Chapter Eleven

T he scent of fresh coffee permeated Livia's senses, drawing her to the surface of her dream.

Her dream about Carver.

She inwardly groaned—she couldn't even keep the man from visiting her unconscious mind.

With her eyes still closed in sleep, she froze.

Wait. A. Minute.

Had she imagined turning over in the night to find a big, strong arm anchored around her waist? And a pair of steely thighs behind hers?

What about that stiff rod that rode along her backside?

Unless she dreamed those things, the man had shared her bed last night.

She opened her eyes and blinked at her surroundings. Carver wasn't standing right in front of her and when she rolled onto her back, she didn't see him anywhere in the room.

Just then, he pushed the door open and walked in carrying a mug of steaming coffee.

His gaze fell on her. "You're up."

She already knew she looked a mess. She couldn't win any awards for beauty when she first woke up. Yet the expression in his eyes sent a trickle of warmth through her belly.

She cast around for something to say. Morning conversation with a lover was not something she was practiced at.

"The smell of coffee woke me."

He crossed the room in a few long strides and placed the mug in her hands. Their fingers brushed in the transfer, lifting a memory of him touching her as she slept. Of one hand always resting on her.

He moved to the window and swished the curtain back, filling the room with early morning sunlight. The sky was streaked with the pink of sunrise.

"This is a good start with the coffee." She took a sip of the delicious brew. "But why are we up so early?"

"I have a surprise for you."

She lowered her mug. "What kind of surprise?"

Did she even like surprises? She couldn't remember ever having a good one, only bad.

"Drink your coffee and get dressed."

"Did you wake me up just to boss me around?"

He returned to the bed. His strong body sent a thrill through her. When he planted a hand on the bed and leaned over her very, very slowly, a knot tightened in her core.

"If you really want to see me bossing you around, try me, darlin'." He kissed her, gently brushing his lips over hers.

She didn't even get a chance to argue that she had morning breath before he straightened and left her alone.

What in the world was Carver up to?

How long was this surprise going to take? She had to open the bar in a few short hours or her lunch regulars would be disappointed.

The only way to find out what Carver had planned for her was to finish her coffee and get dressed.

When she walked into the living room wearing her standard uniform of jeans and a Badlands T-shirt, he was sitting on the couch with Angel in his lap.

He looked up at her entrance.

"Is this all right for whatever we're doing?" She waved a hand over her attire.

He nodded. "We'll be outdoors. Do you have a light jacket or sweater?"

After grabbing an old flannel shirt and slipping on her boots, she was ready for whatever came next.

Carver's expression gave nothing away. He held out a hand. "I'll need your keys."

"Where are we going?"

"You'll find out."

"When?"

He gave her an exasperated look. "Livia, haven't you ever had a surprise date before?"

Her mouth dried out. Her tongue grew thick. "Date?" she managed.

He gave her a single nod.

"The keys?"

"Uh…I forgot to feed Angel."

"Already did that."

"I only have a few hours before I need to be to the bar."

"Quit stalling and hand over the keys, woman."

She set a hand on her hip and craned her neck to meet his stare. "You can't boss me around, Wolfe."

Even if it was hot as hell.

"Fine. Please give me the keys so we can go."

Seeing no more stalling tactics in sight, she reached into her purse and tugged them free.

Once he checked that no dangers lurked outside the house, he got behind the wheel and drove out of Eden. It wasn't long before she realized they were headed to the Gracey Ranch.

Actually, the view of the sky and mountains were stunning. The pastel hues filled her with a peace she rarely felt.

"I've never seen this part of the land at this time of day."

"It's really pretty. I've seen a lot of pretty views in my travels, but this is one of my top five."

"Five, huh? What were the others?"

He turned his head and pierced her with his gaze. "If I tell you that, I'd have to kill you."

Caught off-guard, she laughed. "I see. SEAL secrets and all that?"

"Yup."

She studied his profile. "What was it like? Fighting for your country?"

His jaw flexed at the crease. "A little like wing night at Badlands."

Again, she laughed. He was glossing over his duty, but if she spent enough time with him, eventually, he'd start to talk to her.

Her mind flipped back to the previous night. All those things he said to her—did he really mean them?

They entered the gates of the Gracey Ranch and parked in front of the expansive garage. Next, he led her to the paddock. By magic, two horses were already saddled for them.

"You can ride?" His question had her gripping the pommel and swinging up into the saddle.

