Nemesis Ranch, Montana
Draven watched Indy walk into the conference room with Dalton and his team leaders. Today was important for her. She wasn’t the type of woman to sit at home expecting her man to bring home the bacon. She needed to have something to do, and after the life she’d led to this point, working in a store with his sister wasn’t going to cut it. “Good luck, baby.”
He must have spoken louder than he’d thought as she turned and gave him a small smile just before Dalton shut the door behind them.
Please let this go okay.
Hopefully the position Dalton was offering her fit her. She’d been one hell of an analysist. In his opinion, if that meant she rode a desk from the safety of the compound here, then he’d be a happy camper. Having Indy safe behind the ranch gates and in the depths of Nemesis Inc. meant he could do his job without worrying if she was safe. He glanced at the door once more and turned away to go find the person he hoped was waiting for him. He stopped on the way past the war room door and knocked before sticking his head in. “Hey, Trev?”
“Hey, is your woman in her meeting?”
He liked how they called it a meeting when they all knew it was an interview with multiple parts to it. “Yeah, she just went in. Will she be about the same time it was when I came through?”
Trev flipped through his computer screens. “The boss has blocked off four hours.”
“Awesome. Thanks, man.”
“You’re welcome,” Trev called after him as he left the room again. “Hey, Kilkenny?”
He tensed. Damn, he’d been just about to give himself a mental pat on the back for escaping without that coming up. “Yeah?” He paused and looked over his shoulder at Trev.
“You owe me big for this.” Trev folded a piece of paper into an airplane and flew it across the room to him. “Plus…” The asshole had the audacity to smirk at him. “I told you so.”
Draven unfolded the paper plane and scanned the invoice. “Holy shit, that’s a lot.”
“I got you two of them,” Trev said. “So, me and Logan doubled up on everything. It was the only way the previous owner would sell us one. Me and Winters figured two was better than one.”
Indy was going to lose her mind, if she didn’t murder him first. “Do I have enough in the main account for you to pay that invoice?”
“Already taken care of, bro.” Trev grinned at him. “Oh… and I told you so,” he repeated, and waited for Draven to look at him.
“Shut up,” Draven grumbled. He’d known this was coming. He’d even given himself a silent pep talk in front of the mirror before he’d left his place with Indy this morning. Little good that did him, as he could feel himself bristling under Trev’s smirk.
“Hallmark. I’m callin’ you Hallmark from now on.” Trev scribbled a Post-it note. “You are no longer Bravo Three, you are Hallmark. I’ll send out an intel notice.”
“Fuck you, Trev. Just fuck you.” He hurried his ass out of the war room, because Trev sometimes didn’t pick up on social cues or remember when to stop teasing people. This was to be a good day; he didn’t want to get all kinds of mad about something he couldn’t change. He glanced at his watch. It was time to find Winters and put the rest of his plan in place.
She’d spent years facing down operators, generals, and a whole host of very important people. But after the last three hours, Indy figured she was safe to finally brush her palms over her pantsuit. She’d done what she could. Sent more rounds down range and climbed more ropes than she had since she’d graduated through the farm at Langley.
She kept her gaze on a smudge on the wall just past Dalton’s left ear, which kept her gaze almost directly in the center of the table, and forced her body to remain still while they scrutinized her. Finally, Dalton looked at each man. She couldn’t detect any movement or response from any of them.
Jeez, they don’t give much away, do they?
Gimme a hint.
I’m dying here.
Dalton cleared his throat. “We’re all set here.” He got to his feet and offered her his hand across the table. “Welcome to Nemesis Inc., India.” He finally smiled for the first time in the last three freaking hours. “We’ll get you with Trev tomorrow and figure out your orientation and shit.”
Kentucky Smith, Bravo team’s leader, scribbled something on a piece of paper and pushed it across the table to her. “We have one more stop for you to make,” he told her. “This one isn’t a test as such. But you do need to report to this office before the end of the hour.”
“Okay.” She took the paper and glanced at the hand drawn map. Were they seriously sending her out by herself? She hoped Draven was still out there waiting so she didn’t wander into a field with a bull or something equally silly.
“Just stay on the path and you’ll be fine.” Kristof offered her his hand, too. “If I’d known this was how things would turn out, I’d have insisted you came straight here instead of detouring to Cali.”
Heck no, even with all the drama over her father and the bomb threat at the store on the way back from their first date, she wouldn’t change the last week for anything. “California was awesome. I was meant to be there.”
The three men came around the table and guided her to the door. “We’ll bring you up and through security.” Dalton held the door open for her. “Then you get to that location and you’re done until seven in the morning.”
“Thank you.” India appreciated the job, especially one in her field, more than these men would ever know. “I won’t let you down.”
“We know.” Kentucky scanned his badge for the lift and ushered her in before them. “You wouldn’t be here if we thought that was possible.”
“Agreed,” Dalton said, and Kristof nodded too.
“You might be family,” Dalton said, “but I don’t hire people just because they are family. I’d have offered you a standing invite and a place to live if it was needed. I offered you a job as it’s one I believe you are more than capable of excelling at. Clear?”
“Crystal.” Relief slammed into her. She’d worried that they were doing this as a favor for Draven rather than for her skills. She should have known better. Nemesis only hired people he wanted. Draven’s desires weren’t even on his radar. “Still, I appreciate it.”
