“Hi, Amelia, it’s Susan.”

  She smiled wide, surprised by the call and also grateful for something upbeat. It had been months since she’d spoken to Susan Grace. She’d been Amelia’s foster parent back in New York for the better part of her last four years in the program, and she had been the one foster parent that had truly cared about Amelia and helped her to stay focused in school and achieve a life, her independence, and enough success to not wind up on the streets.

  “It’s so good to hear from you, Susan. How are things?”

  “Wonderful. I wanted to thank you for the check you sent for the scholarship program. That was so kind of you. I assume work is going well.”

  “Yes, it’s great. It’s steady, and I enjoy working in the department with a few friends of mine.”

  “Wonderful, and Cavanaugh, is he still trying to get back together with you?”

  “I’d rather not talk about him.”

  “Amelia, I’m concerned. I feel like you’re not telling me everything.”

  “I’m fine, Susan, really I am. I just want to put him behind me. So how about you? The new kid still giving you some trouble?”

  “Jacob is a handful, but I think I’m getting through to him. It’s been tough for him, but he’s smart as a whip. If I can get him past the whole ‘image’ thing he’s trying to keep with the other boys in school and get him to really focus on his school work, he’ll be on the honor roll in no time and would definitely get a scholarship to college.”

  “Well, keep on him. I wouldn’t have gotten this far without your push and that college degree.”

  “You’re amazing, Amelia. With everything you went through, you should be proud of yourself,” Susan said, and Amelia felt guilty and like shit inside. She wasn’t proud of herself. She’d fallen for Cavanaugh and he’d controlled her, abused her, and continued to stalk her. She was so damn scared. She was caught between what she really wanted and what she was actually capable of achieving. She quickly cleared her mind.

  “Well, I’m off to Corporal’s to meet my friends.”

  “Great. Well, have a wonderful time, and we’ll talk again soon. Thanks for the check.”

  “Any time. Talk to you soon.”

  Amelia wiped the tear from her eye and wished she could confide in Susan. To go back to New York and have Susan hold her and tell her it was going to be okay. Though Susan wasn’t her mother, she was the closest thing Amelia had to family. She was alone in this world, and she’d used that to push herself to create her own life, her own traditions, and perceptions of life, yet had still wound up being a victim. Her eyes felt full, and as she drove onto the side road leading to Corporal’s, she heard the pop and felt the car pull to the right, nearly hitting another car passing her going the other way. She pulled to the right and onto the shoulder. Her heart was pounding. She was so scared. Had someone shot at the car? Was someone trying to hurt her because of Cavanaugh? He’d mentioned being careful getting into her car. Oh God, please. Please.

  The tears fell, and she put the car in park and looked around. The seconds felt like minutes as she waited for the worse to happen, but when nothing did, she regained her sanity and realized that Cavanaugh had her mind so fucked up with fear she was a nervous wreck. She got out of the car and looked down. A flat tire. “Are you kidding me?”

  She knew what to do. Her first thought, though, was to call someone and get help, but then she was a mess right now. Tears in her eyes, frustration circulating through her veins, and she started to get things ready as she processed her life. She popped open the trunk and pulled out what she needed. Getting that tire out was going to be a pain. She didn’t work out much. She really should. She should train like Kai and North and even April. She wondered if April would be at Corporal’s tonight. She hadn’t seen her since the hospital. She traveled some and worked from her home on the beach for multiple companies doing some kind of freelance work in banking and finance or something.

  She exhaled and bent down into the truck to try and grip the tire and felt her skirt lift. She’d reached back to push it down when the sound of a diesel engine came closer, and then a truck stopped. A big, black pickup truck. Her lip quivered, and the doors opened on either side, and fear gripped her once again. Were these men enemies of Cavanaugh? They came into sight, and she gasped. She recognized one of them immediately. They were friends of Mike’s. She’d seen the driver at the hospital when North was there. He was six feet four, with brown hair and blue eyes, and was mean. Fogerty was his name. She turned and gripped the car. Fogerty narrowed his eyes at her as he looked her over from head to toes. So did the other two guys.