Carver's grin flashed.

"What if I couldn't ride? Would it squash whatever surprise you have for me?" Her horse shifted, and she balanced herself in the saddle to calm it.

"Nope. I would have made you ride with me." With all the grace and ease of a cowboy, he slipped into the saddle and gripped the reins in his big, capable hands.

Those hands possessed so many skills—including ones that sent her over the edge into bliss.

They headed out, riding side by side on a trail that ran along the perimeter of one of the pastures. The beauty of the land dotted with cattle and the morning sun kissing the crest of the jagged mountain took her breath away.

They rounded a bend and she spotted something on the ground ahead.

"What is that?"

"Go see."

She eyed him. It looked like somebody scattered objects across the trail.

He hung back, giving her a chance to show off her skills. She spurred her horse forward. As she neared the place and spotted a red and white checked blanket spread on the grassy trail and a picnic basket off to one side, there was no stopping the smile that spread over her face.

She wheeled her mount around just as Carver rode up.

He smiled into her eyes. "I hope you worked up an appetite."

Oh, she had. For him.

The sudden urge to clench her thighs tighter around the horse burned like the sun scorching the dew off the mountain.

He dismounted and loosely hobbled his horse. Then he reached up a hand to help her down.

She slid her hand into his and allowed him to do what he loved to do—be protective and manly.

The thought gave her a beat of pause. Was it such a terrible thing to allow him to look out for her? She'd been bucking him every step of the way. He was protecting her, and how could she argue with him about that?

With both horses peacefully grazing on the tall grass growing on both sides of the trail, Carver led her to the picnic blanket.

When he waved a hand for her to take a seat, she spied the small rocks weighting down each corner of the blanket. With a gasp, she picked one up.

"It's shaped like a heart!" What she said sank in. A heart.

His lips quirked at one corner, stopping that organ in her chest. As he took a seat next to her, legs stretched out in front of him and crossed at the ankles, she had to force her breathing to slow.

She wanted him. Now.

But she wanted to see what was inside that picnic basket too. She got the feeling it wasn't a dangerous venomous snake but more touching overtures meant to sweeten her.

He flipped up the lid of the basket to reveal several covered dishes. He began to unpack them, setting them out on the blanket. She pulled the lid off one and couldn't stop a sound of appreciation at seeing the fresh strawberries.

There were also croissants, spicy sausages, a tea cake and a thermos filled with more hot coffee.

She eyed him. "Okay, who helped you with this?"

He chuckled. "Ivy."

"Of course. She's always been good at organizing things."

He placed a hand close to hers and leaned in. She leaned in too, inch by inch, until their lips brushed.

On a moan, he deepened the kiss, gliding his tongue over hers and creating a new kind of hunger.

When he broke the caress, she swore the birds were singing louder and the breeze was more fragrant with the scent of mountain pine.

A sudden wail broke the silence. A whoop of an alarm.

Carver jolted to his feet, hand along his spine. A ripple ran through Livia at the thought of him needing to pull out that weapon and use it to defend her. Defend both of them.

She started to clamber to her feet, but he threw out a hand to stop her. The scream of the siren sounded again, louder this time, coming their way.

"Is that an ambulance?" Her hoarse whisper was hot with the worry of somebody needing an ambulance. There was only one house on this road—the Graceys'.

While they were very isolated on the trail, the road ran close enough that they could see the ambulance lights through the trees.

The horses stomped their feet and shifted, restless from the noise.

Livia put a hand on Carver's arm. "That has to be going to the ranch."

He gave her a hard nod. "Let's go."

* * * * *

Carver led the way down the trail, weaving left and right to avoid branches stretched across the divide. Every few feet, he glanced back to make sure Livia was still seated, but she held her own in the race back to the ranch.

On a working ranch, injuries happened. It was also possible that Sean Gracey was having more heart problems. He was still recovering from bypass surgery, and sometimes things happened.

Carver just hoped it wasn't his men or the Gracey daughters. They had suffered too much already. They deserved peace and time to heal.

Under him, the horse's muscles rolled, and the hooves thundered in his ears. When they hit the trail head, he threw a look back at Livia. Confident that she'd keep up, he spurred his horse faster and took off at a fast gallop along the edge of the pasture.

She edged her horse neck and neck with his. If his chest weren't burning with worry over what happened to warrant an ambulance being called to the ranch, he would be turned on with the competition Livia threw at him.

