Buck's Promise (Mysterious Adventures Book 2) Read online

  Buck’s Promise

  By Elizabeth Lennox

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  Copyright 2021

  ISBN13: 9781950451463

  All rights reserved

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events, and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental. Any duplication of this material, either electronic or any other format, either currently in use or a future invention, is strictly prohibited, unless you have the direct consent of the author.

  Table of Contents

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Epilogue

  Excerpt from “Longing for Diesel”

  Chapter 1

  A scream shattered the silence of the humid, sultry night. Sitting on the front porch of his friend’s house, Jack Winthrop turned and shot a look at his friend. “Tell me you aren’t the cause of that scream.”

  Buck Owen shrugged his massive shoulders and took another sip of his scotch, stretching his legs on the railing in front of him. “I don’t know why you would ask such a ridiculous question.”

  Jack chuckled at his friend’s “innocent” expression and sipped his own scotch. “So, your pretty neighbor still won’t go out with you?”

  Buck hid his smile behind the glass. “Her name is Nina and she’ll come around. I have a special way with women.”

  A moment later, both men heard several loud, barely muffled thunks emanating from his neighbor’s house. Buck wanted nothing more than to get up and go to the beautiful woman’s rescue, but she’d been crystal clear: she wanted him to back off.

  There was a long moment of silence broken only by the crickets chirping in the distance. No more thuds, thunks, or screeches of frustrated fury.

  That lasted for perhaps sixty seconds.

  “All part of your charm, eh?” Jack replied, laughing as he shook his head. “You know, you could just ask her to dinner. Start off just being friendly and, if it goes well, maybe progress to something more.” Jack’s gaze moved past his friend’s shoulders, lit up only by the interior lights of his neighbor’s house. “Or help her move the furniture that she…” Another loud thunk indicated that the pretty woman in the next townhouse was shifting another piece of heavy furniture around. “What the hell was that?”

  Buck tilted his head slightly, peering through the windows of his neighbor’s house. “A club chair. She shoved it against the wall.”

  Jack nodded with a heavy sigh. “Right. Chair. And I’m pretty sure that you know why the woman needs to move furniture?”

  Another easy shrug. “I suppose she just didn’t like the way she’d arranged everything initially.”

  Jack didn’t believe his friend. With a groan-like chuckle, Jack finished off his scotch. “What did you do?”

  Buck hid his grin behind his glass. “I have no idea what you’re talking about. I’m just sitting out here, enjoying the evening.” He peered at Jack over the edge of his glass. “Did you see me do something? Have I done anything in the past five minutes that would cause the woman to decide to move her furniture?”

  Jack rolled his eyes, but Buck couldn’t see the expression in the darkness. “I know you, man,” he said with another chuckle. “And you’re one of the most devious bastards I’ve ever met. So yeah, I don’t know what you’ve done to make your lovely neighbor crazy. But I’m pretty sure that you’ve done something. And I ask again, why don’t you just ask her out to dinner? Or even better, cook a meal for her?”

  “She’s got an independent streak,” Buck explained. “She wants to learn to do things on her own, figure life out by herself. And she’s all excited about finally owning her own home and doing things for herself.” He shrugged. “If she’d just ask, I’m sure I could fix whatever it is that’s bothering her. But the woman demands to do things on her own.” He tilted his head slightly. “I respect her for that, actually.”

  Jack groaned, shaking his head. “Except that you’ve done something to drive her nuts.”

  “I’m just sitting here,” he repeated, lifting his free hand. “I’m not even talking to her. I’m barely talking to you.”

  Jack snickered. “You’re an ass.”

  Buck chuckled, confirming Jack’s assumption. “I’ve offered to help her several times. When that moving van pulled up with her stuff, she let the moving guys move her furniture into her house, but then she insisted on carrying all of the boxes.”

  Jack thought about that for a long moment, contemplating the moonlight through the now-empty glass. “Man, I bet she has some awesome arms.”

  Buck didn’t reply, but he silently agreed with Jack that everything about his dark-haired neighbor was hot. She had long, silky, dark hair, a heart shaped face with a cute, stubborn chin, and flashing green eyes. Eyes that glared daggers at him whenever she saw him, which was often, since his team hadn’t had a mission in weeks.

  “So you’re just…what? Going to torment her until she agrees to go out with you?”

  Buck shrugged. “I never said I was tormenting her,” he pointed out smoothly, hiding the grin when another shriek echoed from his neighbor’s house.

  “You’re truly evil.”

  Chapter 2

  “Another rough night?” Jinx asked, reaching for a glass to pour her best friend a drink.

  Nina dropped onto the bar stool, slumping over the bar with exhaustion. “I ordered a stethoscope,” she told Jinx. “I’m going to find it.”

  Jinx paused, blinking at her friend with confusion. “A stethoscope?”

  “Yeah,” Nine replied, sounding more exhausted by the moment.

  “You mean, that thing that doctors use to listen to hearts and lungs?”

