Mine - HelenKay Dimon Page 0,77
holdouts twitchy. They should back off but there are contingency plans in place for another course of action.”
The men she once worked for continued to underestimate her. Andy had no idea how that was possible. “Do they want her to release the intel?”
“I think they’re trying to figure out how to find it before she can. They view this as a race.”
No way. But that meant it was up to Rick to convince them otherwise before someone did something really stupid. “You said you were doing this for Gabe.”
Rick shrugged. “Yeah, so?”
“Handle it.” When Rick just sat there, Andy doled out a bit of truth. “Redemption is a bitch.”
• • •
Gabe couldn’t put his finger on what he enjoyed more, watching Brandon settle in at home and eat everything in sight or the look of horror on Natalie’s face as she watched it happen. Either way a feeling of calmness settled over him. This, them together, struck him as right. Not really a guy to seek out or depend on comfort, he appreciated it all the more when it blanketed him without warning.
Natalie inched closer to the opposite side of the counter from Brandon with every mouthful he swallowed. He stood over the sink, not even bothering with a plate as he feasted on a piece of chicken. He held a napkin and ate with a bit less than his usual gusto, so Gabe let it go. He picked his battles, and a chicken leg wasn’t one of them.
She put her palms on the edge of the counter and rested a foot on the bottom bar of the stool next to her. The move pulled her slim jeans tight across her ass. Gabe tried not to notice but his gaze kept bouncing. He had eyes and a functioning dick. No way could he ignore the way she looked, all casual and cozy, in his house. Made him extra happy he’d asked for her sizes before hunting down clothes for her for the Montana trip.
“You eat enough for three grown men,” she said with more than a little awe in her voice.
Brandon took the time to wipe his face and finish chewing before answering. “You sound like Dad.”
“He drinks a gallon of milk every three days.” Gabe’s grocery budget expanded and groaned every time the kid came home.
Natalie kept frowning. “Maybe we should check him for a tapeworm.”
“Wait, what?” Brandon froze as he stood locked in a staring contest with her. “How would you do that?”
“You don’t want to know.” But Gabe was pretty tempted to explain how it all worked just to see Brandon’s face.
Brandon dropped the chicken leg. “Sounds gross. I’ll pass.”
Damn, he missed his kid. The semester had only started a few months ago, but that didn’t matter to Gabe. Not having Brandon around after having him underfoot for so long tugged at him.
He’d thought he’d be the tough dad who appreciated his son’s maturity and let that satisfaction be enough. Instead, he’d spent every night of the first week sitting on Brandon’s bed glancing around the room. Pathetic stuff but Gabe didn’t fight it. Brandon meant everything.
“You sure you don’t want me to drive you back to school?” Gabe didn’t mind, and Natalie might like the diversion of mindless sightseeing through the countryside and being on the move might be safer for her than being still.
“Nah, my friends are coming through.” Brandon didn’t even look up as he dropped his backpack on the counter and started loading it with boxes of crackers and protein bars.
Natalie glanced over her shoulder at Gabe. “They come here?”
“No.” Not until he checked them out and knew they were safe. None of these kids rose to that level yet.
Brandon headed for the pantry. “Not even close.”
“So, we just drop him off on the side of the road somewhere?” That judgment moved back into her voice.
Gabe decided to ignore it. “Tempting, but there’s a cabin.”
She rolled her eyes. “Of course there is.”
Gabe knew she thought about the one in Montana with the homemade water heater, but this was not that. The structure functioned as a guardhouse of sorts but didn’t look like one. Two floors and two bedrooms. Where he and Brandon lived while the main house was being built. The same place Andy tried to claim before Gabe set it up as a security feature.
“It sits on a plot of land and looks like that’s it. Just the house and some yard.” A place with sentimental value. Watching Brandon move around the