Above Protection (Imperfect Heroes Book 1) (28 page)

“Tell me about your new job,” I said
to Ellis, sitting down and pulling Rayanne into my lap.

Ellis eyeballed the gesture but didn’t
say anything about it. “Well there’s an agency called Mathis
Associates downtown Tampa. They hook up veterans with jobs,
counseling, and other stuff.”

“I know the company,” I interrupted.
“We’ve worked with them before. The owner, Harper, is a big
veteran’s advocate. They also work with Tampa PD. She’s sent lots
of vets their way for jobs.”

Ellis laughed and closed the lid to
the cooker. “I know, she asked if I wanted a job with Tampa PD. I
said hell no.”

“My brother works for them. It’s not
so bad,” I said, thinking of Mason.

He nodded. “I know, but because of my
past, I should probably stay away from the streets.”

“I get it,” I said.

“So, she got me a job with the federal
prison up in Sumter County. It’s been… interesting.”

“Wow, that’s pretty far from here,”
Rayanne said, sipping her wine.

“Yeah, we are probably gonna have to
move closer. We just want to make sure Ellis can handle being
around all those criminals.” Talia snorted at her own joke, and
looked at Ellis.

He was trying not to laugh as he
pointed the spatula at her. “I’m gonna spank you later for that
one.”

“Promise?” she giggled.

Wow, and I thought we were
disgusting.

Ellis went on to tell us about his
first few months there, and all the interesting prison stories he
was already accumulating.

When dinner was ready, we all sat down
and dug in. We really had a good time with them. The best part of
the afternoon, though, was the look on Rayanne’s face. She seemed
truly at peace. A stark difference from the stressed-out, scared
witness I’d met just a couple months ago. Now she looked glowing,
happy, and content. I knew the feeling. She had put it there in
me.

As we ate, the doorbell chimed. Talia
made to get up and I put my hand on her shoulder and told her to
sit. It was probably Mason anyway.

“Thanks, Duke,” she said, looking
relieved.

I wandered through the house and
opened the front door to see my brother standing there. He was
still in his dress pants and blue long-sleeved shirt with a navy
tie from work.

He saw me eyeballing him and said, “I
just got off work, sorry.”

I chuckled and opened the door wider.
“That’s not the first time I’ve heard that today. Working on a
Saturday again?”

Greeting me with a fist bump, he
nodded. “Yeah, had to finish paperwork on a case I’m
working.”

I saw him holding a case of beer in
his hand and I relieved him of it. “Everyone’s out
back.”

He followed me to the small back patio
and smiled when he saw everyone sitting down to eat.

Ellis stood and met us at the door. He
put his hand out. “Detective Oliver. Nice to see you
again.”

Mason narrowed his green eyes at Ellis
and grinned. “It’s Mason. No need to be so formal.”

Ellis nodded and pointed to his
fiancée. “You remember Talia?”

He went over and put his hand on her
shoulder and she patted his hand. “Nice to see you again, under
better circumstances this time.” I thought I saw her turn a little
pink in her cheeks.

“Absolutely,” Mason replied with his
pretty-boy smile.

“And finally, this is Rayanne, my
girlfriend,” I said proudly, raising my chin a little but still
trying to sound cool, but I knew I sounded like a big
pussy.

Rayanne stood and Mason put out his
hand, but she launched herself onto him and hugged him.

He laughed and wrapped his arms around
her. “Well… nice to meet you.”

She pulled back and said, “I’m so
happy to finally meet you. Duke has nothing but nice things to say
about you.”

Mason raised an eyebrow and said, “Oh
really? Because I don’t have anything nice to say about
him.”

Rayanne’s eyes got big. Mason and I
started laughing. Talia, Ellis, and Rayanne all froze and stared at
us.

“What?” I asked, looking at them all,
confused.

“You guys have the exact same laugh,”
Talia said, blinking up at us, her forkful of salad paused at her
lips.

“No, we don’t,” Mason said.

“Dude. Yeah, you do,” Ellis said.
“It’s like twins. Seriously.”

“We’re not twins.” I raised an eyebrow
and used my hand to hover over my head, then his. “See? I’m like
two inches taller.”

Rayanne grabbed my hand and dragged me
back over to the table. “Stop being an ass and finish eating.” She
pointed at my half-eaten plate, and with her hand still latched to
mine, she pulled it up to her mouth and kissed it while staring at
me in eye.

I sucked in a breath and suddenly felt
like leaving this party.

Mason grabbed a plate and filled it
with food, then asked if anyone wanted a beer. Ellis and I took him
up on it. He sat at the table and set our beers in front of us. He
loosened his tie and then flipped it over his shoulder before
tucking a napkin into his collar and taking a bite of his hugely
loaded burger.