  Nina nodded. “I’ve looked everywhere. I’m thinking that the chirping sound is coming from within the walls. Or maybe under the floors.” She closed her eyes for a long moment. “Maybe someone renovated the house at some point and didn’t realize that the smoke detector got stuffed behind something. Now the battery has died and it is just chirping away, trying to let someone know that the battery is dead.”

  Jinx shrugged, tilting her head to the side as if Nina’s thinking made sense. “Are you sure it’s a smoke detector?” Jinx asked, sliding the ginger ale across the bar.

  Nina paused to take a long sip of the cold drink, then sighed. “Thank you,” she whispered, then hid her face in her hands for a moment before sliding her fingers into her hair, mussing the previously silky locks. “From what I can find on the internet, it’s the only answer that makes sense. There’s a chirp every thirty-seven seconds. It never stops. The sound radiates outward in no particular direction. Just like the sound from a smoke detector after the battery has died.” She rubbed her hands over her face, closing her eyes as she tried to quell her fury. “If you know of anything else that it might be, please let me know.”

  Jinx leaned her hands on the bar, shaking her head. “Why don’t you let James look into the situation? I know he could…”

  Nina opened her eyes and stared at her friend. “You know why.”

  Jinx pressed her lips together with disapproval. “Nina, your ex-
boyfriend was a jerk and mocked you constantly for your inability to perform any sort of home maintenance tasks. But at some point, you need to ask for help. This chirping has been driving you nuts for over a week.”

  “Yeah, that’s why I bought a stethoscope,” Nina announced.

  Jinx chuckled. “And you think that’s going to help you find the dying smoke detector? If the stethoscope doesn’t work, this torment could go on forever.”

  Nina laughed, but there wasn’t a lot of amusement in her voice. “I don’t know! I certainly hope so! The stethoscope is so I can listen through the walls and…I don’t know! Maybe narrow down the vicinity of the smoke detector!” She gripped her hair as her frustration increased. “It has to be in the walls or the floor somewhere. I’ve looked everywhere else. I’ve even unpacked boxes that I didn’t need to unpack, thinking that the damn thing was in one.”

  “You said that the previous owner of your house did some renovations. Do you really think that they sealed a smoke detector in the walls or in between the floors?”

  Nina groaned, dropping her head onto her crossed arms on the bar. “I don’t know! It’s the only explanation that makes sense!”

  Jinx bit her lip before she asked, “Did you ask Buck to help you locate this chirping sound?”

  Nina closed her eyes, inhaled slowly and released the breath before she replied, “If you are referring to the mountain pretending to be my nextdoor neighbor, then yes. I’ve asked him if one of the smoke detectors might be chirping at his house.”

  Jinx laughed, nodding her head. “Mountain man? Yeah, that would be Buck. He is big, but don’t underestimate him. He’s smarter than you think.” Jinx tilted her head, opened her mouth…then closed it firmly.

  “What?” Nina demanded, her body tense as she waited to hear whatever her friend had been about to say.

  Jinx opened her mouth, then closed it again. “No,” she sighed. “It’s nothing. I was just…” she pursed her lips and glanced at her husband, who was sitting at a table with the man in question along with his former teammates. Buck, Jack, and Diesel were laughing about something James had said. They were sitting at a table set apart from the others because they sometimes needed to discuss top secret issues pertaining to their missions. James was no longer their team lead; that position having been filled by Jack. But James still consulted on an as needed basis.

  “Tell me,” Nina interrupted Jinx’s contemplation of Buck, who was sitting with his back against the column. The position allowed him to keep an eye on the other patrons but Jinx suspected that it wasn’t the bar patrons he was surveilling.

  Jinx turned to look at Buck directly. Was he that evil? Would Buck have…?

  No! Buck was brilliant and devious. But he would never hurt Nina. Jinx suspected that the big guy was more than half in love with his lovely, new neighbor.

  Dismissing the possibility that Buck was behind Nina’s chirping problem, she turned back to her friend. “You know, Buck really is a good guy.”

  Nina stared at Jinx for a long moment, clearly trying to catch up. When Nina realized that Jinx was playing matchmaker, the woman groaned. “Jinx, I’m sure Buck is very sweet. But he’s…” she paused and looked at the man in question using the mirrors behind the bar. Unfortunately, Buck was doing the same thing and their eyes locked. Nina swallowed a sigh as her heart began to race like it always did when Buck looked her way.

  She turned away from the mirror, tightening her grip on her ginger ale. “Buck is gorgeous. And yeah, if I had a free night…or ten,” she joked, “I’d totally proposition the guy. He’s delicious.”

  “But…?” Jinx added, drawing the word out. “I know there’s a ‘but’ in there.”

  “But…” Nina laughed, loving that she had a friend who knew her so well, “…Buck only wants sex. And I’m sure that the sex would be…” she shivered. “Well, it would probably be amazing. But I’m not looking for good sex. I’m looking for a guy who wants the forever kind of relationship. I’m twenty-seven years old. I want a guy who is interested in marriage and kids and being around to pick those kids up after soccer practice or girl scouts or…whatever activity our kids are into.”

  “And you don’t think that Buck is interested in that kind of thing?”

