Page 15 of Cowboy’s Last Stand (His to Protect #1)

Jason was speechless. He’d never been spoken to this way before.

His size and strength, along with his military background, inspired respect in others.

If anything, people idolized him. He was a combat veteran, for Christ’s sake.

He’d served his country with honor. Getting confronted by this salty old bastard was an outrage.

Plus, he’d extended the threat to Natalie .

Jason imagined planting a fist in his face and sending him sprawling into the dessert table.

“Return my property on your way out of town,” Hendricks said. Then he chose a piece of chocolate cake and left.

Jason walked away from the dessert table empty-handed.

For once, he had no appetite. He watched Natalie and Marcus from a distance.

She selected cheesecake with fruit topping before rejoining him.

He couldn’t even take pleasure in the sight of her eating a ripe strawberry.

After dessert, Marcus went to play with Missy’s twins.

Natalie set down her fork, her face serious. “What happened?”

Jason couldn’t lie about the confrontation. He was already withholding too much. “The sheriff wants Billy’s brass knuckles back.”

“You’re kidding.”

“He called them a ‘family heirloom.’ Apparently, his family has a long history of being dirty fighters as well as ignorant rednecks.”

She smiled at his observation.

He smiled with her and felt some of his anger drain away.

“It’s not funny,” she said, sobering. “The history of violence isn’t funny. You just have a way with words.”

Jason nodded in understanding. “He told me to get out of town.”

“I’m sorry,” she said softly. “You haven’t been given a very warm welcome.”

It wasn’t her fault, but he could imagine a perfect remedy in her bed.

He doubted she would invite him in, as Marcus had innocently suggested.

Draining the rest of his iced tea, he surveyed the crowd once again.

It was a diverse group, reflecting the military at large, with lots of mixed-race families.

Wade sat next to his father, his posture stiff.

Jason sensed some tension between the old guard and the new one.

“How long have you been coming here?” he asked.

“To the VFW? Since I was a kid. My grandpa was a veteran.”

“Did you come last year?”

“I did.”

“How was it?”

“Difficult.”

He wondered how she felt about military service now after having lost her husband. “Does Marcus want to be a Marine, like his father?”

“He says he does, but he’s five. He also wants to be a ninja.”

“What do you want for him?”

“I don’t know,” she said, sighing. “My first instinct is to keep him safe. I have concerns about bringing him here because it’s a form of encouragement. But I also think it’s important for him to know who his father was.”

Jason pictured his comrade’s dusty, bloody face in the rubble. Tell her.

“If you had a child, how would you feel about them joining the military?”

He blinked to dispel the disturbing image. Although he didn’t regret his choices, the near-death experience had taken a significant toll on him. He found that he couldn’t answer her question. “My parents didn’t want me to serve.”

“Why not?”

“My dad was in the National Guard, but he never went overseas. He didn’t believe in modern warfare. Drones and world policing and all that. He thought I should stay in Montana and work on the ranch.”

“What did your mom think?”

“She thought I should be a lawyer.”

“Did you study law?”

“I did.”

“There are a lot of problems to fix in the legal system.”

“Too many,” he said. “I’d rather take apart an engine or rebuild a house.”

“Why did you enlist against their wishes?”

He leaned back in his chair, considering his answer.

“I’m sorry,” she said lightly. “I’m prying.”

“It’s fine.”

She searched the room for Marcus and the twins. They were playing with tin soldiers at the edge of the dance floor. “Gabe was planning to join the Marines. His parents begged him not to go after Mike was killed.”

“Were they close?”

“Like brothers.”

Jason felt a pang of sympathy for Gabe, but only a small one. Gabe was old enough to make his own decisions. No one had forced him to fall in with Billy’s crowd. “Does he know his friend threatened you?”

“I doubt it. He’s not bad… just misguided.”

Jason made a noncommittal sound. It had occurred to him that Billy needed help last night.

He couldn’t have driven the vehicle and smashed the mailbox.

If he’d recruited Gabe, the kid was more than misguided.

He was disturbed. Instead of voicing this speculation, Jason returned to her previous question.

“I couldn’t bear to stay in Montana after my mother died.

Every open space reminded me of her, and I wanted to see other parts of the world. I also wanted to piss off my dad.”

“Because he got remarried?”

He shrugged, uncomfortable with the admission. His entire life, his father had been rigid and unforgiving. They had that in common.

“You resent him for moving on, but you think I should do the same.”

“That’s different.”

“Why?”

“Because I want you.”

She laughed at his simple statement, which was both bold and hypocritical.

At that moment, Jason didn’t give a damn. “Let’s dance.”

Her eyes slid to the live band at the front of the banquet hall. They were playing a style of music he associated with the 1940s or ’50s. “Do you know how to jitterbug?”

“Do you?”

“No.”

He stood and offered her his hand. “We can fake it.”

After a short hesitation, she accepted. He realized that she didn’t want to draw attention to the two of them.

Or she hadn’t before the sheriff had made an ass of himself.

Perhaps she felt the urge to annoy the overzealous lawman by refusing to be intimidated.

Jason liked her moxie. His attempt to spin her around the floor made her laugh—and he loved the sound.

She was the most beautiful woman in the room by far.

Although the dance area wasn’t crowded, it was warm.

She removed her cardigan and draped it over a nearby chair.

He’d already noted the way her dress molded to her breasts, which were delightfully unbound.

It also had skinny straps that crossed over her back.

His hands itched to explore her exposed skin.

The band obliged him by starting up a slow song.

Perfect.

He must have looked hungry because she flushed at his perusal.

But she didn’t object when he grasped her slim waist and drew her closer.

Not too close because they were at a family event.

It was one thing to thumb his nose at Sheriff Hendricks and encourage Natalie to live a little.

Quite another to end up with a visible erection at the VFW.

So he didn’t press his body against hers or let his hands roam.

She smiled up at him, her arms twined lightly around his neck.

He felt something shift inside him as if a secret compartment had opened.

His stomach sank with the realization that he’d lost control of the situation. He could school his physical reaction but not his emotional response. He was developing feelings for her. Strong feelings.

Jason was still processing that revelation when a child’s high-pitched scream wrenched through the air.