Mr Serious

Duty and danger bring an alpha hero to Mystery, Montana

Waylon Fitzgerald had a life of adventure all planned out—one that did not include returning to his family’s ranch to bring his missing ex-wife into custody for murder. With so much bad blood between them, the sexy military police officer understands why his ex’s sister, Christina Bell, hates him. And yet he and Christina spark a sizzling attraction.

What changes everything for Waylon is Winnie, Christina’s adorable ward…and the startling revelation that he’s her father. When she goes missing—her mother a killer at large—Waylon’s world is upended. Will he redeploy to follow his passions around the world…or stay where his heart has found an unexpected Christmas present?

Mystery Christmas

“Everything’s going to be okay, Waylon. Nothing has to change,” Christina started.

The knot of nerves in his belly tightened. Now he was sure everything was about to flip on its head.

“My sister made a lot of mistakes. You know most of them. Heck, you were the victim of most of her poor decisions,” Christina continued, as she ran her fingers over the back of his hand. “But, there was one mistake… Well, not mistake, but rather an error in judgment that…well… We all… We…”

“We are just as much at fault as Alli,” his mother said, her voice high with nerves. “We should have told you sooner. Years ago, but—”

“Wait,” he said, with a raise of the hand. “What exactly should you have told me years ago?”

“It’s about Winnie…” Christina began.

His heart stopped at the sound of the little girl’s name.

Christina looked up at him and her eyes were filled with a look of apologetic fear. “Winnie is yours, Waylon. She’s your daughter.”

Mr. Serious

Danica Winters

www.millsandboon.co.uk

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To Mac.

You’re the mac to my cheese and the butter to my bread.

Thanks for making life such an amazing adventure.

DANICA WINTERS is a multiple award-winning, bestselling author who writes books that grip readers with their ability to drive emotion through suspense and occasionally a touch of magic. When she’s not working, she can be found in the wilds of Montana, testing her patience while she tries to hone her skills at various crafts—quilting, pottery and painting are not her areas of expertise. She believes the cup is neither half-full nor half-empty, but it better be filled with wine. Visit her website at www.danicawinters.net.

Contents

Cover

Back Cover Text

Introduction

Title Page

About the Author

Dedication

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Twelve

Chapter Thirteen

Chapter Fourteen

Chapter Fifteen

Chapter Sixteen

Chapter Seventeen

Chapter Eighteen

Chapter Nineteen

Extract

Copyright

Chapter One

It was Waylon Fitzgerald’s firm belief that most people were the same when it came to their wants. People were driven to desire four major things: good-enough sex, at least a comfortable amount of money, to be happy most of the time and to find someone to love them. Lucky for him, he’d never been like most people. His dreams were so much bigger—he wanted it all, and more. He wanted to travel the world, to help those in need, to live the dream and have a life driven by passion—not by good enough.

The helicopter’s headset crackled to life. “Where do you want me to put her down?” The pilot motioned out the window of the Black Hawk as they passed over the stock pond in the pasture where his mother normally put the horses out this time of year.

His family wasn’t going to like that he was bringing the helicopter to the ranch, but thanks to the disappearance of his ex-wife, Waylon had had to catch the next available flight. As luck would have it, his friend was relocating bases from Fort Bragg to Fort Lewis and he got to come along for the ride.

He’d always loved the feel of the chopper, its blades cutting through the air and the thump they made, just like the thump of a heart. Maybe that was what the chopper and the army were—his heart. He glanced down at Dunrovin Ranch and the guesthouses speckled throughout its expanse.

As much as he had loved the place where he spent most of his childhood, the lifestyle it symbolized was exactly what he feared the most—boredom. A life spent in habitual motion. Feed the horses, take care of the guests, take care of the ranch’s maintenance, take care of the animals and go to bed, ready to repeat it every day until one morning he just didn’t wake up. It wasn’t that he judged his adoptive mother and father, Eloise and Merle Fitzgerald, for their need for complete stability. It was because of their stability and values he had even made it out of childhood alive. He owed them everything.

“Waylon?” the pilot asked again. “You got a place?”

“Put her down just there.” He motioned toward the gravel parking lot that stood empty in the midmorning sun.

That was strange. This time of year, Dunrovin was normally hopping with life—winter-themed weddings, riding classes and parties to celebrate the coming of Christmas.

As the pilot lowered the bird toward the ground, people started spilling out of the main house. His adoptive mother waved at the helicopter, and even from a distance, he could see the smile on her face. In just the few years since he’d left the ranch, she’d grown gray and her back had started to take on the slight curve that came with age and osteoporosis. His father, the quiet and stoic man who was always working, stood beside her, holding her hand.

