The Battlefield Series 7: Disguising the Truth (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting) Read online

  “No. Of course not.” He seemed shocked as his eyes widened and then he sat back down in the seat.

  “Good, then let’s have coffee and enjoy the cinnamon buns I’ve heard great things about and move on.” She sat back down and opened up the bag. One glance at Tobias and the man wasn’t going to let this alone.

  “Got a name for that company you worked for?” he pushed.

  She exhaled and picked at the delicious-looking breakfast treat. With every ounce of calmness she responded. “You have a very suspicious mind. You don’t trust easily, and I get that considering your background, but really, Tobias?”

  “Name of the company you worked for,” he pushed again, straight-faced.

  “Who said I worked for the company? Maybe I owned it. You know what, Tobias, I can do one even better. I’ll have the new owner of the company call you. He worked with me for a few years and knows me well. Perhaps that will get you off my case,” she said firmly and he nodded.

  “Maybe I just want to get to know you better?”

  She raised one of her eyebrows up at him. “As a friend, or as the assistant chief of police?”

  “A friend, to start.”

  She took a deep breath and exhaled. “Listen, you’re a nice guy, your brother Wallace is, too, but I’m not interested in starting any complicated relationships. I moved out here for peace and quiet. To kind of find myself, and prepare for the next steps in my life.”

  “Well then, it’s a good thing we’re friends. You can bounce ideas off of me,” Tobias told her.

  She chuckled. “You? Seriously?”

  “What?” he asked with a straight expression.

  “Tobias, you’re six-feet-three, covered with muscles and tattoos, have a piss-poor attitude most of the time, and do not come across as the ‘sounding board’ type at all.”

  “What type do I look like?”

  “The demanding ‘my way or the highway’ type. A man set in his ways who likes to be in control of everything. You’re suspicious, untrusting, and accusatory. You do have a nice sense of humor when you have a few beers and even smile a bit more, so maybe that’s when you’d make a good sounding board, but otherwise you’re really not even approachable.”

  “I don’t believe what you’re saying. Besides, it doesn’t take a few beers to loosen me up.”

  “You said it, not me.”

  He smirked and leaned back in the chair.

  He licked his lower lip and she couldn’t help but find it sexy as damn hell. This was not going like she wanted it to. He began to like her more. Hell, she liked him even more.

  “How about we start over? No presumptions, just honesty and see where it leads?”

  “How about not?” She stood up and so did he. As she went to walk inside he touched her hand to stop her and she stepped back, hitting the wall behind her. Their eyes locked onto one another.

  He looked down at her face and reached up and gently stroked her jaw. She could smell his cologne, and feel how large and fit he was because he was so close. God, even his fingers felt so good against her skin.

  When he closed the space between them, her heart raced and she stared at his lips, the rough beard and how sexy and country he looked.

  “Damn, baby, this can’t be just me feeling this.”

  “Tobias—”

  He shook his head, her lips parted and he leaned forward and kissed her. His hand slid along her neck to the back of her head and he deepened the kiss.

  He used his other arm to wrap around her waist and hoist her up against him more snugly. She kissed him back, overcome with desire and an attraction to the man who dampened her panties and made her imagine stripping him naked and having her wicked way with him. He squeezed her ass and she lifted her thigh up against his hip. When he cupped her breast she moaned into his mouth. He pinched her nipple through the bra and she pulled from his mouth. “Tobias,” she exclaimed.

  He suckled against her neck and then made his way to her lips, kissing her and talking to her in between.

  “Don’t deny what we’re both feeling. You’re attracted to me and to Wallace, aren’t you?”

  She waited to say anything. This was bad, but how could she continue to lie to the man? Once he found out about who she really was things would be over before they started.

  She turned away from him and he hugged her to him.

  “You’re scared. I don’t know why. Did you have a bad experience with a man?”

  She snorted. Jesus. “I don’t want to lie to you, nor do I want to share anything from my past, but I think it’s better if we don’t start this.”

  “Too late. We’ve started.” He suckled against her neck again, cupped her breast, and pressed his body snugly against hers. He was forceful and commanding. He was a man who got what he wanted. It turned her on. Everything about him did. She could feel his hard cock and then the strap to her bra and tank lowered. She panicked, remembering the scar from the bullet and she lifted it back up and then pressed her hands against his chest.

  “We need to slow down.”

  He licked his lower lip and then cupped her cheeks. “Don’t deny these feelings. Whatever happened in the past is in the past.”

  “That’s easier said than done.”

  He squinted his eyes down at her. “You had a bad experience?”

  “I went through some major shit, Tobias. Major. I don’t want to lie to you.”

  “Then don’t.”

  “Again, easier said than done.” She pressed away from him and he grabbed her hand. She looked back at him. He just stared at her and in that moment she wished for so much. She wondered how he would feel if she told him she worked deep undercover. So deep she’d slept with a criminal drug lord and arms dealer in order to save another criminal who worked for him. Scallone. She was shot three times, killed over two dozen men in order to survive and had to change her name, her identity, and disappear. My name is Celeste. I love that name and I can’t even have it anymore.

