Total pages in book: 125
Estimated words: 117443 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 587(@200wpm)___ 470(@250wpm)___ 391(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 117443 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 587(@200wpm)___ 470(@250wpm)___ 391(@300wpm)
The three men went still. “Shit,” Tex muttered. “That’s rough. Such a little thing, too. Wouldn’t take too much to hurt her.”
“Explains the clothes,” Hawk grumbled.
“Her old man?” Doc asked, his casual air belied the barely checked aggression that Chris knew was now simmering close to boiling.
Chris shrugged. “Don’t know.”
“I hope he shows up here. But if he doesn’t and you get his name, we’ll all go with you to pay him a visit,” Doc declared.
Chris nodded, having had thoughts along those lines for quite a while. “She’s not so good in close quarters,” he told them. “In public, she seems alright. It’s more obvious when you get her alone, not that any of you would have much occasion to be alone with her. But if she comes to the garage looking for me for some reason, something with the house, and I’m not there, go easy on her. Be friendly, but not too friendly. Don’t crowd her even though she won’t get within arm’s reach of you, no matter what. Keep a door open. Don’t get between her and the exit. It makes her feel better. You know what to do.”
They nodded. They did know. They’d served their first tour in Afghanistan together, seeing women who’d been raped by the Taliban in revenge for cooperating with the soldiers. It was never a thing you accepted, seeing a woman whose humanity had been taken away, turned by violence into a frightened, hunted creature. You could never accept it, the best you could do was learn to deal with it as best you could. It was the one area where their size and strength and general air of don’t-fuck-with-me worked against them. You had to learn to soften your tone, watch how close you were getting, appear non-threatening.
Chris had no doubt, though, that the men at the table, despite their gruff demeanor, would do their level best to treat Hayley with care and consideration for what she’d been through. Even Hawk, who went through women more than any single man should in Chris’ very private and never-voiced opinion, always treated women with respect. The women knew that any time they spent with Hawk was strictly No Strings Attached.
Tex, despite all his…proclivities…practically worshiped them. And Doc? Well, Chris assumed he was a stand up guy. Doc had a steady thing in Sioux Falls, a woman with no name other than “Sioux Falls”…as in “I’m headed to Sioux Falls tonight.” Chris dismissed this as not demeaning toward the woman in question so much as part of Doc’s apparent personal motto of ‘Don’t talk about yourself.’
Chris was certain, however, that “Sioux Falls” was a woman and not a man, not that Chris would have cared personally either way. But once on R&R Chris made the unfortunate mistake of going to look for Doc after they’d become separated in a dance club in Germany, and found his squad mate in a service hallway with a gorgeous blond’s even more gorgeous legs wrapped around his waist as he fucked her up against the wall. It had taken a few shots to overcome the sight of Doc’s bare ass that night, but the overall impression Chris had gotten was the blond was totally into it. And even though Chris had turned and was hastily headed back to the dance floor, he had been made all too aware that Doc was a gentleman, letting the lady in question come first.
Whatever relationship Doc and “Sioux Falls” had, he apparently respected it enough to never warm the bed, or make use of a hallway, with any local girls at Maria’s. Doc was polite, flirted a little, but everyone knew Doc was not on the market. Once and only once, six months after Sioux Falls had become a twice a month excursion, Chris asked Doc if he was going to pack up and move there or if Sioux Falls was coming to Rapid City. Doc had smirked and shook his head, only saying that neither he nor Sioux Falls were the settling down type.
So for all their varied interests in women and the many pleasures they provided, Chris knew without a doubt that his orders would be taken seriously by his men.
Chapter 6
Chris had stepped into Maria’s at a little after nine, pretty much his usual for a Saturday night, and was surprised to find Slick there. As he walked past the bar to the tables he asked Maria, “She on nights now?”
Maria shrugged. “As I need her. Amy’s getting less and less reliable the more she sees of that cowboy of hers, and Hayley’s quick to come in on short notice.”
Chris nodded his understanding. “She working ‘til close?”
“Just midnight.”
He nodded again, located Hawk at one of the pool tables and headed that way. The place was packed, no doubt about that, but Hayley didn’t seem to have trouble keeping up. Chris nodded to Hawk as she made her way toward them. “Hey!” she called brightly. He smiled at her. “Get you anything?”