Behind the Lens (Home in Carson Book 1) Read online

  BEHIND THE

  Lens

  By: Renee Harless

  Everything isn’t always what it seems. . . behind the lens.

  From drug cartels to classified information, Cliff knows a thing or two about secrets. As a part of an underground government reconnaissance team, he’s seen it all. Until his latest mission.

  Making mistakes isn’t an option for people like Alexis. From group homes to moving around with the FBI, her feet never hit solid ground. One wrong move and suddenly her life isn’t just in chaos— it’s in jeopardy. Running for her life lands her in the arms of the first and only man ever to give her a reason to stay.

  It’s been two years since he’s seen her, but it only takes him a split second to know that this time she’s not getting away.

  Cliff puts his training to use and his life on the line to protect Alexis. . . and make her his.

  All rights reserved.

  Copyright ©2020 Renee Harless

  This work is one of fiction. Any resemblance of characters to persons, living or deceased, is purely coincidental. Names, places, and characters are figments of the author’s imagination. All trademarked items included in this novel have been recognized as so by the author. The author holds exclusive rights to this work. Unauthorized duplication is prohibited.

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  Cover design by Porcelain Paper Designs

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  Table of Contents

  Prologue

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Epilogue

  Acknowledgements

  Coming Alive (sneak peek)

  Prologue

  Around him, the air grew thick and heavy as he settled into place. Blades of the wheat brushed against the material of his pants, the grains tickled his forearms as he crouched onto the ground. Within the dense fog, a sheen of mist coated his skin and caused a shiver to travel down his spine. Fall weighed heavy in the air, it was Cliff’s favorite season, and as he took a deep breath, the scent of summer’s end filled his lungs.

  The inhale did little to shake off his nerves. He had felt flustered since he woke in the early hours of the morning. In the Army, Cliff was used to the wakeups before dawn broke through the horizon; that habit had stayed with him through the years, despite leaving his branch seven years ago. Or leaving as much as someone could, he still kept a military-grade computer at his apartment and helped when requested.

  Off in the distance, the sun began to rise above the mountainous tree line. Since moving to Carson, North Carolina, Cliff couldn’t seem to get enough of watching the sun climb above the mountains, filling the sky with orange and pink hues. There was a time Cliff wasn’t sure that he would ever see the light of the morning again.

  He shook his head to clear his mind and reached up to push back the locks of dark hair that fell over his forehead. The cabin in the distance, just barely noticeable over the wheat field, glistened beneath the shadows as the sun’s rays beamed down on the wooden structure.

  The sound of rustling jerked Cliff’s attention toward the bushes on his left. He watched as a gathering of does meandered through the field and headed toward the raspberry bushes near the cabin.

  Just as he had hoped.

  Perched on his knees, Cliff adjusted his scope and made sure that his target was centered in the frame. After a few twists, he had a shot lined up exactly the way he wanted.

  Perfect.

  It only took him a moment to line up the scope, years of practice relied on his muscle memory. The deer don’t even realize that he had his eyes set on them.

  He filled his lungs, then held his breath as his finger hovered in the air. And with a soft exhale, Cliff let the sound of the click and shutter fill his mind.

  Cliff pulled the camera away and glanced down at the small LCD screen. A smile grew on his lips as he inspected the final product.

  Photography became his savior when he left the Army, it gave him something beautiful to focus on instead of the ugliness he had experienced for years.

  As he stood from his knelt position in the field, Cliff tucked the camera back into his bag just as a swath of dark brown hair came into his line of sight. The ponytail swung with each step as its owner traveled down the dirt path by the cabin – his cabin. Or so he hoped one day. Maybe he missed his chance and this was the new owner.

  Cliff was mesmerized by the person as she came closer to where he stood, utterly stagnant in the middle of the field. He watched as the woman turned the corner and that’s when he got his first full glimpse of the most beautiful creature he’d ever laid eyes on.

  A bright pink sports bra covered her strong and fit body, it barely contained her large breasts. Her lower half was wrapped in a pair of shorts no bigger than a bikini bottom.

  He had been in Carson for three years and knew most of the residents, but this creature, this woman, wasn’t someone that he recognized.

  Nor did he acknowledge the ache in his chest as she passed in front of him, not even noticing his presence as she continued her quickened pace.

  Cliff knew he needed to move from his spot, but he was frozen in place. He hadn’t felt this visceral reaction to a woman since he was sixteen, and that thought scared the crap out of him.

  Like pulling himself out of quicksand, Cliff lifted the concrete weight of his feet and took steps closer and closer to the dirt road until he found himself standing in the middle of the path. His focus was once again drawn to the back-and-forth swoosh of her hair as it swayed with her pace. His heartbeat quickened until it matched the same beat as her ponytail.

  Who was this woman and why did she have this effect on me?

  Since moving to Carson, Cliff had stayed away from women. The hurt from his past boiled near the surface anytime a woman had come on to him. But this one, with her bright colors and dark hair, had him wishing for something he hadn’t wanted in years.