Next to them was a blonde. She was tall and lean, the body of a rider, but he didn’t recognize her. She turned slightly, and he could make out the perfect round curve of her ass in her tight blue jeans. Perhaps she was one of their trainers. Either way, he’d have to watch out for her. She looked like the kind of woman who would end up in one of two positions with him—either toe to toe in a shouting match, or between the sheets. As it was, he just needed to get in and out of the ranch and back to work. The last thing he needed was any more drama than necessary.

The blonde shaded her eyes as she frowned up at him, but after a moment her gaze moved to the apple tree in the corner of the lot. Standing high in its branches was a little girl who looked to be about three years old. Her brunette curls blowing in the rotor wash as she gawked at him.

What in the hell was a girl that little doing standing in a tree?

The blonde jogged toward her as if she’d had the same thought.

“Be careful,” Waylon said to the pilot, pointing to the toddler.

The pilot pulled back on the stick, and the powerful draft at such a low altitude kicked up a thick cloud of dust.

The little girl in the tree started to sway, and Waylon called out a warning into the deafening roar of the chopper’s wash.

The girl trembled as she struggled to keep hold of the bark. She looked up at him as a gust of wind set her off balance, and her left shoe slid from the branch. The girl’s blue dress moved against her like an unwieldy sail and propelled her out of the tree. She careened toward the ground.

From where he sat, it looked as though she landed face-first at the bottom of the tree.

“Bring this bird down, dammit!” he shouted.

Hopefully the little girl was still alive.

Chapter Two

What kind of man thought it was okay to fly into a quiet ranch like he was some kind of freaking hero? Who did Waylon Fitzgerald think he was? All that man ever did was leave destruction in his wake, and as far as Christina Bell was concerned, this was just another example of how little he cared when it came to how his actions affected others.

She rushed to her niece as the girl tumbled out of the apple tree and landed on the ground. The girl let out a shrill cry, but it was nearly drowned out by the chopping of the blades of the bull-in-a-china-shop helicopter.

“Winnie, are you okay?” Christina called above the sound.

Tears streamed down Winnie’s dusty face, cutting through the dirt and exposing her unmarred skin below. “It hurts.”

“It’s okay, Win. You’ll be okay.” Christina ran her hand over the girl’s head, smoothing her curls and trying to comfort her. “Where does it hurt, sweetie?”

Winnie cried, and her sobs stole her voice, but she motioned to her right arm and wrist. Of course it would be the girl’s arm. She’d probably put her hand down during her fall in an attempt to catch herself.

As soon as the helicopter touched down, Waylon ran over, dropping his bag on the ground at Winnie’s feet. “Are you okay, kid?”

Christina turned toward him, and she could feel a snarl take over her face. “You leave her alone.”

He took two steps back, like he was afraid a bite would follow the growl. It might have been the smartest thing he’d done so far. All she wanted to do was come at him. He was the reason Winnie was hurt—in many ways, he was responsible for the bad things in her life.

She stared at him as the helicopter lifted off the ground and set to the sky. Alli had told her that he was a military police officer for the army, and she had seen pictures of him in the main house, but none of that did him justice. The man, all two hundred-ish pounds of him, was lean, and from what she could see, his chest was just as muscular as his legs. Even his forearms were thick, so much so that the muscles stressed the cloth of his rolled-up plaid sleeves.

He gave her a small smile, like he hoped that it would be his get-out-of-jail-free card, and she forced herself to look away from his almond-shaped eyes, buzzed black hair and copper-toned skin. He was a far cry from the scraggly teenager whose pictures adorned Eloise Fitzgerald’s walls. Christina didn’t like him, but she couldn’t deny he might have been one of the sexiest men she’d ever seen in real life. She could certainly understand how her sister had fallen for the man. And regardless of Alli’s latest drama, she had been right in divorcing the man if his entrance was any indication of his character.

Just because a man was ridiculously handsome and knew how to make an entrance, it didn’t make him a man worth calling a husband—or a father.

Yep, she definitely hated him. Maybe it was just her hatred of every man who’d left his wife in the lurch, or it could have been all the things Alli had told her about the guy, but there was nothing redeemable about him. Not even that stupid grin he tried to ply her with.

“Is the kid okay?” he asked, his rough voice suddenly taking on a silky edge.

It wouldn’t work with her. No way. No how. Especially when he referred to his daughter as “the kid,” but then again, he didn’t know who she was to him.

Winnie looked up at the man and wiped the tears from her cheeks with her good hand. “My arm,” she said, lifting her limp right arm for him to see. “It hurts.”

He squatted down next to Christina, far too close. He smelled like motor oil and spicy men’s cologne—if she had to explain it, she would have said it was the scent of a real man. On the other hand, it was the scent of Waylon Fitzgerald—notorious father at large.

He didn’t reach for the girl; instead, he leaned back on his heels as though being that close to a hurt child made him deeply uncomfortable.

