Soldier's Choice by Morgan Blaze Read Free Book Online Page A

expression betrayed her.
    When they got downstairs, Gage was in the living room, staring into the open linen closet. He looked over and gave Reese the Big Brother Stare for a second, then broke into a grin. “I was right,” he said. “You’re not Sydney.”
    “Afraid not,” Reese said.
    “Reese Mathers, right? You’re the reason my sister came in so late last night.”
    “Gage.” Luka infused the name with warning. “Behave yourself, or I’ll tell Jonah what you did with his razor.”
    “Aw, you’re no fun.”
    “Not today.” She frowned at the closet. “What are you looking for in there?”
    “My cordless drill. Jonah’s piece of shit B&D died on me,” he said. “Have you seen it?”
    “Laundry room. Utility closet, top shelf.”
    “Thanks.” He grinned again, and headed for the back of the house.
    When he was gone, she turned to Reese with a sigh. “They’re all hopeless,” she said. “Especially Gage. At least he won’t be here long.”
    “Yeah.” A look of discomfort flashed across his face. “Listen, uh…I have to go, anyway.”
    She told herself not to get mad. Everybody thought her brothers walked around ready to punch people for the slightest reason, or no reason at all. It wasn’t true, but there was no point even trying to change the official town opinion. “Don’t worry about Gage,” she said. “He prides himself on annoying the hell out of me.”
    “It’s not that.” He shoved his hands in his pockets. “I have a job interview.”
    “Really? Where?”
    He stared at the floor. “The Stop ’n Shop.”
    Shock and confusion poured through her. He was a military veteran, with a ton of training and experience. Why would he go for such a shit job? It was even worse than hers. “You can’t work there,” she said. “Don’t they pay minimum wage? And the hours are awful.”
    “Probably.” He gave a slight shrug. “There just isn’t much in town, you know? And I… need the money.”
    She could see how much it cost him to say that, and her heart wrenched. This wasn’t right. Whether he’d actually wanted to or not, he’d spent five years serving the country—and the best he could expect was a lousy job at a grocery store? “Wait a minute. You said you were fixing up the old Ward place, right?”
    His brow furrowed. “Yes.”
    “So you know construction.”
    “More or less.”
    She smiled. “Gage!” she called over her shoulder. “Come here a minute.”
    “What are you doing?” Reese whispered urgently.
    “Getting you a job.”
    Gage came back in, the drill in his hand and a question on his face. “Whatever it was, I didn’t do it,” he said.
    “I’ll blame you for something later. Mark said you guys were running behind on this project, right?”
    “Hell yeah, we are. Why do you think we’re there on Saturday?” He shook his head. “We need another guy, like yesterday. The three of us are never going to finish it.”
    “Mark said that, too.” She smiled and tilted her head. “Reese here’s looking for a job.”
    “Yeah?” Gage sent him a speculative look. “Well, you’re solid as hell. I’m guessing you wouldn’t have a problem with manual labor. Got any construction experience?”
    Reese’s mouth opened, and closed abruptly. He cleared his throat. “Some.”
    “Doesn’t matter, really. If you can swing a hammer and start today, you’re hired.” Gage grinned. “How about it?”
    “Um.” He looked from Gage to Luka, and a tiny smile played on his lips. “Okay,” he said. “Thanks.”
    “Great. Come on, you can follow me over to the site.” Gage walked to the front door and opened it. “And don’t kiss my sister,” he called just before ducking out.
    “Now I’m blaming you!” Luka shouted as the door slammed. With an exasperated smirk, she turned to Reese. “I hope you don’t mind,” she said. “It’s just…I can’t stand the idea of you working at the S&S. That’s not fair. My brothers might be jerks, but they’ll