Chapter 1
Buck grinned over at Vin.
Vin lifted an eyebrow and tipped his chair back, resting a booted foot against the metal desk.
"You mean you ain't never filed extra paperwork just to make Chris extra happy?" Buck asked.
Vin shook his head. "Don't have a death wish," he said easily.
"BUCK!"
The roar coming from their leader's office had Vin nodding toward Buck. "Go right ahead, Bucklin. Show us how happy you made Chris."
Chris stormed out into the bullpen. Buck immediately straightened from where he leaned back on his desk.
Chris lifted the stack of papers he held in his hand. He shook them toward Buck. "You filed a requisition request for beer? For the breakroom?"
Buck's smile was wide beneath his mustache. "Well, sure, Chris. You can't expect us to work weekends with nothin' but bottled water there."
Chris crumpled up one piece of paper and tossed it at Buck. He looked down at the next page. "You want reimbursement for a hundred dollar bottle of cologne?" His jaw was tight enough to snap.
"Sure do," Buck agreed. "I was undercover with Ezra at that fancy club. Couldn't be havin' 'em all think I wear Old Spice because it's all I can afford on a government paycheck."
Nathan coughed, sounding suspiciously like he was covering up a laugh.
Chris glanced at him and Nathan ducked his head down and went back to his own paperwork he was working on. Fixing his eyes back on Buck, Chris' voice dropped to a level that would have anyone who wasn't a member of Team 7 quaking.
"You're going to withdraw every single one of these forms you filed. Got it?" He slapped the stack of papers against Buck's chest.
"Uh, Buck?"
"Not now, JD," Chris snapped.
"Sorry, Chris," JD said. He set the phone back on the receiver, but tried again. "Reception just called that there's a lady on her way up to see Buck." He shrank back when Chris stared at him.
"I guess I'll just have to wait on that paperwork," Buck grinned.
Chris slammed the stack of papers down on Buck's desk.
Josiah moved and Vin could tell he was about to come between Chris and Buck, but then a feminine voice broke the tension.
"Buck Wilmington, Chris is going to kill you some day and you know full well you'll deserve it."
Vin lowered his chair down to all four legs as he looked at the young lady standing in the doorway of the Team 7 bullpen.
Vin had met, or at least seen, a lot of Buck's ladies over the past few years, but she was different. Not just her youth, Vin didn't think she was hardly as old as his own 24 years. But her beauty.
She had her arms folded, but dropped them and strode right up to Buck and Chris. Her auburn hair was in a thick braid, loose strands framing her face.
Ignoring Buck, she reached up and took Chris' face between her hands and kissed him soundly on the lips.
Vin heard JD make a strangled sound. Ezra, who had been typing on his laptop with only half an eye toward Buck and Chris' argument, stopped typing and stared.
Chris seemed stunned into silence by the kiss, but gathered his wits enough to wrap his hands around the young woman's wrists and gently set her away.
"Does that make up for whatever Buck's putting you through this time?" she asked, a teasing grin at her lips.
"Hey Morgan," Chris said. "Good to see you."
Buck took her by the arm and pulled her a few steps away from Chris. "You're going to be the death of me years before Chris is, you know that, right?"
The young woman, Morgan, arched a perfectly shaped eyebrow at Buck. "I missed you, too."
And then Buck wrapped his arms around the woman. "Aw you know I missed you."
Nathan was looking to Vin, but Vin lifted a shoulder in a shrug.
Buck released his hold on the girl, but kept his arm around her shoulder. "You all get the pleasure of meetin' my baby sister. This is Morgan."
There was a beat of silence in the room.
"I believe I'm speaking for everyone," Ezra said, "when I say it's a pleasure to meet you, Miss Wilmington."
Vin couldn't help but wonder what it would be like to have Morgan turn that smile on him. She didn't smile the way Buck did, with his whole face lighting up. Just a small curve of her lips, like she had a secret she wasn't willing to share.
Buck shot Ezra a look and Ezra held his hands up, showing nothing more than a friendly hello was intended.
Apparently satisfied that everyone would behave, Buck looked back down at Morgan. "Not that I'm not glad to see you, darlin', but what about school?"
Morgan looked up at Buck, her face impassive and shrugged easily. But from his vantage point, Vin could see one of her perfectly manicured nails curl into the palm of her hand, her fist turning white.
"I have some time off," she said. "You know how UNLV is, they're always giving us long weekends and holidays."
Buck accepted her answer easily and squeezed her closer with the arm he kept around her. "And you chose to come spend it with your ol' brother, Buck."
Morgan quirked her lips, but didn't say anything. The scarf around her neck shifted and Vin saw a row of bruises along the base of her neck. She must have felt his eyes on her, because her eyes met his. The amber of her eyes hardened when she saw what he was looking at. She quickly released Buck and tugged the scarf back into place, avoiding looking at Vin.
