The Soul of Archer Read online

  'You know what you were thinking Archer. You've been drawn to her since the day you saw her.' His mind pointed out.

  Lance promptly ignored that comment. He wasn't about to delve into what he had been thinking regarding Alora St. James for the last few days. Nope, he so was not going there. Mentally sighing, he pulled into his drive. Just as he put the truck in park, Alora let out a low whistle.

  "Nice house Archer." Alora said.

  "Thanks. Took nearly a year to build but I'm proud of it." Lance replied, pride lacing his voice.

  "You built this?" She asked in surprise.

  Lance chuckled as he got out. He walked around to the passenger side and helped her out. "Well, I personally didn't build it, but I designed it. It's a modern twist on my grandpa's cabin out in Jacksonville."

  "Jacksonville, Florida or North Carolina?"

  "North Carolina. I'm surprised you knew that; most people assume Florida."

  Alora shrugged as she followed him up onto the wide porch. "Ryan was stationed there when he started in the Marines. He took me and Jacquie there one summer."

  Lance unlocked the front door, entered first to deactivate his alarm, then stepped aside for her to enter. He studied her as she looked around the living room of his home. The room was big and open. The walls were like those of a log cabin with a beautiful warped glass picture window facing the front yard. Across from the window was a slate fireplace with his 64" plasma resting above it. The floors were polished hickory which was a contrast to the dark oak logs of the wall. His grandpa's old rocking chair sat to the left of the fireplace while the C-shaped sectional sofa and the oval coffee table rested in the center of the room facing the tv.

  "Wow, this place looks beautiful." Alora declared in awe.

  Lance could feel himself smiling, "Thanks. Come on, let's get you settled in. One of the guys said they'd bring your car by in a bit. If you're hungry, I could whip something up for you."

  Her head whipped around to look at him. "You cook?"

  "Yes, I cook. I'm no Chef Ramsey, but I get by." He laughed.

  "I could go for a light snack. I had dinner with friends after work, but everything that happened...when I'm tense like this I go for either food or a run. It's too late for the latter so food it is then." She said as they headed upstairs.

  ***

  Alora was feeling more like her old self when she came back downstairs dressed in her fuzzy Minion sleep pants and a black tank top. She followed her nose and ears. When she walked into the kitchen she found Lance talking to the man Krista had introduced as her brother Danny.

  "Hi," she said nervously when both men looked her direction.

  "Hello again Alora." Danny greeted. "I brought your car over, it's in Lance's garage."

  "Thanks, I really appreciate it."

  "No problem." Danny nodded, handing her the keys. "Lance, I'll see you in the morning."

  "Alright, see you." Lance replied.

  With a wave, Danny saw himself out the back door. Alora hopped onto a stool at the kitchen island and studied Lance as he turned to stir something on the stove. The man was big and lean, like a cat of prey. His back was wide and watching his muscles ripple under the drab green shirt he wore was sexy as sin.

  "Something smells good."

  "That would be my mama's famous hot chocolate. Good for coughs, colds, skinned knees, and just about anything that ails ya'." Lance winked. "At least that's what my sister says."

  Alora smiled softly, resting her chin in her palm. "You have a sister?"

  "A sister and a brother. I'm about twelve years older than my sister and fifteen years older than my brother." Lance answered, ladling hot chocolate into two mugs. "My sister, Jessi, is about to graduate from culinary school at UNC. She's a baker like you. My brother, Jake is a sophomore at M.I.T. He's studying to be an architect." He elaborated, sitting her mug in front of her.

  Alora took the mug, blew gently on the liquid and took a swallow. Her eyes closed and then she moaned. The hot chocolaty concoction slid down her throat and tasted like pure bliss. She took another slow swallow savoring the taste. When her eyes opened again, it was to find Lance staring at her with an unreadable gleam in his eyes. One that made her thighs squeeze together and nipple pucker.

  "Wow...this...it's delicious..." She breathed. She cleared her throat. "I wonder if your mama would be willing to let me try this in a cake or something?"

