Redwood Read online

  Copyright © 2021 by Mittie Jane Crouch

  All rights reserved.

  No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  This a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events or locals is entirely coincidental.

  Cover created by Deranged Doctor Designs.

  A Calamittie Jane Publishing Book

  REDWOOD: LINEAR TACTICAL

  Get free books!

  Protective alpha heroes and the women they’ll do anything to protect. That’s the Janie Crouch book promise.

  The perfect mix of mix of passion and suspense…plus the happily-ever-after you love.

  Click here to join Janie’s VIP reader email group and get a free book today.

  Romantic suspense for readers who still believe in heroes.

  Contents

  Introduction

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Chapter 28

  Chapter 29

  Chapter 30

  Chapter 31

  Chapter 32

  Chapter 33

  Chapter 34

  Chapter 35

  Chapter 36

  Chapter 37

  Linear Tactical Books

  Acknowledgments

  Also by Janie Crouch

  About the Author

  This book is dedicated to my Gra…

  Crazy Auntie Lisa

  Bestest sister-in-law

  I always love to hear your voice

  Plus the chick on the cover looks like you. ❤️

  Introduction

  Gavin Zimmerman. Military codename: REDWOOD. This former Special Forces soldier will protect his hometown of Oak Creek, Wyoming from any threat.

  Even one that comes in the form of a delicate blonde with haunted eyes.

  A tiny town in Wyoming and the fake ID in her pocket are Lexi Johnson's last chance. She's used all her resources to escape the danger that hounds her. A danger the whole world would agree she brought on herself.

  She just wants a chance to start over, to rest for a moment, but the town's upstanding and oh so sexy sheriff is determined to get to the truth behind her lies.

  Even if it gets them both killed.

  •••

  Protective alpha heroes and the women they’ll do anything to protect. That’s the Janie Crouch book promise.

  The perfect mix of mix of passion and suspense…plus the happily-ever-after you love.

  Click here to join Janie’s VIP reader email group and get a free book today.

  Romantic suspense for readers who still believe in heroes.

  1

  Lexi needed a mark.

  She felt eyes on her as she crossed the lobby of the midrange hotel in the middle of Wyoming, walking toward the bar in the rear. She was used to eyes on her. At one time, her presence here in a hotel she’d never heard of would’ve done more than cause a few stares—it would’ve caused a commotion.

  A commotion was the last thing she wanted tonight.

  She kept her head down, letting her thick blonde hair cover most of her face. Demure, shy damsel in distress—that was the role she was playing tonight. Someone who needed to be rescued. She might be a good actress, but it didn’t take any theatrical skill to play someone in trouble. All she had to do was be herself.

  That was the hardest role to play lately.

  She glanced around as she walked, looking for the man she would use to help her out of this mess. Her gut churned at the thought of resorting to this. But she didn’t have any choice.

  She couldn’t believe she’d gotten so close to finally escaping the nightmare she’d been living for the past six months only to stall out, literally, in the last few miles.

  She couldn’t believe she had no other option besides using someone else, in whatever way she could manage, to get the cash she needed.

  She clutched the purse she’d bought at a thrift store a few months ago—a pitiful knockoff of a brand she’d used to own in every size and color—against the black silk dress that hugged her curves. A Carolina Herrera dress also bought at a thrift store, still available because of the rip in the seam she’d repaired herself.

  All those years sitting around in wardrobe fittings had rubbed off on her.

  She slid onto a barstool at the end of the bar, keeping a look of dejection on her face, and quietly asked the bartender for a glass of water. The clock was now officially ticking.

  She’d picked this seat for a reason. Between the location on the corner and the mirror up over the bar, her perch allowed her to see nearly everyone in the facility without it seeming like she was looking.

  The bar itself she’d scoped out earlier today when her tire had punctured and she’d ended up at an auto shop a couple blocks away. She liked the bar not only because it was part of a hotel, which meant people wouldn’t be in a hurry to leave, but because the bar had multiple darkened booths in the back. They were set up to view a small stage when there was live music. But tonight they would just provide a little privacy.

  Lexi’s stomach turned a little at the thought.

  This wasn’t the greatest plan ever. There were a lot of things that could go wrong. But all she needed was a hundred dollars—enough money to get her tire replaced and buy another tank of gas.

