Bride Protector SEAL (8 page)

“I don’t feel anything where Swede is concerned.” Allie hiked up her skirt with one hand and marched into the dressing room, slamming the door. “You’re reading way too much into my relationship with my bodyguard. He’s just the hired help. Nothing more. He said so himself.”

“But you wish it was more, don’t you?” Sadie’s voice was soft, barely audible through the door.

Allie let the dress fall to the floor like her heart sinking into her gut.
No.
She didn’t wish Swede could be more than the hired help. It would mess up everything. “I’m marrying Damien.”

“Allie, the big question is, do you love him?” Sadie said through the door.

Her chest tightened, and her throat constricted. Did she love Damien? Or had she been in love with the idea of getting married? “I’m not getting any younger,” she whispered.

“You’re only twenty-seven. You have years of dating and meeting more men in front of you.”

“I know all the men in Eagle Rock and the surrounding ranches. I don’t want any of them.”

“Do you want Damien because he’s not from Eagle Rock, or because you love him?”

God, why was Sadie pushing her into saying something she didn’t want to say? Allie leaned against the door, tears filling her eyes. “Please, Sadie, stop.”

For a long moment, silence reigned.

“I’m sorry, Allie. I won’t say anything else other than I love you like the sister I never had. I don’t want to see you marry someone you don’t love. Marriage is hard, even when you
do
love your spouse. It’s harder when you have nothing in common, and you don’t love one another.” She paused. “I’m going to be a mother. I can’t imagine letting a child of mine enter a loveless marriage. That would be so unfair to him or her. Think about it, Allie.”

Allie stepped out of the dress as several warm tears slipped from the corners of her eyes and rolled down her cold cheeks. She dressed quickly, left the room and handed the wedding gown to the attendant who’d stood patiently and discreetly out of the way during the whole conversation.

“Will you be taking the dress, today?” she asked.

“Yes.” Allie didn’t want to make another trip to town for it.

Sadie hugged her. “Ready to go home? I’m sorry if I upset you.”

Allie shrugged. “I’m okay. I need to get a good night’s sleep. We’re hauling hay tomorrow.”

“Seriously?” Sadie shook her head. “Your wedding, should you choose to go through with it, is in a couple of days.”

“Wedding or not, the hay has to be baled and loaded into the barn.” The hard work and long day would keep her occupied so much that she wouldn’t have time to think. If she was going through with the wedding, the chores had to be done before the big day.

If.

Damn. Now she was thinking
if
, not
when
.

S
wede held
the door for Allie as she hung the wedding dress in the back seat of the truck and then climbed into the passenger seat. The ride home from the bridal shop was uneventful, and completely and painfully silent.

Hank and Bear had returned from their visit to Baker’s unit, arriving as Swede and the ladies left the bridal shop. The commander wasn’t in, having gone to Wyoming earlier that morning. They expected him to be back the next day.

Bear had stayed in Bozeman to run by the police station and see if he could get any information from them about the stabbing. Hank and Sadie followed Swede and Allie to the gate of Bear Creek Ranch. As they pulled off the road at the entrance, Hank waved at Allie. “I can be by in the morning to help with the hay.”

“Thanks. I’m sure Dad and Eddy can use all the help they can get,” Allie said.

When they left, Swede turned to Allie. “I take it we’re hauling hay tomorrow?” He didn’t like that he’d been left out of the conversation until now.

“You don’t have to. It’s not part of the job description.”

“If you’re out hauling hay, I’m out hauling hay.”

Allie opened her mouth for a moment and then snapped it shut.

Dinner was much the same. Mr. Patterson and Eddy talked about baling and loading the hay the next day.

Swede wasn’t clear on all the terms they used. He nodded when he thought he should.

“Allie, are you driving the truck for us? Or should I get Georgia to drive?” Eddy asked.

“Since Swede will be here, why not let him drive? I can help load the hay,” Allie suggested.

Georgia’s brows furrowed. “Don’t be silly. Your wedding is in a couple days, you can’t go out and get scratched and bruised. You want to have perfect skin and no sunburn for the big day. I’ll drive the truck, and you’ll stay at the house and cook dinner.”

“No, ma’am.” Allie said. “I want to help with the hay, and you know I can’t boil eggs without burning the water.”

“Then you’ll drive, and Swede can help load,” her father said. “Since that’s settled, why don’t you get some sleep? We have to be up by dawn to get this cutting done in a day.”

“But—”

“No buts. Go to bed.” Her father left the table and climbed the stairs.

“You’d think I was a little girl,” Allie mumbled. “I’m a grown woman, with a mind of my own,” she said louder. “I don’t need my daddy telling me when to go to bed.”

“I heard that,” her father said.

Swede’s lips twitched, but he fought the smile.

Allie stared at him through narrowed eyes. “Don’t laugh. It only encourages him.”

Unable to hold back, Swede laughed out loud.

Eddy clapped a hand on his back. “She’s as stubborn as her father.”

Allie glared at Eddy. “I’m in the room.”

