Chance: A Small Town, Enemies to Lovers, Protector Romance (Ghost Ops Book 2)
Chance: Chapter 2

Chance “Wraith”Hughes walked into the Salty Dawg Tavern behind Blaze “Shadow” Connolly and Emma Sutton. His gaze strayed immediately to the bar. Rory was there, golden hair pulled back in a ponytail, her white tank top clinging to her full breasts. He tried not to notice, but he was only a man.

A man who knew what she tasted like.

Her gaze was on the two men seated in front of her as she set down beers for both of them. One said something that made her laugh. Chance’s heart squeezed at the sound. He’d made her laugh too, but mostly he’d made her moan.

He clamped down on that line of thought. Didn’t need to remember what it’d felt like to have Rory beneath him. On top of him. Surrounding him.

He reminded himself that Rory wasn’t the only woman in town. He’d replace someone else to have fun with between the sheets. Eventually.

It was for the best their little fling was over.

Blaze might have gone against orders in falling for a woman, but Chance wasn’t planning to give their team leader a heart attack by being Victim Number Two to the love bug.

Poor Ghost. The one thing he’d told them back in DC when he’d recruited them for this job was that their lack of family ties was a plus. No kids or wives to worry about. No parents requiring weekly or daily phone calls. No siblings sending texts at all hours.

No one who would talk about them to the wrong person if someone showed up asking questions. And no one who would suffer if the mission went wrong and they ended up in prison. Or dead. Couldn’t forget dead. It was possible.

The mission was just for a few months while the Ghost Ops team prevented a top secret national defense project from being sabotaged or the technology stolen. Once Athena was launched, Chance and his team were in the clear. They could leave Alabama, return to HOT HQ, and be reinstated in the military if they wanted.

Chance was pretty sure that’s what he wanted. What they were doing in Alabama was incredibly important, and yet it wasn’t the same ops tempo he was used to. He missed grabbing his gear and hitting the tarmac, piling into a C-5 Galaxy and heading overseas to rescue hostages, kick terrorist ass, or fight insurgents.

All three if he was lucky.

He’d miss his team when this was over. These men were his brothers, his family. Some of them might return to active duty with him. Not all, though.

Blaze certainly wouldn’t. But Seth would. Ethan too, because he was from New York state and kept lamenting there wasn’t any decent Italian food anywhere to be found.

The others were a mystery.

Chance pushed away the hint of doubt that reared up inside him whenever he thought about returning to active duty. What the hell else was he going to do if he didn’t put the uniform on again? Stay in Alabama and teach gun safety and personal security to civilians as well as teaching companies how to keep their premises secure?

Hell, he didn’t even know what was going to happen to One Shot Tactical, the gun range and store where they operated out of, once their mission was done anyway. It wasn’t like they truly owned the property, even if they did on paper. It was part of their cover, not permanent.

What the government giveth, the government taketh away.

Especially something that had cost so much to build and maintain.

“Hey, Chance.”

Chance jerked his gaze to the waitress who always flirted with him whenever he showed up. “Hey, Amber.”

She was pretty, with short brown hair, dark eyes, and cleavage that wouldn’t quit. She wore tight T-shirts and cut off jean shorts when she worked, and Chance couldn’t help that his gaze strayed over her assets every time.

He wasn’t tempted, though. Never had been, which he couldn’t figure out. She’d all but told him she was his for the taking. Help get his mind off Rory, that’s for sure.

“You gonna be around at closing?” she asked, shooting him a pouty look from beneath her long, fake eyelashes.

“Uh, not sure. Maybe.”

She grinned. “Well, if you are, I need a ride home. I’d be very grateful.”

He grinned back even though he didn’t feel it. “I’ll keep that in mind, darlin’.”

After another flirty look and a palm skimmed over his arm, Amber jumped when Rory barked something at her.

“Gotta go,” she said with an eye-roll Rory couldn’t see before skittering back to the bar.

