Welcoming the Bad Boy: A Hero's Welcome Novel Read online

Val groaned as the music inside the bar hit her, along with the smell of peanuts and beer and wood. She loved this place. Holding up a finger, she looked at her best friend. “You just broke commandment number one for girls’ night out, which has officially started. Thou shalt not speak of my father.”

  Kat nodded. “Right. Or husbands or babies,” she added. “Even though I happen to love talking about those things.”

  “Or boyfriends,” Julie said. “Or work.”

  They took a couple of empty seats around a back corner table, ordered their drinks, and grinned at each other.

  Saying absolutely nothing.

  “So,” Val said, tapping her fingers. “What does that leave for us to talk about? The weather?”

  Val took a long pull from her beer, scanning the room for Griffin again. He wasn’t here, which was just as well. She didn’t have a love life and she didn’t have time for love. Not with her end-of-summer deadline. “I’m going to miss you two this summer,” she said. Her shoulders slumped as she looked between her friends. Kat and her family were on their way to Disney World next week and from there they’d be going to visit her stepson’s mother in Georgia. Ben’s mom was home from deployment and a visit was long overdue. Julie and Lawson were taking off first thing Monday morning for a three-week yoga retreat in Hawaii. “What am I going to do without you?” Val lamented, peeling the label from her beer bottle.

  Julie set her drink down and leaned forward. “How about finding a guy? I can ask Lawson to set you up before we go.”

  Val shook her head quickly. “Please, no. The ladies in Dad’s congregation already do their fair share of trying to set me up. I hate setups. Besides, I’m not looking.”

  “Which is exactly the time you’ll find Mr. Right.” Kat nodded, knowingly.

  From the corner of her eye, Val caught the dark leather jacket on a tall, lean Mr. All Wrong. Her gaze hung for a moment. Then she blinked and turned back to Kat and Julie, oblivious and lost in their conversation, which had crossed back over into topics they were supposed to be avoiding.

  “I’ll be right back,” Val said, standing and slipping away before they could question her. A smile quirked her lips as she stepped up beside Griffin at the bar and cleared her throat. “Hi,” she said, feeling a flash of heat burn her chest and work its way up her neck.

  He turned and stared at her for a moment, his gaze revealing nothing. “Hey,” he finally answered back.

  She nodded. “I, uh, just didn’t want you to call me a snob again,” she said.

  “I wouldn’t dream of it. How’s that puppy you’re babysitting?”

  Val lifted a shoulder, aware of the show of skin across her shoulders and chest tonight. “The treats are helping. Thanks again.”

  “Anytime.” He tipped his chin at the empty seat beside him. “Want to sit?” he asked.

  And, yeah, she really did. “I can’t.” She gestured back at the girls. “It’s girls’ night out. And we’re on a time schedule. Don’t ask.” She laughed nervously. “I better get back to them.”

  Griffin nodded. “All right. I’ll see you around then.”

  “Yep. See you around.” She fidgeted. Why am I so nervous around this guy? “Bye.” Then she turned and walked away, knowing how well her jeans fit her from behind. Hoping he was watching.

  What am I doing?

  She plopped back down in her chair at the table and reached for her beer.

  “What’re you doing?” Kat asked, sitting straighter.

  “What do you mean?” Val avoided their gazes, knowing exactly what her friend meant.

  “We just saw you talking to Griffin Black,” Kat continued.

  “Yeah, so?” Val squirmed as she pulled on her beer.

  “Griffin is not the type of guy to take you to the altar.”

  Val laughed. “I literally just said hi to him. Relax, Pollyanna.” Her best friend and boss fit the title of the do-gooder little girl with a large heart down to the way she always kept five one-dollar bills in her purse, in case she ran into a homeless person on the street. “It was just hello,” Val said again. “Really. Now, let’s go dance.”

  She stood and motioned for the other women to get up and follow her. “I need to get my fill of you two before you abandon me for the summer.” And she needed to stay away from the bad boy at the bar because standing close and saying hi to him gave her a buzz that no beer ever could. Her head was spinning and all she wanted to do was head back over to where he was and drink Griffin in some more.