  “Amelia, right?” Fogerty asked, and she nodded.

  “What happened? Flat tire?” the other guy asked. He licked his lips, looked at her, and then walked to the side of the car. The third guy stepped closer.

  “I’m Dell. I don’t think we met before.” He looked at her chest then into her eyes. These men were all big and muscular and totally intimidating.

  “Did you call one of the guys for help?” Fogerty snapped at her.

  She shook her head. She couldn’t even speak. And she was still gripping the car. Fogerty and the other two now stood right in front of her.

  “We’ll help you.” Dell stepped toward the car, and she gasped.

  “I can do it. You can leave. I’m fine.” It all came out in a rush, without hesitation between sentences.

  “Don’t be scared. We know Mike and Afina,” Dell stated.

  The other guy cleared his throat. He was just as tall and big but had a bit of scruff along his cheeks. He seemed uncomfortable with her obvious show of fear. She was such an idiot. She needed to get a grip. They weren’t serial killers or hit men.

  “I’m Watson.” The guy in front of her put out his hand for her to shake.

  She looked at it and swallowed hard then reached out to shake his hand hello, and she told herself she would be okay. They were friends of Mike’s, and they weren’t enemies of Cavanaugh or friends of his either. When their hands touched, she hadn’t expected the surge of attraction. He must have felt it, too, as his eyes narrowed and he once again looked over her body. She pulled her hand away.

  “The tire is in here. If you could get it out, I can do the rest.”

  She gasped as Dell lifted the tire right out, bounced it, and then he rolled it to the side. Fogerty was already grabbing the jack, and Dell eyed her over.

  “You look nice. You heading someplace specific?” he asked.

  “Nowhere,” she lied. She didn’t know these men, and she didn’t like the instant attraction she felt either. She was shaking so damn hard and trying not to show it.

  “Damn, these lug nuts are rusted over. I can’t even get them undone,” Fogerty said in that deep commanding tone he had. She looked toward Dell and Watson.

  “Let me try,” Watson said and bent down.

  “If I can’t get it, what makes you think that you can?” Fogerty said to Watson.

  “Everyone knows that I’m stronger than you,” Watson said to Fogerty.

  “I’m the strongest. I should try,” Dell added, and the three of them started to bust on each other.

  She stood there listening, feeling shocked and amused. For three hard-core, intimidating men, they were arguing like children. Fogerty kept that hard expression with his arms crossed in front of him as he stared at Watson trying to use the tire iron and failing. A small smirk appeared and disappeared quickly, and then Dell was there.

  “Let me. You both are idiots.” He bent down, and Watson stood up and rubbed his hand on his jeans.

  “Rusted out good. No way those are coming off.”

  They were good-looking men, and as she stared at them, she realized that she would never be able to have a relationship with any man ever again. Men like these could be controlling and do some serious damage to a woman her size. That fear came back again then doubled at Watson’s words.

  “Grab what you need from the car and lock it up. I’ll call Tony’s tow service and have him pick it up. We’ll give you a ride to wherever you’re going.” He said it like it was final.

  There would be no discussion, and Fogerty and Dell were putting the tire and the tools back into the trunk as she stepped aside.

  “No, that’s okay. I’ll call for the tow and wait for them.”

  “No, you’ll come with us. You’re not waiting all alone on the side of the road. It could take a while for them to get out here,” Watson said.

  She crossed her arms in front of her chest. When all three men looked at her, she realized she was probably showing off a bunch of cleavage, but she was scared. She walked backward. “I’ll be fine. Don’t want to ruin your night more and waste your time. Go ahead. I have my cell phone.”

  “Honey, I’ll call Mike and let him know you’re with us. You can ask him if it’s safe to accept our ride and help,” Watson said and Fogerty’s expression, as well as Dell’s, got more intense, as if that were possible. Like she was making a mountain out of a molehill. Jesus, she couldn’t do this. Could she? Could she handle this? She worried her bottom lip.

