Defending Harlow (Mountain Mercenaries #4)(23)

“So I have to get your permission to date now?” Black asked flippantly.

“No.” Rex’s voice quieted. “All I’m saying is to let yourself be happy. You deserve it as much as she does.”

Black wasn’t sure what to say about that. Rex was right, he did deserve to be happy, just as Harlow did, but one day in, and he was already confused about his feelings for her. He hadn’t lied: he wasn’t opposed to being in a long-term relationship with someone, but things seemed extraordinarily complicated at the moment with Harlow.

“The day I met my wife, I knew she was it for me,” Rex continued. “Sometimes you just know.”

“I’m not ready to get married,” Black told his handler.

“Just be open to the relationship,” Rex said. “Don’t talk yourself out of it before you see where it can go. You can be friends and still hang out with her. You don’t have to call what you do with her dates.”

Shit, now Rex was reading his mind.

Black was done. He wasn’t going to talk about his love life with his boss. “You call for a reason, Rex?”

“You mean other than to tell you I approve?” Rex asked with a chuckle.

“Yeah, other than that.”

“Actually, yes. Meat ordered cameras. They’ll be in sometime tomorrow. You and Arrow can install them at the shelter the day after.”

Black sat up straighter in anticipation. He was going to check on the ladies at the shelter anyway. He tried to remember when Harlow said she was working but couldn’t. He knew Zoe was taking breakfast today, but wasn’t sure what the chefs’ schedules were for the rest of the week. “Ten-four,” he told Rex. “I’ll get with Arrow and see what he needs from me.”

“Later,” Rex said.

Black hung up when he heard the dial tone in his ear. He sat at his desk for a long while, thinking about everything Rex had said, and about what he wanted. It was obvious Harlow was uneasy about relationships, but the two of them had definitely clicked regardless of her feelings on dating.

He liked hanging out with her. She was exactly how he remembered her being in high school. Funny, considerate, and honest.

Three traits he needed in a girlfriend.

Shaking his head, Black huffed out a breath. “Not a girlfriend,” he mumbled. He closed his eyes, still going over the call, and eventually decided Rex had just confirmed what he himself had already decided. Not about marrying Harlow, but taking things one day at a time. He might find out she secretly liked to kick puppies or had some other unforgivable trait.

Then his mind wandered to the way she’d felt tucked against his side, and he smiled. She fit against him perfectly. Since they were the same height, their bodies aligned as if they were made for each other.

Black opened his eyes and reached for the keyboard to his laptop. Harlow had enough shitty dates under her belt to last a lifetime. He couldn’t wait to show her there were some good men still out there, himself first and foremost. He’d plan the most amazing dates for the two of them to erase the memories of all the bad ones—without calling them dates, of course.

He’d have to be sneaky, but he was a former Navy SEAL. He could do sneaky.

Turning his attention to the computer, Black got busy researching the best places to take a woman in Colorado Springs. Their outings had to be different and unconventional so Harlow didn’t suspect they were dates.

Feeling more anticipation than he had in years about spending time with a woman, Black scrolled through the suggestions on a website he found, and grinned. This was going to be fun.





Chapter Seven

Harlow puttered around the kitchen getting the evening meal ready. Normally cooking soothed her, quieted her mind, but this afternoon her mind was anything but quiet. She hadn’t heard from Lowell after she’d sent him the text the day before yesterday, letting him know she was all right. She’d tried not to be disappointed about that, but failed.

Which was silly. She and Lowell weren’t dating. She’d told herself that a million times . . . but something inside refused to think of him as just a friend.

It was Loretta who’d informed her when she’d shown up for lunch duty—the schedule had changed, as it frequently did—that Rex had requested they put up cameras on the outside of the property, and two of the Mountain Mercenaries would be coming over to install them today.

Harlow had tried not to get her hopes up that Lowell would be one of the men to arrive, but it was impossible. She felt the same way she had back in high school right before the yearbook club meetings. Anticipation and nervousness.

“Stupid,” she muttered to herself as she chopped the fresh vegetables for the salad she was making.

“What’s stupid?”

Harlow almost chopped the tip of her finger off when she heard his voice.

Looking up, she saw Lowell standing in the doorway of the kitchen, much like he had the last time he’d been there.

“You really need to stop scaring me,” she scolded.

He merely smirked and retorted, “I actually purposely made noise this time. You really should be more aware of your surroundings.” Then he strolled over to her and kissed her on the cheek in greeting as if it were nothing out of the ordinary.

Harlow’s heart was beating double time, and she hadn’t done anything more strenuous than stand completely still as he’d kissed her.