Chance looked up and made eye contact with the woman behind the bar. Rory glared daggers at him, and his gut twisted. Nothing new about the daggers. But for fuck’s sake, he hadn’t done anything wrong.

He gave her a little wave and she turned away without acknowledging him. Typical Rory.

It pissed him off and wound him up at the same time. She’d been the one to break it off, not him. So why she acted like he’d done something wrong baffled him.

One thing was for sure: he wasn’t ever gonna understand Aurora Harper. No point in even trying.

Chance turned away and headed over to the table where Kane “Demon” Fox and Seth “Phantom” King sat with a pitcher of beer and a basket of wings. Blaze and Emma were already there.

Emma was frowning at him as he walked up but she quickly looked away. He didn’t know if that meant she felt sorry for him or what. She was Rory’s best friend. For all he knew, Rory had shared everything about their fling with Emma. He ached to ask her what the hell Rory was thinking, but he knew better.

“Didn’t know you were coming, Chance,” Kane said as he snatched up a wing.

“I wasn’t planning on it until these two dragged me over.”

He’d been cleaning up at the range, planning to go to his room at the farmhouse and veg out with a cold beer, a couple of pulled pork sandwiches from the Gas-n-Go, and a Doctor Who marathon when Blaze and Emma talked him into going to the Dawg. Hadn’t taken much talking, really, if he was honest about it.

It’d been at least four days since he’d lain eyes on Rory and he’d wanted to see her. Make sure she was okay. He hadn’t forgotten how confused and pale she’d been when he’d found her in that tent. He’d learned everything he could about Type 1 diabetes after that. He knew it was manageable and that people lived normal lives. They just had more risks than others did.

And more to think about, like how many carbs were in a meal and whether or not they were exercising or getting hot and needed to adjust their insulin levels. It was a lot, but Rory had been doing it since she was thirteen. He’d quickly learned she didn’t like anyone fussing over her or thinking she couldn’t handle something because of her disease.

“I don’t think it was quite dragging,” Emma said, taking the seat that Blaze pulled out for her. “More like a little nudge.”

“All you had to do was remind me it’s meatloaf night. That’s a good enough reason for anybody.”

The guys enthusiastically agreed. The Dawg’s meatloaf was famous in at least three counties. They served it with creamy mashed potatoes and beefy gravy, buttered corn, green beans with ham hocks, and yeast rolls or cornbread. Dessert was cobbler of some kind, probably blackberry, though peaches would be in season soon.

All of it delicious.

Blaze plunked down beside Emma and draped an arm over her chair. He was still possessive and protective after what’d happened with Simon Marsh a couple of months ago.

Chance understood the feeling. He’d felt it from the moment he’d walked into Rory’s house and discovered her gone. It’d only intensified once he’d learned she was diabetic and Marsh had ripped her insulin pump from her body.

He still wasn’t over it, not really, but Rory had made it perfectly clear she didn’t want him in her life anymore.

“Thank you for the sex, Chance. It’s been nice. But I’m done now, and I want you to leave.”

That was over a month ago, and she’d shown no signs of missing a single thing between them.

So he hadn’t either, even though he went to bed at night with a burning in his belly and woke up with the same. He still ate at the Dawg—maybe not quite as often as before—still flirted shamelessly with every woman that crossed his path, and pretended not to notice Rory unless she was right in front of him.

God forgive him, he’d even gone back to annoying her with football rivalries. But that was when her eyes flashed and he felt her gaze burn into him.

Part of him craved that burn, so he kept poking at her with shit talk about Alabama and their new coach. One of these days, she was going to hit him over the head with a beer mug. At least then he’d know she felt something, even if it was fury.

Chance took the seat beside Emma. She gave him a small smile and he smiled back. Yep, she definitely felt sorry for him. Fuck.

Now he was gonna spend the evening wondering what the hell Rory had said about him. His ego wanted to know if she’d disparaged his abilities in bed. What else would make Emma look at him like he deserved pity?

