My Ranger Weekend

My
Ranger Weekend

By
J.D. Lowrance

Copyright
©
2014
J.D. Lowrance

ALL
RIGHTS RESERVED

Cover:
Fotosearch/Getty Images

This
ebook is intended for adult readers only. It is a
work
of fiction. The names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the
writer
’
s
imagination or have been used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real.
Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, actual events, locales or
organizations is entirely coincidental.

All
rights reserved. Except as permitted under the U.S. Copyright Act of 1976, no
part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any
form or by any means, or stored in a database or retrieval system without the
prior written permission of the publisher.

This
ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. If you
’
re
reading this ebook and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your
use only, then please return it to the author and purchase your own copy. Thank
you for respecting the hard work of this author.

DEDICATION

I
want to dedicate this book to my husband. For all the reads and re-reads. For
all the late night talks and dinner date conversations on where this story was
going. Without you none of this would be possible. I love you.

TABLE
OF CONTENTS

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

EPILOGUE

FLINT
’
S PLAYLIST

OTHER WORKS BY J.D. LOWRANCE

 CHAPTER ONE

Flint

One Republic
’
s
“
Counting Stars
”
blared from the bar
’
s speakers as Jerry
handed me a beer.
I think his name is Jerry.
He spotted Romeo and I the
minute we walked into the bar. A shot of cheap whiskey and now a beer later he
was regaling us with stories of his glory days in the Marines.
Oorah!

Romeo loved this kind of attention. Hell, who I was kidding,
he loved any attention whenever we had a weekend away from the base. Things
were pretty intense right now as we just finished training for the six-month op
we leave for on Monday. Location was on a need to know basis and my grunt ass
did not need to know.
Whatever.
This was our last weekend of freedom and
fun for six-fucking-months.
Watch out ladies here we come!

I knew we would see mad-action this weekend. There was never
a time when the women could resist whatever came out of Romeo
’
s mouth. I thought he
was annoying as hell with his so-called charm, but it always got me laid so who
was I to mess with a good thing. Hell, my size alone intimated most women so I
hung back and let Romeo reel them in. I was built like a bull with all those
years on the family farm. Attention followed me wherever I went; both good and
bad. The good kind from the willing ladies and the bad from the jackasses who
were always sizing me up and thought they could take me. My four years in the
Army, and now two with the Rangers, have taught me to control my temper and my
reaction to those meatheads, but sometimes they just got under my skin. Well
tonight would be no different. Romeo was already in full charm-mode practicing his
tricks on poor Jerry, while a table full of jarheads were eyeing me up. It
would just be a matter of time before trouble with a capital T rained down on
this bar.

Romeo turned to scan the bar before his eyes landed on the
brunette at the bar. Don
’
t get me wrong, Romeo was a looker and a ladies man through
and through. Jonathan Michael Miller, aka Romeo and always my partner-in-crime.
Tonight, he dressed to impress sporting a tight, short-sleeve t-shirt with a
damn green-haired Oompa-Loompa on the front that said
“
Big Things Come in
Small Packages.
” 
Besides our identical
buzz cuts, we could not be more different. Romeo was as wide as he was tall and
he swore up and down that he did not have a Napoleon complex.
Yeah right!
What he lacked in his five-foot-five frame he made up for in heart and
toughness.
 
I, on the other hand,
was a tall motherfucker at six-foot-three. A jacked, good-ol
’
boy from no-where South Dakota where there are more cows and
fields than people.

Romeo joined the Army at 18 to stay out of trouble and I
joined at the same age to get into some. My whole life was filled with quiet
and solitude as I worked on the family farm, but here with people like Romeo I
was a part of something bigger than feed schedules and tractor pulls. I needed
the freedom that came from being uprooted at a moment
’
s notice and sent to
only God-knows-where. Now six years later I was a Ranger for that specific
purpose and nothing was going to change that.

 
I loved this part.
I hummed along singing the words in my head.
“
But baby, I've been,
I've been praying hard,
 
Said no more counting dollars. We'll be counting stars, yeah
we'll be counting stars.
”

“
His name is Jerry,
right?
”
Romeo asked, interrupting my sing-along.
Shit.
Jerry
was already back at the bar. I needed to pay attention when people gave us
shit.

“
I think so,
”
I responded, eyeing Jerry as he barely made it onto the
stool.

“
Dakota, did you see
that brunette at the bar?
”
Romeo nodded towards
the point of the L-shaped bar.
“
Hot, ain
’
t she?
”

“
More your speed than
mine,
”
I laughed as I gulped down my beer.
Yeah, he had a fetish
- women.

“
More cushion for the
pushing baby,
”
he yelled to no one in particular as he finished off his
beer, slamming the bottle on the table. The table of jarheads next to us turned
around eyeing us up once again.
Oh God.
It was going to be one of those
nights. I guess I owed it to Romeo since last month he had to practically carry
me home after I made an ass of myself getting both of us kicked out of that
shitty dance club where there were more cougars than a fucking mountain range.

“
Whatever you say Romeo,
”
I said as I looked around the bar.
 
The band was setting up, testing their mics and amps. All
dudes except for the lead singer who looked to be in her early twenties. She
was cute with a good body but the big, frizzy hair did nothing for me.