Once they were on the main floor and through security, she was brought outside the front door. Kristof plucked the map from her fingers, turned it around to orientate it, and handed it back. “You’re going that way.” He pointed toward the barns and corrals she’d passed on the way up here with Draven a while ago. “Don’t get lost.”
There was nothing left for her to do but get moving. If this was somewhere she was supposed to go, then she’d follow orders and go there. But if there was a pissed off bull at the other end, then she was going to beat the lot of them. She wouldn’t even care that they were her bosses if that happened. She would show them no mercy at all.
That’s an odd place for balloons.
She decided they were nothing to do with her, and paid little attention to them at first, the papers nailed to the fence posts along with balloons. It was only when one of the balloons hit off the barbs on the wire and popped, making her jump, that she took a closer look. She brushed the page down from where it had curled up with the wind. “U.”
These people are kooky as all get out.
She moved onto the next one and peered at the letter, written in big bold purple sharpie. “M.”
U.M. Um? That doesn’t make sense.
She glanced at her watch. She had forty-five minutes to make it to her destination, and these papers went all the way to the corner of the barn. There were only four more posts until she reached that point. Her curiosity got the better of her, and she glanced over her shoulder and counted back the posts with balloons flying overhead. “Eleven of them.” She had time. Nosey or not, she was invested now. She went back to the first post and peeled down the page. “I.” The next post revealed the letter N. “In.” The next three letters revealed gave her pause. “D.I.A.” Shit, it wasn’t in, it’s India. “They could have told me this was part of the test. Assholes.”
She dug into her purse for a pen and turned over the map Kentucky had given her, writing her name on the page before starting with the rest of the letters.
India W.I.L.L.U.M.A.R.R.Y…
India will U marry…
This cannot be happening!
This isn’t real!
I refuse to believe this means what I think it means.
Fluttering around the side of the barn, she spotted one lone balloon and turned the corner. Her brain still refused to get four when she put two and two together. In front of her in massive letters built out of hay bales was the word ‘him?’
Her heart pounded in her chest as she looked for him, and her eyes narrowed in confusion when she saw who, or rather what, was at the end of the hay bales. Munching to their hearts content were two itty-bitty baby Galloway coo calves. “Will I marry a highland coo? What kind of ranch is this?”
The sound of a throat clearing behind her scared the crap out of her, and she whirled around. Her purse was heavy enough to use as a weapon. She gripped it, ready to let it fly if needed, and stumbled to a stop. Spontaneous tears welled in her eyes.
From his position on one knee in front of her, Draven smiled up at her. “Not will you marry him,” he said softly. “Will you marry me?”
Her mouth opened and closed. She couldn’t speak around the lump in her throat. She glanced back at the word him, and the calves, then back at him again.
Answer him.
YES!
Absolutely yes!
But still no words came out of her mouth.
“The guys had this whole idea to hogtie me in place,” he grumbled. “I wouldn’t let them.” He closed his eyes briefly and opened them again. “India, will you marry ME?” He held up the white gold solitaire ring and offered it to her. “I don’t want to spend any more of my life without you. Will you keep my heart along with this ring and let me have yours forever? Be my wife. My life. My forever love?”
“Yes.” It came out as a squeak as she dropped to her knees and threw herself into his arms. “Oh my God. Yes!”
“Thank fuck.” Draven slipped the ring on her finger, pressed a kiss to her skin where it rested, then captured her lips for a slow, sweet kiss. When he pulled back, he dashed away a tear from his eye and brushed one away from hers with the other. “You had me worried there for a minute.”
“I thought someone wanted me to marry the freaking coo.” She swatted at his chest. “I was all kinds of confused.”
“I figured with a new job, you might be too busy for us to get around to having the kid conversation. But these babies might make the perfect gift from me to you.” He helped her to her feet. “It makes my heart happy when you coo to the coos, because it tells me you are happy.”
“I am.” She sat on one of the hay bales and extended her hand for the calves to sniff.
“Did she say yes?” a voice yelled from the barn.
“Yes, I did!” she yelled back, startling the calves who bounded away, kicking up their hind legs. A whoop drifted from the barn.
“I’m not dreaming, right?”
“No, baby.” Draven wrapped her into his arms against his chest. “Unless it’s dreaming of how our life will look like here in Montana.”
She remembered the teasing Draven had received when they were overseas and grinned up at him. “‘Hallmark in Montana’ has a good ring to it.”
His mouth dropped open. Hah, he hadn’t been expecting her to say that. She giggled as she watched the emotions play across his face, then he called over his shoulder.
“Someone look after the babies.”
“You got it.”
She didn’t have time to figure out what was happening as she was looking for the source of the voice. She squeaked as he scooped her up into his arms and took off toward Bravo House at a brisk walk as if she weighed nothing. “Is Hallmark in Montana about to move way past the PG rating?”
“Damn straight, baby. Damn straight.”
The rest of the world could wait. That happy place she’d been looking for for most of her life… it turned out it was right here in Montana in this man’s arms.
She laughed happily and wrapped her arms around his neck, kissing his cheek. “I love you, Draven Kilkenny.”
“I love you too, India Fox. For now, and for always.”
*
I hope you enjoyed Draven & Indy’s story as much as I did writing it.