Page 3

Chapter 3

Cate

“ H e’s such an asshole,” I complained to Charlie during our weekly Sunday morning zoom call. We met during Marine boot camp and became fast friends; our friendship grew to sisterhood when we served together overseas, and survived our transition to civilian life. Like me, Charlie went into law enforcement, much to her mother’s disappointment, when she returned to her small town. Her mom was proud of her, but had hoped Charlie would finally be out of harm’s way after leaving the Marines.

Not like my dad, he was thrilled when I joined the FBI. But not so much so when I left to join Sheppard & Sons. I had my reasons, but I couldn’t tell him. He wouldn’t understand, and end up being even more disappointed.

“I thought things were going well at SSI?” she asked instead of fueling my fire .

“They are. It’s a better fit than the FBI. Except for Jaden, he’s an ass.” I considered myself a calm person, and hated myself for letting him get to me.

“So you said. What’d he do now?”

“He took out his anger issues and embarrassed me on the mat.”

“Are you sure you’re not just upset you lost?” Humor danced in her eyes.

“Yes. I’ve lost before, so that’s not it. It’s supposed to be a training session, not a violent take down and embarrass your teammate session. He set out to make me look bad.”

“Did he beat everyone else?” she asked, her even tone helping calm me down.

He had. I knew where she was going—maybe I was taking it too personally.

I replayed the other fights in my mind on fast forward, ignoring my body’s reaction to watching him—his sexy forearms and arrogant grin—as he beat every opponent.

“Not gonna lie, Char, it helped my bruised ego when Jamie went down almost as fast as I did.”

AJ gave Jaden a run for his money, and Doug almost beat him. No money changed hands because no one had ever seen Jaden fight, so they hadn’t bet on him. I doubt anyone bets against him next month.

I made a mental note to schedule extra sessions with my coaches. I still trained regularly in boxing, and had added Brazilian Ju Jitsu to my schedule so I could learn the fine art of grappling. The Krav Maga I’d learned in the FBI didn’t help me against the guys at SSI. I justified my decision with the reminder that in my line of work, learning another defensive skill never hurt.

“So maybe it wasn’t so much about beating you as it was about proving himself.”

“Maybe.” I still believed he had a personal vendetta against me. Though I couldn’t understand why.

“If you’re assessment, that he doesn’t think he measures up to his father and brothers, is correct, then it would make sense.”

My assessment was spot on. His rebellious attitude was textbook. “You’re right.” I conceded.

“Of course I am.” She laughed. “So, what are you going to do about it?”

When I told her I’d train more, she called me out for not addressing the real issue. Jaden Sheppard challenged me in ways that rattled my nerves. Knowing she was right, but not wanting to think about it, I changed the subject.

“How’s the planning coming along.”

Charlie was happy to oblige and fill me in on the latest wedding planning drama. She wanted a simple wedding, but her fiancé was torn between pleasing his betrothed and pleasing his mother, who wanted a big lavish event.

“I wouldn’t care if we weren’t paying for everything,” she said, explaining the latest battle over the size of the guest list.

There wasn’t much I could do to help, but as her maid of honor I could listen when she needed to vent.

I wondered how I’d deal with family drama around planning a wedding. First, I’d have to find someone I wanted to spend my life with. And someone willing to spend the rest of their life with me.

After what happened with Gavin, at the FBI, I doubted it’d ever happen. He hadn’t only destroyed my trust in him, but in all men. At least at the romantic level.

I had an hour to kill before the Women’s self-defense class I was helping teach at SSI, so I refilled my coffee and sat down to read. My newest obsession was regency era romances. I loved the handsome rogues who were actually good guys under their rakish exteriors.

