Embattled Minds (Military Romance) (Lost And Found Series) (2 page)

“House beer,” he snapped.

With a curious look, she turned away.

“Did I…a-actually say d-dark chocolate eyes?”

Chad laughed out loud and clapped him on the shoulder. “I knew you liked the girl, but I didn’t expect you to hit on her like that.”

Zeke shook his head, totally disgusted and completely mortified. As if it weren’t bad enough he couldn’t talk like a normal human being, now his brain had to pick up words he had no intention of uttering? It had tricked him before, but never so brilliantly.

For the millionth time, he wished he’d never taken cover behind that wall.

Within a few minutes she brought their drinks and asked about food. When the attention turned to him, he stabbed a finger at the menu and didn’t say a word. She grinned and scribbled his preference, then turned away.

Once the distraction Ember brought with her disappeared, they shifted in their seats, uncomfortable with being in the middle of the crowded bar. The hair lifted on the back of his neck. Zeke glanced around and more than one patron’s gaze shifted away guiltily, unwilling to acknowledge them. That’s what pissed him off more than anything. If they had questions, he would much rather they just come up and ask than whisper behind their hands and sneak glances at him. He knew he was fugly. He was surprised nobody had said it out loud yet.

The beer in front of him began to slosh and he looked across at Diego. His buddy jogged his leg beneath the table, unable to control his anxiety.
Uh, oh.
Chad recognized the impending disaster as well, because he pushed to his feet. “Mr. Ortiz, outside! I’ve got something in my truck to show you, man.”

Diego’s glazed dark eye focused in on his boss, and he nodded. Terrell caught his chair as Diego shoved to his feet and lurched toward the door. Zeke hoped nobody noticed the blade hidden in his hand against his hip. He pushed to his feet as well, grabbing his coat from the seat-back.

“I… b-better go t-too.”

Terrell nodded and leaned back in his chair. “I’ll keep our seats.”

Zeke navigated through the rapidly filling room, hoping that nobody reached out to Diego, because it would be hard to tell what the recently discharged Marine would do. Once out in the parking lot, he followed the men toward Chad’s bright red truck at the far end of the lot. Chad had just dropped the tailgate and was talking to Diego about some horse he was thinking about buying. Just making noise to keep the other man grounded. Diego paced through the snow, trampling it beneath his boots, oblivious to everything around him. The open blade in his hand swished back and forth against the side of his jeans.

Zeke sat on the tailgate beside Chad, zipping his coat around him. Diego had left his inside, but with sweat beading his brow, he seemed to be too hot to notice.

They sat there in the cold for the better part of twenty minutes as Diego fought demons only he could see. Eventually, he slowed and looked at the muddy path he’d made in the snow, frowning heavily. He stopped in front of them, scowling. “Kind of went off the deep end, huh?”

Zeke shook his head. “Nah. No biggie.”

Chad reached out and punched the sweating man in the arm. “Newbie. You gotta get your shit under control, man. You’re signed up for counseling, right?”

Diego nodded. “I am, but it’ll be months before I’ll be able to get in. They already told me that.”

Chad crossed his arms over his chest. “Then we’ll see if we can find you another counselor in the meantime. We’ve all been there, and still have issues to varying degrees. It’ll ease, I promise you. But it takes time.” He shrugged, tugging his jacket tighter around himself and pulling a butterscotch from his pocket. “When you feel it coming on like that, you need to get out of Dodge. Don’t try to tough it out. Especially in a group of civvies like that.”

Diego nodded, and looked out over the parking lot. “I didn’t know it was going to be that bad until I had my knife in my hand.”

He looked down at the wicked desert camo’ed lock blade in his palm. With one thumb, he closed the blade and tucked it into the corner of his jeans pocket.

Zeke chuckled when he caught sight of his buddy’s pants. “You can’t d-do that too…o-often.”

Diego looked down at his hip and choked out a laugh. Where the blade had run over and over again, the jean had worn through to the heavier threads. It looked like a couple years worth of wear had taken place just in one six-inch spot. “Damn.”

