The American Soldier Collection: Escape from Obsession (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting) Read online

  “I think it went well. Robert’s eyes lit up as he winked at me then sat there all smug. I swear, since the day he hired me, he’s been patting himself on the back. He is such a character.”

  “And so freaking good-looking, too,” Kaleigh said as she sighed. Gia laughed.

  “You like him, huh?”

  Kaleigh shot a look like “no duh” then rolled her eyes.

  “It doesn’t matter. He’s so out of my league and after dating an asshole for several months of my life, I’ve learned that sex is not the most important thing in a relationship.”

  Gia swallowed hard then shook her head as she gathered her belongings and placed important files into filing cabinets and locked them. She didn’t even want to think about sex. Just because a man was good looking and great in bed did not make him a good companion or partner. That was just it though. Antonio wasn’t her partner, and he didn’t truly care about her. She had become an obsession and ultimately a prisoner. She was so used to pain and sadness, and in the end, she nearly lost herself. She took an unsteady breath. That was Gianna. No pain, no gain. It was a motto she lived by, and remembering that painful time in her life made her smarter and a survivor.

  “Hey, I just got a text from Sammy. She said Helena and the girls are meeting at Casper’s.”

  Gia saw her texting on the phone. Then a moment later it rang and Gia knew that the Sammy was calling Kaleigh to try and convince them to tag along. Her new group of friends had been hounding her for months to join them for drinks after work. It was a kind of hangout bar about thirty minutes outside of the city.

  “I’m kind of tired,” Gia began to say, as she combed her fingers through her long brown hair. She preferred being alone. However, being only twenty-four just like her friends, it seemed the norm was hanging out at Casper’s and other local bars and meeting hot cowboys. What also made her extremely nervous were the ménage relationships that were so normal around Houston. Even her own cousin was involved with one, which nearly gave her a stroke. However, seeing Teddy and Jim with Deanna made her more accepting to the type of relationship’s existence. To have more than one man love and care for a woman seemed like a million-to-one shot. Given her own track record and history, she’d say she was safest being alone and focusing on her artwork.

  “Don’t even try it, girl. This is the place to be and especially on a Friday after a long workweek. You deserve to have a little fun. Plus, the guys there are so damn hot. The food is delicious and the drinks awesome,” she said to Gia as Kaleigh covered the phone with her hand. Gia was shaking her head “no” as Kaleigh told Sammy that they would meet them there within the hour.

  Gia ran her hands down the business dress she wore. It was one of her favorites and she looked very professional in it. Kaleigh of course told her that she looked sexy and that the skirt curved her ass and thighs perfectly. That was why she opted to wear the matching short blazer. It just reached her ass and buttoned in the front, to hide the large swells of her breasts. Gia was above average up top and didn’t like to flaunt her figure. She was in great physical condition from all her martial arts classes and she even assisted training when needed for the children’s beginner classes. Her sensei, Lee, was retired from the Marine Corp and good friends with her cousin Teddy. Kaleigh seemed to have her eye on Lee as well.

  “Let’s get moving, or we’ll have to park way down the block to get a spot. I’ve been wearing these heels all day,” Kaleigh complained as she stood up and waited for Gia.

  They headed out of the office and as they exited the main hallway, they both heard giggling and then saw Jeffrey Lewington pressing his body hard against some woman. Gia was frozen in place as well as Kaleigh as they watched Jeffrey press his hand up the woman’s skirt and straight to her pussy. The woman gasped then smiled as Jeffrey licked and sucked along her neck to the open blouse. She could see the woman’s breast from where she stood. That’s Jessica from the processing department.

  The elevator made a noise and Jeffrey looked right at Gia and smiled as he pumped his hand under the woman’s skirt. The woman was oblivious to the audience. Jeffrey stared at Gia just as Kaleigh grabbed her arm and yanked her into the elevator.

  “Holy shit. Did you see that? I mean, what the hell? The office isn’t even empty yet,” Gia stated. Kaleigh leaned back against the wall.

