Wild Card (16 page)

touch her as only he, her husband, had done.

And added to that was his own damned jealousy. The parts of him that had been Nathan hadn't

died as thoroughly as he had thought they had. The man that was Noah, darker, more dominant,

more arrogant, hated the man he had been as Nathan. Because it was Nathan she ached for.

And it was Noah who was left living to hunger for her.

"I'll see you at the garage in the morning," he finally told her, shaking his head at his own

thoughts as he turned and left the house.

Tortured. His dick was pounding and the pulse of lust in his blood was like fire in his veins.

Sabella dragged herself out of the bed and stumbled to the shower the next morning. By the

time she made it to the kitchen and the pot of coffee waiting on her, thanks to the timer, she

wondered if she would ever force her eyes open enough to actually make the breakfast date she

had arranged last night with Sienna Grayson, the sheriff's wife, and Kira Richards.

Ian Richards had been Nathan's best friend. His marriage several years before to socialite Kira

Porter had been a surprise to the small community. The fact that they still returned each

summer to the house Ian had kept since he lived in Alpine with his mother was even more

surprising.

They'd become friends over the years, though only in the past year had Sienna been able to join

their breakfast dates. Sienna did not like getting up early.

This morning, Sabella well understood the feeling.

She felt flayed by the dreams that had tormented her the night before. Duncan's accusation,

Nathan's wild blue eyes staring at her in love, in pain. And Noah, reaching out for her, but he

had Nathan's eyes, and Nathan's voice. They were more vivid, more terrifying, than the past

dreams had been. Or perhaps they just seemed more vivid because of the short break she had

been given.

As she pulled her car into the Richardses' driveway, she breathed out a hard breath as she

glimpsed Ian's tan-colored Jeep sitting in the driveway. The Richardses lived in a sprawling

single-story ranch in the National Park area. Surrounded by cliffs and pine, this area's stark,

desolate beauty always managed to steal her breath.

Sienna pulled in behind her.

"It should be illegal to get up this early, Sabella," Sienna stated as they got out of their vehicles.

"I should have Rick arrest you."

Sabella stared at her friend closely. Despite the perfect makeup, Sienna had dark circles under

hazel-green eyes and an edge of worry at her brow.

"I have to work this afternoon," Sabella told her. "Morning is the only time I could get away."

She frowned as she gave her friend a quick hug and felt that Sienna had lost weight in the past

weeks. "Are you doing okay?"

"Me?" Sienna gave her tired smile. "I'm fine. Rick's been busy and you know how grouchy he gets when he can't solve a case. Those deaths a few months back are driving him crazy."

"The Black Collar Militia," Sabella muttered. "Bastards. I knew that girl they killed."

"She was an FBI agent." Sienna sighed as they walked to the house. "I couldn't believe it when I read that in the newspaper. Of course, Rick had known, but he hadn't told me."

Sabella knew Sienna had raged at Rick for years because he refused to tell her about the cases

he worked, or when he was close to breaking a case. There were times Sabella knew it strained

their relationship.

"He's not allowed to tell you, Sienna," Sabella pointed out gently. "Just as Nathan couldn't tell me about his missions."

"Yeah, but you didn't have to live with Nathan while he was on a mission." Sienna snorted.

"Some nights, he doesn't even come home," she said softly, sadly. "I hate it when he does that."

There was nothing Sabella could say. She could see Rick's point of view. Although Sabella had

understood that Nathan was a SEAL, Sienna had never been able to understand Rick's

dedication to being a sheriff.

"Rick didn't even tell me about the trouble you had with your new mechanic," Sienna pouted as

they approached the door and Sabella tapped on it lightly. "I had to hear through gossip."

Sabella rolled her eyes and tried to control her flush.

"They sure weren't wrong about that beard burn though." Sienna craned her head around to

look, snickering back at Sabella. "The man knows how to do it right."

"Good morning, ladies." Kira chose that moment to open the door and invite them in.

"Breakfast will be ready in a few. I just have to finish the tortillas and we'll be good to go." She paused and stared at Sabella, her eyes widening before a teasing smile curled her pert, pouting

lips. "Wow, Sabella, gossip is right, that new mechanic of yours knows how to give beard burn

the right way, doesn't he?"

Sabella narrowed her eyes at her friend. "We're not talking about the new mechanic."

"The new mechanic?" Ian chose that moment to walk into the room. "Belle, could you let him know I have to bring the Jeep in." He stopped, stared at her jaw and neck, lifted his brows and

stared back at Kira.

Kira smirked. "The new mechanic."

Great. "You guys act like you've never seen beard burn," she muttered.

"Have you looked in the mirror?" Sienna laughed, though the sound was tense. "Or did you do what you normally do and just ignore what you don't want to see?"

Sabella turned back to her, her lips tightening. "Meaning?"

"Meaning it's not just beard burn." Sienna laughed. "Sweetie, your mechanic left a hickey, and he did a damned good job with that one little bite while he was there." She reached out,

touched the area just under Sabella's jaw, and shook her head. "We should all be so lucky."

Sabella walked into the garage late that afternoon. There were more than half a dozen vehicles

lined up in the garage waiting area. Toby was pumping gas and there were several college

students in the convenience section of the station.

Rory was taking care of the register as Sabella moved into the office and closed the door

behind her. She went to the coffeepot as the wide door into the garage bay opened and Noah

stepped in.

She was caught by his eyes. She was always caught by his eyes.

"You're late. Everything okay?" He entered the office and closed the door.

"I stayed longer than I should have at a friend's for breakfast." She shrugged as she poured her coffee and headed to her desk.

