âWhat if you get in trouble?â She stared into his face, wishing heâd reconsider and take her along. âWhat if youâre hurt?â
He smiled, his hand cupping her cheek. âWorried about me?â
Jacie stiffened and had a retort ready on her lips, but stopped short of delivering it when she realized she was worried about him. âI havenât known you long, but damn it, I am worried about you. I kinda got used to having you around.â Her hand covered the one heâd used to cup her cheek and she pulled it lower, pressing a kiss into his palm.
âStay safe for me, will you?â His eyes dark in the dim lighting from the overhead bulbs, he leaned close and captured her lips in a soul-stealing kiss.
Zachary Adams sat with his boots tapping the floor, his attention barely focused on the man at the center of the group of cowboys. This meeting had gone past his fifteen-minute limit, pushing twenty now.
The wiry, muscular man before them stood tall, his shoulders held back and proud. He was probably a little older than most of the men in the room, his dark hair combed back, graying slightly at the temples.
âIâm here to offer you a position in a start-up corporation.â Hank Derringer smiled at the men gathered in the spacious living room of his home on the Raging Bull Ranch in south Texas.
âDoing what? Sweeping floors? Who wants a bunch of rejects?â Zach continued tapping his foot, itching for a fight, his hands shaking. Not that there had been any provocation. He didnât need any. Ever since the catastrophe of the Diego Operation, he hadnât been able to sit still for long, unless he was nursing a really strong bottle of tequila.
âI need you. Because you arenât rejects, youâre just the type of men Iâm looking for. Men who will fight for what you believe in, who were born or raised on a ranch, with the ethics and strength of character of a good cowboy. Iâm inviting you to become a part of CCI, known only to those on the inside as Covert Cowboys Incorporated, a specialized team of citizen soldiers, bodyguards, agents and ranch hands who will do whatever it takes for justice.â
Zach almost laughed out loud. Hank had flipped if he thought this crew of washed-up cowboys could help him start up a league of justice or whatever it was he had in mind.
âWhoa, back up a step there. Covert Cowboys Incorporated?â The man Hank had introduced as Chuck Bolton slapped his hat against his thigh. âSounds kind of corny to me. Whatâs the punch line?â
âNo punch line.â Hank squared his shoulders, his mouth firming into a straight line. âLetâs just say that Iâm tired of justice being swept under the rug.â
Ex-cop Ben Harding shook his head. âIâm not into circumventing the law.â
âIâm not asking you to. The purpose of Covert Cowboys Incorporated is to provide covert protection and investigation services where hired guns and the law arenât enough.â Hankâs gaze swept over the men in the room. âI handpicked each of you because you are all highly skilled soldiers, cops and agents who know how to work hard and fire a gun and are familiar with living on the edge of danger. My plan is to inject you into situations where your own lives could be on the line to protect, rescue or ferret out the truth.â
One by one, the cowboys agreed to sign on with CCI until Hank came to Zach.
âIâm not much into joining,â Zach said.
Hank nodded. âTo be understood. You might not want to get back into a job that puts you in the line of fire after what you went through.â
Zachâs chest tightened. âIâm not afraid of bullets.â
âI understand you lost your female partner on your last mission with the FBI. That had to be tough.â Hank laid a hand on Zachâs shoulder. âYouâre welcome to stay the night and think about it. You donât have to give me an answer until morning.â
Zach could have given his answer now. He didnât want the job. He didnât want any job. What he wanted was revenge, served cold and painful.
With the other cowboys falling in line, Zach just nodded, grabbed his duffel bag and found the room he had been assigned for the night. The other men left, one of them already on assignment, and the other two had places to stay in Wild Oak Canyon, the small town closest to the Raging Bull Ranch.