The Right to Bear Arms: BBW Military Paranormal Romance (Wild Operatives, #1) (8 page)

“Daniela? You still there?”

A set of powerful headlights shone through the living room window. I parted the curtains for a look into the driveway to confirm it was Russ before I sprang to the door and opened it. He waved to me as he approached. “Russ is here. I better go.”

“When do I get to meet Mr. Tall, Dark, and Sexy Marine Guy?”

“Army not Marines, and when you actually bring your ass down here.”

“When you move out of the place called Quickdraw I’ll come visit you. Until then, you’re on your own. What the hell is it with this state and the dumb town names?”

“As if a town called Atropos is any better,” I teased. Texas seemed to have something with stealing names from mythology and other countries. Paris, Texas. Athens. Sparta. Corpus Christi.

“Yeah, yeah, yeah. Okay, love ya, sis. Come visit soon.”

“Love you, too. Maybe this weekend.”

I disconnected the call and smiled up at my man. “Hey, you.”

“Hey.” His gaze flickered toward the cellphone in my hand. “I’m not interrupting anything, am I?”

“No. I was just chatting with my sister and stuff. Come on in.”

Russ offered out a long, paper-wrapped box tied with blue ribbon and leaned in for a kiss. His lips against mine washed away the final vestiges of my horrendous day. I didn’t need a gift, only him.

“You certainly know how to greet a girl.”

“Only my favorite girl, darlin’.” His grin made me melt, sending a jolt of heat straight to my gut. “Gonna look inside?”

Ripping into the paper like a kid at Christmas revealed a box full of chocolates from a local candy shop. My favorite sweets were nestled in pretty gold and silver foil wrappers.

“I can’t believe you brought me two dozen of these. Eat a few with me.”

“I bought ‘em for you.”

I plucked one of the chocolate, pecan, and caramel clusters from the box and touched the delicious morsels to his lower lip until he took the bait. “I want to apologize to you for how I behaved the other day... it’s not your fault.”

“You had every right to feel down, Daniela. That no-good bastard defaced your property and... well, those aren’t the kind of things you call a lady. He better hope I don’t catch him sniffing around here again.”

“Again?” I paused in nibbling a chocolate to stare at him.

Russ grunted and went to the fridge to pour himself a glass of sweet tea. “I punched him in your driveway,” he reminded me gently. “And I’ll kick his ass again the next time I see him.”

“Russ... He came by
again
. Today.” Although I was certain I’d regret telling Russ, I told him about my encounter with Michael. His expression changed, undergoing rapid transitions between angry and neutral.

“Really though, baby, be honest with me. Are you all right? Why didn’t you call me?”

“I’m fine. I was terrified for a little bit, and not just of Mike...” A bite of gooey chocolate and caramel gave me an excuse to be silent.

“You should have called the cops, sweetheart.”

“I didn’t want a hunt put out on the bear.”

Russ shook his head. “I’m sure the bear can take care of himself. Call the police,” he coaxed me, reminding me of my sister’s plea. If she phoned my parents and relayed the story of what I told her, I was toast.

“You sound like Marta,” I grumbled.

“She’s your sister, right? You haven’t said much about her. What’s she like?”

“Well, she looks just like me but a little taller, skinnier, and prettier—”

“Prettier because she’s skinnier?” he asked, raising his brows.

“Well, yeah.”

“How many damn times do I have to say you’re gorgeous, Daniela. Don’t you dare think otherwise for a second just ‘cause you got... a little more of you to love.”

I stared across the counter at him, unable to take my disbelieving eyes off his straight face. It wasn’t the sincerity in his words that threw me off balance — it was the corny line. “There’s going to be a lot more to love after finishing these chocolates,” I quipped.

His big grin spread a little wider. “Nothing wrong with that.” He fed me another chocolate.

“You have no idea how great it feels to have a guy who loves to eat as much as I do.” I grinned and nibbled his fingers playfully. “Come on. Let’s go start up a movie.” I finally bought a sofa when I passed by a yard sale in town.

With our candies in hand, I dragged Russ into the newly decorated living room. He wasn’t impressed by my tiny loveseat, and his furrowed brow made me burst into a fit of giggles.

“All this space and you have this teensy couch.”