  “Okay, this is what we’re going to do.”

  “No, Tobias. There’s no plan of action. No way around this. I need to stay uninvolved.”

  “Is there another man or men? Someone you left behind in New York?”

  She shook her head and looked away from him. A few silent moments passed between them and he just stared at her intently while keeping a hand on her hip.

  “Give me your cell phone number,” she said and pulled away. She reached for her cell phone. He rambled off the number and she made the new contact in her phone. “I think you should leave.”

  “Wait, what? Why? You just asked me for my cell phone number.”

  “We’re friends, right?”

  “Yes, but—”

  She raised her hand up. “We’re friends, right?”

  “Yes.”

  “Okay, then I’ll call you sometime to hang out. As friends. Nothing more.”

  He stared at her. “I can go slow. It will be hard as damn hell, but I can do it,” he said and looked her body over, causing her breasts to feel full and her pussy clench. Damn, this was so bad.

  “Thank you for the coffee and breakfast.”

  “So you’ll call me this weekend?”

  “I have plans.”

  “Hiking? I do, too. Going up to Lake Freeman. You should come along.”

  She exhaled.

  “Okay, you can meet me and Wallace up there. Cell phone signal is good until you get closer to the lake and the shooting range where they have obstacle courses.”

  “Oh, I heard about that. It sounded pretty cool.”

  “It is. We could bring you through it. We have all the stuff.”

  She chuckled and then crossed her arms in front of her chest. He was making this so difficult. This was a different side of Tobias. He was being flirty, charismatic, and it was hard to say no to him.

  “Okay. What time are you going there tomorrow?”

  He stared at her and squinted his eyes like he was evaluating her response. “W
e’re camping out. So we’ll get up to the parking area around eight.”

  “Okay. I’ll meet up with you.”

  “Sounds good. This will be fun. Oh, do you have any guns?”

  She squinted at him.

  “It wasn’t a trick question. I know you don’t have any registered so maybe a shotgun or rifle for hunting?” he asked.

  “No. I don’t have any guns. Can I rent one for the day?”

  “No need. We’ll have a good set up. You’ll be covered and we can show you how to use anything you’re not familiar with.”

  She smiled, but inside part of her, the feminist, independent trained cop wanted to tell him she could use just about anything. It was part of her training as an agent, and simply her interest in guns. “That would be great. I appreciate it, friend,” she said, but when she passed him to start walking to lead him out, he stopped her, pulled her close and kissed her deeply. There was no damn way she was going to be just friends with Tobias. She wanted him, and meeting him and Wallace tomorrow was going to be a huge mistake.

  * * * *

  “So she said yes?” Wallace asked Tobias.

  “She said yes to us showing her through the obstacle shooting course. I think she’s planning on camping out and hiking but hopefully we can get her to camp with us.”

  “It sounds like she may be only interested in you.”

  “No, definitely not. She felt the attraction to you, too, just like you felt it. When we meet her it will be a good time to get to know her and for her to get to know us.”

  “What about Scottie and Stephan?”

  “I haven’t heard from them but they know our plan. Scotty said he would probably make it back to Repose in time to meet us there. We’ll pack for him, too. I don’t know about Stephan. If they don’t make it then maybe the next time.”

  “Yeah, right.” Wallace sounded pissed off. “I need to finish up so I can make it tomorrow.”

  “Okay, I’ll see you tonight.” Tobias disconnected the call.

  “Hey, you got a minute?” Cesar asked Tobias.

  “Yeah sure, what’s going on?” He stood up and saw Zeke standing there, too.

  “In my office,” Cesar said and he followed him and Zeke.

  Zeke closed the door behind them.

  “What’s up?” Tobias asked.

  “Well, I did a little investigating into Chloe and that company she worked for in New York.”

  Tobias squinted his eyes at him and felt his gut clench with concern. “And?”

  “And, as legit as it sounded, there was no additional proof of the company’s existence beyond a year. Then, when I was going to call Chloe and ask her, I get a phone call from the guy who bought the company from her. We start talking and it sounded very rehearsed. Like he was waiting for a phone call. The guy even went on to tell me how great Chloe is,” Zeke said to him.

  “Maybe it was legit,” Tobias said.

  “There is something funny about the whole thing. I started a basic search. Got a number and called to leave a message for the guy. He called back within five minutes and was talking like a canary. In one sentence he made reference to her living in Texas and a little later as I asked if he knew where she moved to he said he didn’t know. That he didn’t even know what state she lived in.”

  “So what do we do?” Tobias asked.

  “I think we need to give her the opportunity to let us know what is going on. How did things go when you went by to see her this morning?” Cesar asked him.

  “It went well. She definitely did not seem fazed by last night’s events. She has a huge bruise on her arm too and acted like it wasn’t there.”

  “Did you push her for information?” Zeke asked.

  “I tried, but she was avoiding it. Then she asked why she was being treated like some criminal and being investigated. She even suggested I was pissed off because she wasn’t some damsel in distress and in need of my manly assistance,” Tobias said to them.

  Zeke chuckled. His arms were crossed in front of his chest while he leaned against Cesar’s desk. “That’s so Chloe. She’s tough, so I can see her having that reaction,” Zeke replied.

