Nice of Bull to keep a couple of heavy throw blankets on the back of the sectional, Hawk thought. He set his boots by the sliding glass door and stretched out. It was a comfortable enough couch for a nap, but he wouldn’t sleep that deep or long. Not on a couch. Not in someone else’s house—even his brother’s.

Then again, he wasn’t getting much sleep what with hauling the kid’s ass back over here. But there was no choice. Aric needed to be with his mother.

Such a damn pretty mother. Big, wide eyes and soft mouth. And even softer-looking breasts.

Dammit, don’t notice those things, dumbass.

Hawk had expected her to yell—or burst into tears. He’d scared her—and he’d also seen the flash of hurt that her son needed someone else.

But she’d sucked it up, and as he left, she’d been tucking her boy in. Kissing him on the cheek.

Lucky kid. What would it feel like to be the recipient of all that love?

Chapter Five

Hope for the best, but prepare for the worst. ~ Unknown

Midweek, in her Toyota 4Runner, JJ glanced over at her passenger and winced at the way Kit was holding her side. It wouldn’t do the woman any good to arrive at her physical therapy appointment already in pain.

JJ slowed the vehicle a bit more. “Sorry. I know how much bouncing can hurt.”

“That sounds like the voice of experience. I bet police work gets pretty rough.”

“Sometimes.” JJ hadn’t spent much time with Kit, but she was finding the woman was just as sweet as Frankie had said. “Back in Nevada, I got on the wrong side of a bullet during a drug gang’s takedown.”

At Kit’s wide eyes, JJ laughed. “No, no big holes. I had on body armor. But just the impact cracked a rib.”

“Sheesh, what a job.”

When they went over the next dip, Kit bent forward, making a pained sound. “Why does this section have so many ruts? The rest is in decent shape.”

“You can thank Mako for that.”

“Why?”

JJ shook her head. “You know this was Mako’s place at first, with the guys just visiting, right?”

“Actually, no.”

“Okay, let’s see. The sarge was retired career military, and he raised the guys out in the middle of nowhere, but when they grew up and left, he got…” JJ had slowed the car to a crawl. “During his service, he’d been deployed to Vietnam and some uglier areas, and suffered from PTSD and paranoia. Caz said he had a sense of impending doom—as though the world was going to go up in flames at any moment. He wanted to be prepared.”

“Frankie said he was a survivalist.”