“
Need another?
”
he asked as he stood from the table. I nodded as I lifted my
bottle downing the last of my beer.
“
Be right back,
”
he said as he sauntered
up to the bar right next to the curvy brunette. He whispered something in her
ear that caused her to blush and playfully slap his arm. He must have acted
hurt because she started to rub the fake injury. I saw him jerk his head in my
direction as four beers were placed in front him. She did a quick look around
the bar before she leaned into him to say something. With a shrug of his
shoulders, Romeo grabbed the beers and headed back to the table. He caught my
eye and wiggled his eyebrows.
What a d-bag.

“
Wait for it,
”
he mumbled as he turned back to the brunette and pointed to
the two open chairs. He even pulled one out gesturing to her to come and sit
down. A smile teased her lips until she finally stood and made her way over to
our table.
“
Told
ya,
”
he bragged as we both stood up to greet her.

“
Dakota, this is Reggie,
”
Romeo said as he placed one hand on her lower back making his
claim.
“
Reggie, Dakota.
”
I took the hand she extended as she said,
“
Nice to meet you.
”

“
Same here,
”
I responded as we all sat down. She was much prettier up
close with bright blue eyes and a dimple in her left cheek. She had curves in
all the right places and dressed to play them up. She sat across from me as
Romeo took his seat to my left. I always faced the entrance of a place. It was
a quirk of mine that Romeo got over trying to get me out of. Tonight was no
different.

“
She is waiting for her
friend Ryan,
”
Romeo stated.
Greeeaaat. Instead of playing wingman and
getting stuck with an ugly chick, I was it for a fucking dude. Just wonderful.

“
You know Dakota here
would probably be interested in Ryan,
”
he said and he covered
his laughter with a cough into his fist.

“
Here let me help you
with that,
”
I barked as I slapped him on his back.
 
That earned a beautiful laugh from Reggie.
“
We
’
ll see,
”
was all she said as Romeo handed her a beer.

Little fucker.
He
thought he was so funny running his mouth all the time. I did a quick scan of
the bar one more time before I started to get up to go take a leak. There was
nothing worth waiting for at the table.
Ryan! What a joke.

The bar
’
s front door opened and I naturally looked to see who was
coming through when I saw the most attractive woman I had ever laid eyes on.
Damn.
It was lust at first sight. My whole body tightened in anticipation,
including my cock which stood to attention.
Holy shit.
She was perfect.
She said something to the bouncer as she handed him her cover.
Just damn.
Her
tight body was completely covered but I could see every curve. She was wearing
black leggings with knee high black boots with heels so tall it added four or
five inches to her height. They made her legs look like they went on forever. I
suspected that her head would rest right under my chin if I were to bring her
body against mine. Her light blonde hair was parted to the side and flowed in
soft curls down the front of the sparkly sleeveless top that hung off one
shoulder.
 

Look at me.
I
shouted in my head as she eyed the bar. I wanted to see her face and the color
of her eyes but she was being stubborn with her attention.
 
She was obviously
meeting someone as she craned her neck to try and see every face. Was she
looking for someone? Did she have a boyfriend?
Why did I care?
Women
like that did not come to a bar alone. I bet her boyfriend was waiting for her,
probably drooling like me.
Finally!
She was heading straight towards me
but still no eye contact.
Before I knew it she passed us but did not get
far when Reggie called out,
“
Ryan.
”

Ryan
’
s a chick? A hot-ass chick.

Ryan

Reggie was going to kill me. I was always late but this was
even bad for me. She hated to sit at a bar alone and was going to be so pissed
that I was later than late. I ran across Main Street and dashed into O
’
Malley
’
s Pub only to be
stopped at the door.

“
ID and three bucks,
”
said the oversized bald bouncer with gauges in his ear lobes.
I think I could fit at least three fingers, maybe four through there.
 “
Band tonight,
”
he finished as I tried to pull my attention back to his face
and not his freaky-ass ears.

“
No worries,
”
I assured him as I fished in my back pocket pulling out my
driver
’
s license that was
wrapped in cash. I pulled the license out and handed it to him as I counted off
three ones.
 
He exchanged my license
for the three bucks.
“
Happy belated birthday,
”
he said with a smile,
revealing two gold front teeth.
“
Thanks,
”
I murmured as I slid
past him and into the dimly lit pub.
 

This was by far my favorite bar in Santa Ana for its
authentic Irish look. The traditional wooden bar reminded me of all the pubs Reggie
and I visited while in Dublin. A sense of longing hit me as I thought of our
time there. I was living the life away from my crazy ass family and their
drama, but now I was home and I was being drawn back into the nightmare that
was my life. My new car was proof. I could keep it as long as I accepted my
invitation to join USC
’
s Gould School of Law. Reggie was my only salvation through
all of this; my next door neighbor and best friend since kindergarten. She kept
me sane when my parents went crazy.

And yet I could not find her.
Where in the hell are you
Reggie?
My eyes went straight to the bar stools as my gaze traveled up and
down the length of the bar. None of the patrons even resembled Reggie. Maybe
she escaped to the bathroom? I started to make my way into the bar when I heard
my name being called. It came from behind me so I quickly turned around to find
Reggie sitting at a table with two rather good-looking guys, correction one
good-looking guy hanging on Reggie and one hot-ass mofo of a friend.
Stop drooling.

“
Oh my God, Reggie,
”
I said as I walked up to her,
“
I am so sorry that I am late.
”
She stood up and we
embraced in a quick hug. I kept my hands on her shoulders as we separated.
“
Please don
’
t be mad. I lost track
of time and then I could not find anywhere to park.
”

“
Sketching or sewing
this time?
”
She asked playfully as I released her and knew she was not
mad. The guys definitely saved me.