I saw Rayanne staring at him curiously
and I squeezed her hand. “You eyeballin’ my brother?” I whispered,
trying to sound like I was joking but I think I may have ended the
sentence with a growl.

She slapped my left thigh with her
tiny hand. Then she said, loud enough for everyone to hear. “No. I
do have a question, though.”

I was afraid of what she was gonna
ask, but I just replied, “Okay…”

“Why y’all have different last
names?”

Mason wiped his mouth with another
paper napkin and took a swig of his beer. “Duke’s sperm donor died
in a motorcycle crash right after he was born. Mom met my dad about
a year later, had me. Donald Oliver raised us both. Guess I never
bothered to ask her why she didn’t change Duke’s name to
Oliver.”

“Because she never got over the dude,
that’s why,” I murmured dryly.

“What?” Mason said.

All eyes were on us now. “She kept his
picture and the newspaper article of his death in a box under her
bed. I caught her looking at it and crying a few times as a kid.
She even showed me a picture of him. She always said she loved our
dad, but was sad that Royal had died.”

Mason looked at Rayanne, who was
grinning, and jerked a thumb at me. “It explains where he got that
silly ass name.”

“Fuck off, pretty boy,” I said, taking
a swig of my beer and trying not to laugh. Asshole always knew what
buttons to push.

“That’s your answer to everything,
isn’t it?” Mason said, snorting.

I lifted an eyebrow at him. “You need
a woman.”

“I have a few,” he snapped
back.

I shook my head and held up my index
finger. “Just one. Not a few.”

“You’re one to talk…” He stopped and
looked at Rayanne, then at me, and I scowled at him. “Shutting up
now,” he muttered.

Rayanne smiled knowingly at
me.

Ellis and Talia said nothing at our
tiff, they were the smart ones, but I could see them smiling behind
their forks and cups as they ate and drank.

Changing the subject, I said, “I’m
gonna invite Kyle and his kid to our next cookout.”

Ellis narrowed eyes at me. “I don’t
like that guy.”

I set my beer down. “Oh, get over it.
If you saw his ex, you’d understand why he was staring at your
girl. They’re like twins. Kyle’s the coolest guy ever, watched over
my house when I was out on my assignment.” I looked at Rayanne and
put my hand on her bare thigh.

“He’s a Marine, so I gave him a pass,”
Ellis replied. “I didn’t know he had a kid.”

I nodded but was still staring at my
beautiful girlfriend. I heard Ellis and Mason began a conversation
about the military but I tuned them out. My world seemed to be
closing in on just the two of us. There were a million questions,
conversations, and declarations of love swimming in her amber eyes.
But I didn’t want to ask her to say them out loud. I just wanted to
stare through her, into her soul, and let us just be. The way she
gazed back at me told me she felt the same way. My stomach flipped
over as she held my unbroken stare. I reached one large, callused
hand up to her soft, sharp jaw and rubbed my thumb along
it.

“I’m gonna kiss you now,” I
whispered.

Her eyes became even more bright and
she just simply nodded. It was so slight, if I’d blinked I would
have missed it. But I didn’t. I never missed anything she did. I
slowly leaned down and covered her warm lips with mine, and when
her fingers reached up to graze my beard, I smiled into her
mouth.

The End

Beneath Broken

(Imperfect Heroes Series, Book
2)

Meet Detective Mason Oliver

Coming Summer 2016

Partial proceeds of this
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I Don’t Dance – Lee Bryce

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I’ll Keep You Safe – Sleeping At
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Take It Outside – Brantley
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Mind Reader – Dustin Lynch

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Playing the Field (Duty
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Antihero (An Imperfect
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Above Protection (Imperfect
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Unscathed (A paranormal
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Lotus (Daughter of
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Watcher (Daughter of
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

I'm a California girl
living in land-locked Colorado. Lover of red wine, wearer of
fabulous shoes, and a die-hard Niner fan, I'm also an editor at
heart. I've written over a dozen books and short stories that
contain both contemporary/new adult and paranormal romance that are
a little bit badass, a little heart-wrenching, and sorta funny (to
me, anyway). Almost all my books usually contain law enforcement or
military undertones, since strong, brave, alpha men and women are
my weaknesses. When I'm not writing, I can be found working at a
very strange day job, which may or may not have some mild
influences on my gripping stories - so strange, in fact, I think
I'll write a book about it one day.
I'm also a proud member of the Romance Writers of America
(RWA).
Now pay attention!! I've got several free books available for
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