Riordan (2 page)

his personal life.

The calendar on his phone was as filled as the one on his secretary’s. The ones on his

computer in his office as well as his house were updated daily. And if there was something that

had to be canceled or moved, he’d go over the entire month to make sure that it didn’t conflict

with something else. Riordan was a man who did not like surprises. And finding out that the

woman in the shop was his mate had messed up his entire schedule for the day.

“What did she think she was doing throwing me out?” Riordan wasn’t sure if he meant his

mom or the woman, but they both had done it. “It’s Sunday, after all, and we have dinner as a

family. Was this worth Mom getting all upset and telling me to leave? No, it was not. This is her

fault, too. The bakery woman’s.”

As he drove to his apartment downtown, he thought about the way she’d felt pressed against

his body, and wondered not for the first time what she would feel like wrapped around him

naked. He had to adjust his cock for the third time since getting in his truck.

She’d been coming from the back room, her arms loaded with loaves of bread, when she’d

taken a short stumble. His only thought was to keep her from falling when he caught her scent.

Then she’d told him to let her go, and he’d had to taste her. And just like that, her temper flared,

and he could only stare at her. Who knew that being pissed off could be so sexy?

As he reached for her again, having put the bread on the counter, she’d backed up quickly.

Putting up her hands to warn him off, he thought, did nothing to slake his need, and he backed

her up more until she was pressed against the wall. Burying his nose into her neck had made him

hard as stone, and he could think of nothing else but taking her to the floor and coming deep

inside of her. Except that she’d unmanned him with her knee, and that had him dropping like a

stone.

Then the projectiles had started flying. He’d been hit in the head with several of them before

he could stand up. When he reached for her again, this time her hand was filled with more

Danish, and he felt rather than saw her move. He was on his back and looking up at her before he

could catch his breath. Then one of the older women was standing over him with a large knife in

her hands.

“I think you have overstayed your welcome, young man.” He nodded but was afraid to

move. “You can crawl out on your belly or get up and walk out. Either way, she wants you gone.

And I’m thinking that she might be right. I don’t want to have to stab you to get you going.

Unless you want me to.”

“I need to talk to her.” The woman told him he’d be better off talking to the door, which

he’d better be going through rather than talking to her right now. “Can I at least have her name? I

can call her later so she can tell me what she thought she was doing by this mess. Don’t you

think she overreacted, even just a little?”

“No, I don’t think so.” She pointed to the door again, and he got the idea that he was going

to get nowhere with her. As he made his way to the door, his dad was paying for his purchases as

if nothing at all had happened. He was going to have a talk to him as well. The man would surely

have his side on this.

Only he hadn’t. Not only had he laughed at him the entire way home, but he’d not agreed

with him at all. Not about the woman being nuts, or about her blowing things out of proportion,

nor did he think that she’d done a thing wrong. Riordan was going to go down there first thing

Monday, which would mess up his entire morning, just so she could apologize to him. This was

