Defending Harlow (Mountain Mercenaries #4)(84)

He should’ve done this before now.

Smiling, Nolan wiped the sweat out of his eyes once more. He looked down at the items at his feet. A brick, a couple of bottles filled with gasoline with cloth wicks sticking out of the tops. He’d learned how to make the simple Molotov cocktails from the internet. No one would trace them back to him. He’d been very careful.

Looking out the window once more, he watched as the fat chick, the cook, walked toward the shelter with one of the damn bodyguards at her side. He narrowed his eyes and held his breath, hoping like hell the man wouldn’t be staying. Women tended to panic when faced with fire, but he had a feeling the man wouldn’t. Therefore, he needed him to go.





Chapter Twenty-Two

Harlow stopped at the doorway of the shelter and looked around. The afternoon was warm, and all was quiet. There were a few people inside the tattoo parlor, but they didn’t seem to be paying attention to anyone outside the shop.

“I’m sorry I can’t stay,” Lowell told her. “I have interviews today that I forgot about. I need to hire a couple new managers at the gun range. I’d have one of the other guys stop in, but they’re all busy too, following up on leads.”

“It’s fine, Lowell. I think we can manage without one of you guys hovering for an afternoon. Especially now that you took care of those punks.”

“It was only one,” Lowell warned. “Not all of them. And while we have the name of the person who we think hired them, we won’t know for sure until we find him.”

“You will,” Harlow told him, waving off his concerns. “I’m impressed that you guys seem to solve all the cases you investigate. You don’t stop until everyone is safe. I love that about you.”

The second the words came out of her mouth, Harlow panicked. She hadn’t meant to insinuate that she loved him . . . had she? People said things like that all the time, right? She loved Brad Pitt, but that didn’t mean she loved him.

Luckily, Lowell didn’t seem fazed by her words, which was good.

Wasn’t it?

“I’ll stop by after dinner,” he said. “That way Loretta doesn’t have to pay to feed me.”

Harlow wanted to protest, but she was the one who’d been complaining about how expensive food was. “Okay. I’ll see you later then.”

“Call if you need anything.”

“I will.”

Then he leaned forward and kissed her. A deep kiss that made Harlow’s heart beat faster, and she shifted in his grasp, wanting more. He slowly pulled back, brought a hand up to her face, and ran a finger down her cheek. “Love seeing you blush, baby.” Then he kissed her once more, a chaste kiss that still somehow made her long for another. “Be safe.”

Before she could respond—her brain felt like it had been short-circuited by his kiss—he was walking back down the sidewalk toward his car.

She quickly slipped inside the shelter and locked the door behind her. She turned to see Julia and Melinda standing there, smirking at her.

“Uh . . . hi,” Harlow stuttered.

“Hey.”

“Yo. Looks like someone is gettin’ lucky,” Melinda quipped.

“Shut up,” Harlow said with no heat and a small smile.

“Happy for you,” Julia said. “He seems like he’s one of the good guys.”

“He totally is,” Harlow said. “How are you guys?”

They shrugged. “We’re okay,” Melinda told her. “Stressed, but Loretta says she’s going to do what she can to help us figure out a place to live.”

“She will,” Harlow reassured them. “I know this is really hard on her.”

Both women nodded. “We just appreciate everything she’s done for us so far,” Julia said. “Jasper was really struggling, but ever since we’ve been here, he’s gotten better. He’s not as cynical, which was really starting to worry me.”

“He’s a good kid. Him and Milo both,” Harlow said. She looked at her watch. “I really need to go get started on dinner. Is the meeting with the investor still on for today?”

Melinda nodded. “Yeah. She’s supposed to be here in half an hour.”

Harlow knew that wouldn’t give her a lot of time to get dinner prepped. She always entertained the kids when their moms were in a meeting. Deciding today they’d get to help her make dinner, Harlow asked, “Is everyone going to be here tonight to eat? Do you know?”

Melinda shrugged. Julia said, “I think Sue and Kristen are working, and Lauren might be out too, but the rest of us are all here.”

“Okay, so nine adults, five kids, and Edward, if he shows up. No problem.”

Julia shook her head. “I have a hard time cooking for two. I don’t know how you do it.”

An idea came to Harlow then, and she said, “I’ve shown you guys a thing or two while you’ve been here, but maybe I need to start giving more in-depth cooking lessons to everyone. Would you like that?”

Julia’s face lit up. “I’d love it! As long as whatever you teach us is easy and fast. I know once I get into a place of my own, I’ll be working a lot and won’t have much time to spend in the kitchen.”

The ideas were flowing fast and furious in Harlow’s head. She could totally start up a sort of cooking school for working women. Teach them how to make healthy, fast, affordable meals. Just because someone didn’t have a ton of time or money didn’t mean that they couldn’t make nutritious meals.