Georgia patted her back. “Yes, dear, you are. Now, go to bed. Maybe a good night’s sleep will improve your disposition.”

“My disposition is just fine, thank you very much.” But she rose from her chair, carried her plate to the sink and climbed the stairs to her room.

Swede waited thirty minutes before going to bed, giving Allie enough time to get through the shower and back to her room. He didn’t want to bump into her in the hallway. He was afraid he’d try to kiss her again. And that wouldn’t do.

S
leep was a long time coming
, and dawn arrived too soon.

The sound of boots on the stairs woke him. He hurried to dress and get downstairs before the others left without him.

Lloyd and Eddy were just finishing breakfast when Swede walked into the kitchen.

“You two can join us at the barn when you’re done here,” Mr. Patterson said. “We have to connect the trailer and fuel the tractor.”

“I won’t be long,” Swede promised.

Georgia set a heaping plate of food in front of him.

He stared down at it. “Looks good, ma’am, but I can’t eat all of that.”

She laughed. “You’ll burn it off before noon. Eat.”

Allie entered, dressed in jeans, a long-sleeved shirt, boots and a cowboy hat. She tossed another cowboy hat on the table next to Swede. “That’s one of Hank’s old hats. You’ll need it today. Try it.”

Swede settled the hat on his head. It fit perfectly.

Allie sat across from him, but never lifted her head to look him in the eye.

Georgia kept up a running commentary about some of the local gossip, seemingly unaware of the tension between Swede and Allie.

By the time Swede choked down half of the food Georgia insisted he eat, he’d had enough. He pushed back from the table, lifted his plate and carried it to the counter. “Please cover that, and I’ll eat the rest for dinner tonight.”

“Are you sure?” she asked.

“Positive.” He kissed the older woman’s cheek. “Thank you for all you do.”

Georgia blushed and waved a hand at him. “Get out of here. You’ll have Eddy jealous if he catches you kissing me.”

Allie stood as well and carried her plate to the sink. “Thank you, Georgia.”

“I’ll bring sandwiches for lunch,” Georgia promised.

Swede walked out of the house first and scanned the vicinity, not expecting trouble, but keeping aware was an essential part of his job. They hadn’t expected trouble at Reynolds’s stable, and it had exploded in their faces.

Hank arrived as Swede and Allie joined Eddy and Mr. Patterson at the barn. Eddy would bale the hay while the other men loaded the bales on the trailer.

Allie drove the truck through the hayfield, inching along at a snail’s pace. Ruger walked along beside the truck, occasionally chasing a rabbit or digging for a prairie dog.

Swede considered himself in pretty good shape since rehab, but the work was hard, the hay was itchy, and the sun beat down on them throughout the day. By noon, Swede and Hank had shed their shirts, their bodies covered in sweat and hay dust.

“It’s been a while since I’ve hauled hay,” Hank said. “Now I remember why I disliked it.” He ran his hand through his hair, loosening the stray straws. “But, you always feel good about what you accomplish when all the bales are neatly stacked in the barn.”

Swede tossed another bale on top of the ever-increasing stack. Hank’s father manned the top of the pile, stacking the bales in an overlapping pattern to keep them from falling off. “It’s good, hard work.” And it helped him keep his mind off Allie. Except she was driving the truck. Every time he glanced up, he could see her face in the side mirror.

As her bodyguard, it was hard not to focus on her. Even out in the hayfield, he had to be on his toes. Whoever shot at them from the vehicle the other night, could be hiding at the edge of the pasture with a high-powered sniper rifle.

Swede glanced around again, his gaze coming back to Allie in the mirror.

“Did Bear hear anything new from the police?” Swede asked. Anything to take his thoughts off Allie.

“Nothing we didn’t already know from talking to Baker and his parents.” Hank tossed a bale up onto the back of the trailer. “Bear would have come to help here, but he’s headed to Baker’s unit to wait for the commander to return from Wyoming.”

“I’d like to get my hands around the throat of the guy who attacked the kid.”

“You and me both.” Hank wiped the sweat from his brow and walked to the next bale in the field. “It’s bugging the crap out of me that I can’t come up with a single motivation for the attack.”

“It’s some crazy son-of-a-bitch who happened by at the same time Baker felt like having a hamburger.”

Hank shook his head. “My gut tells me the attack is more than that.”

“I’d like to help with the investigation,” Swede said.

“You are, by keeping an eye on my little sister. She’s got enough problems.” Hank shot a glance toward Allie. “I tried to call Reynolds last night. He didn’t pick up. I left a message, but he didn’t get back to me.”

“Allie doesn’t even know where he went on his business trip,” Swede said. “What kind of guy leaves his fiancée a few days before his wedding and doesn’t share where he’s going?”

“Maybe he’s having an illicit affair with one of his clients.” Hank’s jaw tightened. “In which case, I’ll have to kill him for hurting my sister.”

“Get in line.” Swede’s fists clenched. He flexed his injured hand, the ache building with each bale. But he didn’t stop to cry about it. The ache reminded him to keep focused on what had to be done.

Protect Allie.

