Free Twisted in Tulips by Nikki Duncan Page B

from a shelf. “You want the usual?”
    “Yeah.”
    With his glass already half full she gestured to Clint. “How about you, cutie?”
    “Whatever he’s having.”
    She passed their drinks over without more chatter and moved down the bar to other customers.
    “So,” Jace swiveled his stool to face Clint. “About this woman.”
    “You’d like her.” He grinned the grin of a half-gone goon. “She’s sexy. Smart. Tough. And has a persuasive knack you wouldn’t expect for getting her way.”
    “Like convincing you to come see me.” He knew a woman like that, only Misty used stubbornness to win her arguments. His skin tightened. His neck prickled. It was the same every time he thought of her. The longer she stayed away the more he thought of her. The more he thought of her the more he craved her. Craved her to the point his reactions were almost as visceral as when he saw her.
    “Something like that.” Clint sobered as his drink sat untouched. “I’ve been thinking a lot about you, what happened, what you were left to face alone.”
    “Because of this woman?”
    “Before. The unit wasn’t the same without you.” He hesitated a moment. His eyes bounced around the bar almost nervously. “I wasn’t the same.”
    The bar noise crescendoed and faded. Jace’s heart thumped like an incendiary device ticking away the seconds to detonation.
    He’d spent the last year alone. His blood family had been gone before his injury. His heart family had walked after. Perhaps if he was lucky, very lucky, some of that family was returning.
    “I can’t tell you how sorry I am for turning my back on you, Jace. There aren’t enough words.”
    “You know what?” He pushed his beer away. Emotions as thick as the Florida air after a storm clogged his throat, but sound was returning and his heart rate was normalizing. “I don’t want any apologies. I’m just glad you’re here.” Glad to have family again. He held the last back with his tears. Vulnerability wasn’t something Marines did.
    “Then joining the party in the back room should thrill you.” Clint picked up his beer and slid off the stool. “The unit is here with their families.”
    Jace’s mouth gaped long enough for his throat to dry. When he spoke it was more like a rasp. “Did you organize this?”
    “No. Well, not alone.”
    “Your lady friend?”
    Clint shrugged. He’d been doing a lot of that.
    “I’ve got to meet this woman.”
    “Later.” Clint led the way to the back room filled with men from the unit.
    By the wall where he’d first kissed Misty, Jace stopped. On a table pushed against the wall was a large photo of the unit from before his last mission. It was printed in crisp color and framed in a pine that matched his furniture perfectly. He didn’t need to see the vase of tulips or read the note to know who had set up the reunion.
    He picked up the paper and rubbed his fingers over the crispness. He unfolded it.
    I understand you too. You’re a private man who probably doesn’t like surprises, but I’m hoping you’ll like this one. You deserve your family .
    He’d misjudged her again.

Chapter Ten
    Waking late with a hangover no secret remedy would cure kicked off a day filled with dingbats and dumbasses.
    One of the women on his staff flushed her access badge, which couldn’t have been easy since it was supposed to be around her neck at all times and the lanyard wasn’t broken. She had to have been having sex, but Jace really didn’t want to ask. Especially if the embarrassed shame flooding her cheeks had been any indication. He’d written unavoidable mishap on the report.
    Then he’d had to split up two men who’d decided to go after the same woman. Their desires had turned violent as they turned on each other. One wound up with a dislocated shoulder, the other a black eye and both had new reports in their HR file. In the end they’d faced the reality of the situation. Convincing the woman she liked men rather than women