Amber came over to take their drink orders. She winked and smiled at him, sidling up so close he could feel her body heat. He winked back because, fuck it, no way was he letting Emma think he couldn’t deliver in the bedroom. It’d be just like Rory to diss him that way.

“Be right back with those drinks,” Amber said, skimming a hand over his biceps and through his hair as she turned to walk away.

“Looks like somebody might get laid tonight,” Seth observed.

“Amber hits on everyone,” Chance said dismissively. He caught Emma’s frown and barreled on, despite the voice in his head telling him to shut up. “Still, she wants to take me for a ride, who am I to say no?”

Blaze was shaking his head behind Emma, mouthing the word no. Chance thought about saying something else just to make it clear he didn’t care what Emma or Rory thought about him, but it was kinda hard to do when Emma had cared enough to sew him up a couple of months ago. She hadn’t asked too many questions, though she’d been pissed about it at the time. She’d known he and Blaze were lying about what’d happened, but she hadn’t pushed them for the truth.

And now she knew the six of them were a Special Ops team and the range wasn’t their only reason for being in Alabama. More than that, Emma was Blaze’s woman. Chance wasn’t going to annoy her if he could help it.

“On the other hand, I got an early morning tomorrow,” he said. “Have to go do a security test in Research Park for a bunch of scientists.”

Blaze nodded, looking relieved. Emma turned to tell him what she wanted for dinner and then he kissed her before she got up and headed for the bar. For Rory.

Chance reached for a wing off Kane’s plate, needing something to do.

“Here.” Kane pushed the ranch dressing at him so he could dip the wing in the sauce before he shoved it in his mouth.

It was the perfect kind of crispy. He hated a soggy wing.

Theo Harper was the chef at the Salty Dawg Tavern. He served up bar food every night along with homestyle lunches and dinners. Sometimes he made it up as he went along, but there were some things you could rely on.

Prime rib on Friday night.

Meatloaf.

Fried chicken.

Cajun pasta drenched in a creamy, spicy sauce and served with shrimp and garlic bread.

And of course the bar food like wings, burgers, and fries.

If the bar atmosphere was too much for anyone, Miss Mary’s Diner served up breakfast, lunch, and dinner from six in the morning until nine every night. Their pies were the best around. Apple, chocolate, coconut, cherry, and fruit cobblers that made your teeth ache and your belly cheer.

“Sorry about that,” Blaze said. “But Emma cares about you and Rory both. I think she holds out hope y’all will get back together. You going out with Amber would crush that hope.”

Chance shrugged. “I get it, but we weren’t ever really together. And I’m not going to be celibate just so Emma can feel good.”

“Nope, got it. But I appreciate you letting her down easy tonight.”

“I don’t want her upset, brother. I just think she’s got to face reality.” Same as he did.

“And that is?” Blaze asked with an arched eyebrow.

“Rory isn’t into me. That’s all there is to it.”

Which, yeah, pricked his pride. He was a fucking delight. Most women adored him.

Not Rory Harper though. She’d made that clear when she’d told him to get out.

“Never knew you to give up so easily,” Blaze drawled. “The Chance I know keeps on going even when he’s been told the odds are against him. Got us all out of that scrape in the jungle a few years ago because you wouldn’t give up.”

Chance shrugged off the needling. As much as he could anyway. “That was life or death. Not the same thing.”

Blaze lifted an eyebrow as he reached for one of the wings that Kane and Seth were no longer eating.

Kane nodded. “Dude’s got a point. You aren’t a quitter, Chance. None of us are. Kinda why we’re here.”

“Not quitting,” Chance snapped. “I’m not interested in Rory Harper. Been there, done that, it was okay, the end.”

“Oh my.”

Chance’s head whipped around. Amber had just walked up with her tray and now she was giggling and looking much too pleased. “I promise you it’ll be more than okay with me,” she whispered in his ear as she set his beer in front of him. “Take me home tonight and replace out.”

Chance curled his hand around the bottle. “Thanks for the beer, Amber.”

“Anytime, hot stuff.” She winked and pulled out her order pad. “Now what do y’all want for dinner?”