  “He’s an asshole. That’s why I come to meet you every night. I don’t trust him or the way he’s been watching you.”

  “Watching me? You’re crazy. Sure he’s smiled, maybe even winked a few times, but watching me? I don’t think so. I’ve pretty much established that I do not mix business with pleasure,” Gia said as that uneasy feeling crept into her belly. She had tried her hardest to establish her personality here at the agency. Most of the single men and not-so-single men seemed to have gotten the hint. Jeffrey couldn’t be that dense, could he?

  “Yeah, well, I can tell you from experience that Jeffrey doesn’t always take no for an answer.”

  The elevator stopped and the doors opened to the underground car garage.

  “Kaleigh, what do you mean?” Gia asked as they headed to their cars that were parked side by side.

  Kaleigh turned and grabbed Gia by the shoulders. She was a bit taller than Gia by at least a few inches.

  “You listen to me. He’s a pig and he will try to make a move on you. He did to me over a year ago. He caught me in my office late at night. He had planned it by telling Sylvia, my boss, that he needed certain paperwork on an employee pronto and just as I was leaving. I was the only one in personnel. He showed up, started playing with my hair, and then he kissed me. That kiss got out of control fast. He was fondling my breasts before I even took the first shot I could and kicked him in the balls. He threatened me and I told him off. He never did shit about it. I thought I called his bluff, but turns out, the employee he asked to be checked out was his next playmate. She was young, trying to succeed, and he used her then got her fired.”

  “Holy shit. You never told anyone or pressed charges for sexual harassment or even a grievance with Sylvia?”

  “Are you kidding me? There are people waiting for my job. That asshole threatened to say some terrible lies about me. Told me he had more friends here and that people would believe him and not me. The days that followed, he proved his point by getting some of the other male employees to make comments to me whenever they saw me. He let me know that he could make my life hell.”

  “What an asshole.”

  “Exactly.”

  “So stay clear of him and don’t get caught alone in the office at night.”

  “I know men like that. Or at least I did back in New York. Sometimes I wonder if there are any good men still out there. You know, the kind that treat women like gold and appreciate them.”

  “Maybe we’ll find some tonight at Casper’s,” Kaleigh said then smiled as she unlocked her car door.

  * * * *

  The music was loud and the crowds even louder at Casper’s, filled up for happy hour. Garrett’s fathers, John Luke and Jasper, were working the front area along with other staff, while his other dad, Davie, helped keep the kitchen crew in order. Garrett felt his leg tighten up a little bit and he bitched the injury, just like he did every night. He didn’t want to be here.

  “Hey, cowboy, can I get a drink or what?” He heard a woman’s voice, assumed that it was another chick trying to get him to take her home tonight, and when he looked up he saw Sammy Delilah, a good friend he had grown up with. She and her crew of fellow female friends hung out at the bar on Friday and Saturday nights. They were just good friends, but she did like to flirt with him. He wasn’t the kind of guy that flirted. He was pissed off and kept to himself most of the time and just put on his nice bartender smile to appease his fathers and the patrons.

  “Whatya got in mind?” he asked her and winked then prepared to make her favorite drink, a Bohemian rum concoction she had read about online and asked him to make for her. It had become her signature drin
k. As he smiled then started to make the drink, he noticed the women around her and a few others who gave him the once-over. He knew he was a good-looking guy, but unlike his brother Wes, he didn’t date much. When he had an itch, he took care of it.

  He made the drink as he heard Sammy talking to her friends.

  “So what do you think?” she yelled out as he looked up and placed the drink on the bar. As he did, he locked gazes with a stunning woman. His breath caught in his throat, his chest tightened. Holy fuck, she’s hot.

  Unlike Sammy, this woman was dressed like an executive. She had class and beauty. She was dressed up in business attire, and her long brown hair cascaded down her back and one side of her shoulder. Her lips were full and ripe, glistening with some light gloss instead of dark-colored lipstick like what Sammy was wearing. She wore hardly any makeup and she didn’t need it anyway.