no way to start a relationship.

~~~

Storm washed down the wall where blueberry jam had stained it. She’d have to find the

paint can in the basement to touch this up. The strawberry had washed off a good deal easier, but

it was fresher. She thought that she’d grabbed that tray last when he’d—

“You scrub much harder and the wall will fall over. You thinking about that man?” Storm

nodded at her aunt. “Yeah, he was a big guy. Pushy as hell, but a big one all the same. Can’t

seem to understand why you’re all pissy with him. You’re hurting now, aren’t you, child?”

“Just a little, nothing I can’t handle. He mentioned that I was his mate.” She looked at Aunt

Lynn when she huffed. Storm wasn’t sure if it was because she knew she was lying about the

pain or about the man. Either way, it was a moot point. “I don’t have…he can’t be my mate. I

don’t want him. And he won’t want me once he sees what is under my clothing.”

“No one is more concerned with that than you are.” Storm knew that her aunt had never seen

her body since she’d come home, so said nothing. “You still seeing that doctor? The one that

says you need to have those drugs to help you sleep? You gotta see someone about that pain, too.

We both know you’re hurting.”

“You know that I’m not seeing him.” Aunt Lynn nodded. “I know that the VA pays for it,

but it’s stupid to take them when all they do is make me weirded out. I was sleeping no better

with them than I was without. But I do go and talk to that lady shrink. She’s not too bad.”

The doc had been all right until about a week ago, right after Storm had told her that she

wasn’t going to be able to see her again due to her having a job now. It was as if she’d taken it

personally. Storm knew that she had to see someone or be back in the hospital again, but she was

trying to stand on her own two feet instead of depending so much on her family. It wasn’t like

she had to work for the money, but she needed to work to keep her body from tightening up.

“That man, do you suppose he’ll come back here?” Storm didn’t turn around as she spoke to

look at her aunt, but heard her huff again. “The man that he came here with is a nice man. I like

him. But as far as I’m concerned, I really could care less if that fucking bastard darkened my

doorstep again.”

“Sally and I will keep him in line now that we know about him. I’m thinking he will be

back. He didn’t strike me as a man that would give up too easily.”

Storm had thought the same thing. But before either of them could say anything else, the

bell over the front door sounded and Aunt Lynn went to answer it.

Storm Browning was a woman that few people knew well. She preferred it that way, more

now than before she’d joined the army. She supposed her upbringing had had a lot to do with

that…at least the first ten years of her life. Now her memories were nearly too much for her to

deal with, and she had a shitload of them. Few of them nice ones.

Her men, nine of them when she’d gone in country—overseas—had been her friends, but

they were all dead now. All but her. As she made her way to the oven again when the timer went

off, she tried her best not to think of that day and what had happened. Instead, she thought about

how many cookies she had left to bake.

The board that Aunt Lynn had put up for her was filled. It felt good to see so many orders

there, but it made her a little nervous too. If she was in too much pain, she knew that either of her

aunts could bake for her, but she wanted to keep them from having to lift so much. They were in

their late seventies, both of them, and they were actually her great aunts. All the family that she

had in the world.

The cookies were put onto the cooling rack, then she put more on the parchment paper to

bake as the first batch cooled. She had a system. It wasn’t a great one, but it worked for her.

Stretching her arm above her head to hear it pop, she had to hold onto the table when the pain

took her breath away. Storm made her way to the cabinet where she kept her medications. It was

time for the next round of drugs anyway, and she thought that having a pain pill was in order this

time.

Moving slower now that it was getting later in the day, she sat down on the seat she used

when she decorated if anything needed her attention. Since the man had left her, her back had

been throbbing and her legs felt like rubber. Her body hurt now, and not just a little. There was

more baking to do, and then there were the dishes to wash, but Storm wasn’t sure she could do

either without lying down for a bit.

Going to the front of the shop, she saw that her aunts were busy and went to talk to the man

at the counter. He grinned at her when she welcomed him to The Bakery.

“Nice name. Simple and right to the point.” Nodding, she waited for him to order or tell her

what he wanted. He was dressed well, expensively, and he had a face that made her think she’d

seen him before. “I need to get three loaves of rye and two of sourdough. And I’m supposed to

ask you if there are any…let me see what Mom called them before I make a fool of myself.”

She got his bread for him and put them into the long loaf bags she’d just gotten in. They

were generic, but they served the purpose. He was still talking on his phone when the next man

came to the counter. Storm wanted to ask him to wait for her aunts, but he looked like he needed

more than what was on display.

“You Sergeant Major Browning?” Storm nodded, but looked around to see if anyone else

had heard him. “I was told to come on down here and see if you could use some help. The lady at

the VA, she said you were looking for someone to help wash up.”

Taking him to the back room, she sat him on the chair she’d been in and asked him when

he’d last eaten. He told her that it had been a couple of days, because the shelter wasn’t open on

the weekends. And he hadn’t cared for the meal they had on Fridays either.

“It’s Monday. What’s your name, soldier, and don’t lie to me again.”

He straightened up in the chair and nodded to her. “I’m PFC Daniel Gunning, but I go by

Danny. I don’t have no problems with drugs or nothing. Just nightmares and so on. I get to where

I can’t leave my place. And when that happens, I lose my place in line at the food pantry. It’s

been a couple of days since I’ve…leaving the apartment kind of gives me the willies.” She knew

that feeling. “I heard from Nurse Mason that you were looking to find someone to come in some

days and help out by washing up. You mean dishes, I’m suspecting.”

“Yes.” He looked around the room, then stood up…much easier than she could have today.

She sort of envied his ease. “You can start today, but I’m feeding you first. And if you object

then you can think of it as an order.”

He nodded and moved to the table in the back of the kitchen. Storm went to the front to get a

loaf of bread, and the man from earlier was still standing there. When she told him she was sorry,

he winked at her.

“I saw you were busy. You going to hire him, Sarge?” Nodding, she told him not to call her

that. “All right. But what were you, if you don’t mind my asking? Air force? Army?”

“Special Forces. Did you ever find out what your mom wanted?” He told her that he needed

a dozen filled donuts, he didn’t care what flavors. As she filled his order, all she could think

about was the man in the back.

He’d be a great help should he be able to show up to work daily. She knew how hard it was

for her just to get out of the bed some days, the pain was so bad. When she had the thirteen

donuts for the man, she let Lynn ring him out. But he stopped her before she could go to the back

again.

“Are you sure it’s a good idea for you to hire him? You don’t seem to know anything about

him other than someone sent him to you.” She pulled away from his touch on her arm. “I’m

sorry. I just—”

“I can take care of myself. I have been for a very long time. While I appreciate your

concern, trust me when I tell you that he should be more afraid of me than I am of him.” He

nodded and then looked over her shoulder. She didn’t have to look to know who stood there. He

might have just been hired, but Danny was a soldier first and foremost. “Now, if you don’t mind,

I’ve had a bang-up day so far, and I’d really like to be left to my own council.”

“I’m sorry.” Storm nodded and moved to the back room. The man left a few minutes later,

and Storm made Danny a sandwich. She also cautioned him about helping her out when he

thought she was in trouble.

“I’m hurting, like you, but I can handle myself. There is no reason for us both to get into

trouble with some over protective shit that thinks because I don’t have a dick between my legs

that I’m one of them fainting hearts.” Danny grinned at her. “Next time, you just let me handle it.

But if someone fucks with my aunts, you have my full permission to kick some ass, all right?

And don’t call me by my rank here. It’s Storm, or Stormy if you wish. I left that all behind a

while back.”

“Yes, sir.” He bit into his sandwich and finished chewing before he spoke again. “You’re

that CO that got all those guys out, aren’t you? I heard about it when it happened. I’m really

sorry.”

“I don’t talk about it. And if you want to continue working here, you won’t either.” He