  “Trust us,” Dell said as Fogerty spoke on his cell phone, already talking to Tony, a tow truck driver.

  “He’s going to be awhile. There was an accident on Freedman Avenue. He said at least an hour but leave it here and he’ll bring it to the shop,” Fogerty said.

  “See, no problem. We’ll give him your information when you give it to us, and he’ll call you when the car is ready,” Watson said.

  She didn’t want to come across so scared even though she was freaking out here. They didn’t know about Cavanaugh or what her life was like. Over the years she had to pretend a lot to get through things and to appear normal. She could do the same now. Pretend that this was fine, they were so nice and such good Samaritans, and then be done.

  “Okay. Let me grab my stuff.” She walked back to the driver’s side, grabbed her cell phone and purse. “Leave the keys under the front seat. Just the one for the car not anything else.” Dell told her. She swallowed hard and then did as he said and closed the door then walked toward the men. Fogerty was in the driver’s seat of the truck already, and Dell got in the back part.

  “You sit up front with us,” Watson said, and she reached for the handle to pull herself up after Dell took her bag from her. It was too high, even in the low heels she wore. All of a sudden Watson gripped her hips and lifted her up. She gasped.

  “I got you, honey.” He inhaled against her hair.

  She shivered and slid along the seat, fixing her skirt, but not before showing a lot of leg, which Fogerty definitely caught.

  “This is a huge truck,” she whispered as the door slammed closed and she was stuck between Watson and Fogerty.

  “We’re huge men,” Watson said, and he held her gaze and licked his lips. He seemed to be staring at her eyes and her lips. The truck began to move, and she leaned back and looked straight ahead.

  “Where are we taking you?” Fogerty asked.

  “Corporal’s is fine. That’s where I was heading.”

  “Why didn’t you say that when we asked?” Fogerty snapped at her. He was very abrupt.

  “I don’t know. I guess you intimidated me,” she whispered, and Watson nudged her shoulder with his. She looked up at him.

  “No need to be intimidated. We’re just glad it was us that found you on the side of the road needing help and not some troublemaker.”

  The way he said it was so fatherly. He was older than her by a lot. Maybe ten years. Maybe that was why she was attracted to the three men. They were seasoned, and she’d never had a father figure in her life and seemed to always run toward dominant men. Cavanaugh was like that. At first, commanding, sexy, compassionate, but soon that changed and he became controlling, hurtful, and abusive. She looked away.

  Cavanaugh had warned her to stay clear of other men. That she belonged to him. She felt the tears fill her eyes, but she swallowed hard, suppressing them. She looked at Fogerty’s hands on the steering wheel as he drove. She inhaled the scent of their cologne. As her eyes focused on the size of his hands, the thickness of them and the muscles in his forearm, she started to feel even more intimidated, and then her breathing began to hitch.

  “So you work at the hospital, too, right?” Watson asked, and she was grateful for a normal conversation she could focus on and not the sensations and fear these men caused in her.

  “I work as a medical office assistant for Guardians Hope. I make sure that all medical bills correspond with the procedures and services any clients received.”

  “That’s great. You work full time?” Dell asked from behind her. She turned to look over her shoulder, which made her tap against Fogerty, and her hair swayed over her shoulder. She sensed him inhale deeply.

  “Yes I do, and this week was a long one.”

  “Why was that?” Dell asked.

  “Well, we had an influx of cases that were loaded with problems. Wrong billing codes, incorrect procedures recorded. Turned out that a new person in admissions was using the wrong system. It cost me additional hours of work, and I stayed late every night this week. I didn’t even want to come out tonight.”

  “Well, we’re glad you did,” Watson said, and she looked at him. “Not glad you had a flat tire though.” He winked.