  “I’m not sure. It’s kind of loud,” the woman stated then Sammy took her drink from the bar.

  “Can I get you something, doll?” he asked the brunette, who unlike the other women, hadn’t seemed to notice him, which made him feel like he was of out of her league. That didn’t stop his cock from standing to attention, a first for him because he wasn’t a lust-at-first-sight guy. He tossed those feelings aside as she looked up into his eyes. Again, he was mesmerized by her beauty. Green eyes, the color of emeralds, gazed up at him. Sammy gave the woman a little shove as she laughed.

  “Garrett, meet my friend Gia. Garrett makes great drinks,” she added and Garrett saw the stunned expression on the woman’s face. She lowered her eyes and turned as if trying to look around her and he noticed her cheeks were a bit flushed. Her friends behind her gave their drink orders, but Garrett hardly paid any attention to them. He made the martini, the sex on the beach, and then the mojito, placing them on the bar for Sammy’s friends to take. He caught himself focusing on the brunette again as a nervous and anxious feeling hit his gut.

  “Did you figure out what you’d like to have?” he asked her as thoughts of her whispering in his ear and saying she wanted him filtered through his mind. He had to close his eyes and give himself a little mental shake. Something like this had never happened to him before.

  “I’ll take a club soda with lemon please,” she said loudly and her friends smiled then began to talk. As soon as he gave her the club soda, she placed her money on the bar and bought the first round of drinks for her friends. The girls cheered and sweet, sexy little Gia blushed as she took a sip of her seltzer and gave him her back.

  It was difficult to take more orders and not remain at this end of the bar where the woman stood. The color of her hair, the way it shined and flowed so beautifully, was very appealing. She didn’t seem stuck up, but actually looked like she felt out of place. He wasn’t the only guy to notice her either, as group after small group approached Gia, Sammy, and her friends and flirted. Gia seemed to be ignoring them. Maybe she had a boyfriend? A woman as good-looking as her had to be taken.

  She had a great body, especially in that business dress she wore. It curved her hips and round ass just perfectly and the high heels showed off the definition in her calves. She didn’t wear any stockings, a thought that had his cock aching for release from the confinement of his jeans as thoughts of exploring her flashed into his mind.

  Geesh, I’m acting like a fucking pervert or some guy who hasn’t got laid in years. He took an unsteady breath as he wiped down the bar and poured another patron a mug of beer.

  He saw her turn to glance at him and he gave her a small smile. At that moment a group of guys entered the area, and the cheers and applause started. They were bowing down in front of the women and the women were fanning themselves. Except the brunette. She shyly turned away and shook her head as if not impressed with their act.

  “Hey, who is that?” the bartender, Ezekiel, asked Garrett as he gave him a little elbow push as Ezekiel dried off a beer mug. Now Ezekiel had his eye on Gia.

  “Beats me,” he said, feeling a bit jealous. What the hell was wrong with me? I have no right to feel like this. I don’t even know the woman. Garrett kept an eye on her as the night went on. He took notice of the way she stood to the side and how the men that gathered around her flirted with her and took every opportunity to touch her in a sneaky way, invading her space. She seemed to be getting annoyed, as she changed positions and placed her back against the bar. It was a defensive stance. He knew what that felt like. Most of his life after being in the service was spent hiding out, keeping to himself. He liked it that way.

  He wiped down the bar where someone spilled their drink, and he spoke in short phrases, being polite to the patrons ordering from him. Every so often, he found himself seeking her out and wondering who she was. This was a first for him. She sipped that same club soda for the night. She definitely wasn’t a drinker.

  “Hey, Garrett, looks like it’s going to be a late one,” his father John Luke said, interrupting his stare at the brunette. Gia. Her name is Gia. Very sweet.

  Unfortunately his father caught his line of sight.

  “She’s beautiful,” he whispered and Garrett looked at his dad. He was a few inches shorter than Garrett’s six feet three inches.