  She was so close. And she’d spent every last dime, plus more she still owed, getting to this place with an ID in her pocket that said Lexi Johnson. The guy who’d made the ID—and set up the electronic trail connected to it that made sure it would pass a cursory inspection—had assured her that Johnson was a more popular name than Jones or Smith. He’d also advised her to stick with her real first name since she’d be less likely to accidentally answer to the wrong name.

  So she’d become Lexi Johnson.

  And Lexi Johnson was who she would have to stay if she wanted to remain alive. All she had to do was make it to a small town about an hour from here where there was a job and a tiny apartment waiting for her. Not much, but hopefully, she’d be safe from the hell on her heels.

  She nodded at the bartender as he slid the water in front of her. Time to put this not-terribly-brilliant plan into play. Step one: look pitiful. Step two: get someone to approach her. Step three: move the party over to one of those booths and flirt until she was able to get some money from the guy. Maybe by using her nimble fingers to pickpocket. But who knew? She’d seen guys pull out their wallets and hand it over to a woman to go buy a round to impress her with how much money he had.

  Of course, those had been millionaires, and showing off a few thousand dollars in cash was nothing to them.

  But hopefully, it wouldn’t be too difficult to get the relatively little amount of money she needed. Two hundred at most. Yeah, she’d probably have to kiss some stranger she had no interest in. But she’d kissed a lot of peopl
e she’d had no interest in over the years—usually very handsome guys who’d also been some of the biggest jerks on the planet.

  She wondered what most of them would say if they could see her now. Stooping so low for a couple hundred dollars. Nobody from her old life had ever tried to reach out to her. Not that she blamed them. Everyone had condemned her for what she’d done.

  Including the judge who’d sent her to prison.

  She took a sip of water and a deep breath. The past wasn’t what she needed to focus on. Only now. The now was all she could live for.

  She glanced around the bar using the mirror. She couldn’t be too overt in her approach in order for this to work. But there were things she could do to draw the right guy’s attention.

  The best option was probably the man a few stools over from her at the bar. Businessman, possibly late forties, slim build, in a suit with his tie loosened. Probably here in Reddington City for a computer conference or cattle convention—whatever kind of stuff they had in Wyoming. He seemed manageable.

  He was watching the game on the TV but had already glanced at her a couple of times. All she had to do was make eye contact, and that would probably be encouragement enough.

  There was another guy though, one already sitting in one of the booths she wanted. He looked a little more . . . slick than the guy at the bar. More product in his hair, suit fitting him a little better. He was frowning at his phone. Maybe someone had stood him up? It might be worth seeing if she could get his attention.

  But God, she didn’t want his attention. She didn’t want either man’s attention. Wanting attention was what had led her to this very place. And she’d had enough attention to last a lifetime.

  Careful not to meet either man’s eyes, she let her gaze wander further down the bar. Two women chatting. A couple huddled close to one another. An older woman scrolling through social media on her phone.

  She accidentally met a man’s eyes across the bar. They both happened to catch each other’s gaze. But then she couldn’t look away. She tried. She glanced down at her water to let the moment pass, but when she looked back up, his eyes were still on her.

  Holy hell. It was like something out of a movie, where everything and everyone else faded away. What was it about him? She’d been on the arm of more beautiful men. This man wasn’t beautiful. His face was too rugged, too rough cut. He was certainly attractive, but he wasn’t beautiful.

  He was a warrior.

  And she really couldn’t force herself to look away, despite the warning signals blaring inside her mind that she was drawing too much attention to herself. That this man was truly noticing her.

  She wanted him to notice her.

  Two years ago, she would’ve let him know that she wanted him to notice her. Would’ve walked right over to him, gotten much closer to that chiseled jaw and broad shoulders.

  Her fingers tingled with the impossible urge to touch him, to run them through his thick, brown hair. She wanted to know what color those intense eyes staring back at her were.

  She sucked in a breath. When was the last time she’d felt the urge to touch a man? When was the last time she’d thought about anything more than mere existence?

  He was sitting on the opposite side of the bar—the corner, his back to the wall like hers was. He was also able to study the room.

  The thought forced her to jerk her eyes away—he definitely wouldn’t be studying the room for the same reason she was. She was here for a purpose. She had to keep that in the forefront of her mind. She couldn’t afford to let an attraction, even one as visceral as this, derail her.

  There was no way she could use him for her mark. He was too big, too strong, too sexy.

  Far too aware.

