Page 33 of Operation K-9 Brothers
Chapter Ten
Nichole fumed as she walked the dogs.Lane was an ass.Her brother was an ass.And the man who thought he could step in and solve all her problems?He was an ass, too.From the time her brother had gotten sick, she’d been pretty much on her own.Her parents’ attention had been focused on Mark, and rightly so.She’d learned to take care of herself at an early age, and she didn’t need anyone to do it for her.
“Hey,” said the voice that sent shivers down to her toes.Damn him.“Nichole?”Jack said when she kept walking, keeping her back to him.She wasn’t sure why she was feeling so bitchy toward him.He’d done nothing but show her respect and had dispatched Lane with little more than a spoken threat.
She stopped, and then turned to face him.“I can fight my own battles, thank you very much.”She really was a bitch.But Lane showing up tended to do that to her.
He stuffed his hands into his pockets.“I don’t doubt that for a minute.”He lowered his gaze to the ground.“My mom taught me that women are to be respected.My dad taught me that you protect your woman.The navy taught me how to do that.I’m sorry if I stepped out of line, but when it comes to you, I guess I don’t think straight.”
Her irritation fizzled at his admission, and she sighed.“No, I’m the one who’s sorry.I’m not mad at you.At Lane, yes, and I’m tired of Mark disappointing me.I could really use a hug.”
“Then I’m your man.”
He held out his arms and she walked into his embrace.If only she could just live here, next to his body.And truthfully, if Jack hadn’t shown up, she wasn’t sure what would have happened with Lane.He’d pretty much left her alone until Jack was in the picture, and now he was acting like a peeing dog marking his territory.
Rambo tried to jump up her legs, and she peered down at him.“He wants in on the hug.”
“I’d rather just keep hugging you.”He leaned away and smiled down at her.“You smell better.”
“I sure hope so.Really, though, thanks for coming back.Tonight didn’t go at all like I wanted.”
“Same, but we’ll have other nights.I’m going to head home, but I’m leaving Dakota with you in case your ex comes back.She won’t let him mess with you.”
“I doubt he’ll be back tonight, but thanks.”
“If he does, you call me.”
“Okay.”
She walked him to his car, got another kiss, and then watched him drive away again while wishing the evening had gone a lot differently.
“Are you still mad at me?”Mark said the next morning.
“I’m less mad than I was last night, but if you ever bring Lane here again, I’m going to have to hurt you.”After putting bowls of food down for Dakota and Rambo, she stirred cream into her coffee, then buttered two slices of wheat toast.Taking her plate and cup to the small kitchen table, she sat across from her brother.
“I won’t, but he said he just wanted to talk to you, and that you’d been blowing him off.”He shrugged.“I didn’t see the harm in it.”
“The harm in it is that it’s not up to you to decide who I talk to.”
“Got it.”He finished his bowl of oatmeal with sliced strawberries.
When he’d been sick, he’d learned to eat healthy, and he still did.He exercised daily and had routine checkups.Even though it had been over ten years since he’d been declared cancer free, she knew the fear of it happening again was a black cloud hanging over his head.
Her problem with him was his immaturity, and for that, she blamed both herself and their parents for babying him.It was as if he believed he was living on borrowed time, so he should get what he wanted when he wanted it.A steady job wasn’t one of those things he wanted.
“Do you think Jack was serious about taking me shooting with him?”
“Shooting?”
“Yeah, he said I could go to the firing range with him.”
“I don’t think that’s a good idea.”What was Jack thinking?Her brother had no business shooting guns.
The stubborn expression on his face was one she’d seen many times when he was determined to get something he wanted.“I’m past the age of having to ask permission, Nic.I just wanted to know if you thought he meant it.”
“I think Jack doesn’t say something he doesn’t mean, so yes.When are you going back to Florida?”She wouldn’t mind at all if he transferred his idolization from Lane to Jack, and if bonding at a firing range achieved that, so be it.Even better if he learned to be his own man, but she wasn’t sure he knew how.
Golden brown eyes—the same color as hers—shifted away.Crap, he wasn’t going back, which meant he would be her responsibility.