She pulled the overshirt she wore tighter around her. It had been one of Nathan's shirts. Stained

with oil, and she imagined she could smell him on it, though she knew the scent had long since

faded. It was a comfort shirt. It was a warning to other men. Today, she needed something to

hold Noah back, and she had prayed it would work.

She watched as his eyes moved to the pocket patch. Nathan's name was emblazoned there.

When his gaze came back to hers she caught a hint of anger.

"Still holding on to him?" he asked her softly, his rough voice darker than normal.

"Always."' Let him make of that what he wanted to. She had stopped holding on to the hope he

would come home three years before, but hadn't forgotten what they had shared. No matter

how hard she tried.

"It's been six years." He poured his own coffee then sat on the corner of the spare desk. "Long time to be a frozen widow, don't you think?"

"So Duncan informed me last night," she snapped. "I don't need you reiterating the message."

Noah could see the pain that flashed in her eyes and it enraged him. The knowledge that he was

fighting his own memory pissed him off even further.

He hadn't expected her to do this to herself. To put her life in such a deep freeze that no one

else could touch her, hold her. Like an animal, she had burrowed into a hole to lick her wounds,

but the wounds were still ragged and pain filled.

But he couldn't blame her for it. He'd done the same thing. Closed off everything, concentrated

on the here and now, and the battles that came along. At least he had, until he returned home

and learned nothing was as he had thought it should be.

"I think you need to live a little." He had never wanted her to be alone if something happened

to him. But, just as he had done, Sabella had continued to hold on to that bond that stretched

between them. The one Nathan had tried to break between them, but never could.

"What I think is that it isn't any of your business. You didn't know him and you don't know

me."

He grunted at that, sipped his coffee, and stared at her bent head as she went over the

accounting book. He'd gone over it himself, several times. It was in perfect order. Once she had

returned and knocked the garage back into shape, she had managed, miraculously, to hold on to

it. Mostly because, according to Rory, she had refused to sleep and had practically lived at the

garage.

"I don't have to know him," he told her, as he rested his wrist on his knee while holding his

coffee and staring back at her. "I've had him shoved down my throat every day I've been here.

Every one I've met loved 'Irish.'" He nearly spat out the word. He was so sick of hearing about

himself he could barely tolerate it.

When the hell had people in this town decided he was larger than life and no other man was

going to compare?

"Nathan had a lot of friends."' She shrugged, her fingers picking at the edge of the accounting book, her expression tight.

"Friends that let his widow suffer," he reminded her. "What happened, Sabella? Who finally told you the garage was going to hell? According to Rory, you hid in that house on the hill and

wouldn't even answer the door some days. How did you figure out the Malones were trying to

destroy you?"

Her lips tightened.

"Yeah, old Nate, he was well loved." He sneered. "So well that his widow was deserted and

nearly lost her ass while she was grieving. What the hell happened with that one, Sabella?"

"Again, none of your business." But her voice was tighter, the edge of hurt flaying his guts.

He knew what had happened. His family had turned against her. Mike Conrad, it was rumored,

had offered to help her out if she would be so kind as to let him fuck her. Noah had to force the

violence down. And once the Malones and the bank had turned against her, then finding

anyone willing to help hadn't been easy. Only the fact that Nathan Malone had indeed had

friends who were still willing to use the garage had saved her. Friends who didn't have power,

and there were too many of them for Grant Malone, or Mike Conrad, to be able to strike out at

effectively.

He knew what Mike Conrad had wanted. The garage was the perfect setup for laundering

money and was centrally located for the militia members to congregate. With the apartment

upstairs, the reputation of the garage, and Nathan Malone's good name to fall back on, it would

have worked.

The sheriff and his wife had stood by her, though it was rumored the friends Mike Conrad had

in the local government were pressuring the sheriff to choose sides. Mike's or Sabella's. Noah

knew Rick Grayson, if he wasn't part of the BCM, was at least a suspect. Hopefully, the

program Noah had slipped into Mike's laptop would give them the proof they needed to bring

that bastard down. Him and his friends.

The mayor, one of Grant Malone's boyhood friends, had taken the city's contract from the

garage, illegally. Rory was checking with a lawyer in Odessa about suing for that one. What

they had done to Sabella was unconscionable and wouldn't be tolerated any longer.

The gossip and rumors that filled small-town life were there for anyone willing to listen. And

Noah listened each time a customer got nosy enough to question him regarding the talk now

circulating that he was taking the place of the man they had nicknamed "Irish." He listened,

picked through the gossip to find the truth, and the truth only managed to piss him off more.

"I'm making it my business," he finally warned her.

The battle he faced would have been amusing if it were anyone else. He was going to have to

steal his wife's heart back from his own memory. Hell of a position for him to find himself in.

He watched as her gaze lifted, just her eyes, and she stared up at him, and he could have sworn

he felt his balls twitch in warning. He had only seen that look one time in the two years they

had been together.

Her lips parted as the door from the convenience store opened and Rory stepped in.

Noah's gaze sliced to him, his demand to leave clear. Rory grinned back then his gaze moved to

her neck. She was getting sick of that. The surprise, the look of shock that a man had marked

her neck. What, did everyone suddenly think she really wasn't woman enough to draw a man's

passion?

She curled her lip angrily before getting to her feet, moving around the desk, and jerking open

the door to the garage. She stepped into the garage bay and slammed the door closed behind

her.

"Asshole," Rory muttered as Noah stared at the door she had gone through.

Noah turned to look at him. "Take care of that firing you've been putting off today. Your new

mechanic is showing up tomorrow."

Rory grimaced. "Yeah, just get her all pissed off at me now."

"Do it," he growled, before rising to his feet and making for the door to the garage. "And stay the hell out of my way for the next little bit."

He pushed through the door and found Sabella standing next to the mechanics' counter, going