  Lance smirked, "She might. As far as I know me, and mama are the only ones still alive with the recipe. It was her mother's, and her mother's mother, and so on, going back about four generations I think."

  "Then, I just might have to call her up." Alora challenged.

  As the two sat across from each other sipping their hot chocolate, their eyes remained on each other. She couldn't explain what the hell was happening except that it left her feeling almost breathless. Her body felt like it was on fire with the way he was looking at her. It was the same look he had out back of Sassy Explosions. Like he could eat her alive and in the best way possible. Her hands trembled slightly as she sat her empty mug on the marble top of the island.

  "Lance..."

  "Alora."

  God his voice. It was deep, his southern drawl more pronounced. Licking her lips, she tried to speak again, "Lance, what...what is happening here?"

  Lance polished off the last of his drink, sat his mug down and slid off his stool. He stood over her and rested his hands on her knees. "I have no idea. I will tell you this, I have never, and I do mean NEVER crossed the line with a client."

  Alora's spine stiffened. So, she was just a client. Just like she had told Krista. "I see."

  "Wait, let me..." Lance began, but she cut him off.

  "There's nothing to say. Look, I got a busy day tomorrow so I'm going to turn in. I'll see you in the morning. Good night."

  With that, she got off the stool and without a backward glance, left the kitchen and retreated to the room she would be using. Feeling like a complete idiot, Alora turned off the lights, climbed under the sheets and fought to keep the tears at bay.

  'Idiot, idiot, idiot! Like a man like Lance Archer would even be interested in someone like me.' She chastised herself.

  Taking a few slow breaths, she closed her eyes and slowly drifted off to sleep. Yet her mind and her dreams couldn't keep those smoldering looks Lance had given her out. About an hour after she laid down, she bolted awake, heart pounding, her pussy wet and throbbing. She had been dreaming of Lance. Running her hand through her hair, she sat up.

  "How the hell am I going to get through this?" She whispered.

  Chapter 7

  When Lance came downstairs he found Alora already gone. Growling, he stalked to the coffee pot and poured a mug. He had been up half the night replaying what had happened the night before. There was definitely something happening between him and Alora and like always, when it came to him and the opposite sex, things had gone FUBAR.

  Leaning back against the counter and sipping his coffee he began making plans. He needed her to let him explain what he had meant about not crossing the line with a client. He had seen instantly that she had thought he saw her only a client. Nothing was further from the truth and damnit he would tell her.

  Satisfied that he had a battle plan, Lance fixed himself a quick breakfast then headed out. First things first, he had a meeting with Danny and the others at Blackout. As he pulled out of his drive, he failed to see the non-descript dark blue sedan parked two houses down.

  ***

  Alora pulled the fresh croissants from the oven and placed the sheet on the cooling rack. That morning she had quietly gone about her morning routine and the second she heard Lance moving around, she bolted. She still wasn't ready to face him after the events of last night. Hopefully by the end of the day she would be calm enough to look at him and not make a fool of herself.

  "Hey boss, your nine o'clock consult is here."

  "Thanks Carlo." She nodded.

  Wiping her hands on a nea
rby towel, Alora headed for the consultation room. She walked in to see two couples. One looked to be in their early thirties and the other in their mid-sixties. Plastering on a bright smile, she moved to them.

  "Good morning and welcome to Sassy Explosions." She greeted. "I'm Alora St. James."

  "Good morning Ms. St. James. I'm Joe, this is my wife, Margaret, our daughter Bethany and her husband Jordan." Joe introduced.

  "How do you do." Alora replied as they all sat at the table. "Now, what can I do for you guys this morning?"

  "Well, Joe and I are celebrating our forty-seventh wedding anniversary on June 15th and the same day Bethany and Jordan will be celebrating their seventeenth." Margaret began.

  "Me and mom thought it would be fun this year to combine the two and have a joint anniversary party." Bethany added.

  "Wow, that does sound fun." Alora agreed. She turned in her seat and grabbed a sketch pad and pencil from the small table behind her. "Were you guys thinking of a theme or anything?"