“Hey! It was almost free!” Looking around my living room, I couldn’t argue with his observation. “To be honest with you, all my rooms are like this. Ian’s charging me a pittance for how much square footage I have in here. I use the third bedroom for storing my appliance boxes and stuff in case I have to move again.”

There were two bedrooms upstairs across the hall from one another. I had one fixed up like a guest room in case my sister decided to swing into town, and the one downstairs held all of the boxes leftover from my new appliances.

“Sweetheart, why don’t you splurge a little and get yourself some nice things. I know somebody who works on the sales floor at Ashley’s. She’ll cut you an amazing deal—”

“We are
not
using your amazing connections.”

“And why the hell not?” he demanded.

Indeed. Why the hell not? My brow creased as we settled into place. “Fuck it. Give her a call. I should have insurance claims money left over after I pay the deductible for my car repairs.”

“Great, I’ll let Roxella know that we’ll be—”

My phone rang with an incoming call from my mother and father. I didn’t get a chance to say a word in greeting.

“Why are you not calling the police, Daniela? The man is crazy. He could return and do anything. Call the police right this moment.”

“Mama, please.” I sighed into the phone. “I know Marta made it sound worse than it is, but I’m fine. I have a shotgun and I will fill him full of holes if he comes back again.”

“You have a gun now,
querida
? Where did you get a gun? Daniela, I don’t know if you should be alone in that house right now.”

“But I’m not alone, Mama. Russ is here. Besides, my vehicle is trashed and I can’t go anywhere right now without a car.”

My dad didn’t waste a second. In the span of a heartbeat, he barked his own questions into the phone. “Who the hell is Russ and why should I trust him to keep you safe? Who is he?”

I was going to wring Marta’s neck.

“I should have killed that bastard Michael when he first laid his hands on you,” my father raged into the phone. He was beyond the edge of reason now. “Who is this Russ?”

“Papa, relax. Russ is my neighbor and he’s an Army vet, okay? He’s been teaching me to shoot and...” I peeked over at Russ’ amused expression. “We’re dating.”

That shut both my parents up quickly. I could hear them in the background though, speaking rapid-fire Spanish to one another. It sounded muffled, so I guessed one of them — likely my mother — had a hand over the receiver.

“When were you planning to tell us you were dating someone,
mija
?”

“Soon, Mom. I was planning on telling you soon, but I’m not sixteen years old anymore.” I rolled my eyes and swatted Russell’s arm when he chuckled at my expense. As loud as my folks were talking, he could probably overhear their end of the conversation.

My father returned to the line. “We planned to come visit for your birthday anyway this weekend, but we’ll meet this Russ person, too.”

“Can’t wait,” I chirped back. If I sounded anything less than thrilled, they’d both take off work and come to see me by the ass crack of dawn instead. “See you then. Love you both.” After ending the call, I shook my head and turned to face Russ. He promptly burst out laughing.

My parents would love him. Of that, I had no doubt whatsoever. I knew they would because... I was beginning to love him, too.

~Daniela~

T
o ease some of my stress, Russ had a friend down at the fire department come to tow my car into Houston while he drove me to work the next day. He promised me he’d found a body shop with reasonable prices, owned by an old friend of his from the Army. Apparently, the guy retired and opened a business at the start of the year. It was booming, but he promised to squeeze me in.

My boss peeked in on me during my scheduled lunch hour and helped herself to a visitor seat while sipping her Starbucks.

“I’m glad you came back today, Daniela.”

“Me, too. I feel silly for laying around so long over something so stupid. A car can be fixed, you know?” I’d already told her the full truth, unable to lie to Laura for long. She was a good woman, and had been an even greater friend over the past couple of years since I first came to work for her.

“Are you going to need a ride home?” Laura asked. “I’m going up to Huntsville to visit my daughter and grandkids this evening. She needs me to babysit. I don’t mind swinging by your area.”

“Oh no, my boyfriend is coming back by to get me.”

The older woman raised one steel gray brow. “A boyfriend, huh? What happened to ‘I never want another man again?’” she asked, much to my embarrassment.

“Yeah well... he sort of snuck his way in there.”