When they rounded the pasture, a cluster of people came into sight. He spotted the flipped ATV just as Livia let out a cry.

Oh god. An ATV accident. Those things killed people. Accidents were no joking matter.

As they raced toward the site, so did the rescue unit, bumping out through the field. Colton was crouched over the victim on the ground, but at the sound of their horses approaching, he looked up.

Carver drew on the reins to bring his mount to a halt, and Livia wheeled around the group, leaping off her horse to run on foot to them.

"Get back. Let us in!" The medics directed everyone away.

Colton scrambled to his feet, and to Carver's relief, Hunter stood too. Both of his men were fine.

"What happened? Who's hurt?" Livia threw herself into the knot of men.

"It's Marks." Hunter tore off his hat and sliced his fingers through his hair. "Goddammit!"

Carver gripped his friend's shoulder in a show of support. "The medics will do their jobs. Did he flip it in a groundhog hole or something?"

At that, Colton lifted his head and met Carver's stare. He waved a hand for them all to follow. Once they were several feet away from where the team worked on the ranch hand, Colton dropped his mask, showing them all the fury in his eyes.

"It's an act of sabotage."

Anger hooked Carver in the gut. "Somebody tampered with the ATV?"

"That axle didn't just break on its own. Fuck!"

Livia touched Colton's arm, bringing him back from the brink of rage. Carver knew that strong emotion—all three of them did. And every time one of their own took a hit, it surfaced again.

"Marks is a good guy," Colton grated out.

"Don't count him out yet. Men like him are fighters," Carver put in.

"Yeah, well, he's got a neck injury." Hunter's voice grew ragged.

Oh fuck. That wasn't good. He met Hunter's gaze for a heavy beat—and read the truth there.

They'd seen men with injuries to the spinal cord before. More often than not, they were never the same.

"We have to hold on to hope for Marks," he heard himself say.

Livia turned her stare to his, the depths of her sapphire eyes bright. "Yes. We have to think positive for him."

Two figures ran across the pasture. Seeing them, Livia let out a cry and raced toward Meadow and Ivy. The three embraced, as tight as he was with his brothers-in-arms. In that moment, he realized that Livia had been a support system for the Gracey girls the same way he had been for his men after the attack that scattered what remained of their SEAL team.

He looked between Colton and Hunter. "If somebody tampered with the ATV, it means there is still a trespasser problem on the ranch."

Several yards away, the medics' voices carried to each other as they stabilized Marks to move him.

Colton stared past him at the wreckage of the flipped ATV and let out a curse.

Carver knew what he had to do. "I need to be here with you guys, keeping watch."

Hunter scrubbed a finger between his furrowed brows. "Ledger's on his way. He hit some snags, but he'll be here."

"Not soon enough." Carver couldn't stay away from the ranch forever protecting Livia. But he needed to be there for her too.

Colton swung his attention to him. "You can't leave Livia either. That rattler was as much of a coincidence as that ATV axle snapping."

He ground his molars. "You're right—someone is after Livia. And they're also after the Graceys."

The three of them looked at each other, letting that sink in.

"You could bring her here." Colton had a valid suggestion there.

But it wouldn't work. "She's stubborn as hell. She'll never agree to it."

"Told you that you like difficult women."

He gave him a grim quirk of his lips. "But I'll never get bored with her."

The traits that Livia believed made her unattractive to other men was what made her a perfect match for him.

"I can't deny we need guards posted all around the ranch. Somehow these assholes are getting around our cameras and we can't catch them on tape." Hunter thrust his hand deep in his pocket, his pose stiff.

"Ledger's coming, but who else can we reach out to?"

They stared at each other, at a loss.

"Not many of us are left." Colton dragged in a deep breath and blew it out. "But I can reach out to my buddy, Ross Wynton. He runs a security agency—WEST Protection."

Carver spotted Livia walking toward him and knew they needed to go open the bar. What began as a romantic date with the woman he was falling for had ended in disaster.

They all turned to watch the medics load Marks into the back of the ambulance. Colton broke away and jogged over to the ambulance. He stuck his head in the open doors, speaking to Marks.

Livia reached Carver, and he slipped an arm around her, pulling her against his side where she belonged.

Where he could keep her safe.

They all looked on as Colton stepped away from the ambulance and one of the medics closed the doors, the double thuds ominous after what happened.

What they all felt coming.