“Does your back hurt, sweetie?” Christina asked.

Winnie shook her head and stood up, being careful not to put any weight on her arm. The area around her wrist was red and had already started to take on a faint bruise. It had to be broken, yet amazingly the little girl had stopped crying.

“What’s your name, kid?” Waylon asked.

“Winnie. I gonna be three.”

“You’re such a big gir1.” He looked over at Christina. “Is she yours?”

She snorted at how ridiculous his question was. “I’m her guardian.”

Waylon frowned as though he was trying to connect the dots. “So you are...”

She ignored his question. As far as she was concerned, he didn’t need to know her. He’d missed his chance to know her and her family when he’d chosen to elope with Alli. He’d never cared before—and he didn’t need to start now.

Eloise and Merle Fitzgerald made their way over to them as the helicopter disappeared into the distance. Eloise looked torn between worry and excitement. “Waylon!” she called, waving. “Hey, kiddo!”

Christina stood and wrapped Winnie in her arms, holding her against her legs as she chuckled at Eloise’s welcome—calling Waylon a kiddo was about as fitting as calling a wolf a Chihuahua.

Waylon didn’t look back at them as he made his way over to his mother and gave her a solid hug and a quick peck to the cheek. He turned to his father and shook the man’s hand. Apparently, Waylon was the serious kind, a guy who was all business. His father deserved a hug—even if Waylon thought he was too much of a man for that kind of thing.

She sighed as she thought of all the reasons she had to keep the secret about Winnie from him. He definitely wouldn’t be as good a parent as she was—and Winnie deserved the best care she could get.

Eloise glanced over at her and, almost as though she could read Christina’s mind, gave her a slight raise of the brow before she knelt down to talk to Winnie. “You gonna be okay, pumpkin? That was a pretty big fall, but you were so brave.”

“Nana, I tough.” Winnie smiled, the action tight from pain, but thankfully Eloise’s compliments were taking her mind off her arm.

“Nana?” Waylon interrupted.

“Oh, yeah.” Eloise waved him off, but from the way she didn’t answer her son’s question, Christina could tell that she was also questioning exactly if, how and when they should give him the news. Eloise turned back to Winnie. “Let’s go see Dr. Richards. I bet he would like to hear about how brave you were. Okay, pumpkin?”

“I want Wy-ant.” Winnie said, giving Eloise her special brand of puppy-dog eyes—the ones that worked on everyone who lived at the ranch and especially Christina.

For a brief second, Christina felt guilty for not telling Waylon then and there about Winnie being his. It wasn’t really her secret to tell, and even if it were, the revelation would change everything—he would likely want to step into his role as a father and take Winnie away from Dunrovin. Even the thought of more change broke her heart.

She glanced over at him, hoping he would crack a smile—anything that would make him seem like a man who deserved to be Winnie’s guardian. He just looked back at her, a solemn look on his face. So much for that.

Perhaps all she could hope for was that he wouldn’t want to take the girl away. Maybe he would want his daughter to stay at the ranch while he continued to roam the world, but it wasn’t a risk she was willing to take. She loved the girl entirely too much to risk her future on Mr. Serious and a life that he most likely didn’t want.

“I’ll call Wyatt,” Christina offered, but in truth it was just an excuse to get away from the infuriatingly handsome army man.

Sometimes, when things were this confusing, the only thing to do was run.

* * *

ALL WAYLON WANTED to do was get out of this place. He hated hospitals. Thanks to his time in Iraq, there was no place he dreaded more. If a guy was in the hospital there, bad things had gone down.

Truth be told, in Iraq, the name of the game was bad things.

Every second there was another enemy, another battle to fight, another person to protect. And here, back in the civilian world, no one seemed to understand how ugly the real world was. Waylon’s brother Wyatt tapped his foot as he sat next to him in the waiting room, agitated that they hadn’t been invited to the examination room with Winnie, where they were going over the results of the X-rays.

“She’ll be okay, man,” Waylon said. “Kids are resilient. And, honestly, except for the bruise, she seemed fine. Who knows, maybe her wrist ain’t broken.”

Wyatt nodded. “That kid’s tougher than you think. If she cried, there had to be something majorly wrong. I’ve seen her get stepped on by a horse and barely bat an eyelash.”

He’d nearly forgotten how tough even the youngest members of the family were expected to be. There was no time for weakness when they were out checking on cattle during calving season or when they were breaking a new horse. If there was weakness, animals would sense it, and undoubtedly use it to their advantage. The ability to disguise pain was a vital part of existence out here in the wilds of Montana, where it often came down to survival of the fittest. Since he’d left three years ago after his divorce, he’d barely thought about the ranch—and he had completely forgotten how much Mystery, Montana, felt like a throwback to a bygone era. It really was a different culture, a tiny microcosm of society where the values revolved around family and community.

