Page 63 of One Lucky Hero (Men in Uniform 1)

Dean chuckled. “I’d have done the same thing to my sister. It’s a sign of affection, believe me.”

“I know,” she said.

“Well, off to go crack the whip. I want to get the kids back in time for afternoon visitation. Plus, all their dogs are being handled by Best, who wasn’t happy about it.”

Violet wasn’t sympathetic, not after Best had been so tactless at Alpha Dog. “Somehow, I don’t think I’ll feel bad about that.”

“Me neither. Believe me, I’ve covered for him enough, he can take this one.”

As Dean left her room, Violet wasn’t sure she hadn’t lost her mind. Dean’s close proximity seemed to send her into turbulent mood swings; one minute she was beyond livid, the next she was a simpering pile of goo.

It wasn’t right. It wasn’t healthy.

So why didn’t you just kick him out?

That was an excellent question.

DEAN HADN’T EXPECTED Violet to actually come outside fifteen minutes later dressed in jeans and a ratty T-shirt, a tool box in one hand and a pot of coffee in the other. Daisy came out behind her with a bunch of mismatched mugs and set them on the porch railing.

“I’ll be back,” Daisy said.

“Hurry up. You aren’t getting out of this,” Violet called, earning a face from Daisy.

Dean tipped the brim of his hat back and took off his work gloves. “What’s all this?”

“I figured everyone could use some coffee, and Daisy’s gone to get donuts.”

Dean had a feeling she just didn’t want to feel obligated to him for anything, and he could respect that. Climbing up to study the mugs, he picked up a Darth Vader mug and held it out. “You got any milk and sugar?”

“Yeah, on the counter in the kitchen. I’ll get it.”

Dean followed behind her with his mug, figuring there was no sense in her carrying the milk and sugar outside for him. Kline took his coffee black, and as for most of the kids, he wasn’t sure they needed the caffeine.

He hadn’t gotten to check out her kitchen yet and was surprised to find most of the appliances had been updated, unlike the living room. There was even a standing mixer on the counter, similar to the one his mother had begged his dad for five Christmases ago. Since he’d been the one to pick it up for his dad, he knew it wasn’t cheap.

“What do you use that for?” he asked.

She glanced at the mixer as she set the coffeepot back on its station. “My mother’s old one broke a few years ago. Daisy got a job at this fancy kitchen store in Roseville and used her discount to buy it for me.” Violet gave him a rueful smile as she continued, “I was so mad at her for wasting her money, but she’d told me this bullshit story about how the owner had given her an additional thirty percent off, so it wasn’t as much as I thought. I knew she was lying because I’d met her boss, and there wasn’t a generous bone in her body. I was so glad when she took the job at Safeway. They love her, and the manager even helped her get a transfer to a store close to Oregon State.”

“That’s awesome,” he said.

“It is. She gets benefits, too, so that works out well.”

As he doctored his coffee, he thought about his youngest sisters, who were twenty and twenty-two, and couldn’t believe the difference in maturity. He imagined them in Violet’s shoes and didn’t think they could hold it together the way she did. With all the odds stacked against her, Violet was something else.

“I should go ask everyone else if they want some coffee,” she said suddenly.

“And I should get back to the porch before someone falls through and gets stuck.”

“Har har, my porch isn’t that bad,” she said.

“It’s no longer considered a porch, it’s a termite’s dinner,” he said.

“Whatever.” She rolled her eyes at him as she walked past with the pot, and his gaze traveled down to the sway of her hips. It was so subtle he knew it wasn’t a conscious motion, but it hypnotized him, sending him into a state of arousal inappropriate for the crowd outside.

“Are you coming?” she asked from the open doorway.

“Yeah, one second.” Closing his eyes, he tried to conjure images of dead dogs and fish guts, but her ass was officially burned into his retinas.