Matched to the Mercenary Novella

She’s going to be mine.
She’s my friend’s little sister.
She should be off-limits.
But I never was one to follow the rules.

I was sent to protect her, but one look at her and I want more.

She’s smart, beautiful and curvy, and she consumes my every thought.

But I’m a mercenary.I have enemies all over the world, and I travel more than I’m home.

I have plans to make.

Plans that include loving Jenna but also keeping my crew safe.

I just need time to put them in place.

But when I find out that MY woman has signed up with Seeking Curves, an exclusive matchmaking company that guarantees a match, I’m no longer playing. Nothing else matters… Jenna means everything to me. I just hope she’s ready because she’s about to be matched to a mercenary.

“What’s his name?” John asks with fire in his voice.  That tone probably works on other people but not me. Being his little sister, I’ve seen him cry over the commercials where the dogs are living in filth and need our help. So I know he’s got a soft spot, and besides one of them being for neglected animals, the other one is for me.

“John, I’m telling you it’s fine. I have it handled.”  It’s the morning rush at Honeybee Coffee, the little shop I own in downtown Los Angeles. I bought it with the inheritance I received when our parents passed away. I would give it all back to have one more day with my mom and dad, but I know that’s not possible.  I’m working behind the counter, my phone tucked against my shoulder as I make up the daily coffees. We have quite a few regulars that get the same thing every day. At first I tried to upsell them or ask if they wanted to try new things, but they’re not budging. So now when I see them walking by the big bay windows facing the sidewalk, I start their drink order.

“Handled? See, there is something going on!” My brother is pretty laid back, except when it comes to me. He’s ten years older than me and has been out of the house for a long time. With me, he gets a little controlling and has to know everything I’m doing. It’s sort of hard for him since he’s stationed mostly on the East Coast now. But when our parents passed a few years ago, he started thinking that he needed to step up as a big brother. I don’t want to complain, though, because quite honestly, I need him now more than ever. It’s tough being in this world alone. But man he’s funny when he thinks I’m keeping something from him.

I snort loudly into the phone and then start to openly laugh.

“What’s so funny?” he asks.

“You. You’re funny! You’re getting all bent out of shape because you don’t know something. I swear it must really bother you to know that you have intel on top secret missions for the country but you don’t know who your sister is dating.” I pause and then cringe when I think about my ex, Paul. “I mean, was dating.”

“Was!” he screams into the phone. “See, I knew there was something going on. What did the asswipe do? If he hurt you... just a name, Jenna. That’s all I need is a name.”

I signal over to Madison, my best friend and manager of the shop, and point to the office door. She gives me a thumbs-up, and I leave her and the other two employees to deal with the rush while I go deal with my brother in the back.

As soon as I shut the door, I start. “John, listen, it’s fine. We went out on a few dates. He was too controlling, I broke it off, and he didn’t like that at all. It’s fine. I’m handling it.”

It’s like I can hear his jaw tighten and his teeth grit through the phone. “What do you mean, controlling? What did he do?”

I know he’s thinking all kinds of things. I’m sure in his line of work, he’s seen the evils of the world and probably is thinking the worst. “It’s not what you’re thinking, bub.”

His voice gets even grittier. “Tell me what I’m thinking.”

Darn. I’m just going to have to tell him. Even though it’s embarrassing as all get out, it’s nowhere near as bad as he thinks it is, I’m sure. Well, Paul is getting a little psychotic, but if I don’t calm John down, it’s hard telling what he’ll do.

“Fine, listen, I swear you go from sweet brother to alpha military protector in an instant these days. Is all that ink from your tattoos going to your head or what?” I start to laugh at my own joke. I haven’t seen John in a few weeks, but I’m sure he’s already added more tattoos to his almost completely covered torso and arms.

John doesn’t laugh or find me the least bit funny. “Quit stalling. I’m leaving on a flight soon.”

“Oh no. I know you can’t tell me where you’re going, but I worry about you, John. Are you okay?”

Finally, he starts to soften. “I’m fine, sis. I have a whole crew at my back. You’re the one that’s by yourself in Los Angeles. I wish you’d come here. You would love it here.”

Here we go again. He feels guilty for not being here when our parents were in the car accident and for leaving me alone here in the big city. I’ve thought about moving to Tennessee plenty of times. In Tennessee, I’d have my brother, but he’s gone on missions more than he’s not.  “I’m not moving there to be alone. At least here, I have the coffee shop and Madison. And don’t say you could quit. You can’t quit. I know what your work means to you.”

He sighs heavily into the phone. “Tell me what’s going on, Jenna.”

Sometimes when I talk to him, he’s the same laid-back brother I remember from my youth. Sometimes, like now, he sounds like he has the weight of the world on his shoulders, and I don’t want to add to his stress. “Fine. I was dating Paul and—my gosh, this is so embarrassing—he didn’t like what I was eating on our dates.”

“Wait! What? He had a problem with what you ordered? That cheap bastard.”

“No, it wasn’t like that. He, uh, thought I needed to lose some weight and thought I should be ordering salads on our date.”

The silence is deafening, and I can feel my face heat. This is so embarrassing. I’ve been overweight my whole life, but I love who I am and how I look. I’m definitely not going to stay with someone that doesn’t feel the same. But still, it’s an embarrassing conversation to have for sure.

“But, but you’re beautiful just the way you are, Jenna.”

I shake my head. I’m not so vain to say beautiful but ya know I’m definitely not going to argue with my brother. I never win when I do that. “It doesn’t matter. It’s over...”

“Yeah, I don’t believe that. So when this dipshit said that, what did you do? Did you break it off with him? How did he handle it?”

I lean forward in the chair and put my head in my hand. Do I admit I gave him a second and third chance? It wasn’t very smart on my part, but I’m chalking it up to being alone and needing male companionship.  But at least I smartened up before I slept with him. That would have been horrifying. “Uhhh, well, after our third date, I did break it off with him and tell him I wasn’t interested.”

“And? I know there’s more, Jenna. I’m your brother, I know you.”

I barely resist rolling my eyes. “Well, he didn’t like it. He thought—well, he couldn’t believe that someone like me would break up with someone like him, so he’s not really wanting to take the hint. But it’s fine. Like I said, I can handle it.”

“What’s his last name, Jenna?”

Crap, I did let his first name slip. I shake my head. My brother works with men that could probably find out anything with a first name. “I’m not telling you his last name because it’s done. It’s over.”