“This is not nearly humiliating enough.”
He’d really been taken in. When he’d seen that asshole pressing her up against the wall, he’d been ready to beat the shit out of the guy, to forget he was a law enforcement officer. And then, he’d fallen for it when she’d cried—held her like the dumbass sucker he was.
Gavin rolled his eyes. “Let me summarize for you. Basically, I got fleeced by a cute blonde with big green eyes and a very practiced sad smile.”
Zac sat up a little straighter. “Now we’re getting somewhere. Fleeced how?”
Gavin shook his head. “I offered her my jacket, and she stole my wallet right out of the pocket.”
Zac laughed. Not a small chuckle, a straight-up belly laugh.
Gavin let out a long-suffering sigh. “Glad my hardship amuses you.”
“No wonder you’re holed up in this office.” Zac was still laughing. “Damn, Redwood, no good deed goes unpunished, does it?”
“Evidently not.”
Zac tried to get his merriment under control but wasn’t having much luck. “But seriously, having your wallet stolen is a hassle. Did you have to cancel all your credit cards and stuff?”
Gavin shook his head. “No, fortunately, she took the cash but left the plastic. Cash I would’ve given her if she’d asked. Two hundred and eleven dollars.”
He’d come back out after searching for her jacket with the bad news that it wasn’t in the booth and hadn’t been turned in to either of the bartenders. Worst fucking thing? He’d been prepared to give up his own favorite bomber jacket to replace hers.
Because he hadn’t wanted her to be cold. Wherever she was going, whatever seemed to make those ridiculous green eyes of hers so sad, he hadn’t wanted her to be cold.
And that made him a fucking idiot.
“Damn,” Zac said. “Did you turn the whole hotel into a crime scene? Drag people out of their rooms for questioning?”
Gavin could chuckle about it now. “No, I decided to let it go as a lesson in the pitfalls of falling for a pretty face.”
But evidently not a very well-learned lesson, because he had dusted his credit cards for prints. Not because he planned to actually arrest her, but because he wanted to know who she was. To have a way and a reason to see her again.
Because he hadn’t been able to get her out of his mind in the five days since they’d met.
So yeah, that made him a really big fucking idiot.
“If that lesson only cost you two hundred and eleven dollars, then I think you got off pretty cheap,” Zac said. “Everybody’s at the Eagle’s Nest. Come have a couple beers. I’m buying since—”
“Don’t you say it.” Gavin knew what was coming.
“—you’re broke.” Zac stood up and grinned. “There’s no way out of it for you now. If you don’t come, I’ll be forced to tell the guys what happened and why you’re hiding here. But if you come with me, I promise not to say a word.”
All he had to do was ask Zac not to say anything and the man would go to his grave with the secret nowhere near his lips. Zac MacKay had saved his life more than once during their missions with the Special Forces. Gavin had returned the favor a time or two.
But the fact that the guys had a system for dealing with him whenever he came back from Dad’s didn’t sit well with him. Gavin didn’t want to be a burden. So he would go hang out.
“Well, when you put it that way, I think it’s definitely time for a beer.” He grabbed that very same bomber jacket and slipped it on, and they walked out of the office together. Everything he was working on here could wait until tomorrow.
He felt better as soon as he stepped foot into the Eagle’s Nest.
Oak Creek got quite a bit of business year round. They were close enough to the Tetons to bring in all different types. Hikers and nature lovers in the warmer months, skiers and snowboarders in the winter.
Plus Linear Tactical itself brought in a steady stream of law enforcement and private security groups who wanted to train with the best. LT offered all sorts of classes from basic self-defense to weapons usage and management, from hour-long situational awareness seminars to week-long immersive wilderness survival training sessions. Gavin enjoyed them all.
He also enjoyed the unique mixture of small-town living and some of the amenities of a bigger city: a hospital, a local community college, and a number of shops.
The Eagle’s Nest, the bar that sat at the south end of town and had been run by old Mac Templeton since decades before Gavin had ever set foot in Oak Creek, was like a second home for all of them. Tourists tended to flock to a couple of newer, trendier bars a little closer to the resorts. The tourists could have them. Gavin and his friends weren’t looking for trends.
Two of the Linear Tactical guys, Finn Bollinger and Aiden Teague, sat at one of the booths they tended to frequent. Kendrick Foster, a younger man who’d come into town a couple years ago to help with a kidnapping situation and never left, sat across from them.
All three men called out a welcome as Gavin and Zac walked toward them. Zac slid in beside Kendrick and Gavin pulled up a chair so he could sit at the end of the booth.
“Finally.” Finn slapped Gavin on the shoulder. “When are you coming back to take over the beginning self-defense classes?”
“Depends. Male or female classes?”
Finn rolled his eyes. “I have not seen the inside of a female self-defense class since a certain five-foot-two blonde bombshell walked back into my life nearly two years ago. The only self-defense I’m going to need is my own if she hears I’m teaching them.”
Gavin leaned back, crossed his arms over his chest, and nodded solemnly. “Then I guess I’ll take one for the team and volunteer to teach the young, attractive coeds.”
Everyone laughed. Gavin felt better. It was his nature to be alone—he had the nickname Redwood for a reason—but being with his friends was always a good thing. He needed to remember that.
“Who wants a drink?” Finn asked. “Mac hired a new waitress. Actually, I hear she’s more like a manager. She’s going to take over running the place for him.”
Gavin nodded. “Good. With Mac’s heart issues, he needs to slow down. Should’ve started backing off a decade ago. I’m surprised he’s willing to give up the reins, even in his seventies.”
“Me too,” Aiden said. “But evidently this new girl is some sort of . . . family member.”
The guys all let out awkward chuckles around the table.
“What?” There was obviously something Gavin didn’t understand.
“Let’s just say that if they’re family, there’s not much resemblance between the two. The new waitress is . . .” Finn faded off, glancing over at Kendrick.
“Don’t stop on my account.” Kendrick ran a hand over his dark head, hair cut so short he was nearly bald. “Mac is black and that woman is as white as they come. If they’re blood family, it must be an interesting story.”
“I’m glad Mac finally has someone helping him out,” Gavin said. “Even better if he’s going to be retiring.”
Finn nodded. “Totally agree.” He raised his hand to get the new waitress/manager’s attention.