  Nina sighed. “Look at him, Jinx. He’s gorgeous. He’s out with a different woman nearly every night. He’s clearly not the marriage minded kind.” Nina grabbed her purse and pulled a couple of dollars out of her wallet. “Are we still on for a spa day next week?”

  Jinx shoved the money back at her friend, refusing to let her pay for the soda. “Yes, I’m totally ready for a spa day.” She looked down at her nails. “I haven’t had a manicure in over two months because you bailed on me last month.”

  “I had a client trip!” Nina laughed, slinging her purse over her shoulder. “I gotta go,” she said, hugging Jinx over the counter. “I’m meeting with a new client tonight.” She pulled back and waved. “Wish me luck!”

  Jinx snorted. “You don’t need luck, my friend. You are one of the best accountants ever! If you need a reference, just give them my name. Or James’ contact information. Your accounting services are awesome!”

  “Thanks Jinx!” she replied, as she headed out the door. It was the middle of the afternoon so the lunch crowd had already dispersed and the early evening crowd hadn’t wandered in off of the beach yet. Jinx used to manage a fabulous place about two blocks down the street, but it had been across the street from the beach and…well, the owner had tried to frame Jinx for robbery. Thankfully, her handsome husband had foiled the man’s plans, but not before Jinx had been arrested.

  Thankfully, everything worked out in the end, plus Jinx sued her former employer, winning millions in the settlement. That had allowed Jinx to buy this place and, with her friends’ help, turn a run-down beach bar into one of the hottest restaurants in the area. Tourists could grab take out from the window on one side or they could wander in to enjoy interesting cocktails or cold beers. And if they were hungry while sunning themselves on the beach, there was a casual burger place on one side, or a more upscale restaurant on the other side. It was a brilliant setup. Plus, Jinx was constantly changing the menu, always creating new recipes that lured customers in season after season. The easy, casual atmosphere tempted tourists and the locals were enticed by the changing menu options.

  Plus, Jinx knew, and loved, everyone! She loved humanity and it showed in the way she treated her customers. Jinx was never happier than when she was feeding people. Or when she was home with her handsome hubby! Nina adored Jinx and considered her to be a special friend.

  What Nina didn’t love was the chirping sound that was just loud enough to wake her up every night. Actually, now that she thought about it, the sound didn’t go on all night. Which only added to the frustrating mystery! She only heard it sporadically, usually early in the morning or early evening. Unfortunately, that made it even harder for her to find it!

  But when she finally found it, Nina had a special sledgehammer that was going to demolish that device!

  The rest of the afternoon was extremely productive. Her new client signed on with her and they discussed her accounting needs, which wouldn’t be complicated, but the business owner hated dealing with numbers. Nina loved numbers! They made sense to her and she especially loved helping her clients save money during tax season. While most people considered tax time to be a dreaded annual burden, Nina considered it to be a game, a challenge to find the most legitimate tax deductions for her clients.

  That night, Nina drove home with a lighter heart now that she had a new contract in her bag and a spring in her step that was the complete opposite of how she’d felt earlier, when exhaustion had befuddled her brain.

  Unfortunately, the huge, gorgeous man sitting on the front porch of his townhome diminished that happiness.

  For a moment, she considered not getting out of her car. Maybe she could pretend that she’d forgotten an errand?

  No, that wouldn’t wo
rk. Not with Buck watching her as if he knew exactly what was going through her mind. Dratted man!

  Instead, she shut off the engine, grabbed her tote bag, and stepped out of her car, trying to remember why she hadn’t chosen a townhome with a garage versus street parking. Oh yeah! Expense!

  “How are you, Buck?” she asked, trying to be polite and ignore the tingle that shot up from her stomach to the region around her heart.

  “I’m doing great. How about you? Everything okay?”

  Nina glanced up at the window of her bedroom. Should she ask? Why not? What could it hurt?

  “I’m okay. I was just…” she bit her lip, starting to shake her head and just go inside. He wouldn’t help her. He’d just ask her out again. Unfortunately, she was too tired and famished to cope. “Nothing. Never mind.”

  “Tell me,” he urged.

  Maybe because he remained on his front porch, leaning back in his chair, Nina didn’t feel threatened. Or maybe she was just too tired to resist anymore.

  Either way, she took a deep breath and inched closer. “I know I asked before, but I have looked everywhere in my house. I just…I can’t find a smoke detector that is beeping. But I can hear something that sounds like a smoke detector coming through the walls. I was wondering if you could check, just one more time, to see if one of the smoke detectors in your house has a low battery.”

  He stood up, but backed up a step. “I haven’t heard anything, but do you want to come inside and investigate? Maybe I’m just hard of hearing because of the power tools.”

  Nina hesitated, her heart pounding hard against her ribs. Could she do it? Could she go inside this man’s house? The townhomes were nice, but not large or spacious. Cozy was the word she’d use to describe them. Okay, they were “cozy” when she was in the rooms. Would they be cozy when she was in one of the bedrooms with a man the size of Buck? Probably not, she told herself, letting her eyes move over his big, deliciously muscular body, thankful that he couldn’t see her eyes through the darkness.