I made sure my navy SSI polo was properly tucked into my khaki cargo pants before walking into the training room. It was the only finished room in the training building at the back end of the property. According to the last update, the jointly owned SSI/Law Enforcement Training Center would be up and running shortly after Jamie and Emily got married in July. If nothing goes wrong . The project was ambitious with a covered outdoor range, an indoor range, a kill house, and several training classrooms. Because the joint SSI/LE training center acronym, SSILETC, reminded of me FLETC (the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center), where I’d done my FBI training, I referred to it as SLETC (pronounced Slet-C). It stuck.

Today’s Women’s Self Defense class would be the first official class held in the new space. I helped set up chairs in the freshly painted but still undecorated room before helping Meg sign in students. Including Emily, her best friend, Ashley, and AJ’s fiancée, Blake.

“What happened?” Emily asked, indicating my eye.

“It’s nothing.” I shrugged it off.

“Tell me the other guy looks worse,” Ashley said, making everyone laugh.

Including me. “Of course.” Meg knew it was a lie, but I didn’t think she’d throw me under the bus. “Meg, go sit. I’ve got this.”

“Are you sure?” Meg asked. She was taking the class with her friends as a refresher.

“Positive. Go.” I ushered them away. “Have fun.”

Once everyone settled in, John began the lecture. He explained the importance of paying attention to your surroundings and trusting our intuition. He demonstrated how easy it was for someone to sneak up on us, by stepping into the space of a high school student who was glued to her phone and not paying attention.

The class laughed when he cleared his throat, causing her to yelp. The laughter didn’t last long because John, a great instructor, covered the girl’s embarrassment by thanking her for providing the perfect demonstration. She blushed and nodded before putting her phone away.

John explained different strikes, while the rest of SSI demonstrated them and their effectiveness. He paired me with AJ to show the class how simple moves could help overcome size disparity. I couldn’t help but notice Jaden was always on opposite side of the room. Probably for the best . We’d end up arguing and embarrassing ourselves. And worse, making SSI look bad.

Something neither of us wanted to do.

“Remember, you’re not trying to win a fight. You’re trying to buy enough time to get to safety,” John said when someone asked how realistic it was for someone without years of training to beat a bigger guy in a fight.

We held pads and coached students through a few simple moves, including eye gouges. By the end of the class, everyone was having fun hitting the bag like it represented an ex-boyfriend who’d cheated on them.

Near the end of class, Jamie and I demonstrated how to break free if someone used duct tape to bind their wrists. Apparently, it was a running joke to bind Jamie’s wrists with bright pink tape.

“They get nervous for this bit, so we like to loosen them up with a good laugh,” Jack said as he wrapped baby vomit green tape around my wrists. I’m sure the company had a better name for the color, but it was the ugliest shade of green I’d ever seen.

The guys collected discarded tape while Meg and I handed out information packets to the students. They received a certificate for attending, handouts with tips and tricks, plus additional resources, and business cards for SSI.

“You don’t need to help,” Jack insisted when Meg picked up a chair.

“I’m pregnant, Jack, not broken,” she argued without any zeal .

It took about two seconds for the women to gang up on Jack, myself excluded. Though I agreed. Meg was perfectly capable of folding a few lightweight metal chairs.

“Fine.” Jack gave up and threw his hands up in front of this chest. “But don’t over do it.”

When Meg stuck her tongue out at Jack, Ashley got a case of the giggles. “I bet if you flutter your eyelashes, he’ll leave you alone.” Emily and Meg joined in, leaning on each other and laughing until tears rolled down their cheeks.

“Do I want to know?” Jaden asked.

“No.” Jamie, Jack, and AJ said together.

“You don’t know why they’re laughing, do you?” I asked.

“Nope,” AJ said.

“Not a clue,” Jack said.

The girls must have told Blake, because her eyes rounded in shock before she bent over laughing.

“I know.” Jaimie gloated. “But Em swore me to secrecy.” The guys turned on him, demanding he spill his guts, but he wouldn’t budge.

Meg called me over and explained. Last summer, Ashley told Emily to flirt with Jamie by batting her eyelashes at Jamie, but Emily immediately had images of cartoon characters fill her head, so now any time one of them brought up fluttering eyelashes, they all devolved into giggle fits.

