Hero in Waiting

Hero in Waiting Andrew Grey Hero in Waiting By Andrew Grey Wells Barnaby is in danger and he doesn’t even know it. After leaving the Marines, he came to live with his sister and is helping to care for his niece. When a threat from his past rears up, it puts them all in danger… and brings the one who got away back into his life. Miller Washington served with Wells, and the two men shared an attraction that neither of them acknowledged. When Miller learns that an old enemy is on the loose and that he may come after Wells, he makes a beeline to help. But he doesn’t expect repressed desire to blaze back to life. Between renewed attraction and an enemy who will stop at nothing to get even, Wells and Miller must navigate the heat of passion too strong for either of them to contain while not letting their guard down, in order to protect Wells’s family and their second chance. For Dominic, who is always my hero. Table of CONTENTS Chapter One Chapter Two Chapter Three Chapter Four Chapter Five Chapter Six Chapter Seven Chapter Eight Chapter Nine Epilogue Chapter One Wellington “Wells” Barnaby held the hand of his five-year-old niece as they walked through the park, which was her favorite thing in the entire world, it seemed. “Don’t run across the road,” he called as she dropped his hand and raced forward, stopping right at the edge of the concrete, watching the ducks on the other side. “Do you want to go on the swings?” Anything to distract her from the duck- and goose-poop-strewn area over there. Not that he cared about a little poop. He’d experienced a hell of a lot worse—hell, he’d probably slept in worse. “Yes,” she replied loudly, racing back over to him. Once again, Wells held out his hand, and she took it as they walked across the grass to the huge play area with its wooden ship-like structure filled with the happiness and laughter of excited children. Wells took a deep breath and did his best to let that sound sink in deeper, but he was on edge. He looked all around for the dozenth time since bringing Giselle here. He had long ago learned to trust his instincts, but now he was starting to think being on daycare duty for his niece was beginning to get to him. “Uncle Wells, push me on the swing.” She climbed on, and he did as she asked. “Higher.” “You can’t go too high. You know that.” If his sister, Christine, saw them, she’d already be having a fit. Christine was a good, if overly worried, parent. “But I wanna try to touch the sky,” she countered, extending her legs the way Wells had been teaching her so she could swing on her own. He pushed her a little high and let her swing. “You can do it on your own. Remember what I told you.” Wells sat on the next swing, his feet on the ground, looking over all the people on the playground. His mind ran through threat assessments almost automatically. So many times, he had wished that he could turn that shit off and that a visit to the playground could be just that. But no, he was constantly thinking what he would do if one of the parents pulled a gun, or if someone left a backpack where it shouldn’t be and walked away. “Uncle Wells,” Giselle said, and he turned, realizing she had stopped. She slipped off the swing, ran toward the play area, and instantly found some other kids and ran off, joining the din of happiness that seemed to permeate the place. Wells was back home, and he needed to get used to it. After more than two decades in the Marines—and years of being one of the first deployed to hotspots around the world—he was used to being on his guard all the time. But now, in Carlisle, a town in the Harrisburg, PA area, he needed to get used to a very different kind of life, whether he wanted to or not. He sat on a bench, letting Giselle play for a while before going to get her. “We need to go home so you can have lunch,” Wells told her. All the kids around looked at him, and some backed away before turning to run to their parents. He held out his hand, and she took it, letting him lead her out and down to the entrance. “I wanna see the ducks. Okay? Then we can go.” This girl was going to be a lawyer. Wells could already see it. She tried to negotiate everything. “Five minutes,” Wells told her as they walked across the lawn toward where he’d parked Christine’s mommy-mobile. It still made him smile that he was driving a minivan, but that was fine. It sure as hell beat a Humvee through the desert, getting sand in the crack of his ass. “Uncle Wells, why is that mean man watching you?” Giselle asked. “What…?” Wells asked, and then he saw him too. The scowl, the intense eyes, the wide-as-a-house shoulders, that infuriating swagger. “Right over there.” She pointed and stepped away, standing partly behind his legs. Damn, Giselle was usually fearless. “It’s okay. I know him,” Wells said, lifting her into his arms as the man drew closer. “What is it with you? Taking up scaring children—is that your new hobby?” He tried to look gruff, but then broke into a smile. “What are you doing here?” he asked, setting Giselle down before getting a hug almost tight enough to crush a rib. He shrugged and smiled, easing away some of the roughness. “Uncle Wells,” Giselle pleaded, still afraid. Wells backed away and lifted her again. “Gelly, this is Miller, one of the men I know from the Marines.” He leaned closer. “I know he looks scary, but he’s a pretty nice man when he wants to be.”