Chapter Nine

A sharp tapping in the wee hours of the

morning jerked Shepherd from the best sleep he could ever remember.

He frowned when he could not move. Something was holding him

down.

But what?

Opening his eyes, he found himself facing a

wall. A fuzzy dark wall that he did not recognize. At the same

moment, he felt a big, warm body behind him move.

“Go back to sleep, Hoss. The alarm won’t go

off for a couple hours yet.”

That voice helped open the floodgates and in

the next instant everything that had happened in the past

thirty-six hours came flooding back. Being dragged from his bed and

given five minutes to pack a backpack. Running at the truck stop.

Brogan. Sexy games that had continued without full on anal sex.

What the fuck had he done?

Before he could respond, the sharp tapping

started again.

“Shit, who the fuck is that?” Brogan said,

pulling his arms from around him and rolling out of bed.

In the next instant, someone outside called

something that Shepherd could not understand, but that pulled

another curse from Brogan.

“Pull on some clothes and stay quiet,” he

said as he pulled on the jeans he had been wearing the night

before. “I’ll try to keep them from coming inside, but you might

need to show yourself.”

“Who is it?”

“State police.”

“Fuck,” Shepherd said as he tossed off the

covers and scrambled to gather his clothes from the floor.

Would his father send the state police after

him? Of course he would. He needed Shepherd back to close whatever

deal he had made with Carlos Reymundos.

With that, Brogan sat in the driver’s chair

and spun it back into position where he could look out the front

window. He worked the extra lock he had put on the door the night

before to keep road pirates from trying to steal his vehicle.

Another moment and he pushed the door open and bent down while

holding the side curtains up out of his way. Shepherd knew he was

trying to keep him hidden, so he finished dressing as quietly as he

could. Once he was fully clothed, he crawled back onto the bed,

into the corner of the cubby the storage units created around the

bed. He stayed behind Brogan’s chair, hoping whoever it was did not

climb in and see him. With his back to the corner, he pulled his

knees to his chest and then pulled the covers over him until only

his eyes and the top of his head were visible.

“Morning, officer. What can I do for

you?”

“Brogan Myles?”

“Yes, sir.”

“I need to see your paperwork on this load,”

the officer said, sounding like he was as grumpy as Shepherd felt

for being woken in the middle of the night.

Brogan shifted in his chair and pulled out

the plastic box with a clip on the front of it. During one of their

waits at a weigh station, he had shown Shepherd all the paperwork

he had to keep and how he organized it so his brother who ran the

office would not kill him when he finally returned home at the end

of a three-week run. All the receipts for gas and food and

everything else were kept in neat little dividers in the plastic

box, and the paperwork identifying the trailer was clipped to the

outside, along with his drive sheet, time sheet, and other

paperwork involved in being a trucker.

“Can you step out, please,” the officer said

after Brogan handed over the clipboard/box combination.

Brogan climbed out and shut the door, which

meant Shepherd could no longer hear what was being said.

A few minutes later, Brogan opened the door

again and climbed back in, pushing the curtains out of his way as

he pulled the door closed again.

“What was that about?” Shepherd whispered,

afraid the officer might still be out there and hear him.

“Joe Asshole and his partner who cornered

you earlier saw something online about a senator’s son being

missing. They called the police and told them they had seen you

with me and I told them you were my husband.”

“Fuck,” Shepherd said, pulling the blanket a

little closer around him.

“I told the officer that those two were

liars and that I wasn’t married, and was just helping out someone I

saw in trouble. I had never seen you before and had no idea where

you’d gone after I sent the two on their way.”

“In other words, you lied your ass off.”

Brogan shrugged. “The officer accepted it as

the truth and has gone away. From what I could tell, he wasn’t

happy to be out here at two o’clock in the morning anyway.”

“So, what now?” Shepherd wondered how much

longer Brogan would put up with all the horse shit that was

following him around.

“Now we go back to bed. It’s another three

hours before the alarm goes off and we have to start the day. But

until we get on the road, I need you to stay in here, preferably

out of sight.”

Shephard nodded and then straightened out

and laid back down, leaving plenty of room for the big trucker to

join him in the bed.

“Goodnight,” he whispered once Brogan

snuggled in behind him. Since they were both dressed, they kicked

the covers to the bottom of the bed and just cuddled together.

“Sweet dreams, Hoss.”

****

As usual, Brogan woke a few minutes before

the alarm went off three hours later. Brushing a kiss on the side

of Shepherd’s head, he carefully backed away and got up before

pulling the covers over the still-sleeping man. No reason for

Shepherd to wake up this early.

After pulling on his socks and boots, he

quietly pulled the curtain closed just behind the two seats before

opening the curtains that covered the windows. Once that was done,

he climbed out and went to the truck stop to do his morning

business and get some food for the road.

After getting two bottles of orange juice

and three breakfast sandwiches, he filled his oversized, insulated

cup with coffee before returning to the truck. A walk-around

inspection and they were ready to pull out and head to Destin. He

started the truck and let it warm up before stepping between the

seat.

“Hoss, it’s time to wake up,” he said as he

gently shook the sleeping man’s shoulder.

“Five more minutes, Mom,” Shepherd said,

clearly still asleep.

Brogan patted his ass and said, “I gave you

twenty. If you want to use the restroom and wash your face before

we hit the road, you need to get your ass out of bed and

inside.”

Shepherd rolled over and blinked up at him.

It took a few seconds before his brain seemed to begin firing.

“What happened to the alarm? I didn’t hear it go off.”

“I woke up before the alarm and turned it

off so you could sleep a few more minutes. Now get up and get

moving, Hoss. I want to be on the road in the next five

minutes.”

“Okay, I’m up. Please don’t leave without

me.” Shepherd rolled out of bed and shoved his feet into his

sneaker. In the next second, he was out the passenger’s door and

running across the parking lot.

He returned in seven minutes, carrying a bag

in each hand. Opening the door, he set the bags on the floorboard

before climbing up and sitting down. He closed the door and put on

his seatbelt before looking at Brogan.

“Sorry I took longer than five minutes, I

thought we might need food and drinks.”

Brogan chuckled as he pointed to the food he

had set out on the dashboard. “I picked up sausage, egg, and cheese

breakfast sandwiches and orange juice. What did you get?”

Shepherd’s cheek burnished as he opened one

of the bags. “Donuts, coffee cake, and soda.”

Brogan hit the button that locked the doors

before putting the truck in gear. “We’ll save that stuff for later.

After you get a decent breakfast in your belly.”