“Zeke, why don’t you go in and see if Ember can box up our meals. We’ll go to my apartment or something.”

Swallowing, his heart jerked in his chest. Chad wanted
him
to go in and talk to her?

Diego shook his dark head. “Nah, I’m okay Sergeant. Go on in and eat your food. Bring mine out when you’re done.”

“Yeah, right.”

Chad’s phone buzzed in his pocket. He tapped the screen and the illumination lit his face. “Terrell has our regular seats.”

Diego pursed his lips and glanced around, then readjusted the eyepatch over his right eye. “I think I can go in, if I can have my back to the wall.”

Chad folded his arms again and surveyed the other man. “Are you sure? We can’t have an incident.”

Nodding, Diego gave Chad good eyecontact. “I can, Boss Man. I won’t go off on these civvies.”

He smirked, as if the mere thought was ridiculous. And in actuality, it probably was. Diego Ortiz was one of the best security men Zeke had ever seen work, hands down. The missing eye messed with his depth perception a little bit, but not enough to keep him from doing his job.

Zeke wrapped his arm around Diego’s neck, tugging him into a brotherly hug. “Come on, dude. My beer’s…g-getting warm.”

They trailed back into the restaurant, Chad in front and Zeke covering Diego’s back. As soon as he walked in, Ember’s curvy shape caught his eye, disappearing through the swinging kitchen door at the back of the restaurant.

Terrell grinned as they resettled at the shadowed table farthest from the bar. “Find anything good out there in the snow?”

“Hell, no,” Diego muttered.

Having the wall at his back immediately seemed to put him at ease. Zeke was glad Diego had been able to control his anxiety. Integrating into crowds was one of the most difficult things to deal with when they came back home.

A plate thumped down in front of him, and when he glanced up, he was eye level with Ember’s plump breasts in the white Frog Dog T-shirt. Awareness skittered through his body, settling in his groin. She turned and set Terrell’s plate in front of him, then the other two. When she was done, she quite naturally rested her hand on Zeke’s shoulder. He fought not to tense up like a Motherfucker.

“I kept it warm until you got back, but if it doesn’t taste right let me know and I’ll get you a new order. Is there anything else you need?”

They all shook their heads and she faded away through the crowd.

He drew a deep breath and then another, fighting the draw to her that would never be satisfied. Deliberately, he picked up his sandwich. Perfect, as always.

“That was nice she kept it warm for us,” Chad murmured.

They all nodded. Nothing else was said as they plowed through the food. Ember paused long enough to make sure everything was okay and drop off another round of drinks, then she was on the run again. The crowd picked up and once again it seemed like they were short handed. When he finished with his meal, he made sure to police his trash and mess so that she didn’t have to, piling it all on the plate. Then, nursing his fresh beer, he turned his chair enough to pretend to watch the giant flatscreen over the bar. In actuality, he watched Ember. She was more fascinating to him than anything on TV.

Eager to laugh, she charmed the customers with her wit and personality. The women seemed to sense that she wasn’t a threat to their men, even though the men watched her curvy ass whenever they thought they could get away with it.

There seemed to be a tiredness to her today, as if something weighed on her mind. More than once she glanced at the kitchen door, as if waiting for somebody to come through it. She didn’t wear a wedding band, so he knew she wasn’t married, but maybe she was involved with someone. The cook, maybe?

Aggravation tightened the muscles across his chest as his ever-helpful mind flashed pictures of her locked in an embrace with some unknown man. He wanted to beat the shit out of him, whoever he was.

More than once, she glanced at him and caught him staring, but he couldn’t force himself to look away. He wanted her to sit down and talk to them, but he didn’t want to see the disgust on her face as he tried to speak. Maybe it wouldn’t play out the way he thought it would. She’d never been anything
but
kind to all of them.

He didn’t force himself to come in here every week for her kindness, though.