“Has Allie said anything about what she’ll do if her fiancé doesn’t show up for the wedding?”

“Not at all. She keeps repeating that she’s getting married Saturday.” Swede chuckled. “I believe if Reynolds doesn’t show up for his wedding, she’ll kill him.”

Hank laughed out loud. “Sounds like Allie. She’s a very determined and stubborn woman. She gets it from our father.”

“What does she see in Reynolds?”

“I haven’t a clue, and I really don’t know him well enough to judge him. Except that he’s not here when shit’s hitting the fan with my sister. That’s a really big strike in my book.” Hank glanced up at his father on top of the stack of hay. “Does my father know why you’re here?” he said in a lowered voice.

Swede shook his head. “Allie insisted on calling me a friend from college, here for her wedding. Mrs. Edwards knows.”

“It’s probably just as well. My father might go off half-cocked with both barrels loaded, looking for the crackpot taking shots at his little girl. And I don’t think he approves of this marriage.”

“Does anyone, except Allie?” Swede chose that moment to glance at the mirror.

Allie was staring back at him, her eyes narrowed. Had she heard him mention her name?

Swede switched sides of the truck. Seeing Allie in the mirror only made him want to shake her. Why was she insisting on marrying a man who clearly didn’t care enough about her to be there when she was in trouble? Trouble that could have been brought on by his own business dealings, and her association with him.

When Reynolds returned from his business trip, Swede wanted to have a few words with the man.

T
he day crawled
by at the pace Allie drove the pickup pulling the hay trailer. She counted the minutes until all of the hay was loaded into the barn. Then, and only then, could she get away from the sight of a shirtless Swede, muscles bulging with the weight of the bales as he tossed them like toys into the air. Every time she glanced into the side-view mirror, he was there, looking back at her. How was she supposed to quit thinking about him when he was larger than life and freakin’ gorgeous in all his sweaty glory?

Her call to Damien the night before had gone unanswered. Same with the voicemail she’d left, asking him to return her call. He was probably in some far corner of the world where cell phone reception was as crappy or non-existent as it was in the rural areas of Montana.

Still, the man was getting married in two days. The least he could do was call his fiancée each night to whisper sweet nothings in her ear and tell her how much he loved her.

Allie frowned into the mirror at the same time Swede glanced up.

Come to think of it, Damien hadn’t said he loved her since the day he’d proposed. Sure, the occasion had been romantic. He’d taken her to one of the most expensive restaurants in Bozeman and then they’d walked along the city streets afterward, arm-in-arm. When they’d come to the city park, the almost-full moon overhead gave just the right amount of light so they didn’t need flashlights to see their way.

Damien had stopped, pulled her into his arms and stared into her eyes.

No man had ever held her like that. Most men she knew treated her like one of the guys, until Damien came along and reminded her that she was a woman, with all the needs and emotions most women had.

Then he’d dropped to one knee and asked her to marry him, and she’d been thrilled that a man thought she would make a good wife. But, was that enough to commit her life to a man she still barely knew?

The more she thought about it, the more she realized she might have made a huge mistake by saying yes.

If only she could talk to Damien. Maybe she’d get back that spark of excitement and be happy about the upcoming nuptials instead of feeling like Saturday would be one big disaster.

She was glad she’d insisted on a small wedding with family and a few friends.

The sooner she spoke to Damien, the better. Waiting until the actual wedding would be too late.

In the meantime, Allie drove a few feet forward at a time, gnashing her teeth, counting the bales until they were done. And they wouldn’t be done until all of the hay was neatly stored in the barn.

Could this day get any longer?

By late afternoon, the last bale had been stacked in the barn. Though it was late, the sun wouldn’t set for another hour or two. The men shook hands and parted, Hank heading home, Eddy heading for the foreman’s house for a shower, her father and Swede for the main house.

Allie entered behind the two men and stopped in the kitchen.

Swede stopped, too, turning back toward her.

“Go ahead,” she said. “You can have the first shower. I didn’t sweat as much as you did.” She wandered into the living room, and waited until she heard the water running.

Georgia had run over to the foreman’s house for a few minutes, and Allie’s father was in his own room showering.

With no one watching her, and her need to talk to Damien so important to her future, Allie decided to make a break for it. Perhaps Damien was back at his ranch and she could corner him for answers to all the burning questions she’d stored up since he left. Number one being,
why the hell did you ask me to marry you?

She left the house and hurried to the barn. Catching and saddling a horse would take too long, so she pushed the four-wheeler out behind the barn and pressed the start button. The Bear Creek Ranch and the Double Diamond were both large spreads, but they adjoined on the southern border.

Allie had made the ride on horseback several times, and once on the four-wheeler. The terrain wasn’t too challenging, and she could get there and back in less than an hour. Surely Damien would be home by now.

She sped away, hoping no one saw her leave. Since her decision wasn’t planned, hopefully that attacker wasn’t watching. If he had observed her all day, maybe he’d think she was done for the night when she’d gone inside the house. Either way, she was pretty good on the four-wheeler and confident enough in her skills to elude the bad guys. She hoped.