Defending Harlow (Mountain Mercenaries #4)(19)

“It is,” Harlow agreed with a smile.

“She drives like she’s ninety,” Black teased.

“I do not!” she argued.

“From what I saw, you do,” Black countered.

“So I’m not a speed demon like you,” she said. “And I’m a safe driver. There’s nothing wrong with that.”

“No, there’s not,” Black agreed.

Harlow looked at the others. “I appreciate you trying to help. I mean, the men make me uncomfortable, but I can’t imagine how the others are feeling. Especially with their backgrounds. I hate that Violet and the others have been through what they have. It sucks.”

“It does. And we’re going to bloody well get to the bottom of it,” Ro said firmly. “Now . . . are we done here?” he asked.

Black, Ball, and Meat smiled.

“We’re done. Get home to Chloe,” Black told his friend. He’d never been jealous of his friends before, but something about the anticipation gleaming in Ro’s eyes got to him tonight as it never had in the past.

And it wasn’t about the sex. Okay, it wasn’t just about the sex. It was about having someone in your life who was just as excited to see you as you were them. It was about having someone to share your days and nights with.

“I’m going to talk to Rex about getting some cameras set up outside the shelter,” Ball said. “We need to get some eyes and ears on the perimeter.”

Black nodded. He’d already thought about that himself, but figured the others would take care of it.

“I’ll keep digging,” Meat said as he pushed up from the table. “There’s got to be something we’re missing.”

After the other men had left, Black turned to Harlow. “Are you okay?”

She sighed. “Yeah. I just hate this.”

“I know.” And he did. Black had seen the devastation that abuse and neglect caused women and kids firsthand. Wanting to get her mind off the things she’d heard about the residents’ pasts, he asked, “So you aren’t working tomorrow morning?”

She shook her head. “No. Zoe took dinner tonight and has breakfast in the morning. We switch off, and if one of us has plans, we’ll cover for the other. Sometimes Loretta gives us both a morning off. When she does, we make sure there are muffins and lots of other breakfast foods for everyone to munch on when they get up.”

“You sound like you really enjoy it. I take it working there is very different from being a chef in a restaurant?”

“Night and day,” she said definitively. “Don’t get me wrong, sometimes I miss making fancy meals and making sure the presentation is perfect, but making comfort food and seeing the women and kids eat as if they’ve never tasted anything better is so much more rewarding. Not once has someone sent their plate back to me because they thought something was under-or overcooked.”

“You like the kids,” Black said. It wasn’t a question.

“No. I love the kids,” Harlow said, fiddling with her empty glass. “They’re innocent in everything. And they love learning. Even the boys are excited to be in the kitchen. You should’ve seen the grin on Jasper’s face when the homemade bread he made came out perfectly. And the little ones’ favorite thing to do is decorate sugar cookies. I only wish I’d made the change sooner.”

“Do your parents still live in Topeka?” Black asked.

“Yeah. They’re both retired now. Mom volunteers at least thirty hours a week, and my dad works in his woodshop about as much. What about your folks?”

“They moved to Florida not too long after I graduated from college. They love Orlando and the weather down there.”

“I bet they’re proud of you,” Harlow said.

Black shrugged. “I guess. Although there’s not much to be proud of as a gun-range owner.”

“You haven’t told them about the Mountain Mercenaries?”

“No. I know it might not seem like it, with how easily Loretta spoke to you about us, but we don’t exactly go out of our way to tell people who we are and what we do. It would make us and our loved ones targets.”

“I hadn’t thought about it that way,” Harlow said. “I’m sorry. I’ll keep my mouth shut about it.”

Black smiled and nudged her with his shoulder. “It’s fine. I trust you.”

She frowned at that, but asked, “And your brother? I think you said he was a photographer?”

“Yup. He’s usually out of the country on an assignment. He’s freelance and goes where the excitement is. He’s sold pictures to National Geographic and all of the major news outlets.”

“Is it dangerous?”

“Yes and no. I mean, obviously being in the middle of an Egyptian coup is dangerous, but so is lying in the middle of the African prairie when there’s a stampede of wildebeests.”

Her eyes got big. “Did that happen?”

“What? The coup or the stampede?”

“Either.”

“Yes.”

“Wow.”

“Yeah. So Mom and Dad generally worry about Lance more than they do me. For all they know, I’m hanging out here in Colorado Springs with my gun-loving friends,” Black said with a smile.