  And that thought terrified him. Cliff had seen too much – knew too much. And though he was an asset in his prior career, and still was to some extent, it was not a lifestyle for everyone. He learned that one the hard way.

  So why did this woman in her quick passing bring forth a vision of a future that will never exist?

  A deep breath soothed him and Cliff turned on his heels as the woman ran out of his line of sight. The run-down cabin off in the distance took his attention once more. With his camera still in hand, he lifted the device to his eye and snapped a picture of the lone structure that barely stood on its foundation in the middle of the woods. To the naked eye, it would appear that a stiff wind could knock down the building, but Cliff knew better. He and that cabin were kindred spirits. To everyone else, they seemed to be rough and broken, but what they didn’t witness was the strength in their bones. A solid force ensuring stability.

  And like the sun that took her momentary spotlight off the cabin’s roof, wielding her rays across the valley, Cliff knew tha
t the mystery runner was his one ray of sunshine in the chaotic world of shadows that he lived in. He had felt awakened for the first time in years.

  Heading toward his truck, Cliff cleared his mind of the woman that left him rattled. He had better things to do than to fantasize about a non-existent future. Instead, he steered his thoughts toward the tattoo shop he needed to open early for a client and a pit stop that needed to be had at his favorite diner to grab a quick breakfast.

  But even as Cliff drove the needle into the soft skin of his friend’s arm a few hours later, he couldn’t rid his mind of the woman.

  Cliff knew one thing for sure – he was in serious trouble.

  Chapter One

  “Hey, man. Good to see you,” Cliff greeted his friend Harlan as he entered the tattoo shop. They clasped hands and went in for one of those one-armed man hugs.

  Harlan and his band Exoneration had been on tour for the last few months, despite his wife’s protests. But the band had taken a year and a half hiatus, and the short tour was required by their record label. Harlan’s wife Cassidy and their two-year-old son, Ryan, threw him a party because they were so excited to have him home.

  “Glad to be home,” Harlan sighed, the relief evident in his words as he settled in the chair across from Cliff’s station.

  Harlan had called him last night during a bit of insomnia, asking if Cliff could fit him in today. There was no way he was going to turn down his friend because he knew what they would be working on. It was one of Cliff’s favorite pieces to date.

  When Harlan had married Cassidy, he wanted something unique to symbolize his love for his wife despite the days that they would spend apart with both of their demanding jobs. After a few minutes of discussion, Cliff had designed a dogwood tree in a way that he could continue to add leaves, branches, and flowers. A dogwood symbolized rebirth, an emotion Harlan felt whenever he returned home to his family. For every day that his friend was absent, they would add leaves to the tree to show his wife that she was always on his mind while he was gone.

  Despite its beauty, Cliff knew that Harlan hated how many leaves were on the tree. There were also only three flowers – each representing a member of their family. It was no secret that Harlan and Cassidy wanted to increase that number.

  Cliff hoped for his friend’s sake that the number increased soon.

  “So, anything new?” Cliff asked as he set up the ink and prepared to freehand the ninety-three leaves for the tree. At this point, the tree was going to meet completely around Harlan’s waist soon,

  “Naw, just happy to be home. I was so fired up to see Cassidy when I walked in the door that I almost locked her in the bedroom for the next few days. Too bad Ryan had other ideas. Who knew a two-year-old could be a cock block?” Harlan chuckled at his joke and Cliff couldn’t help but join in. Harlan’s brother-in-law, Logan, had the same complaint when he stopped by for a small tattoo last week. Except Logan had a trio of cock blockers with his three-year-old twins and a one-year-old.

  “I’m sure you could ask Mrs. Connelly to watch Ryan for a few days so that you and Cassidy can have some alone time.”

  It was no secret that Amy Connelly adored her grandchildren and constantly requested more additions to the brood. Cliff almost felt like an adopted son to her with the way she stopped by and brought him dinner leftovers. She apparently had a notion in her head that he couldn’t take care of himself. She knew little about his time on the battlefield, not only fending off the enemy, but fighting to stay alive with a lack of water and food.

  With a subtle shake of his head, Cliff cleared his thoughts and went to work on finishing Harlan’s piece. It only took about twenty minutes of Cliff expertly placing each leaf on the branches, looking as if they’d been there all along.

  “You’re all set.”

  “Thanks, man. What do I owe you?” Harlan asked as he reached for his wallet, but Cliff shook his head as he held up his hand. “No way, I’m not charging you.”

  “Dude, let me pay you.”

  “No, I don’t want your money.” Even with his recent purchase, Cliff didn’t need Harlan’s money, or anyone to pay for that matter. The shop did well enough with the tourists in the summer and fall seasons, and his checks from the military were sitting pretty in his savings account. He barely touched any of the funds. When his parents died in a car accident when Cliff was fifteen, they had left him a hefty life insurance payout that would take care of him for longer than he would ever live.