  This really wasn’t the time for her libido to start working again. It had been in hibernation for eighteen months and needed to stay that way, at least for tonight.

  But she wished the situation was different. Wished she was just a woman sitting in a bar with no agenda. Not one running for her life. Not one most of the world considered a selfish bitch who’d cried wolf.

  Suddenly, it was much easier to keep her gaze off the too-aware, too-sexy man. Lexi had forfeited the right to have a relationship, maybe forever.

  That was part of her penance—a penalty much longer than her jail time.

  She forced herself not to look at the warrior again. She shifted her gaze back to the other two guys. The man in the booth was looking her way, so she glanced down at her water. Demure. It was fake, and she didn’t like to do it, but she was beyond morality now.

  Most people would argue she’d been way beyond morality for quite a while.

  The other man, the slim man a couple stools down, glanced her way, and she gave him a small smile before looking back down at her water. Now was the waiting game. Looking approachable but not desperate. See who took the bait.

  She couldn’t resist one last look up at the man directly across from her. His eyes immediately found hers once again.

  Shit. He was going to be the one to come talk to her. She could almost see the alpha male in him establishing a claim on her. He was definitely going to scare away the other two.

  And for a second, she almost didn’t care.

  But then she remembered what it felt like to be lying in an alley, crying and bruised, terrified for her life. What it felt like to never be able to sleep, to not have enough to eat or anywhere to live.

  She needed to stay the course. Make it to a town she’d never been to called Oak Creek, take the job and place to live that had been offered in an act of kindness from someone who had every right to withhold kindness forever.

  And just survive.

  A handsome man in a bar who made her feel more alive than she had in years had no part in that equation.

  When she glanced up and found his eyes once more on hers, she deliberately turned away from him. Gave him a cold shoulder, international sign for I’m not interested, and hoped it would be enough.

  He was getting up. Shit, he was getting up. And if her goddamn heart didn’t stop fluttering like she was some maiden being courted, she was going to rip the thing out of her chest.

  But God, another part of her wanted him to come over. She didn’t want to steal from him. But maybe she could ask him to borrow it or something. He looked like he was capable of handling anything.

  His phone saved her. She watched as he pulled it out of his pocket and frowned at whoever was calling. And she was definitely not disappointed when he turned away from her to answer it.

  It was better this way.

  Right.

  “Excuse me, miss?” The bartender slid a drink in front of her, then pointed to the slick guy over in the booth. “The gentleman over there would like to buy you this drink.”

  Well, that solved that problem. The choice had been made for her. Now she had a role to play. “Did he now? What is it?”

  “Vodka tonic. It’s what he’s drinking. I think it’s what he hoped you were drinking too.” The bartender kept his face carefully neutral.

  She raised an eyebrow. “I see. Frugal too. If I turn him down, he’ll just take the drink himself.”

  The bartender gave her a half smile. “Yep. Those were my instructions.”

  “Is he on his way over here yet?” She could look up in the mirror and find out herself, but she didn’t want to be too obvious.

  “Getting up now. Do you want me to get rid of him for you?”

  “No. I’ll give him a shot. Thanks though.”

  The bartender looked a little disappointed before schooling his features into a blank canvas again.

  That’s right, buddy, I’m a disappointment. Get used to it.

  “I see you got my drink.”

  The bartender turned away with a little nod, and Lexi spun to face the slick guy from the booth, forcing a small smile. “I did. Thank you.”

  “It looked like we might both be drinking the same thing, and that it must be a sign that you wanted me to co
me talk to you.”

  There was nothing about this guy she found attractive. From the way his hand was already touching her where it rested on the back of her barstool to the smell of his cologne—which wasn’t overpowering but too cloying nonetheless—everything about him made her want to back away.

  It’s a role, Alexandra. Play it. You’ve played much harder.

  She smiled at him. “I have to admit, I’m a little glad for the company. It’s been a rough day.”

  “I have a booth over there.” His fingers trailed along her back as he pointed to where he’d been sitting. “Why don’t you come hang out with me, and we’ll see if we can get you cheered up.”

  She gave him a falsely grateful smile. “That sounds great, actually.” She slid the vodka tonic toward him. “Here, you drink this one. I’ll keep drinking mine.” There was no way she was getting drunk around him. She’d stick to water.

  He winked at her. “Let’s go have some fun.”

  She didn’t cringe as he slid his arm around her shoulder and led her to the booth. “Yeah, let’s have fun.”