  “Yeah, but again, we’re back to having very little information on her. Those skills she showed against two men twice her size, the familiarity with the gun, and her attitude toward being questioned. It doesn’t take cops to figure out she’s hiding something. I just don’t want this turning into another situation like other recent events,” Cesar said.

  “We sure as shit don’t need that,” Zeke added.

  “Listen, I made some plans with her for tomorrow.”

  Cesar raised one of his eyebrows up at him and Zeke smiled.

  “Damn, you move fast,” Zeke teased.

  “It’s not really like that. She pushed the whole friends thing and not wanting to get involved with anyone.”

  “Sounds like maybe a bad relationship,” Cesar said.

  “A need with which to be concerned,” Zeke added.

  “I hope not, but maybe tomorrow when we spend some time together I’ll get a better idea.”

  “Is Wallace going, too?” Zeke asked.

  Tobias nodded. “We had plans for Scottie and Stephan to go. It was supposed to be a weekend to talk and hang out. Stephan said he should be back this week, but he still isn’t,” Tobias told them.

  “Whatever he went through with work keeping him away for so long must have affected him. Hopefully he’ll show up and maybe Chloe could be the person to bring things together for all four of you?” Zeke suggested.

  “That’s a lot of maybes and I’m not counting on anything when it comes to Stephan. He’s just too secretive about his work, and the past year or so has put a damper on all of us. Whatever happens, happens. Wallace and I will focus on Chloe and getting to know her. If Scottie comes along then that’s great, too.”

  “I hope she confides in you guys, that way if she is in any kind of danger or there’s a need for concern, we are aware and can help protect her,” Cesar told him.

  “Agreed,” Tobias said and felt that instant heaviness in his heart. Something was definitely going on in Chloe’s life that made her resistant to getting romantically involved with him. There was no way she didn’t feel the attraction like he did when they kissed. There was no avoiding that kind of desire. Not a chance. It made him realize how much he was looking forward to this camping trip and seeing Chloe tomorrow. Maybe she would like his brothers and they would like her and things could work out between all of them. It was a big maybe, but crazier things had happened.

  * * * *

  “So where is she?” Wallace asked and lifted the backpack onto his shoulder, adjusting it.

  Tobias locked up the truck and looked at his military watch.

  “I should have heard from her by now.”

  “I don’t think she’s coming. From what you said yesterday, she isn’t interested.”

  “I don’t know. I think she’ll come.”

  Just then his cell phone indicated he got a text.

  “It’s her. She said she’s up on the hill already. That she got an early start and wanted to case out potential campsites.”

  “She sounds like she knows what she’s doing,” Wallace replied and then prepared to start heading up the path.

  “Another indication that she has more secrets maybe,” Tobias replied.

  Wallace was wondering a lot about Chloe too and hoped that they got some answers today.

  As they made their way through the path and up through the woods Wallace couldn’t help but to walk quickly. He couldn’t stop thinking about Chloe since meeting her the other night. When Tobias explained what happened that night after they left, he was angry and concerned. He wanted to make sure that she was okay, but then those concerns turned into distrust. Wallace wasn’t a trusting person. It took years of knowing someone and witnessing their actions to prove they were trustworthy. His job in the military had been pretty damn intense and a time or two the bad guy they were
investigating or hunting for turned out to be a good guy and someone his team trusted. He was affected by that and questioned his own judgment. It was part of the reason he got into this other program with the military. Throughout the years the only men he learned to trust and respect were ones who he partnered up with for heavy operations and proved their trustworthiness, and of course his brothers. With Stephan away so much even that line of trust felt weakened. He hoped he made it here somehow today. It could make things fall into place when they least expected it.

  He shook the thoughts from his head and wondered why he wanted this camping trip to mean so much more. Maybe he was getting tired of the job. Maybe he just wanted to have more to come home to and instead of worrying about his brothers, about Scottie and especially Stephan.

  “There she is,” Tobias said and as Wallace looked up he saw her standing by the tree a good distance from them. She wore her hair pulled back, a long sleeve shirt in a light beige color and tan pants with pockets on the legs. As they got closer he saw the white tank top she wore underneath, plus the hiking boots that gave her a little height, and a leather sheath on her hip containing one very large hunting knife.

  “You made it,” Tobias said as he approached.

  “Hi, Chloe,” Wallace said to her and she gave a soft smile.

  “Hi, Wallace, Tobias. Sorry for not texting you sooner. I ran into one of the park rangers. Solomon? He was giving me some advice about good, safe camping spots, and asked if I needed help with the obstacle course. I told him I was meeting you guys. You two know him?” she asked.

  Wallace didn’t care for Solomon that much. He seemed kind of odd in more ways than one. Now that it sounded like he hit on Chloe, he really didn’t like the guy.

  “He’s okay. I worked with him one time when some kids decided to take one of the park ranger’s ATVs for a spin through the trails,” Tobias told her.

  “Oh no, they must have been so upset about that,” she replied.

  “Nothing more exciting really happens around here,” Wallace added.