Deploy, Part One (Rawlings #1)(28)

Declan raised his hands in a pissed, confused gesture, then slammed them down on the steering wheel.

A few seconds later, he saw her...





Eight


In the dawn of the morning sun, Justice was sitting on the top of a picnic table set up behind the gas station, quietly reading a book.

Today she wasn’t in a summer dress; she was wearing well-worn blue jeans, a dark top, and an apron she had folded down.

Her braid, the method she used to tame her wild curls, was tighter than he had ever seen it, then again, he’d never really seen her quite so early in the morning.

She wasn’t looking his way, and there wasn’t a soul near her. What cars were out and about were the way Nolan went, grabbing breakfast before a long day.

Declan hesitated. He could feel two parts of him ripping. One saying let it go for now, and the other begging for just one more look in her eyes.

The latter side won as he slung his door open. At first, he all but marched toward her, marked irritation in every move of his body. Like he was mad she was there and she made him feel again. Then he realized he was mad for that very reason and stopped abruptly.

He glanced over his shoulder in the direction his brother went knowing right then, more than ever, Nolan was right. This wasn’t right for anyone right now.

Still, Declan wanted one more look. Aware of himself he walked forward. She didn’t look up until he was right up on her and when she did she jarred back and grasped her chest, barely stifling a scream. Then with a shaky smile she pulled her headphones out.

“You scared me.”

“What are you doing here?” he asked in the clipped tone he was known to use.

“Um,” she stalled, glancing around the parking lot. “Are you alone?”

“Why? What’s wrong?”

“No reason, ju—just curious is all,” she said as the flush rose color he adored so much eased over her soft skin.

“Why are you here?” he asked again, as if she’d walked into his house, into his space.

She nodded across the way. “I work there.”

He knew that. But the diner was across the street and up a building or two. It made no sense for her to be behind a gas station that backed up to a low-rent neighborhood that had its fair share of trouble. He didn’t care that it was dawn, in a town they both grew up in, shit happens. And the last thing this girl needed was more drama.

“Why back here?” he asked, glaring in the distance. He was almost sure he saw Jacks’ truck parked in a ditch a block away. All kinds of horrid thoughts were running through Declan’s head—him thinking after their riff last night Murdock decided to see where he could get with Justice. Anything was possible.

“I was meeting somebody before I went in for my shift.”

“Meeting someone?” he repeated sharply, noticing how she wouldn’t meet his eyes when she said it which made his head go wild. For all he knew she was a pro at sneaking around and had some non-daddy approved boy meeting her when he could on the sly. “Who?”

“I thought you left,” she said, failing to hide both the sorrow and excitement in her tone, and ignoring his question.

“Am now,” he nodded toward her. “You good?”

“Yeah,” she said, glancing away.

“I tried calling you,” he said abruptly. He’d even tried last night when he got home, letting it ring twice before he hung up.

She blushed deeper. “Yeah, it’s been crazy. You know, community clean up stuff.” Basically, she meant she had made sure she had stayed in a crowd since she saw him last. Every time Declan had called, she was either with her dad or Murdock. One time, even the Sheriff.

This morning when she saw his number she assumed by the time it was an accidental call, that or one made as he was leaving town.

“I called you back, a few times.” This morning she had listened to his out going message on his voice mail a time or two, the sound of his voice...

Declan furrowed his brow. The only time he didn’t have his phone was when he was asleep or working out. The idea that anyone had jacked with his phone pissed him off.

He had rehearsed exactly what he was going to say to her. He was going to tell her, in essence, what he kept hearing, all about the timing. He was going to pull the friend card, ‘fun while it lasted, I’ll have your back if it gets crazy.’

It was cowardly, but he knew he could say it on the phone and not change his course, so when he figured he wasn’t getting a second alone with her, he was almost good with it, even though he craved her like a dying man wanting one more breath just to feel it ease through his lungs.

Saying his rehearsed speech as coldly as he planned, point blank, was not possible when looking at her. It was a battle he had no hope of winning from the gate.

“I didn’t see it,” he said, not even bothering to check his phone. No, he wasn’t going to waste one second that could be spent soaking in the sight of her.

She nodded toward the highway. “So this is it, your day.”

Declan didn’t smile. “Listen to me,” he said sharply. He clenched his jaw before he spoke, then lifted both his brows. “You deploy any and all defense you need when you need it. Don’t question if it’s right or wrong. Don’t doubt your strength or your worth. No one lays a hand on you. You hear me?”