  —

  Griffin sped to the address of one of the small, single-story houses on base and parked out front. Jaws got a little carsick sometimes. And after the ride they’d just taken, Griffin was sure Jaws was panting heavily in the back. Hopping out, he went to check.

  Jaws stood at attention, ready to work.

  “You okay, buddy?” Griffin asked. Jaws was a new K-9 to him, but they’d trained together a lot in the last few weeks. In training, Jaws followed every command to a T.

  Jaws jumped from the back of the SUV and trotted beside Griffin toward the front door of the house. The call had said there was a domestic dispute. Griffin always took those kinds of calls seriously. A few years ago one domestic dispute had turned into homicide. It was rare, but it happened, even in the safety of military housing communities. Griffin didn’t enjoy taking America’s heroes away in handcuffs, but sometimes he had to.

  He hoped today wouldn’t be one of those times.

  Standing behind the front door with Jaws at his side, he knocked three times. He could hear shouting from inside the thin walls.

  “You called the MPs?” a man’s voice screamed at someone else inside, the rage evident in his voice.

  Jaws grew rigid next to Griffin.

  Griffin knocked again. “Military police! Open the door!” he ordered, ready to knock it down if he had to. He glanced back briefly to see if backup had arrived. He was first on the scene, but there would be other officers coming. That was a good thing because the guy behind this door didn’t sound like someone who would surrender without a fight.

  “Open up!” he shouted again, pounding harder. He could hear a woman crying inside, which meant she was still breathing. Griffin wanted to keep it that way.

  Another military police car sped up behind his and parked on the roadside.

  Then, surprising Griffin, the front door opened. “What are you doing here?” a balding man with wild gray eyes asked. His face was flushed with anger.

  “We got a call about a domestic disturbance.” From the corner of his eye, Griffin saw Jaws stiffen. He wouldn’t react without proper cause, though. Griffin had trained with him enough to know Jaws could be trusted.

  “You got a call from who?” the man wanted to know.

  Griffin shook his head. A jogger had made the call, telling the operator that shouting could be heard from the sidewalk. Calls were anonymous, though. He didn’t want any future joggers being harassed because this one had been a good neighbor. “Doesn’t matter. We check out all calls.”

  Troy Matthews, another guy in the K-9 unit, stepped up behind him. He was sans dog right now. He’d probably left Bear in his vehicle, which was good because Jaws was intimidating enough. Griffin turned back to the escalating sound of crying coming from inside the house. “We would like to talk to your wife, sir.”

  The guy folded his arms under his chest. He had huge arms, probably worked out twice a day. Still, he was no match for Jaws’s flesh-tearing teeth—if it came to that. “No. Now go help someone who actually needs it.”

  Griffin wondered if the guy had been drinking. Events like these were usually exacerbated by alcohol. There was no evidence of drinking that Griffin could see. The guy wasn’t slurring or unsteady on his feet. “Bring your wife out now or we’ll be forced to cuff you for resisting, and we’ll talk to her anyway.”

  The guy stepped forward. “Who the fuck do you think you’re talking t—?”

  Jaws leapt up and latched onto the guy’s arm.r />
  “What the fuck? Get your fucking dog off me, asshole!” The guy flailed in the doorway, trying to get Jaws to release.

  “Release!” Griffin ordered Jaws.

  Jaws didn’t budge.

  “Release!” Griffin ordered again, relieved when Jaws finally removed his teeth from the guy’s arm.

  Jaws never should’ve attacked, though. There wasn’t cause. Griffin was handling the jerk, who’d only run his mouth at him to that point. Griffin glanced down at Jaws, who was rigid and still primed for action. He returned his gaze to the jerk.

  “You okay?” he asked.

  “Hell, no, I’m not okay. Your fucking dog attacked me,” the jerk whined, rubbing the spot on his arm where Jaws had sunk his teeth in.

  “I’ll take you to the hospital to get it checked out,” Troy offered behind them.

