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Chapter 2
The unforgiving sun was beating down mercilessly on this uncharacteristically hot September day. Sweat dripped down the back of Ace’s neck as he pushed the lawn mower up and down the small patch of grass in front of his condo. It was mindless work that most people dreaded, but he enjoyed.
Today was the first day off he’d had since he’d left the Corps five weeks ago. Before he’d even unpacked his bags he’d started his first job at Elite Protection, a private security company that was owned by Seth Sloan, who he’d served under for four years. A week later he’d decided to invest as a one-third partner in a bar and grill with Seth’s brother, Riley, and another former Marine, Dax. Every day since then, if he wasn’t on the job he’d been working at the bar and grill. They were doing a lot of the renovations themselves to save money. This was the first chance he’d gotten to take care of his overgrown lawn since he’d moved in and he was leaving tomorrow for another assignment. This job was a military contract that could last anywhere from one to six weeks. He’d been hand selected because of his experience with asset extractions in Special Ops. He planned on enjoying his day off, starting with some good, old-fashioned manual labor.
“You’re not God’s gift to women!” A shrieking, high-pitched voice cut through the rumbling growl of the lawn mower. “Get over yourself!”
Ace cut the motor and lifted his head. Beneath the brim of his baseball cap he saw a pretty brunette wearing cutoff shorts stalking towards him. He didn’t see a car and had no idea where she’d come from. She was making her way up the front walkway that led to both his and his neighbor’s front door with a phone to her ear looking down at the ground. When her gaze lifted and their eyes met she stopped up short. Her mouth dropped and closed again.
“Whoa.” Her large, almond shaped eyes widened as she asked breathlessly, “Who are you?”
Ace wasn’t a naturally suspicious person, but he’d always been a firm believer in trusting his intuition. This brown-haired beauty was wearing a blinking florescent sign that read—Warning: Danger Ahead. “Good mornin’.”
“And you have an accent…” The young woman whispered in awe.
Ace could hear a man’s voice through the speaker on the phone. He didn’t sound happy as he demanded to know who she was talking to. Who had an accent? And where the hell was she?
Dropping the device from her ear, she disconnected the call without answering any of the questions posed to her by the irate individual on the other end of the phone.
When she stood staring at him with a dazed expression, Ace asked, “Are you okay?”
Instead of answering, she just nodded.
“Can I help you with somethin’?” You can take the boy out of the South, but you can’t take the South out of the boy. Southern hospitality was so engrained in his DNA that not even a flashing neon sign stopped him from offering his assistance.
“Oh, I’m very certain you can help me.” A flirty smile slowly spread across her face as she started to put the phone in her pocket.
Before the device left her hand a song—that he’d heard about a thousand times that summer but he couldn’t name if his life depended on it—started playing. Loudly. She pressed a button on the side and silenced it, but not even two seconds later it started again.
“You’ve got to be kidding me!” she mumbled under her breath with a frustrated huff.
A small scrunch appeared at the bridge of her nose as she pursed her lips and lifted her pointer finger in the air and instructed Ace to, “Hold that thought.”
Then, after taking a deep breath she swiped across the screen in an exaggerated motion, lifted her phone to her ear, and spoke with an eerie calmness. “Hey, Roger. Do me a favor, the next time you get the urge to call me call your wife instead. Because guess what? If your number shows up on my phone again, that’s the next call I’ll be making. Oh and I’ll make sure to congratulate her on her pregnancy.”
Damn.
When Ace was growing up, before he’d gotten involved in sports, he’d spent his summers at his Grandma Lulu’s house. During the afternoons she’d make sweet tea and they’d sit together and watch her “programs.” Watching this unfold was like witnessing one of those soap operas in real life, or IRL as the kids were saying these days.
From the cursing that was audible from where Ace was standing several feet away he heard loud and clear that Roger didn’t want anyone calling his wife.
The brunette once again disconnected the call. This time it remained silent.
“Hi,” she greeted him as she extended her hand. “I’m Simone and I’m sorry that you had to overhear that.”
“Ace, nice to meet you.” Ace shook her offered hand and smiled. “And no worries. It was quite the show.”
“So glad I could amuse you.” Simone’s lips turned up in a sly grin, her eyes held a mischievous twinkle as her fingers tightened around his hand. “You’re new. What’s your story?”
Ace smiled back, but released his grasp and firmly pulled out of hers. He avoided women that looked at him like he was prey and they were the hunter. From experience he’d learned, that gleam was bad news. It meant either they played games or were crazy, and he’d never been one to play games and he didn’t enjoy crazy. Especially not when it came to relationships.
“No story.”
“Everyone has a story,” she countered, as her left brow rose.
“I’m just a guy mowing a lawn.” Leaning down he started the mower back up. Straightening, he tipped the brim of his cap towards her. “Better get back to it. You have a real nice day.”
“Wow! That was impressive.” She shouted, so that she could be heard over the roar of the motor. “I’ve never been dismissed so politely. What are you the King of Kind Brushoffs?”