  "Yes. Me and Beth got married at the same beach front in Galveston that Joe and Margaret did. We're having the party at a beach house near there and we all thought, since it was at the beach to have a luau." Jordan replied.

  Alora started sketching a rough idea. It was a five-tiered cake, yet each tier was a different shape. The bottom was a planked square like the Galveston boardwalk. The next was in the shape of a seashell, and so on.

  "What about colors?" She questioned.

  "Something fun and bright. Like you would see at a Hawaiian luau." Bethany spoke up.

  "And tropical flowers." Margaret threw in.

  Alora made notes to the side and drew up different accent pieces. When she was finished, she turned the pad around, so the two couples could see what she had in mind. "So, as you can see it will be a five-tiered cake with each tier a different shape that is either beach or luau related. I can even use brown sugar as sand along the bottom of the base and on maybe the tier with the boardwalk and shell."

  "That looks perfect!" Bethany gushed.

  "Joe? Jordan? Was there something you guys would like to see? I want you two to feel included." Alora said.

  "Joe and I do like fishing..." Jordan started.

  "Then how about on the boardwalk tier I put you guys there with some fishing poles at the pier?" Alora suggested.

  For the next ten minutes she and the couples finished out the ideas before they headed over to the cashier. Since the cake wasn't need till June, Alora had a little time before she would need to begin work on it. She tore the sketch from the pad and headed for her office to put it in her file and mark her calendar.

  ***

  Lance stood next to Gage and Ethan as Danny finished laying out what he had. Lance was surprised at all the information the D.E.A. had on the Malconi family. Finally, Danny sat the empty box on the floor and looked up at them.

  "Okay, this is everything the Austin office has on Sam, Monica and Ian Malconi. I'm sure dad and Austin PD and the Feds have more. About three months ago I managed to slip one of our undercovers in. Dad told me that Alora said Sam had been acting like he was hiding something and my undercover just confirmed last night what that is.

  "Seems the Malconi's have teamed up with a Mexican cartel called El Demonio Lobos. This cartel is new to the scene but they're making a name for themselves and fast. Them teaming up with the Malconi's is bad news all the way around. Over the last three months Monica has made nearly two dozen trips to the cartel's compound near Torreon." Danny explained.

  "Wait, this bastard's mother is involved in this too?" Gage asked.

  "Oh boy is she ever. Monica is the negotiator. When the Lobos reached out, she was who they dealt with. According to rumors, one of the Lobos tried to test her, you know because she's a woman. Well, she pulled out a nickel-plated .45 and put a round right between the eyes." Danny reported.

  "Damn." Tony whistled.

  "Yeah. So, my guy inside says there's a big deal going down in about three weeks in Houston. Sam and Ian will be flying down to oversee it. My guy did overhear Sam and Ian changing the date of the exchange because of what Alora saw. All he knows about the exchange itself, is that there will be guns, ammo, and drugs. The guns and ammo are coming from a German arms dealer named Fredrick Günther. He and the Malconi's have been dealing together for nearly twenty years. The D.E.A., the Feds, Homeland and Interpol have been after Günther for nearly as long. If we can tie these weapons and ammo to him, we've got him. Same with the Malconi's and Lobos." Danny continued.

  Lance studied the recon photos. He frowned when he spotted something in one of the pictures. "Hey Danny, where was this one taken?"

  Danny walked over and looked at the picture. "That was taken at the deli just down from Alora's bakery."

  Lance looked up as fear gripped him. "When was this taken?"

  Danny flipped the picture over to look at the date. "Um, yesterday...."

  Lance spun on his heel and charged from the room. Yesterday Sam had been watching Alora and later that night he kicked in her door. Behind him he could hear Ethan calling for him, but he wasn't stopping. He needed to get to Alora and fast.

  ***

  Alora held the three bank bags as she closed her office door. "Frank, I'm running these to the bank. Be back in a bit."

