Total pages in book: 116
Estimated words: 118780 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 594(@200wpm)___ 475(@250wpm)___ 396(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 118780 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 594(@200wpm)___ 475(@250wpm)___ 396(@300wpm)
This time I let her up, watching her walk hesitantly into his arms. She squeals when he lifts her off the ground, mumbling something into her hair.
“Now can we pop this?” Alex raises the bottle.
“Yes, absolutely.” She reaches over to kiss his cheek. “And, lucky for you guys, I made dinner before I succumbed to my pity party. All I have to do is throw together the salad.”
“Thank God, I’m starving for actual food,” Talon voices exactly what I’m thinking.
Alex fills glasses and Cruz hands them around the room. “One glass and then the fridge is stocked with beer,” he tells me.
“Appreciate it.”
“New beginnings are around the corner,” Talon toasts, sending me a knowing look.
“Hear, hear!” Cruz slams back his glass.
“You know, guys, I love you all deeply, but sometimes a girl needs a good cry.”
“Sweetie, you want a good cry, we’ll watch Steel Magnolias,” Cruz counters.
“Not watching that shit,” Talon mutters, swallowing his own drink.
“Okay, macho man. We’ll watch Armageddon. All the hotness and action, combined with the tear-jerking ending. Good enough?”
“It’ll do.” I suck back the champagne, not tasting any of it.
“Oh my God, how was your trip?” Rowan returns to my lap, running a hand through my hair.
“I’m home,” is all I offer.
“We’ll talk about it later?”
“Yeah, baby. Later. You should probably answer all the missed calls before the house is swarming with people.”
“I made enough. Should we invite the others?”
My instinct is to say no and shut down the idea. But her spark of excitement and knowing her day was rough silences my protest. “I’ll call them.”
She sinks into me, Pepper joining us and nudging my hand.
“You miss me, girl?” I rub her head.
“She hasn’t gotten a good run in forever. Glad you’re back,” Cruz exaggerates. “Will you be here in the morning?”
My lips curl at his indiscreet implication. “Probably not, but I’ll come by sometime tomorrow to take care of her.”
Rowan giggles, kissing the underside of my jaw. “I love you.”
I drop my lips to hers, tasting the champagne, and a familiar need takes over.
Not caring about our audience, I tangle my fingers in her hair, angling to kiss her deeper. She whimpers, clutching my shirt as my tongue sweeps through her mouth.
“Time for that beer.” I vaguely hear Talon.
The smell of jasmine and lavender fills my senses, her soft body curled into mine, and the last week without her fades away.
Wait for it…
The tension in the room rises as the sound of static lingers.
“Shit—”
Robbie silences Major with a slice of his hand, concentrating on the image on the screen.
After a full minute, there’s movement and a muffled shuffling.
“We got them. Looks like seven crates hidden among inventory,” the man announces, and Robbie barks orders into his headset.
Five seconds later, agents swarm the truck.
“That’s a wrap.” Finn removes his headset and flashes a triumphant smile. “Good job, men.”
“Group effort.” I slap Talon’s back. “Almost makes ten days with this fool worth it.”
“You loved every minute.”
“Tell me again why we are in this room while all the action is out there?” Ace grouses.
“Better than a Friday night on Broadway.”
“Damn straight,” I agree, hating the nights we patrolled downtown and dealt with the drunks who can’t handle their alcohol.
“Not exciting enough for you, Kingston? Would you rather scale buildings?” Finn prods.
“Much more of an action man,” Ace replies. “Don’t want to go soft.”
“I can assure you there’s nothing soft—” Finn’s cut off by the loud ringing in the room.
Only one person it could be.
“Dad,” Robbie clicks on the speakerphone.
“Nice job.” James' voice thunders through the line. Sirens and shouts fill the background.
“The drivers talking?”
“They claim to be contractors contacted yesterday to deliver a truckload of produce to Memphis.”
“Typical excuse. Want us to check it out?”
James laughs. “No, son. This is where we turn it over and run. Unless you want to spend the next month buried in paperwork.”
“Fuck that shit,” Finn hisses. “Let Metro deal.”
“My thoughts, too. But there is the question of who gets the credit.”
We all share a look. After the last debacle, our participation in this operation is undisclosed. James is the face of Hayes Security, taking all the credit.
Like Ace, we’re all action men, but working autonomously has its perks.
“I say give it to ATF this time. Let that fucker analyst squirm, knowing we cut him out of the intel. Maybe he’ll lead us to who’s pulling the strings,” Major offers his opinion.
“Agreed?” Robbie glances at us for confirmation.
“Agreed,” we chorus.
“Alright, good job, men. Go home to your families.”
The call ends and we all wait for Robbie’s instruction.
“You heard him. Time to go.” Robbie shuts down the equipment, the screen on the wall going black and the machines silenced. “We’ll reconvene when there’s more information. Dad will get us the intel. There’s your silver lining, Kingston. Behind the scenes means a lot less headaches and no dealing with the press.”