Page 11 of Burning for Him

“Ha! Yeah, I got it in the Army. I’ll take it over some of the other nicknames from my old unit, though.”

He shook hands with Lindsey next. “Tony Barone. Nice to meet you. Lindsey, was it?”

“Yes, Lindsey Abbott. You may hear one of these two call me Costello, though.”

The man’s grin grew wider. “‘Who’s on First?’” When she smiled and nodded, he added, “Nice. Is that also a military nickname?”

“Yup. Marine Corps.”

“Really? Awesome. My cousin, Dara, is currently in boot camp at Parris Island. She’s halfway through and loving it, according to my aunt.”

“Oorah! Good for her. That’s where I got my training too.”

Tony turned to Doug, but despite holding out his hand, the man’s smile disappeared while his eyes narrowed. And there was a little more pressure than necessary in his handshake. “Tony Barone. I’m a friend of Jenn’s.”

Doug studied the man who appeared to be only a few years younger than himself. Tony was a couple of inches shorter, physically fit, with dark hair, hazel eyes, and a firm jaw. If Doug were gay or bi, he might even think the guy was handsome. But what the fuck?A friend of Jenn’s? Tony hadn’t stressed that to Lindsey or Romeo, but it seemed he wanted to make a point with Doug. Had Jenn mentioned him to this twit? Or fuck! Was Jenn romantically involved with him?

Squeezing the other man’s hand harder, Doug waited until he saw him wince slightly before easing up. “Doug Henderson. Pleasure to meet you.” It wasn’t in the least.

He let Tony’s hand go, and satisfaction rolled through him when the guy stepped back, flexing and closing his fingers several times, as if trying to assure himself that no metacarpals or phalanges were broken. From his left, he heard Romeo let outa snort, and Doug glared at him. With a smirk, his teammate held up his hands in surrender and then hit a button on the satellite phone before putting it to his ear.

While Romeo called Nathan and Colleen, Doug retrieved their go-bags from the truck and Jeep, then followed Tony to the bunkhouse they’d been assigned. Lindsey took her bag and headed toward the building next to theirs.

The bunkhouse was as basic as Doug suspected. It reminded him of his old boot camp barracks. There were twelve cots, each with a brown one-drawer nightstand, a footlocker, and a small wardrobe cabinet, which all looked like they came from IKEA—probably acquired through donations. Portable camping lamps were on the nightstands along with the occasional book or two and a few personal items. Near the door stood a rustic table and four chairs, accompanied by another lamp, a well-used deck of cards, a large plastic container filled with sourdough pretzels, and another one containing individual packages of peanut M&Ms. Doug did a double take on those, as they seemed out of place in the rudimentary commune.

Tony pointed to four cots on the far end of the room. “Those are all available. Toilets and urinals are in there. Showers are in the next building over. Keep them short.”

The man’s terse tone grated on Doug, and after tossing his and Romeo’s go-bags onto two empty cots, he said, “Hey, man. What’s your problem with me? With my teammates, you were smiling and joking. With me, it’s like you got a stick up your ass.”

Crossing his arms, Tony took a step forward. “Jenn and I have become friends. I’ve heard all about you, and let’s just say I’m not a fan. You hurt her, and you’ll have to deal with me.”

Friends? Jenn made friends easily, so that wasn’t surprising, but Doug still wondered if more was going on between the two. The thought of Jenn romantically involved with anyone made him sick.Damn it.He was stuck in a mindset that, even thoughhe shouldn’t be attracted to her, no one else should either—a walking contradiction. He couldn’t have his cake and eat it too—and he didn’t want to share said cake. Jenn was a beautiful, vibrant woman. Of course, she would garner interest from any guy who met her or even saw her from across the room. But this fucking twit certainly didn’t deserve her.

Growling, Doug closed the distance between them and glared down at the man, who surprisingly stood his ground. “I don’t give a shit who you are. I’m here for two reasons—to help out and to make sure Jenn stays safe and returns to her family unharmed. So stay out of my way, and we’ll get along just fine.”

With anger flaring in his eyes, Tony opened his mouth to say something else, but he was interrupted when the door swung wide and Romeo stepped inside. His gaze shifted between the two men, and then he shook his head and snorted. “Wonderful. A gunfight at the O.K. Corral. Or is it a dick measuring contest?”

“Shut it, Mancini,” Doug warned as he moved around Tony, intentionally bumping the guy’s shoulder hard as he passed and strode toward the door. “Let’s get to work.”

CHAPTER EIGHT

It took Jenn, Tony, and Lindsey three hours to get the clinic’s supply room back in order and complete the inventory. Most of the supplies and medications were salvageable, but some were crushed under the weight of heavier items and fallen shelf units and had to be discarded.

Dr. Sanchez, Margie, and Roland had spent about the same amount of time restoring the exam rooms and medical records in proper order. Thankfully, they only reported two pieces of equipment needed to be replaced, and those were readily available at a supply company in Bogotá and weren’t too expensive. As soon as they could confirm the business hadn’t sustained any damage and was open, one of the guards would drive down and get what was needed. Right then, regular cell and landline phone reception was spotty, with only a few calls getting through to various parts of the city and surrounding towns.

Everyone else at the commune had been busy too. The wayward goats, sheep, chickens, and two donkeys were safely back in their respective enclosures. The buildings were all inspected and suffered only minimal damage. Things could’ve been much worse—at least all the structures there were onlyone-story, and no trees had fallen. Rachael and Lexi had helped the kitchen staff clean up in there and the dining room, which were now in working order again.

Reports came in of heavily damaged areas and a few deaths in the region—at least one apartment building had collapsed in Bogotá. Several injured people—none of whom were critical—arrived at the commune shortly after the clinic was operational again, and Dr. Sanchez and the nurses got to work tending to them.

The cooks threw together a simple lunch of empanadas and chimichurri rice. All the hard work had made everyone hungry, and they took a break, wolfing down their meals. Except Jenn. She ate a little, but her stomach was in knots just being in the same room as Doug. The next few days would be her own private hell until he left. As she sat with Tony, Lindsey, and Adam McKee, one of the other male volunteers, she tried to ignore Doug, who was sitting one table over with Rachel, Lexie, and Romeo. The two women shamelessly flirted with the male newcomers, but didn’t seem to be making any progress with them.

Jenn knew Romeo wasn’t the manwhore some people thought he was just because of his handsome face, well-toned body, and outgoing personality. In fact, she didn’t think he dated much at all. He seemed hung up on renowned country singer Summer Hayes, who was a member of The Covenant and friends with Jenn’s extended family. She didn’t know what was going on between the two but thought they’d make a cute couple if they ever hooked up. Unfortunately, just because two people looked good together didn’t mean they belonged together.

Romeo did a good job of deflecting Rachel’s and Lexie’s advances while keeping things light and friendly. The women weren’t capturing Doug’s attention either. He kept glancing over at Jenn and glaring at Tony. She didn’t know why and wasafraid to ask. Tony hadn’t mentioned anything to her earlier—they hadn’t had a moment alone while working in the supply room—but she didn’t miss the dirty looks he sent Doug’s way too. It was apparent the two men didn’t like each other. Tony probably recalled their conversation about Doug and was being overly protective. But she had no clue why Doug seemed to want to pummel Tony like a punching bag.

The door to the dining hall swung open, and Rich and a short older man Jenn didn’t recognize hurried in. “We need help,” Rich announced. “The village of Anjama suffered heavy damage.” He tilted his head toward the man standing next to him. “Luis said they’ve got numerous people injured and some trapped in buildings that collapsed.”

Everyone got to their feet, and Doug asked, “How far away is it?”

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