I appreciated her sharing the story, but I still felt like an outsider. It’s my own fault. I’ve kept myself distant to protect myself.

Times like this reminded me just how lonely playing it safe could be .

“Alright, ladies, class is over. Time to go,” John said with a smile, his love for them shining in his eyes. He turned to the guys and said, “Back to work. You don’t want me to keep your mother waiting, do you?”

“No, sir.” They said in unison. Even AJ and me, because no one wanted to upset Mary Sheppard. She was the team Mama Bear, but wouldn’t think twice about giving us a talking to if we fucked up.

“Max,” Meg was the only person from the office who chose to call me Max instead of Maxwell. “We’re going to Em’s to hang out and order food. Want to come?” Meg asked. Funny how she refers to Jamie’s house as Emily’s .

“I’m sure she’s too good-” Jaden corrected himself, “too busy to join us.” His insulting words and tone hit the mark. They probably all thought that was the reason I always said no.

I wouldn’t have accepted, not because I thought I was too good for them or even too busy, but because I felt out of place in the tight-knit group.

And I’d learned the hard way not to get too close to my co-workers.

But I didn’t want them thinking he was right, so I accepted. One hour can’t hurt. “That sounds fun. Can I bring anything?” I asked.

Jaden’s ‘fuck you’ expression felt satisfying in a way I hadn’t anticipated.

“Whatever,” Jaden said before lifting a rather large stack of chairs, making his biceps bulge under his tight navy polo. Refusing to think about his tattooed forearms flexing, I turned away and asked Meg to repeat herself.

“We’ll probably order out, so you only need to bring the usual,” she said, like I should know.

I’d know if I accepted her invitations more often. Ignoring my embarrassment, I asked, “What’s the usual?”

“Whatever you want to drink,” several voices answered.

I resisted the urge to look at Jaden while we finished packing up. Watching his muscles flex as he carried heavy things was not something I wanted to get caught doing.

I may not get along with him, but he’s damn easy on the eyes. And I had a thing for muscles and tattoos on guys.

I grabbed a twelve pack of a local amber craft beer and a bottle of sparkling grape juice before going to Jamie’s.

When I first came to Weatherford for a case, Jack and Meg lived with Jamie. SSI had called my boss, Agent Jones, and asked for his help finding Chase, Beth’s son and John and Mary’s godson. And soon to be Doug’s stepson . Jones thought my profiling skills would come in handy, so he’d asked me to come as a favor. Luckily for everyone, Chase was kidnapped by a distraught mother, not a hardened criminal. Rescuing him was relatively easy.

During our drive back to Dallas, I’d grilled Jones about his connection to SSI. That was how I learned Meg was a victim of trafficking. Jones was the FBI agent who’d helped her relocate and get the help she needed to start over.

Emily moved in with Jamie as soon as Jack and Meg moved out. And now Jaden lives here . It was a step up from living with his parents, but it said a lot about his maturity that he lived with his soon-to-be-married big brother.

I’m a hypocrite, judging Jaden but not Jack .

Meg greeted me at the door and invited me in.

After greeting her, I handed her a bottle of sparkling grape juice. “This is for you.”

“Thank you. Now I can have bubbly in my wine glass instead of water.”

“You aren’t planning on drinking all of these yourself, are you?” Jamie asked as he took the twelve-pack from me.

I laughed. “No, I figured I’d bring extra as a gift for the host.”

“Much appreciated,” he said with a nod.

I hovered near the edge of the crowd and observed as we talked in the kitchen.

I told myself I wasn’t annoyed that Ashley openly flirted with Jaden. Rationalizing my irritation by questioning why she’d want to hook up with him.

Maybe it was the lop-sided grin he kept flashing her.

Maybe it was the way his amber eyes sparkled as he flirted.

Maybe it was his stupidly sexy body.