Defending Everly (Mountain Mercenaries, #5)(8)

“Everly—”

“Save it,” she told him. “I heard you loud and clear the day we met—when you were talking behind my back. You don’t want to work with me, and I’m sure you’re pissed you were the one who got stuck coming to LA. I get it. You think I don’t? I work with men like you all the time.”

“Men like me?” Ball asked.

“Yeah. Men who don’t think a woman can do the job as well as they can.”

“That’s not—”

“It is,” she said, interrupting him once more. “But news flash—we can do the job just as well as you, if not better. I don’t care that I’m shorter, or outweighed by most men. I’ve learned how to fight most effectively for my body size. I can fight dirty when I need to. I can run just as fast as any man, even faster than a lot of the cops on the Colorado Springs force. I can shoot a gun and search a building just as well too. When I’m wearing my SWAT gear, you can’t even tell that I am a woman.

“I don’t know what your beef is with women, Ball, and I don’t really care. You can treat me like shit, and I won’t even blink. But don’t for one second think you can treat Me-Maw and Pop with disrespect. I won’t stand for it. Hear me?”

“Have I done anything but show them respect so far?” Ball asked. He didn’t wait for her to answer. “No, I haven’t. They seem awesome, and you’re lucky as fuck to have them. I wish I knew my grandparents, but they died when I was little, and I don’t remember them. And I might not like working with women, but it has nothing to do with you. I had a bad experience. That’s on me, and I’m doing my best to not let it affect this case. And I know I was a dick when I first heard that you’d be involved, and I’m sorry. But your sister needs us to work together, so that’s what I’m trying to do.

Okay?”

She stared at him for a beat, then nodded and headed for the door without another word.

Ball followed along—and the moment he stepped inside the small house, he felt himself relax.

The smell of the pot roast permeated the air, making Ball’s stomach rumble. The living room was a bit cluttered, but in the way that proved Allison and Landen had been living there for a long time.

There were pictures on every available surface and most of the walls, and Ball studied them briefly before making a mental note to check them all out later. From the glances he’d gotten already, Everly seemed happy as a young child, but as time went on, the photos captured someone more serious. He was curious about the pain he saw in her eyes in the more recent photos. Pain she did a good job of hiding in person, but which still leaked out every now and then.

He knew he hadn’t been hiding his attitude about working with her, but he also hadn’t suspected she’d cared much about what he thought. He’d obviously been wrong. Despite her words outside, she cared very much. And that surprised him.

He made a mental vow to try harder to put his prejudices aside. Elise deserved every ounce of his professionalism and expertise. If he and Everly were constantly at each other’s throats, it would take their attention away from why they were there.

The plan had been for him to stay at a hotel nearby and for Everly to stay with her grandparents, but when Me-Maw was informed, she put her foot down.

“I’ve already prepared the room,” she told them.

“What room?” Everly asked.

“Your room. Yours and your man’s.”

Ball pressed his lips together to keep from laughing at the look of horror that appeared on Everly’s face.

“We’re not together, Me-Maw. I told you that.”

The older woman crossed her arms, and she got a stubborn look on her face. Pop rolled his eyes at his wife.

“You’re really not? I thought you were just trying to be polite,” Me-Maw said a little sadly. “I mean, you’re thirty-four, you’re old enough to bring a boy home. Besides, how else am I going to get great-grandbabies?”

Ball choked on the sip of water he’d just taken.

“Me-Maw!” Everly complained.

“What?”

“We’re not dating. He doesn’t even like me!”

“I like you,” Ball countered immediately. Surprised to realize in that moment that, not only did he genuinely like her, he respected her. He might not be happy she was working with his team, but that didn’t diminish the fact that the more time he spent with her, the more he got to know her, the more he begrudgingly liked her.

“No, you don’t,” she said.

“I do.”

“No. You don’t,” she insisted.

Ball grinned.

“And stop smiling!”

That made his smile grow even wider. He glanced at Me-Maw and saw her standing in the kitchen, grinning at the two of them. He turned to her. “I appreciate the offer of lodging. I do. But I think Everly needs some quality time alone with her grandparents. I also have a lot of research I need to do, and I’ll be talking to the other men on my team back in Colorado Springs a lot.”

“Don’t think you’re going to keep anything from me,” Everly said, putting her hands on her hips.

She did that a lot, and Ball couldn’t help but notice how it stretched her shirt over her chest.

Damn, she had a fine rack . . . and he was a dick for noticing. “I wasn’t planning on it,” he said.