Free Hot Pursuit: Hot Zone, Book 5 by Denise A. Agnew

tough military dudes. She couldn’t fault the guys for making her good buddies happy women.
    “You ladies talking about me again?” Mitch sauntered from the utility room into the kitchen. A wide grin on his mouth said he found it amusing rather than irritating.
    He was over six feet of tensile strength with piercing brown eyes that never missed anything. His collar-length dark hair and rugged features assured that he’d never be called a pretty boy.
    “Of course we are.” Neena went into her husband’s arms and the two shared a short and yet tender kiss.
    Mitch kept his arm around his wife’s waist. “Okay, since you weren’t really talking about me, who were you talking about?”
    Keeping a straight face, Lucy said, “A friend of Jake’s. Well, a guy he knows anyway.”
    “What’s this guy’s name?” Mitch released Neena and came around the counter.
    His curiosity surprised her a little, but she answered after she finished a sip of coffee. “I ran into him on New Year’s Eve.”
    Mitch threw her an even more curious look, his eyes narrowed. “So that’s where you were. We thought you were with Danny.”
    Neena cleared his throat. “Mitch, that’s a long and personal story.”
    “What did Danny do?” Mitch asked.
    Lucy couldn’t hide her surprise as she swung toward Mitch. “How did you know he did something?”
    Mitch reached for a peanut-butter cookie on a platter. He took a bite and chewed. “Never liked the guy.”
    “You met him once,” Neena said. “For about two seconds.”
    Mitch shrugged. “With some guys, that’s all it takes.”
    Neena sighed. “Well, in any case, it isn’t any of our business.”
    Lucy sighed. “It’s okay.” She laughed softly. “Besides, I have to have someone to complain to.” She gave Mitch the short version of the tale.
    Mitch finished munching the cookie, a big frown forming on his handsome face. “Damn.”
    Lucy then gave Mitch a brief and sanitized version of how she met Vic. Mitch nodded. “I have a call to make. Be right back.”
    Mitch disappeared into a back room, and Lucy winced. “What’s he going to do?”
    “Nosy business.” Neena poured another cup of decaf coffee for herself and offered a refill to Lucy. “He’s concerned, so he’s contacting Jake about Vic.”
    If she hadn’t found Mitch’s protective friendship valuable, she would have been annoyed at him. Still… “What if Vic finds out Mitch checked on him?”
    Neena came around the counter and patted Lucy on the arm. “Vic will probably understand. If he didn’t, you may not want to be with a guy like that.” She winked. “But you’re acting guilty about your time with him. Why is that?”
    “Well, I was supposed to have feelings for Danny.” Lucy pushed aside her coffee cup and snatched a cookie to munch. “When I met Vic, all those feelings, other than complete annoyance and disappointment seemed to disappear. Vic and I have a…something I didn’t expect.”
    Neena sank onto the barstool next to her. One eyebrow lifted. “A connection?”
    “Yeah. A connection. It took me off-guard.”
    Neena grinned as if she had a secret. “You know how I met Mitch.”
    Lucy frowned as she remembered that Mitch and Neena had survived a café robbery. “Yes. You were both very lucky you weren’t killed.”
    “We were. He was wearing that ghastly Hawaiian shirt so he could paint, and I’d judged him before I even met him. When he held me in his arms and I felt all those muscles, and when I realized what a fantastic man he is—well, all bets were off. Isn’t that what you did with Vic?”
    Lucy smiled. “Yes, but we weren’t thrown together by violence. Our time together just happened.”
    “I can understand you being cautious, especially after hearing that he was accused of sexual harassment.”
    Lucy sighed. “But don’t discount him because he’s in the military?”
    “Well, with your track record…”
    Lucy groaned. “I know. Jake is always going on those