  She cleared her throat and tried not to feel an attraction to these men. Cavanaugh would surely lose it, and who knew what he might do? She clasped her hands on her lap as Fogerty pulled into the parking lot at Corporal’s. She was relieved. Until the engine stopped and no one moved.

  “We’ll buy you a drink. Help you relax after your stressful week and that flat tire,” Watson said softly to her, holding her gaze.

  Her heart was racing. “Oh, I’ve wasted enough of your time. Go in and enjoy yourselves with your friends. I’m more than likely going to leave early anyway.”

  “Leave early?” Dell asked, but then Watson glanced at Fogerty, and then he opened the door and Watson slid from the seat with ease.

  He was tall enough and big enough for the truck. Fogerty got out. She heard the door close, and as she went to grab onto the door, Watson gripped her hips and eased her down his body. Her breasts, oversensitive to this situation, were pressed against his chest. When her heels hit the ground and their gazes remained locked, she knew she was in big trouble here.

  His hand slid from her hips to her ass as he released her, and holy shit, she didn’t want him letting her go. Was she so desperate once again for a man to hold her and make her feel protected even if it was bullshit and all they wanted was sex? That thought pissed her off but sobered her.

  “Here you go,” Dell said, holding her purse.

  She took it from him and then pressed her hand along her hip to make sure her skirt was smoothed down. That was when she realized that her blouse was undone another button and a large amount of cleavage showed on her. Fogerty eyed her over. She pulled the top tighter.

  “Well, thank you again,” she said, but Watson and Dell had different plans than letting her walk away. Both placed hands on her, Watson on her left hip and Dell on her right upper arm, and they all walked through the parking lot and into Corporal’s together.

  * * * *

  Watson was shocked, but goddamn it, he hadn’t expected this. Not the attraction, the desire, and the fact that he, Dell, and Fogerty all felt it. Fogerty was extra snappy, an indication of his resistance. Amelia was young, too fucking young, but shit, she was all woman, sexy, voluptuous, gorgeous, with stunning blue eyes, a soft, sensual voice, and a shy sweetness about her. They scared her, and they knew it. Especially their sizes. The way she looked at them as if they could hurt her both made him upset and also made her more desirable, like she needed his protection. It was insane, and he damned this town of Mercy.

  Shit like this didn’t happen to men like him, Dell, and Fogerty. They were trained killers, nearly forty, and beginning to look at retiring soon enough. She had to be like twenty-four. Hell, that might be wishful thinking, to avoid robbing the fucking cradle. Fuck. He inhaled her scent. The smell of her perfume was addicting, enticing, and the feel of her feminine curves as he lifted her up into the truck and then lowered her down had been something else. He’d let her body slide against his, her full, large breasts pressed against his pectoral muscles, and the visions that hit his mind were so wild and sensual he was shocked.

  He and Dell didn’t release their holds on her even as all their friends greeted them, as did her friends. He kind of liked the fact that other men looked at them as though Amelia was their woman. Holy fuck.

  She pulled from his hold to greet her friends, and they rambled on about her flat tire, about calling a tow truck, and how Fogerty, Dell, and Watson had found her and helped.

  “That car has been giving you a lot of trouble lately, Amelia. You should let Tony look at it thoroughly to make sure nothing else is wrong with it,” Mike suggested.

  “It’s been giving you trouble?” Fogerty asked, and she once again appeared intimidated.

  “I’ll handle it. Thanks again for the help,” she said and then walked away with North.

  Watson caught April looking at him, then at Fogerty and Dell, and she seemed annoyed. What was that all about?

  “So, that must have been something else, driving along and helping a beautiful woman in trouble.” Mike took a slug from his beer as Turner, and Selasi handed out beers to them.

  “Anyone could have been driving by.” Fogerty looked toward where Amelia was standing and talking to her friends.

  She looked up, caught his eyes, and quickly looked away, pushing her long blonde hair behind her ear. There was something about her that piqued Watson’s curiosity, but he focused on Mike and the guys.