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Chapter Two

“ B loody hell.” Joe Harkin removed his headset and turned off the video game. The war game was too much like the real thing and thankfully had no real-life blood or casualties.

“Hey, we weren’t done yet. We hadn’t wiped out that other team,” groused Mark Stone, his best friend since basic training and SEAL buddy.

“Tough. You can tell it to Sam. I’m starving, and she’s bringing in food right now.”

“Tell me what?” asked Samantha “Sam” Knight, as she stepped into the room carrying a tray filled with sandwiches and beer.

Joe glanced over at Mark, who had that shit-eating grin on his face whenever Sam was around.

“I love you and want you to have my baby,” said Mark.

“Bite me.”

“I would if you come over here,” he said, lightly tapping her rear.

She growled at him, and Mark laughed.

“Man, you like to live dangerously.” Joe laughed .

“Oh, please, she’s a pussycat.”

“Humph, a pussycat with big teeth,” said Joe.

“Guys.” She huffed. “I’m right here, and I’m going to take the sandwiches back to the kitchen if you don’t behave.” Sam gave them a look that would have scared most people.

Mark grunted and patted the sofa. Sam rolled her eyes.

“Here you go,” said Sam as she set down the tray. She gave Mark a big smooch and settled next to him on the sofa. “Did your team win?”

“We would have if Mark here weren’t such a wuss,” Joe groused.

Mark punched Joe’s shoulder. “You, my son, are a poor sport who needs more downtime. And practice. Lots of practice.”

They ate in comfortable silence. Looking at the cozy couple across from him, Joe felt a pang of jealousy. Sam was one kickass woman who owned KnightGuard Security, a security and protection company in Black Pointe, Florida. The company Joe worked for.

Mark vowed to leave guns and violence behind when he left the teams and had made a name for himself in the construction business.

A business he loved. Both he and Sam were high-energy, intense people who found time to be with each other.

Show each other a softer side. Although he wasn’t sure Sam showed her softer side much.

Joe wanted that. He wanted to find a warm, soft woman to come home to—make love to. One who would accept him for who he was. But with his history, he knew no one would want him.

He had been alone too long now. He grew up with nobody caring about him except for Mr. and Mrs. Grissom, the couple in his last foster home, who showed him what a normal family was like.

And Claire, his first and only love, who befriended him after he saved her from bullies who attacked her when she was a freshman.

Actually, they’d saved each other. Joe had been on his way to meet some older boys who wanted to rob a convenience store.

He never made it. While Mr. and Mrs. G. provided him with security, Claire provided him with love.

But he hurt her when he left for the Navy.

He never explained to her that he had to make something of himself first, to make her proud of him.

He let Claire think he’d run off like a scared rabbit.

He couldn’t meet her to explain because he knew he would never have left her.

He only hoped she’d forgiven him by now.

But that was long ago in a galaxy far, far away—another world. Not the world Joe lived in today.

Joe caught the usual grief about retreating to his Batcave. Mark had been to his house a few times, but Sam never had. He never entertained so there was no good reason why anyone should be in his house.

Mark walked him out.

“How about going to the range Wednesday night?” asked Joe. “I have to leave the next day for a job, and we haven’t been in a while.”

“Nah, can’t. My cousin is coming in, and I’m not sure what time she’ll be in.”

“Okay then. I’ll see you soon.”

Joe got into his truck, pumped up the air-conditioning and drove the half hour to his house.

He didn’t get together often with Mark, preferring to spend his alone time …

alone. But occasionally, it felt good to connect with friends.

Watching Sam and Mark interact, he’d felt a stab of jealousy.

They both had time-consuming jobs but were making their relationship work .

The trip home wasn’t long enough for him to contemplate deep relationship issues. Before he knew it, he was home. Home. Batcave, indeed.

He pulled into the gravel driveway that led to an oversize garage.

Someday he would pave the drive, but for now, it worked for him.

His house was a nondescript beige stucco ranch.

A small ranch house by anyone’s standards, but it was his, paid for with cash.

It would be his first and only house. The first house anyone in his family ever owned, not that anyone would ever know or care.

There were a couple of hibiscus trees out front but little landscaping anywhere else. With his job, he had no time to garden, plus no one could sneak up on him and hide in the bushes. Well, they wouldn’t get far anyhow. The house was wired for security. He was wired to kill.

“Mr. Joe. Mr. Joe.”

A small voice interrupted his thoughts. He turned and watched his neighbor’s six-year-old son race over and skid to a stop in front of him.

“Mikey. What’s up, dude?”

The little boy stretched his neck to look up at him, his eyes watering.

“My ball is…” He gulped and pointed toward the street.

“Your ball is what?” Joe glanced around Mikey’s yard and noticed two other small boys staring at him. One was holding a bat.

“We was playing baseball when Jeremy hit it real hard and it went down the drain.”

“Okaaay.”

Mikey looked at him like he was a dunce and pronounced, “We don’t have another ball.”

Right. Of course not. He’d lived next door to Mikey’s parents for two years and knew that with four little kids and a dad who worked two jobs, there wasn’t extra money for balls or much of anything else. But there was a lot of love in that house, and that was free.

“Gotcha. Let’s go get that ball.”

Mikey gave a yip, and the other boys excitedly raced over, showing him the drain that it had fallen in.

Joe spotted the ball among the disintegrating leaves and garbage. He got down on his stomach and reached way down through God only knew what to retrieve it. He wiped the ball clean, handed it back to Mikey and was rewarded with another toothless grin.

“Thankyouthankyouthankyou.”

The boys ran off to continue their game. Well, one good deed checked off. He wished they were all so easy and gratifying. When he was a kid, he never had a ball to retrieve or even someone to retrieve it. He was too busy protecting himself, not worrying about playing games.

Walking back to his house, Joe mentally went over what he needed to pack for his next job and how fortunate Mikey was to have a stable home and loving parents. Something he hadn’t experienced for most of his life. He shrugged. At this point in his life, he was content. Content, but alone.

But he owned his house free and clear. He could pay his bills, had a job he liked, enjoyed the people he worked with, and he could count on them having his back. It was enough for now. Wasn’t it?

He could get a woman for sex when he needed it—just the way he liked it. No attachments. No commitments. Besides, what woman could love a man whose parents hated him enough to abandon him? Who had grown up on the streets and had always been in trouble? No decent woman, that’s for sure.

He shook his head. No time for heavy thoughts or to think about relationships. He had a job to get ready for.