Just One Kiss (Fool's Gold #10)

JUSTICE DID AS he promised. He locked up the store, then returned the key to Patience. She was busy painting some mixture onto thin strips of hair, then wrapping them in what looked a lot like aluminum foil.

The mysteries of being a woman, he thought as he ducked out of the salon before he was noticed. But he was happy to help her. Being around Patience relaxed him. He felt better when she was in the room. The sexual attraction was a problem he hadn’t solved. Giving in was the easiest solution, but then what? How did that help her? Excluding all the ways he planned to please her, of course.

He’d never been the kind of man who settled into relationships. Between his work and his past, he knew he wasn’t a good bet. So far, resisting the call of settling down had been easy, but lately...

He shook off the thought and headed down the street. As he reached the corner, he saw a man walking in front of him. The guy was tall, with dark hair. There was something familiar about him. Something that put Justice on alert. He knew the other man wouldn’t start the fight, but he would end it.

By the time Justice had closed the gap, the information was in place. So when the guy turned, Justice was able to put the name with the face and know there wasn’t any danger. Not yet, at least.

“Gideon Boylan,” he said.

The dark-haired man didn’t look surprised. “Garrett.”

Gideon looked like a dozen other guys Justice knew. Scarred, tattooed and dangerous. He had a scar by his eyebrow, but Justice was sure there were others. In their line of work, it wasn’t a matter of if you were injured but rather when.

“Funny seeing you here,” Justice said.

“I heard you were in town. It was just a matter of time until we ran into each other.”

“You live here?”

Gideon nodded. “Moved here last year.” He glanced around at the quiet street and tidy storefronts. “Hell of a place.” He returned his attention back to Justice. “Ford told me about it. One day I had nowhere else to go, so I thought I’d swing by. Decided to stay.”

Justice knew there was a whole lot more to the story. Gideon had worked black ops. The kind that took a man so deep he often couldn’t find his way back. From what Justice had been told, Gideon had been captured. The nature of his mission meant he wasn’t sanctioned and therefore couldn’t be missing. And if you weren’t missing, no one came looking.

From what Justice had pieced together, nearly two years had passed before Ford Hendrix and Angel Whittaker had found Gideon. After that much torture and captivity, he’d been more dead than alive.

Obviously he’d recovered. At least on the outside. There was no way to know about the internal scars. People thought the real danger of what soldiers did was physical. The truth was the worst damage was often in the heart and in the mind. How you were changed by everything you saw during war. That’s what couldn’t always be fixed.

“What do you do here?” Justice asked.

“I bought a couple of radio stations. I’m the night DJ. Oldies mostly. Some talk. Hell, I don’t know if anyone’s listening, but so far I haven’t been run out of town.” He offered a brief smile that didn’t reach his eyes.

The smile faded. “I wouldn’t have thought Fool’s Gold was your kind of place.”

“I spent a year or so here when I was a kid,” Justice said. “Ford kept reminding me about it, and one day I decided to come back.” He pulled a business card out of his shirt pocket and passed it over.

Gideon took it. “CDS. Cerberus Defense Sector.” The smile returned. “The three-headed dog that guards hell? Talk about delusions of grandeur.”

Justice chuckled. “It seemed appropriate. It’s me, Ford and Angel.”

“Angel’s moving here, too? Seriously? Do you think he’ll fit in?”

“I think Fool’s Gold can handle him.”

“We’ll see.” Gideon started to return the card.

“Keep it,” Justice told him. “Maybe you want to join us.”

“I have my gig.”

“You could teach a couple of classes. Keep your hand in, so to speak.”

Gideon shoved the card into his jeans pocket. “I don’t think so. Keep my hand in for what? Have you seen this place? We’re all pretty safe here.”

That might be true, but Justice knew the danger never went away. That for the rest of his life, Gideon would be on guard against the dark, if nothing else.

“You might change your mind,” Justice said. “If you do, call me. We could use a guy like you.”

Gideon held up both hands. “I’m a civilian now. Just doing my thing.”

“Married?” Justice asked.

Gideon dropped his arms to his sides. “No. I haven’t settled in that much.”

Which might be a problem, Justice thought.

Gideon’s gaze sharpened. “I saw that,” he said. “Why do you care if I’m—” He swore. “No way. She’s coming here?”

They both knew who the “she” was. Felicia.

“She is and you’ll stay away from her.”

Gideon’s posture tensed. “You’re going to make me?”

“She’s important to me. Like a sister.”