  This made the guy straighten. “I don’t need to go to a hospital. I’m fine.”

  “You just said my dog attacked you,” Griffin said. “We take that seriously.”

  “He didn’t break the skin. I’m good.” The jerk raised his sleeve to reveal teeth impressions in his forearm, but no broken skin.

  “I still need to talk to your wife, sir,” Griffin said.

  The guy swiped his arm across his forehead. “Whatever I need to do to get you and that meat grinder of yours to leave me the hell alone.” Cursing under his breath, he hollered back at the woman inside. “Get out here, Lisa!…She’s not my wife,” he said, meeting Griffin’s and Troy’s gazes again, daring them with his eyes to say something.

  “Not your wife?” Troy repeated, seemingly not taking the hint. Griffin suspected it was more that Troy just didn’t give a shit.

  “My wife is visiting her family in Colorado,” the jerk told them. “And if you tell her, I swear, I will get that dog of yours put down for attacking me.”

  Griffin shook his head. “Threatening law enforcement officers is a crime, sir,” he said pointedly. “And it’s none of my business who you take to bed behind your wife’s back. Your command might be interested, though.”

  The jerk sneered.

  A woman came to the door. Her dark hair was disheveled and her eyes were red and swollen. Not from being hit, but from crying. A lot.

  “We got a report of loud shouting,” Griffin told her, as if she hadn’t heard him talking already.

  She kept her gaze down, nodding at the information.

  “Is everything all right, ma’am?” he asked, lowering his voice an octave.

  “Yes. Yes, everything is fine,” she lied, her gaze flitting to Jaws.

  “This is a trained K-9. He won’t hurt you, ma’am.” That was Griffin’s blanket statement to everyone, but his faith in the truth behind those words was now shaken. Jaws shouldn’t have attacked just now.

  “Everything is fine. It was just an argument,” she said again robotically, like she’d done this before.

  Griffin ran his gaze over her. There were no bruises or evidence of harm. Just fear.

  “I suggest you go home now. Let things calm down.” He looked at the guy, whose arms were still folded tightly. His features were tight, rigid, angry. Another few minutes between him and the woman and maybe things would’ve turned violent. Griffin was glad that hadn’t been the case today.

  The only violence had come from Jaws.

  The jerk nodded. “You heard the officers. Get your shit and go home,” he told the woman.

  Griffin had to bite his tongue to keep from lecturing the dickhead on how to talk to a woman. It didn’t matter if you were angry, you treated women with respect. His mother had taught him that, among so many other lessons. She hadn’t been perfect, but she’d raised him the best way she knew how.

  There was that sour feeling in his stomach again.

  They followed the woman to her car and watched her buckle up. Then the woman offered a small wave, but no thanks, and drove off.

  “What’re you gonna do?” Troy asked, walking back to their police vehicles together. “Just a heated argument between two people who shouldn’t even be together.”

  Griffin shook his head. “Cheating and arguing at the top of their lungs isn’t a crime.”

  Troy stopped beside Griffin’s unmarked SUV. “What’re you going to do about Jaws?”

  Griffin shook his head. “I don’t know what happened. He’s never done that during training.”

  “Is this his first scene?” Troy asked.

  “One of ’em.” Griffin placed Jaws in the back of his Explorer and shut the door. Then he headed to the front seat to crank the engine.

  “Trainings and the real thing are very different. Looks like Jaws is still a little overeager.”

  “I’m just glad he didn’t seriously hurt that guy.” Because that would’ve been a problem.

  “I don’t know. The guy would’ve deserved it.” Troy grinned. “I’ll see you later, man.”

  “Yeah.” Griffin watched Troy head back to his own vehicle and pull away as he considered the situation. When he was a rookie officer, he’d been overeager on scenes, too. It took training and experience to settle him down. Hopefully the same would be true for Jaws.

  Because K-9s who were considered a liability didn’t last long in the department.

