Page 31 of One Lucky Hero (Men in Uniform 1)

s before finally pulling away.

“Hold that thought.”

What thought? Every time he touches you, thought and reason go right out the window.

He disappeared into the living room. “I don’t know this number.”

“I never answer numbers I don’t know.”

She wrapped the towel around her body as she padded down the hallway. She had left her tote in the living room last night and wanted to check her phone, in case one of the kids needed her. Pulling the tote up onto the arm of the couch, she rummaged through it until she found her phone. When she pressed the button to light up the screen, nothing happened.

Crap, her phone had died sometime during the night.

Dean’s phone blared again.

“What’s the number?”

He recited off the numbers of Tracy’s cell, and she nodded. “Answer it. It’s Tracy. She’s probably been calling my phone, but it’s dead.”

“And now she’s making sure you’re not in a jar in my fridge.”

“Most likely.” Tracy would have been panicked when Violet didn’t answer.

Dean answered, and after several seconds of silence, he held the phone out to her.

“Hey, Tracy,” Violet said, taking the phone from him. “Sorry, my phone died. How’d you get this number, anyway?”

“I asked Tyler for it when you didn’t pick up. Girl, you scared me to death! Why didn’t you put it on that portable charger thing I got you?”

“I forgot it at home, but no worries, I’m fine.” Glancing at Dean, she whispered, “Better than fine.”

“Vi, honey, as much as I want to delve into all the details of your better than fine, we have a problem.”

Dread took hold. “What’s wrong?”

“There was a message from Casey on my phone last night. Apparently, he was trying to get ahold of you and figured you were with me. Babe, he got arrested.”

Violet closed her eyes, fighting back the urge to cry. “For what?”

“He didn’t say, but he’s at the juvenile facility off of Bradshaw. I already called in sick, and Tyler gave me the address to your stud muffin’s house, so I am on my way to pick you up. We’ll head over to get Casey. With any luck, he hasn’t done anything that will get him any time. Hopefully we can walk in and out with little trouble.”

Violet wrapped her free arm around her middle, a comforting gesture as she turned her back on Dean. A thousand scenarios raced through her mind, each one worse than the last, and suddenly all she wanted to do was get to her brother.

“Thanks, Trace, I’ll see you in a few.”

“Ten four.”

Violet clicked off the call and, taking a shaky breath, turned to hand Dean his phone. “Thanks.”

“You okay?” he asked.

Violet blinked back tears, unable to speak past the lump in her throat. This was the third time Casey had been picked up by the police. They had let him off with a warning both times before and just driven him home, but last time, the officer had warned her that if it happened again, they were going to prosecute him. Once Casey had charges brought against him, she couldn’t be sure Child Protective Services wouldn’t come sniffing around. It wouldn’t be the first time she’d handled CPS and kept her siblings with her, but what if her luck had run out?

Strong biceps wrapped around her, and she barely noticed the fact that she was basically falling apart in the arms of a naked stranger. She had wanted just one night of freedom.

And she was being punished for it.

Pulling away, she blinked several times, cursing the tears that escaped. “Sorry, I’ve got to get dressed. Tracy is on her way.”