Hennessey's Handler (Protect and Serve #4) - Pandora Pine Page 0,11

myself.

I wasn’t in the hero spotlight, and the last thing I needed was to hook up with one of Kennedy’s brothers. I had only seen Quentin briefly. He was handsome, as Nate described, but if he was anything like the irascible Hennessey, then I wasn’t interested.

As we trooped through the woods, I had a few minutes to study Hennessey. He was a few inches taller than me, with a lot more muscle. Watching the way his frame moved, I’d guess his muscles had muscles. His left arm was a bright sleeve of tattoos, none of which I could make out from my ten-foot distance behind him. Last but not least was his blond hair. It had been in a messy man-bun when I arrived, but now, after spending an hour in the woods, it was a wreck. If I didn’t know better, I would have said that man had just been fucked long and hard. Bits of broken twigs and dried leaves only added to that illusion.

My eyes kept straying to his ass, which I had to admit was a work of art. Thick and juicy, it filled out his jeans to perfection. An ass that fine should be illegal. Not to mention the swing of his hips.

Ahab gave a quick bark, which, thankfully, pulled my thoughts away from Hennessey McCoy’s fine assets. We were near the edge of the woods. Ahab always announced his arrival when the news was good. He was properly silent when our missions delivered the worst outcome possible. The dog seemed to understand the emotions of search and rescue. He was all for hugs and ear scratches when he brought his quarry home and was a silent shoulder to lean on when things went bad. Over the years, I’d learned how to console people on their worst days, but I wasn’t as good at it as Ahab.

“Lola!” Shouts went up from the family, who were sitting around the backyard. They raced toward Hennessey and Lola. The little girl was sitting on Hennessey’s shoulders, waving to her family like she was the queen.

Two men, one of them with bright red hair, grabbed Lola from Hennessey and held her tight. The redhead seemed to be looking her over for any sign of injuries. I assumed the two men were her parents.

One by one, other couples bowed at Queen Lola’s feet. There were hugs, quite a few tears, and more gay uncles than I’d ever seen together in my entire life. “Is everyone gay?” I asked Hennessey, who was standing at my side with his arms crossed over his bulky chest.

“You got a problem with that?” Hennessey growled at me. His blue eyes blazed with anger and something else I couldn’t quite put my finger on. If I were a betting man, I’d say it was guilt.

“Jesus, no.” Was this guy kidding me? Everyone who met me usually knew I flew the rainbow flag within the first five minutes. “I’m an only child. It would have been nice to have gay brothers to help…” What the hell was I doing telling this total stranger something so personal?

Hennessey turned. His lips were still snarling, but his eyes roamed over my body as if he had X-ray vision. He made me feel naked and vulnerable under his exacting gaze. “Kennedy mentioned you once or twice. Now that he’s engaged, he thinks everyone should be as happy in love as he and Gunnar are. I was too worried about Lola to pay you any attention beyond what you could do to bring her home.”

“Is that Deacon Fairbanks? The reporter for the Gloucester Times?” I remembered he’d been involved in some sort of arson case a year ago.

Hennessey nodded. “He’s engaged to my brother, Ozzy.”

“The fire captain?” He was the biggest of all the brothers and was holding tiny Lola while tears cascaded down his cheeks. If the little girl wasn’t careful, she’d drown.

Hennessey sighed as if my questions were putting him out. “Kennedy is engaged to Gunnar.” He pointed to a smaller man who was bringing plates of birthday cake out of the house. “Ozzy is the captain of Firehouse Three and he’s engaged to Deacon. Then there’s Dallas, who’s a medic at Ozzy’s house, along with his fiancé, Saxon James, who is the girls’ uncle. The adoption will be final in a few weeks. Quentin is the quiet one. He was an Army pilot until he lost a leg on a combat mission. After that, he spent a few years