  "You got it. You be careful." Frank said, his face taking on the expression of a concerned father.

  "Don't worry. I'm just walking right around the corner. I'll be fine." Alora chuckled, tucking the bags into the messenger bag she wore across her chest.

  She turned and headed for the front of the shop. Waving to her counter staff, she stepped out onto the sidewalk. It was mid-May and the feel of summer was already in the air. In just a few short weeks, Austin would be invaded by bikers for the annual Republic of Texas motorcycle rally. An event she had attended a few times. She loved to look at all the motorcycles and had even been a passenger but had never had a desire to own one for herself. Thinking about what else was on her agenda for the day, she rounded the corner.

  ***

  Lance slammed on the breaks, put the truck in park and jumped from his truck. He ran to the back door and began pounding on it. He prayed she was inside. The door opened, and he was face-to-face with Frank.

  "Where's Alora?"

  "She walked to the bank around the corner to drop of the deposit." Frank answered, his eyes wide.

  "Alone?" Lance demanded.

  "Yeah...she..." Frank stuttered, but Lance was already running for the street.

  Lance pumped his legs, his gut now twisting in worry. He hoped he hunch was wrong but that rarely happened. He rounded the corner and saw Alora walking calmly out of the bank. Just then a feeling shot up his spine. Behind him he heard an engine being revved, then tires squealing. With a burst of speed, he raced toward Alora. Risking a glance behind him, he saw a blue sedan speeding toward the sidewalk.

  Lance heard the car jump the curb just as he reached Alora. He grabbed her in a bear hug and spun them so that she was cocooned between him at her front the brick wall of a building at her back. He hissed as the passenger mirror clipped his right side sending him and Alora sprawling to the sidewalk. He lifted his head just in time to see the car speed of, hitting a trashcan and stop sign in the process.

  "Oh god! Lance! Lance are you alright?" Alora cried underneath him.

  "I... I'm good." He panted, looking down at her. "You...alright?"

  "You were hit. We need to call 9-1-1." She said, worry etched on her face and in her voice.

  "An ambulance and police car are on the way." A woman reported kneeling beside them, "Yes sir, it was a blue sedan, four-door, tinted windows. I caught the last three of the plate. Oscar-Foxtrot-4. Yes, Texas plates."

  Lance glanced at her with a lifted brow as he moved off Alora. "Military or cop?"

  "Four years Navy. Judging by the hair, I'd say you were a Devil Dog." She teased.

  Lance started to chuckle, then hissed as pain shot up his side. The w
oman and Alora eased him onto his back. He slowly breathed as Alora cradled his head in her lap gently, stroking his forehead.

  "Slow breaths Lance. The ambulance is nearly here." Alora whispered.

  "I need...to call Ethan..." Lance began.

  "Once we get you on the ambulance I'll call him. Just lie still." Alora insisted.

  Lance settled back. Pain now spreading through him. It hurt to breath and his right hip felt like hell. A few seconds later the ambulance screeched to a halt and the paramedics jumped out. The woman filled them in on what happened as they began checking him over.

  "Sir, we're going move you to the backboard. It's probably going to hurt like a bitch." The lead medic instructed.

  "Just do it." Lance gritted.

  The medics, Alora and the woman eased Lance onto his side, got the board under him, and eased him back down. The whole time Lance noticed Alora held his hand in a vice grip. Moments later, with his tigress still clutching his hand, he was loaded up and headed for the nearest hospital.

  Chapter 8

  Alora sat in the chair next to Lance's hospital bed holding his hand. At the moment he was sleeping thanks in part to the sedative the doctor had given him. They were keeping him overnight for observation and she could take him home in the morning. She looked up when the door opened, and Ethan walked in.

  "How is he?" Ethan asked.

  "The doctor said he's lucky. Nothing was broken but he's going to have a helluva bruise and in some pain for a day or two. They're keeping him overnight and right now he's sedated." Alora explained.

  Ethan chuckled, "He's gonna be pissed when he comes out of it. Hawk, hates being sedated."