The crowd finally began to thin, and the next time she swung around with fresh drinks, Chad pulled out an empty chair from the table beside theirs and held his hand out in invitation. She seemed surprised, but grateful as she sank down onto the seat. Zeke could have kissed his meddling buddy, and cursed him. Every muscle in his body tightened as her heat invaded his space.

“Oh, that hurts so good.” She arched her feet and wiggled her ankles. “Thank you. I needed a break.”

“You need to delegate,” Chad told her bluntly. “It seems like you do seventy-five percent of the work in here, though there are other people working.”

Ember winced and looked around. The other waitresses were busy, but still managed to stop and talk. “You’re right, I know. But I’m managing tonight. I have to cover all the holes.”

Chad shook his head, grinning. “No, you have to manage what you have. You can’t do that running around trying to put out every fire. You need to park yourself and direct.”

She smiled and Zeke caught his breath. This close he could see every pore in her smooth skin, and her dark brown eyes had golden flecks in them that sparkled when she smiled. Her dark bangs curled over her forehead to rest on her brow, damp at the temples. “Like the military?”

Chad smiled and nodded. “It’s worked very well for hundreds of years. You should try it.”

Her eyes dimmed. “My dad tells me the same thing, but I feel bad when I tell people what to do. It’s just not my style. Are you guys all military?”

Zeke nodded. “Former.”

Her gaze swung in his direction. One lone finger reached out and teased at the edge of his straining T-shirt sleeve, tracing the bottom of the anchor, globe and eagle tattoo. “Are all of you Marines?”

Goose bumps pebbled his skin from her gentle touch, and his jaw ached from being clenched. His dick hardened painfully as her fingers drifted away, and he shifted in his chair. She switched her attention to the other three at the table before she could see his reaction.

Chad nodded, but Terrell grimaced. “You couldn’t pay me to be a jarhead. Navy.”

She grinned at Terrell. “I have a cousin in the Navy. She loves it.”

He winked at her and rocked back in his chair.

“Best place to be.”

They all laughed and disagreed, but it was what they’d done many times before.

Ember laughed along with them. “Looks like you’re in the minority, here.” Terrell shrugged and continued to smile, content.

*****

Ember realized as she sat there that she really liked these guys. They were thoughtful and kind, and weren’t talking to her just to get into her pants. She wanted to touch Zeke again. Feel that power beneath her hand. “So, what do you guys do now? Other than hang out in my restaurant every Saturday night?”

Chad, the cute one with sharp blue eyes and Texas twang in his voice, leaned forward. “We run an all-veteran investigative service, and provide corporate and personal security.”

Ember raised her brows, genuinely surprised. “Really? That’s interesting. My dad’s a former Marine and worked for a while at Denver PD. He’d probably like to meet you. He’s part owner of this place, but he’s not here tonight. Maybe some other time he can have a drink with you.”

“We’d be honored.”

“I’ll let him know when he comes back,” she promised. “He loves meeting other vets. It’s why he bought this restaurant. He wanted a place he and his buddies could be comfortable in. The guys from his company all come out once a year just to hang and reminisce.”

She smiled sadly. “Unfortunately, that’s kind of why he’s been off for the past few nights. One of his good friends took his own life last week.”

The men fell silent, then Chad offered their condolences. She shrugged. “I didn’t know him, but it’s really tearing my dad up. He hasn’t been sleeping or eating right, and he’s been off work for several days now.”

She was afraid to tell them that she lived in fear that she would go home one night and find he’d done the same thing.

No, he’s taking care of Drew. He wouldn’t do that in front of his grandson.

D
uncan glanced at his ringing cellphone on the floor beside the weight bench, but didn’t recognize the number. If it was important, they’d leave a message. He continued to butterfly the forty pound weights, working his pectorals. The burn felt good. He’d gotten out of the habit of exercising the way he used to, and his body was starting to show it. Just going a tad soft around the middle, a little less cut. But that little bit of definition he was losing now would be five times harder to put back on than it used to be.