside the coffee shop, his shoulders bunched as he jams an angry finger into the other man’s face.
I grip Eagle’s shoulder to make my point. “Keep your boyfriend on a leash. I don’t want him going to jail again—he’s gonna have to start that contract while I deal with whoever broke into his sister’s house.”
“But Kane will want?—”
“Kane’s gotyouto take care of, sweetheart. Plus, he won’t be… objective about this situation.”
She glances at Bethany, who’s crying quietly into her cupped hands. “Are you sureyou’reobjective?”
“No.”
I close the truck door and storm to the driver’s side.
Eagle’s still standing there, looking rattled, when I back over the crushed planter, my hands like two vises on the steering wheel.
Someone scared Bethany, and they’re going to pay. Big time.
My abs are twisted up hard as rocks, all the blood in my body pumping to a war march.
I’m not objective.
But no one will be more effective than I will.
Not after the way we locked onto each other inside that coffee shop.
Bethany needs a protector?—
And she just fucking got one.
FOUR
Bethany
I’m so dazed, I don’t even realize where we are going because I’m caught in some kind of hazy spell from the earthy, warm scent of the man next to me.
Then, there’s the way his hand lays on my knee, his thumb circling a gentle pattern.
I’m a chaotic whirlwind of electrical signals that are zooming past one another like fireflies.
“Is this your place?”
Tice glances at me, locking dark brown lasers on me. “Just bought it.”
Wow. Him and the house. I stare in disbelief at the gorgeous property. A long driveway winds up a green hillside. At the top sits a gigantic modern house with deeply tinted windows. Beyond the home is a palatial patio that surrounds a huge swimming pool.
I’m breathy when I speak. “It’s incredible.”
“It’s…” Tice glances at me, this time a tension between his brows. “It’s nice, but it’s not a home.”
“What do you mean?”