  “Who?” he asked, looking away quickly and straightening out his shoulders.

  “The woman you’ve been watching like a hawk all night. She’s very attractive. Looks like she knows Sammy well.”

  He caught himself looking and the moment he did, he saw some idiot trying to make a move and get into her space. Garrett was about to leap the bar, then remembered he couldn’t quite do that with the thigh injury he had. John Luke grabbed his shoulders, stopping him. He looked at his dad then back at Gia. He saw her step back and press her fingers to the guy’s chest, giving him a shove and a firm verbal warning. He immediately stepped back.

  “Beautiful and tough. You should find out more about her,” John Luke said then walked away.

  His dads were crazy. All three of them were retired jarheads, Marine Corp vets through and through. They also believed in love at first sight and a lot of other bullshit about fate and destiny. Yeah, what a great destiny I have. To be lonely, to have a fucked-up leg and sleepless nights for eternity.

  The bar, Casper’s, was their fathers’ retirement idea and what they had strived to establish as they worked hard in various jobs. Then they met his mother, Eve. Sure, their relationship wasn’t conventional, but he had never seen such a happy marriage ever. Well, there were a few of their friends who lived around town. They were involved with ménage relationships, too.

  Garrett glanced at Gia and he couldn’t help but wonder what his brothers, Gunner and Wes, might think of her.

  Why the hell did that idea come to mind? They’re interested in a ménage relationship, not me.

  * * * *

  Gia was trying to stick this social event out. Her friends had been trying to get her to come to Casper’s for the last two months. She didn’t like the bar scene. Not really, but she was enjoying the atmosphere of the place, the pictures on the wall of the war veterans, and soldier stories as well as the country music. What she didn’t like were the guys constantly hitting on her or trying to invade her space. Sure, they were good-looking cowboys, with fantastic bodies and a kind of arrogance to them. Not GQ like men from New York City but more like rough-and-tough, get-down-in-the-mud types. She wasn’t as dead inside as she was beginning to think. Not until she laid eyes on that very tall, incredibly handsome bartender. He was a Goliath and with dimples. She had that little twang in her belly and felt her cheeks warm as he stared into her eyes. That was definitely a shock to her. So she did the best thing she could do, and got as far away from him as she could. Pain…remember the pain.

  She was still on edge and figured she would be for years to come. She had to admit that the guys in Houston were quite appealing. She hadn’t met one yet that wasn’t or didn’t have a great body.

  As she absorbed the atmosphere and talked with her friends, she kept glancing b
ack at the bar and the attractive bartender with the dark eyes and crew-cut hair. He was gorgeous, yet very rugged and hard looking. His biceps were big, but he had a look in his eyes when he locked gazes with her and she felt something. Was it mere attraction to a good-looking man or was it something else? She tried not to stare at him, but each time she glanced his way, it seemed as if he were watching her. Not in a creepy way, but more like keeping an eye on her. Did she appear naïve or something? Maybe he was just being kind because she was a friend with Sammy and they had known one another for years.

  When some idiot tried to get a little too close, she put him in his place and decided that a quick trip to the ladies’ room for a reprieve was in order. She told Sammy where she was headed then walked through the crowd. She didn’t like being out at places like this where men and women sought out attractions or whatever. She feared intimacy. She feared getting close to people, and after her experiences in New York, she feared men in general. Sure she could handle the occasional jerk, but letting her guard down to allow interest or deeper conversation made her palms sweat and her need to disappear increase.

  She took care of her needs then headed back toward the front of the bar. On the way she noticed the pictures on the wall and then three men standing together in uniform. They were Marines. But something in their similar eyes caught her attention.

  “That was taken when we returned home after our third tour in Vietnam,” someone said and she turned to find an older, attractive-looking man with salt-and-pepper hair. He had to be about six feet tall. Even with her heels on, she hardly reached his chest. Being five feet four inches was on the smaller side.