It was a different world than the one he’d been in overseas.

It surprised him, but for a moment, a feeling of sadness and nostalgia overtook him. He hadn’t realized how much he’d missed home. Well, he’d missed some things about home. He glanced over toward the door that led to the examination rooms, where the blonde and his mother were with Winnie. The blonde seemed to hate his guts. When he took off again, he’d miss a lot of things, but her hate wasn’t one of them.

Hopefully he had time to make her change her mind about him—he’d overcome worse odds with women before. Heck, Alli had really hated him when they’d first met. She had been waiting tables at the little diner in Mystery, the Combine, making money before moving along to the next town. The first time she’d seen him, he could have cut glass with her sharp glare. He’d loved that about Alli, the way she was so strong and always ready to stand up for herself. So many women just let men walk all over them, but not Alli. Then again, it was that same strength that had pushed him away and led her into the arms of another man, and then another, and another.

“Have you heard anything new about Alli?” Waylon asked, trying not to notice the way his gut clenched when he thought about all the hard times he’d gone through with the woman.

Wyatt shifted in his standard-issue plastic hospital chair. “They have her car at the impound lot. We’re holding it until we get the full forensics report. But thanks to Lyle, it may take a while.”

“Lyle is still working for you guys? Can’t you find anyone better?” he teased his brother, but he knew exactly how it worked with small-town politics—where the good ole boy system was still alive and well.

“Lyle isn’t all bad,” Wyatt said with a laugh. “Though he probably could use a refresher course or two. He did find the photos that pointed us toward Alli in the case of Bianca’s murder.”

“Even a blind squirrel finds a nut once in a while.”

“You got that right.” Wyatt’s laughter echoed through the nearly empty waiting room. “If you want, when we’re done here, we can run up to her car. Maybe you can spot something we’ve missed. Though, I gotta say, there ain’t a whole lot there.”

“Maybe you just needed your little brother to come home and show you how to do real investigative work. Like we do in the military,” Waylon said with a booming laugh.

“Is that what they’re calling the Girl Scouts these days?” Wyatt smirked.

It was moments like these, when his belly hurt from laughter, that made him realize being home wasn’t just about a change of location. It was more about family—and family was something he could never replace.

Chapter Three

Waylon was certain he shouldn’t feel guilty for the state of Winnie, yet he couldn’t help the tug at his heart each time he looked at her clunky, Ace bandage–wrapped arm as they all made their way into the main house. Dr. Richards had said it was only a sprain, but just to be sure he hadn’t missed a microscopic crack, Eloise and the girl’s guardian had gone along with his plan to keep it wrapped for at least the next week.

Waylon followed the blonde woman toward the kitchen as Winnie pushed past. The woman had barely spoken to him since they had left the hospital. Pissed didn’t even seem like a strong enough word to express the vibe she was sending his way. It was going to be a long week at the ranch. He’d thought war zones were bad, but at least there he wasn’t the sole focus of a woman’s wrath.

His mother stepped up beside him, and as she noticed him watching the woman, she chuckled. “Don’t worry about Christina—she’ll come around. She’s just a bit protective of Winnie, that’s all.”

“Christina?” He let out a long breath. “As in Alli’s sister, Christina?”

“The one and only. She’s been a real asset to the ranch. Didn’t you recognize her?”

He’d only ever seen pictures of Alli’s sister. Alli had made sure to keep him at arm’s length from her family—when he had suggested having them at their wedding, it was in that moment Alli unilaterally decided they should elope. He should have seen it as a warning that she had some issues, but no, love had made him blind. So blind he hadn’t noticed when she had started to keep him isolated; after a couple of years he never saw his friends or even his brothers.

If he’d been smarter, he would have seen what she was really doing—using him to take care of her while she pursued another man. As much as he had the right to, he didn’t hate her. Emotions were crazy, and love was even more illogical. Not that he still loved her. No. That feeling had died the moment he’d left the ranch and run away to the military. The day he signed his papers was the day he had let his past go—that was, until now.

Christina turned around, standing in the doorway of the kitchen, and glared at him. “For some reason, Winnie is asking about you. You may want to go see her.”

He could almost hear the hiss in her words. Yep, she hated him. Sweet.

He sighed, and his mother gave his arm a little squeeze. “Don’t worry, kiddo. I’m telling you, her bark’s worse than her bite.”

He had a feeling he would get the chance to see if his mother was right, but if Christina’s attitude toward him was any indication of her bite, he was sure he’d come away with at least a mark or two.

Winnie sat at the table while Wyatt set about grabbing supplies for a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. As he walked to the table, Wyatt turned to Waylon. “Want one?” He lifted the jelly. “This is what you eat for lunch in the Girl Scouts, right?” His brother laughed.