"I'm about done here. You stayin' at my place?" Buck asked.
Morgan turned her back to Vin. "If that's ok?"
Another strangled sound from JD and Nathan reached over to give the youngest team member, and Buck's roommate, a solid thump on the back.
"My bags are downstairs," Morgan said.
Buck turned to get his coat off the back of his chair and Morgan looked back at Vin. There was fear in her eyes. Her mouth pressed into a firm line, Vin got the feeling she was reading him to see if he would keep his mouth shut.
Vin didn't plan on saying anything.
Buck pulled on his coat and motioned for her to go ahead. "I hope you packed light," he said. "I ain't gonna be haulin' hundred pound bags out to the truck."
Looking away from Vin and back up at Buck, Morgan fidgeted with her scarf briefly before she looked up at her big brother. "Hundred pound bags are what big brother's are made for," she said, no trace of fear on her face.
Morgan stopped by Chris and grinned up at him, with a sultry smile. Her own version of the smart aleck smile Buck usually reserved for Chris. "I'll be in town for awhile if you want to pick up where we left off with that kiss."
Chris looked slightly more amused by her than he ever did with Buck. "See you around, Morgan," he said without any hint of returning her flirtatious tone.
Morgan ignored Buck's comments coming through gritted teeth as Buck steered her toward the door, exasperation in his every move.
Silence was left in her wake. Silence and the scent of roses. Vin thought the smell was feminine and fancy, and maybe a little delicate, just like Buck's sister.
"That was Buck's sister?" Nathan finally asked.
Chris shook his head. "That was her," he said. He caught Vin's eye and something had him giving Vin a second look.
Vin quickly looked back down at the paperwork he had been trying to do when Buck had interrupted. It was a laborious task for him. Perfect to get his mind off pretty college girls who smelled like roses and had secrets they were trying to keep.
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Morgan settled into Buck's truck and waited for him to go around to the driver's side.
"It's going to be real good having you here, Mo," he said.
She slanted her eyes toward him at the nickname and he gave her an unrepentant grin.
She looked out the window and watched the downtown Denver buildings pass by.
"It's colder than Vegas," Buck commented. "But the fall colors are pretty."
It was safer than Vegas. Morgan twisted in her seat to look at him. "So that was your team?"
"Yep." Buck draped a hand over the steering wheel.
Morgan thought of the blue eyed man who had studied her like he was going to figure her out. She didn't want to think of him.
"They're all coming over this weekend to watch the game. You'll get a chance to know them," he said, then narrowed his eyes at her. "But not that well."
Morgan let out a soft snort. She had no intention of getting close to any man, her relentless provoking of Chris Larabee notwithstanding. And she was going to make sure she kept her distance from the blue eyed man.
Buck pulled up in front of a townhouse and went to get Morgan's luggage from the bed of his beat up truck.
"Your roommate isn't going to mind me crashing here, is he?" she asked.
"JD? Naw, he's like a little brother to me. He'll think of you like a sister and love having you here. He was back at the office, you'll get to meet him when he gets home." Buck opened the door for her, then picked up the bags again and followed her inside.
"You can take my room," Buck said, heading for the stairs. "I'll take the couch."
Morgan managed to hold back her comment when she took in the laundry piled on the floor, the unmade bed, and the paperwork strewn across the cluttered desk.
Buck set her bags on the bed and scooped up some laundry, making a small mountain near the closet in what Morgan assumed was his attempt at tidying up for her.
"It's nice, Buck," she said. "I like your place."
Carefully stepping back from the precarious pile of laundry that threatened to tip over, Buck deemed it safe and looked back at her. "I don't have much for supper. You want to go out and grab something later?"
Morgan nodded. "I think I'll just get cleaned up first. The Vegas airport always makes me feel filthy." Everything she had left in Vegas made her feel filthy.
Buck went to a stack of laundry on the desk chair and produced a towel. He gave it a sniff, then handed it over to here, apparently deciding it was clean.
Morgan took it without comment, but made a mental note to find the laundry room first thing in the morning.
Buck started to go to the door, then paused and turned back to her. His brown eyes grew serious and Morgan forced herself to look back at him without expression.
"Yeah?" she asked.
"You're sure everything's ok?" he asked.
Morgan hadn't expected the lump that pressed against her throat at her brother's concern. Or the guilt that twisted her stomach when she lied. "Of course."
Buck gave her a long look, but finally nodded and his smile returned. "Well good. It's real good to have you here, Mo."
He closed the door behind him and Morgan let out the breath she had been holding since she left Las Vegas. She sank down on the edge of the bed, the towel she held forgotten. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She was safe with Buck. Buck and Chris had always been there for her and they would be there for her now. As long as she didn't tell them anything.
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