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Chapter Seven
Maybe it was stupid, but Harper gave Ryland directions to her sister’s restaurant. He and his friends needed somewhere safe to go, and apparently so did she. She wasn’t sure what the hell she just got tangled up in but, for some inexplicable reason, she trusted Ryland. When she looked at him, she saw a good guy and she believed that to her core. Plus, he didn’t have to save her back at the apartment complex. He could’ve just left her there and ran. That had to count for something, right?
Ryland parked the Jeep behind Charlie’s Place, and Harper led him to the back door and unlocked it with the key Savannah insisted she have. As soon as they stepped inside, she reached for the lights and he placed his hand over hers, stopping her.
“No, don’t.” He moved farther into the building and his phone started buzzing.
Harper’s hand fell away from the light switch and she wrapped her arms around herself. A chill ran through her body and she began to chew her lower lip.
“Pharaoh, where are you?” Ryland answered. After listening for a moment, he cursed under his breath. “Saint and I were attacked, too.”
He briefly filled him in on the attack then rattled off the address for the restaurant.
After he hung up, Harper frowned. “Who are these guys?”
“My team.”
“And you can trust them?”
He sent her a funny look. “Of course.”
“You’re all former military?”
“Yes. No. I don’t know,” he replied without elaborating and stalked across the floor. “Is there a back room or somewhere we can go without being seen through the window?”
The large picture window in front was mostly covered in kraft paper but, apparently, he wanted somewhere more private. “Yeah, there’s a banquet room in the back corner.”
“Great,” he murmured. “We’ll set up in there.”
Set up?“Set up what?”
“A temporary base of operations.”
Oh, Lord.Savannah was going to kill her. “How long do you plan on staying here?”
He arched a dark brow. “Why? You wanna kick me out already?”
She placed a hand on her hip. “This is my sister’s place. If she finds a bunch of squatters in here, she’s going to kick my ass first and ask questions later.”
“We’re not squatters and we’ll be gone by dawn. She won’t even know we were here. Is that okay?”
That seemed reasonable enough, so Harper nodded.
“Thank you,” he murmured.
Ryland introduced her to his team as they arrived, starting with Saint who was followed closely by Banshee, Bruja and then Pharaoh. Figuring they were all callsigns of some type, she nodded at each of them as they gave her a cursory once-over before heading to the back room, setting up a table and chairs and hooking up their laptops.
Bruja, the woman with the striking caramel-colored eyes, focused her attention on Harper, taking in the pajamas. “You must be Barbie,” she said before turning to Ryland. “Why is she here?”
Harper bristled with annoyance. The question had been directed to Ryland, but she narrowed her eyes and answered herself. “BecauseBarbieis the one who is letting you use this place as your base of operations. Temporarily. You’ll have to be out by dawn.”
Bruja’s gaze met hers and Harper saw instant respect there. When she glanced over at Ryland, his lips were twitching.
“You heard her,” Ryland said, backing her up. “We’ve got a few hours, so let’s figure some shit out.”
They took their places around the table and Ryland motioned for Harper to sit next to him, which made her feel…special. Maybe it was silly, but after standing up to the tough-looking woman with the dark hair, Harper was proud of herself. Just because she had blonde hair didn’t mean she was some sort of airhead who didn’t know what she was talking about or how to do anything worthwhile.
And Ryland looked pleased with her, too, which made Harper inwardly grin.