  He drove back to his office and led Jaws to the back building on the K-9 lot. Inside was a room full of single cells for the dogs. It was similar to a jail with its concrete-block walls and gated front. The dogs didn’t seem to mind, though. They had their own spaces, were fed well, and got lots of exercise through the day. They all watched Griffin walk past with Jaws, who seemed almost eager to get back to his cell. The comforts of home. Griffin could understand that. Tomorrow Griffin would take him out to the training grounds and work with him some more. If they were going to be partners, he needed to trust that Jaws wouldn’t attack unless absolutely necessary.

  After settling Jaws in, he grabbed a cup of coffee and returned to his desk to write a report on this afternoon’s domestic dispute, wondering if the guy’s wife knew about the affair, and if she’d run home to her extended family to escape the drama here. It wasn’t any of his business. His only concern was whether or not everyone was safe. And at least for today he could say that they were—despite Jaws’s attack. Today was a good day. What would make it a great day was if he could end it seeing Val.

  The thought escaped before he’d had a chance to censure it. Damn unruly thoughts. All he needed tonight was a beer, his dog, and maybe a game on TV.

  Chapter 3

  Two days after her girls’ night out, Val pulled her Volvo into the parking lot of Seaside Harbor nursing home. The sun was high in the sky, unobstructed by clouds. It was the perfect beach day, which was one of the reasons she worked at the local elementary school—to have summers off and spend time lying on the beach, soaking up the sun and contemplating her next book. That was her idea of living the good life. Instead, she felt compelled to do a book club here with women fifty years her senior. It was something her mother had done when she was alive. In a way, Val felt closer to her mother when she volunteered here.

  “There she is.” Louise grinned behind the front desk as Val walked in. “Whiter than a snowflake. You need to go back outside and spend some time in that sunshine, dear.”

  Val laughed. “I thought you guys liked having me here.”

  “We do. The women look forward to your visits,” Louise said.

  “I look forward to them, too.” Val pulled the group’s latest book out of her bag and held it up. “We’re going to finish this sucker today. I’m just as anxious as they are to find out who killed Ann Marie.”

  Louise shook her head. “Let me know when you find out.”

  “But that would spoil it for you. How about I just pass the book to you when I leave?”

  Louise raised a brow. “I don’t have time to read.”

  Val shoved the book back inside her bag. “That’s like saying you don’t have time to breathe. You’ll love it. I promise.” She waved
and continued down the long hallway toward the community area. The women would already be waiting for her. Last week Catherine Dale had refused her physical therapy session because she didn’t want to miss a chapter. Val was tempted to feel bad about that, but reading was exercise, too. It was good for the brain, for the imagination, and for the heart.

  “Ladies,” Val said, walking into the room and doing a mental head count. “Where’s Ellie?”

  “Her grandkids are here,” Marge Patterson said. “You can miss a lot of things, but you can’t deny grandkids.”

  “True.” Val laughed, taking a seat at the center of the group. “I’ll just have to go to her room later and do a private reading session with her.” She reached inside her bag and pulled out the cozy mystery they were reading and a bag of mini chocolate bars. “Is anyone diabetic?” she asked, watching their heads shake.

  One silver-haired woman raised her hand.

  Val reached down again and pulled out a sugar-free chocolate bar. “For you,” she said, handing it over.

  The group of women gathered around her as she passed out the treats. Some of the women sat in wheelchairs, some were still able to sit in the hard plastic chairs that even Val found uncomfortable. She ripped open her own candy bar and ate, making small talk with the women before opening the book. A hushed silence fell in their corner of the room as she began to read. In Val’s experience, it was a rare occasion when a group of women came together and didn’t talk over each other, squabble, or turn to gossip. At least that’s how it usually worked at the school.

  “Speak up, dearie,” Marge said as Val read.

  Val looked up and raised her volume a notch.

  “I still can’t hear you. What are you saying?” Marge asked, her face straining as she talked.

  “Is your hearing aid on?” Val asked, stepping over to check. “Well, no wonder.” Val helped the elderly woman with her hearing aid and sat back down.

  “I’m on pins and needles. Keep reading,” Alma begged.