Acquiring Trouble

the floor.
    "Hey, bud" Miles smiled again as Bill sat up, his front feet dan cing in the air as he balanced.
    Miles tossed him a treat and headed to the living room. He shrugged his wide shoulders out of his suit coat and tossed it on the back of the chair. He poured himself a drink and sat by the large bank of windows as he thought about Morgan. It was just like all those years ago. She was intoxicating. Once he touched her he couldn't get her out of his mind.
    Miles drifted off to sleep in his chair with Morgan on his mind. But like most nights, the pleasant dreams were chased away by his darker ones. With no control over his mind it took him to the place he hated most. Back to those mountains.
     
    Afghanistan, s ix y ears ago…
     
    Cade was unconscious after being nearly beaten to death. Miles knew he didn't have long before reinforcements showed up. They were supposed to hike into all y territory with their rescue and be picked up in two days' time. He ran to his brother and had to look beyond the swelling and bleeding to find the depth of his injuries.
    Cade's nose was broken, most likely one or both of his eye sockets were broken, and he had a huge knot on the side of his head. Miles went to pick up his brother when he finally felt the fire sho o t through his body. He felt the pain of the bullet wounds as he trie d to drag Cade to the now empty , sporty black Subaru off-road sedan . He stopped and raised his weapon when he heard a noise. He listened closely as he approached the carava n. It was a banging noise and h e could hear muffled screaming.
    Miles opened the front door to the car and made sure it was empty. He grabbed the keys from the ignition and dragged Cade into the back seat of the car. With his gun in hand , he walked back around to the trunk. He inserted the key and turned it. The trunk popped open and a young blonde woman with wild eyes stared ba ck at him.
     
    *      *      *
     
    Miles' s eyes opened as Bill's barking woke him from his nightly purgatory. He thumped his tail and waited for Miles to walk him outside. He looked at his cell phone as he stood out under the stars and waited for Bill. He had fallen asleep at ten o'clock. It was now two in the morning. Four hours was a lot for him. It was so much in fact that he was now wide awake .
    He changed his clothe s and walked downstairs into the basement gym to work out his frustrations and develop a plan of action. He had a company to defeat and a woman to date.

 
Chapter Ten
     
    Miles pulled up to the hotel in Lexington and took a deep breath. He'd been on lots of dates, but this one felt different. He made his way through the lobby and knocked on the door. He lost his breath when Morgan opened the door wearing a skintight black dress.
    "You look beautiful," he said as his eyes soaked in every curve of her body. Her luscious breasts, her small waist, her rounded hips leading to some very sexy legs. Images of his hands all over her flooded his head. He remembered that he was holding a flower and extended the single red rose to her. 
    "Thank you. Where are we going?" Morgan asked somewhat shy ly as she sniffed the rose .
    " I thought we'd go out to dinner at a lovely place I know not to o far from here."
    Miles held out his arm and felt so proud when she placed her small hand on it. He escorted her out of the hotel and walked the short distance downtown to a restaurant located in one of the historic buildings.
    He laughed as she told stories of her time on Capitol Hill and she laughed when he told her about the pranks his siblings liked to play on each other.
    She couldn’t believe the time he had managed to talk Red into letting Cade go for a prank gone wrong. Miles had told Red, “If you want to arrest my brother for running down Main Street in nothing but what God gave him , then wouldn’t you be saying what God created wasn’t good enough? Furthermore, I think Edna will shoot you if you keep blocking her view. Shouldn’t his punishment simply be to finish the run home w ith every woman in town watching? Red had buckled as the crowd grew and Cade finished the run in the buff with scores of people following in their cars cheering him on. Miles had failed to tell Red the reason Cade was naked and running down the street : he was chasing Miles and Marshall for sneaking to the pond and stealing his clothes while he skinny-dipped with a girl from college . It was the last prank they had played before they had been