Her Double Delite Warriors (The Sinful 7 of Delite, Texas 3)

“Hey, Chad, when is Michael’s plane arriving?” Mason asked. Mason was a Marine, too. He wasn’t active duty anymore just like Michael and Chad, but for the right price, he’d gather his former special unit. Sometimes it included Michael and Chad, and they would make a few bucks. Saving some idiot senator’s daughter from a spring break gone badly this past summer was an example of the kind of shit Mason and his crew were into. The jobs paid really well and kept Michael and Chad in tip-top shape.

“Maybe not for another few hours. I think I’m going to head out.”

“Are you kidding me? Who’s gonna watch your baby doll?” Mason teased as he took a sip of his beer. His green eyes held Chad’s, knowing that Chad had a thing for a certain Dixie Chix and so did Michael.

“Baby doll?” Chad questioned then downed the rest of his beer. He rose up and pulled some money from his wallet. He placed it on the bar and winked at Clara, one of the barmaids. She smiled and said good night.

“Yeah, your baby doll,” Mason repeated then nodded toward Alexa as she stood about a dozen feet away while three guys spoke with her. He felt his chest tighten. He could tell the cowboys were engaging in conversation and trying to make her smile. She was too sweet to play games or lead them on. If anything, she always seemed shy and nervous when men flirted with her. She wasn’t a player, and if he was smart and cared about her at all, he would walk away and not feel jealous about the other men. He was no good for a woman like Alexa. He had nothing to offer her, not even his heart because he didn’t really have one. At least it felt that way, and he knew his scars from his past would never heal.

He waited though, telling himself he was making sure that the three bozos didn’t make a move on her. He swallowed hard then felt the hand on his shoulder.

“She’s really sweet, Chad. Got a body made for sin but hides it like a treasure. You don’t see that too often anymore. You and Michael should just ask her out.”

Chad turned abruptly toward Mason, his anger getting the better of him. He thought he’d hid his emotions well. Apparently he hadn’t and it was Alexa’s fault. She did this to him. She made him come apart and forget to watch his back and remain ready for anything. She made him human instead of a soldier. He preferred being a soldier because as a soldier he didn’t feel.

“What the fuck are you talking about?”

Mason removed his hand and leaned back against the bar. He was just as tall as Chad and built similarly with wide, muscular shoulders and arms. They were both in amazing shape.

“I’m just saying that the two of you have been watching her for months. I know because I’ve been watching her sister Sally.”

Mason took a long slug of beer then nearly banged it down on the bar.

“Fuck, Chad. Don’t you ever get fucking lonely and tired of not feeling a fucking thing? I’ve been fucking around with women since I was old enough to know what to do with my dick, and add in the uniform and the way women go all crazy about it, and yeah, I’ve played the field my entire life. I’ve done this without making connections, without commitments except to the government and this great country of ours. We’re Marines for Christ’s sake. We’re not supposed to be weak, and we sure as shit are not supposed to feel anything, right?” Mason asked then drank the remainder of his beer and stared off into the distance.

“What the hell are you carrying on about?” Chad asked, even tho

ugh he knew already. Mason and his brother Steven, a Marine and doctor, met Sally, Alexa’s sister, a few weeks back. Now they all frequented Dixie Chix more than ever and Sally ignored them, too.

“Forget it. I don’t know what the hell I’m thinking. I’m leaving in three days for an assignment.”

“What? Where at?”

Mason gave him a wink.

“Can’t say, dude. You know the rules.”

Chad glanced over toward Alexa, who was saying something to the guys and trying to walk away. As she turned, she looked up, her face red with embarrassment as one of the men gawked at her and checked her ass out. He wanted to shove his fist down the guy’s face and kill his friends. But then she looked up and locked gazes with him. Her hand went over her chest, and he knew his eyes bore into her. It wasn’t until she practically ran toward the other side of the room that he realized he had scared her.

“Jeeze, Chad, that’s no way to win a woman’s attention.”

“Fuck!” Chad stated then stormed off, leaving the dance hall and thinking that Alexa was better off without him. He was a coldhearted bastard. He didn’t know why Alexa remained on his mind constantly. He could get any woman he wanted. In fact he lost count of the number of women that had offered their beds to him tonight. But that wasn’t what he really wanted. As he strolled out of the dance hall, he realized that he wanted exactly what Mason wanted. He was tired of being alone and not having more. The problem was that his brother, Michael, didn’t seem to feel the same way about settling down, and he was also just as coldhearted as Chad himself. A woman like Alexa needed more than him or his brother, Michael, could offer.

* * * *

“Alexa, I’m ready to go now. I want to check out the new winter fashions at Stella’s Boutique. You said you wanted to go with me.” Sally stood in front of Alexa. Alexa was deep into her book. Just a few more chapters to go and the love story with its happily ever after would be finished. She loved getting lost in a book and imagining being one of the characters.

“I’ll meet you over there. I promise.” Alexa pulled her sweater tighter and wiggled her butt on the metal bench. It was late fall. The wind was picking up, but in the sun it seemed warmer. Now that the clouds were moving in, her days of reading in the small park in the center of town would come to an end very soon. She could go to the library. The Delite Library was filled with lots of great books in the romance section, and it was never really crowded. They also had those private little sections she could go hide in and get lost in a book for the day.

Sally shook her head and laughed. “You know men like that don’t exist, right, sis?”

Alexa ignored her sister and shooed her off, waving her hand as her eyes remained glued to the pages.

She tucked her foot under her bottom and was entranced in the scene where the tall dark stranger now known as Kyle and his cousin, Derek, insisted that they should fight over the love of Fantasia. Fantasia of course refused to come between the two cousins and decided it was best to call things off. Just as Fantasia was walking away, a car came zooming down the road and nearly hit her. Fantasia was lying on the blacktop, bruised but not seriously injured.

Alexa turned the page with one hand while she kept her other hand over her heart. She felt her pulse increase, and being so enthralled in the story, she hadn’t heard anything but her own thoughts. Tonight she would go back and highlight the pages that she loved most. Especially the love scenes and how romantic and in tune to the woman the men were. She also loved when the heroines were strong and empowered. She wished she had those qualities.

“Good book?” someone asked, and she nodded her head and mumbled a yes, not even bothering to look up to see who it was.