“Those are usually the best sort, dear.” Laura had recognized the signs of an abused woman before my family even realized what was wrong. She’d tried two years earlier to convince me to move out, even offering me a place to stay. I didn’t know who celebrated my divorce the most, her or my family. “So tell me about him.”

“He’s great,” I offered without the satisfying details she wanted.

Laura plucked a peppermint from my candy dish and hurled it at me. “That tells me
nothing
.”

“Army vet, owns his own home, has a sweet dog he brought back from Afghanistan.”

The divulgence of a few details satisfied her. “You can’t go wrong with a man who loves animals,” Laura replied, nodding.

Michael had hated pets. That should have been my first sign not to trust him.

“Russell took me dancing for our first night out on the town. He taught me a few line dances.”

“Would he be that handsome fella looking around the lobby?”

A peek outside my office door revealed my handsome boyfriend stood just a few yards beyond the lobby doors. Jeans, tees, and western boots were a staple of his wardrobe that I’d come to expect from him. A black cap announcing he was a veteran of the U.S. Army covered his wavy black hair. Russell drew admiring glances from the tellers and a few waiting customers in the queue. Not that he seemed to notice, or if he did, he didn’t acknowledge them. His muscles bulged as he crossed his arms against his chest and spoke with one of my coworkers. Beth pointed toward my office. When Russ turned to peer through the glass, a big grin split his face.

“Yeah, that’s him. Crap, he’s super early. I told him five.”

“Well go on then, don’t keep him waiting. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“But it’s only noon!”

“And we will manage without you as we did over the weekend. Go on. Shoo.”

“Thanks for understanding, Laura. I didn’t mean to put you guys out while I was gone.”

Her warm smile assured me that my worries were unfounded. “You never call in. Don’t think anything of it.”

I hugged her, grabbed my purse, and dashed out to meet up with Russ just as someone was thanking him for his service. In the most unprofessional act I’ve ever committed since landing my job, I threw myself into his arms and hugged him in front of everyone. I had to lay my claim, like an animal marking her territory.
Mine.
All mine, I conveyed in one fierce embrace.

“Well hello to you too, darlin’.” Russell caught me up easily against him and snuck a chaste kiss in against my brow. His scruffy face tickled my skin, making me giggle.

“I didn’t expect to see you this early.”

“I was in the area to check up with my friend about your vehicle. Thought I’d come by and see if you had an hour free for lunch.”

“Well, I do, but I ate... and my boss just assumed you were coming to take me home. So I’m afraid you’re stuck with me for more than an hour.”

“In that case, would you like to come meet Taylor?”

“Sure.”

I found Trigger waiting outside of the bank on the cement walkway, harnessed but without a leash. Passing bank customers complimented us on our dog’s exceptional behavior like I’d had some kind of hand in his training.

“Oh, he’s not my dog,” I blurted out while Russ grinned alongside me.

“He loves her more than me,” Russ drawled.

Trigger placed his head beneath my hand and bumped my fingers for a pet. I stroked him and realized how much I had to look like a liar.

“He certainly seems to love you,” the grinning stranger said.

I hopped into the passenger seat while Russ buckled Trigger into the rear cab. The extra step taken to guarantee his fur baby’s safety endeared me to him more.

It took us fifteen minutes to reach Wild Side Auto Body & Lube. A sleek, feline silhouette, too muscular to be a house kitty, made up the logo.

Russ’ friend was a baby-faced man, but probably in his early-to-middle thirties. When I first met Russ, I estimated the same thing about him. He claimed to be forty-three, but I didn’t see the age on him either. Taylor wore his hair and goatee closely trimmed, his appearance fastidiously groomed. Like Russ, he didn’t have an ounce of body fat on him. He was all lean muscle in a more compact, slimmer build.

When Taylor took his shades off, my breath caught in my chest. His eyes were glacier blue, a vivid contrast against his brown sugar-hued skin. His rich voice sounded the way velvet should feel, smooth and sensual.

Knowing what my landlord looked like, I tried to imagine Russ, Ian, and Taylor side by side until I feared my ovaries were going to explode.

“Uh... I’m...” What was my name? The guys glanced at me and patiently waited while I fumbled through an introduction. Taylor probably thought his friend was dating an idiot. “I’m... Daniela,” I tried again.