Bonaparte's Belle: A SEALs of Honor World Novel (Heroes for Hire Book 24) by Dale Mayer (the beach read .txt) 📗

She snorted. “If you’re like the rest of Levi’s crew, anything that’s food will do nicely.”

“That’s true, but we all consider ourselves gourmets, with Alfred and Bailey there.”

She snorted at that again. “You guys are just plain spoiled.”

He grinned. “I can cook too.”

“Well, ribs at least,” she said, “but I’ve got sausage and bacon, hash browns and eggs. So you tell me what you want.”

“Yes.”

She stared at him for a minute, then burst out laughing, and, hopping to her feet, she said, “Got it. But do you always eat like this?”

“Every chance I get,” he said, with a bright smile.

She shook her head and led the way back inside, where she poured two more cups of coffee, brought out a frying pan, and started working on the sausage.

“We don’t have to have both bacon and sausage, if you don’t want to.”

“I’ve just got a few sausages left, so I can fry them up before they go bad,” she said. “So we’ll have bacon too because I don’t have enough sausages.”

“Well, as long as there’s plenty of something,” he said, “I’ll be perfectly happy to stay here and eat.”

“So long as there’s grub,” she murmured.

He nodded. “That and good company.”

She laughed again and shook her head. “I forget just how lonely life is out here now,” she murmured.

“You should never be lonely,” he said.

“Well, you are, when you face situations like this sometimes.”

He stopped, thought about it, and then nodded. “That, unfortunately, is quite right. Nobody should have to face something like this alone.”

“Well, I’m not alone now, am I?”

“Nope, you’re not,” he said, with a definite nod. “As long as you remember that, we’ll be good.”

Chapter 6

By the time Bonaparte and Angela headed into town, the butcher shop was due to open in another ten minutes, and the post office would be a little bit after that. They still had to deal with pretty-lazy town hours, but they did the best they could, and she appreciated that. They went to the butcher first, and she bought two racks of ribs, but, as she went to pay for it, Bonaparte stepped in and paid instead. She looked at him with a sideways glance. He shrugged, and then he ordered more bacon, and, as he wandered around, he picked up two big steaks.

“When do you want the steaks?” she asked.

“Tomorrow night,” he said. He tapped the glass case. “You know what? We could use some stuff for sandwiches too.”

“Hey, if you’re always hungry, you’re the one who needs to pick up enough stuff to fill that stomach of yours.” She could tell that the butcher was more than a little interested in everything they were doing. She had never really been known to have much of a boyfriend. She had dated and had a few relationships, but nothing that would ever cause a commotion like this guy would. Not only was he her deputy but he was huge.

She smiled over at Ross and said, “Looks like I’ll be getting a little bit more than normal.”

He just nodded and rang it up, but his gaze flicked from Bonaparte to her and then back again. But he was too polite to say anything. Bonaparte quickly paid for the rest and then moved the purchases outside. “I figured he might have said something,” Bonaparte murmured.

“He was probably too afraid of what you might say back.”

Bonaparte nodded. “I do tend to have that effect on people.”

“In that case, I should make you come shopping with me all the time,” she said. “I think we got faster service too.”

“I’m not sure about faster,” he said. “The store was empty.”

“Yeah, but normally he dawdles and likes to talk and take his time.”

“Well, socializing with you is probably off the table now,” he said.

“That could be,” she murmured. Next they drove to the gas station, where Bonaparte filled up the truck. “We’ll head to the post office next.”

“I don’t think I’ll have anything there,” she said.

“Mine came in by courier,” he said, checking his phone. “Got confirmation of arrival.”

“So we’ll go there afterward,” she said, with a nod. By the time they had collected everything they needed in town, they had caused quite a stir, with various people stepping out on the sidewalk to watch them. She smiled and called out to a few of the locals, who more or less inclined their heads at her but studied Bonaparte warily.

“So are they scared of you?” she asked. “Is that a normal reaction?”

“Well, I’m not exactly putting out friendly vibes,” he said. “I don’t want them to chalk up my being here as your boyfriend and thus not as great a threat to them.”

“I think they’ve been threatened enough,” she said, choosing to bypass his boyfriend comment.

He smiled. “Maybe, and maybe that’s not a bad idea anyway.”

She just shrugged. As they hopped into the truck for the last time, she said, “Don’t look now, but we have company.”

He pulled out onto the road and said, “Are they likely to follow?”

She checked her side mirror and said, “Looks like they are.” And, sure enough, a big Hummer pulled in behind them, as they headed toward home.

“Interesting,” he said. “Not local kids here. The Hummer speaks to money. So somebody hired from out-of-town?”

“Makes sense.”

“Will they just follow us in?”

“Unless they’ve got firepower,” she said quietly.

He looked at her sharply and immediately punched his foot down hard on the gas pedal. The Hummer came flying up behind them as well. Bonaparte turned sharply around in the middle of the street, too fast for the Hummer to hit the brakes. By the time the Hummer even realized Bonaparte had bypassed him, Bonaparte was back on the road, behind the Hummer at the same speed.

“That was a pretty nifty maneuver,” she said in surprise.

“Yeah, it is,” he said, “and sometimes, when you get assholes on your tail, you need to know how to do a few of these.”

“In that case,” she said, “maybe you could show me one or two.”

“Absolutely,”