  “Well, can I at least take you out to lunch?”

  Cliff accepted his friend’s request with a smile and cleaned up his space.

  “The Grill or Angie’s Diner?” Cliff asked as they stepped out of the shop, Cliff double-checked that the door locked behind him.

  “I need to check in with Dylan if we can head toward The Grill,” Harlan suggested. Dylan was the former FBI agent that ran The Grill, and the closest connection to the woman that left Cliff without a backward glance. He also happened to be married to Sydney, Cassidy’s sister.

  Cliff always liked Dylan and the two of them had worked on a few missions together when trouble found its way to their small town. He swore that Carson, North Carolina saw more action in two years than he had ever seen on the battlefield in that same amount of time.

  The walk from the tattoo shop to The Grill, which shared space with Sydney’s bakery, Wake and Bake, was short. It was just a block down Main Street which had seen a recent resurgence. The large department store that had gone out of business before Cliff had moved to town was now an indoor recreation center for the kids in town, which were growing in number at an astronomical rate; most of the Connelly family were the main contributors. There was now a brand-new retirement community about five miles away from the downtown center and so many wineries that Cliff had lost count. At the end of the main thoroughfare, the second bar in town was being cleaned out. It was a slow process done by a man that no one in town had seen except for a few quick glances. Cliff had tried to do some research on the man, but his searches came up empty. But, as long as he was here to better the community, Cliff saw no fault in the man keeping to himself. He heard from the Lady Busy Bees, the town gossipers, that the newcomer had applied for the proper licenses and permits to open a craft brewery. That information had Cliff thinking he had a new best friend in town.

  Together, Harlan and Cliff walked through the door of The Grill, the bell chiming as they entered.

  Sydney smiled warmly at them as they passed, her beauty took his breath away and Cliff turned his head quickly. Yeah, he may have had a little crush on the town’s sweetheart when he moved to town. But he knew that she was happily married to Dylan – a guy that he liked and respected. Together they had helped save her from a kidnapping that kept Cliff up at night.

  “Hey, Sparta,” Cliff greeted Dylan with the nickname he bestowed on the man at their first meeting. He perched on one of the diner’s barstools and Harlan did the same.

  “This is an unexpected surprise. What kind of trouble am I in to have both of you two assholes in my place?” the man in the white apron said in jest.

  Harlan spoke up first. “Nothing at all. Cassidy wanted me to ask you and Sydney if you all wanted to join us for dinner. Ryan has been asking to see Maddelyn and Alice.” It wasn’t a town secret that Sydney and Dylan struggled to have children. So, when they showed up at her brother Ryker’s wedding reception with baby Maddelyn, the town was happily surprised. Little did anyone expect the second surprise that she was also pregnant at the time. Their youngest Alice was only seven months younger than Maddelyn.

  “I don’t think that will be a problem, but are you sure? We know you just got back from tour.”

  “Yeah, it was fine. Maybe it will tire Ryan out and he’ll sleep through the night. Six sound okay?”

  “Sure. What can I get you both to eat?”

  Cliff and Harlan ordered their sandwiches and Cliff listened quietly as his friend and Dylan gossiped like a bunch of old ladies. He ha
d always been more of an observer, probably what made him a great sniper and Army Ranger. He usually knew what someone was going to do before they did. Just as he knew that Sydney was going to walk over and give him a hug.

  It only took two minutes before he felt her hand touch his exposed forearm and he turned to welcome her embrace.

  “Cliff, I’m so glad that you’re here. I have a question for you.”

  “Sure, what’s up?”

  “Well, you know that I love that picture you took of the lake. The one with the dock. Do you think I could get something again like that, but a panoramic shot with the dock in the center? I want to do a few canvases in our bedroom, so when we wake up in the morning, we’re waking up to a lake view.”

  Cliff remembered the shot. It was one he took the day before Alexis had barged into his life. The woman with the swaying ponytail that haunted his every thought for years.

  “Sure, I can do that.”

  It wouldn’t be hard; the lake was on his property. One of the few large purchases he made.

  “You’re the best. Thank you,” she exclaimed as she lifted up on her toes and kissed his cheek. He could feel his skin heat beneath her lips and Cliff tried to duck his head in embarrassment.

  Like a whirlwind, Sydney spun on her heels and swooshed through the side door into Dylan’s kitchen. Cliff and Harlan watched the love-sick man move behind his own door, disappearing to see his wife.

  Cliff continued to eat his sandwich in silence, mentally going through the list of clients he had for the day and the inventory he needed to order to get ready for their busy season. Spring was coming to a close and summer was rearing her head earlier than usual.

  Taking a final bite of his lunch, Cliff smacked Harlan on the shoulder and thanked him for the impromptu lunch before heading back toward his shop. But he didn’t step through the front door. Instead, he went around the back and climbed the stairs that led to the apartment he once occupied above his shop.