“Stop jabbering.” I put an end to his stream of Holy shit’s and Oh-my-God’s. “We lost them. If they’re in front of us, that’s where they’ll stay. Meanwhile, might I suggest changing our current rendezvous with Chase?”
After a few miles, I take another off-ramp, looping around the city until I no longer suspect we’re being followed. Only then do I relax. Not a second later, my thoughts drift back to Kaye, the pretty blonde who loves animals.
We follow the new route and eventually arrive at our destination: a small, unassuming hotel off the beaten path.
I pull around to the side entrance and park next to Chase’s Jeep. He gets out as soon as he sees us and looks around before heading toward the vehicle. Rafe opens his door and gets out. Hayes and Alec follow. Miss Mystery stays inside the vehicle.
“You have her?” Chase approaches, speaking in a low voice, just loud enough for us to hear.
“We do.” My reply is direct and to the point, lacking any of the many questions filling my head.
“Thanks for the assist.” Chase opens the door to the backseat with no hesitation. He acknowledges our passenger, speaking quietly to her. “It’s nice to meet you.” He extends a hand to our charge. “Name’s Chase. If you’ll come with me, we can get going.”
“Nice to meet you.” She accepts his hand and slowly exits the vehicle.
No words for us, but she’ll speak to him?
Chase takes over responsibility for our charge and escorts her into his own car before speeding away into the night. As relieved as I am that she made it safely out of danger, I can’t help feeling like this was all too easy; almost too easy.
But our job is over, which means we’re cut loose.
“Where to?” My fingers tap on the steering wheel. “Back to HQ? Or…” We’re an hour’s drive from both HQ and the city.
Alec speaks up. “I say we go back to the townhouse.”
Rafe stares at me through the rearview mirror, jaw clenched, eyes fierce, but Hayes nods in agreement.
“Agree. I don’t want Rosalie to spend her first night alone.”
Rafe reluctantly agrees and murmurs his assent. I head back to the townhouse, knowing our camaraderie will be tested.
Kaye’s piqued my interest, and there’s no way I can keep my hands off the stunning blonde. I crossed that line the moment I laid eyes on her outside that townhouse.
As far as the team goes, and our loyalty to one another, only time will tell. For now, I’m content to enjoy the ride and eagerly look forward to exploring the electric chemistry simmering between me and the woman named Kaye.
EIGHT
Kaye
A shock of white-blond hair appears below the roofline. Then two pizza boxes rise up from below.
“Who the fuck ordered pineapple on their pizza?” The deep rumbling baritone sounds like boulders crashing together.
“Forest?” Carmen jumps to her feet and Rosalie follows. “What are you doing here?” Carmen reaches for the boxes of pizza, then hands them to Rosalie.
“Evidently, I’m delivering pizza.” Forest Summers climbs up the fire escape, and when he rises to his full height, my mouth gapes. “Poor delivery guy kept knocking on the door, but no one was answering.” Slightly out of breath, his chest rises and falls as he takes in Barbi and me.
“Uh-oh.” In our excitement to bond with Rosalie, we forgot about one of us staying downstairs. We can’t hear the doorbell when we’re on the roof.
“You didn’t order near enough.” Taller than tall, broader than broad, Forest is a force of nature. That shock-white hair, however, makes him look pale. Almost sickly. He steps onto the roof and turns around to offer a hand down to someone below. “I ordered more pizza. Hope you don’t mind if Sara and Paul join us.”
A pretty woman with flowing brown hair steps onto the roof. She cups Forest’s face and brings him down for a swoon-worthy kiss that makes my heart take off.
Talk about a hot-as-sin kiss.
But that’s nothing compared to the stunning man who follows on her heels. Dark hair, lithe body, there’s a sinuous grace about him, but that’s not what makes my pulse race. An aura of power pulsates around him. It makes the very air seethe, and to my complete and utter shock, that dominating force has eyes for only one person.
It’s not the woman. It’s the man, Forest, himself.
“My name’s Sara.” The woman extends her hand. “Looks like y’all know Forest, and the other of our throuple is Paul.”
“Throuple?” Barbi looks as confused as me.
“We’re a threesome. Or rather two twosomes?” Her brow scrunches trying to explain. “Forest and I are married. Forest and Paul are…”
“Eager for your Guardians to return.” Tall, dark, and handsome, Paul strides over to one of the empty chairs and lowers his towering frame into it with impressive grace. He’s tall, like Forest, but lithe where Forest is massive. Nevertheless, his power is undeniable. “We’re supposed to be at a club.” His accusing gaze cuts to Forest.
“We’re still going to the club.” Voice raspy, Forest’s deep voice sounds like thunder rumbling in the distance.
Desire and need thread through his voice. It’s at once sexual, yet not. Almost desperate. There’s no other way to describe it. But there’s a frailty to him that doesn’t match anything else.
“Will the two of you take a load off and chill?” Sara glances at her watch. “It’s barely seven. The Forge doesn’t open for another three hours.”
“They’ll open for me.” Forest drops into a chair and glances at the wine. He turns to Paul with a questioning look. Almost as if asking for permission?
Paul gives a sharp shake of his head. A definite no.
I’ve never been more intrigued by three people in my life.
“Sorry to crash your party,” Paul says, “but when Forest mentioned Bravo team was needed for a spell and this was Rosalie’s first night off Guardian HQ grounds, I figured we could provide security until Bravo team is back.”
“You decided all without asking me.” Forest crosses his arms in a pout.
“That’s right. Tonight is my night, which means you don’t get a say.” Paul looks around our little gathering. “Do you happen to have more wine glasses?”
“In the kitchen.” I pop to my feet, completely engrossed in our new visitors. “I’ll show you where they are and grab plates for the pizza. I wish we’d known you were coming. We would’ve ordered more pizza.”
“Forest accosted the poor delivery guy. Instead of ordering the normal way, he shoved a couple of hundreds into the guy’s hands with demands for more pizza.”
“Now that’s something I would’ve paid to see.” I head to the fire escape with Paul in tow. Behind us, Forest and Sara continue introductions.
For a dominating force, once I get Paul alone in the kitchen, he relaxes. It’s as if, without Forest, his aura shifts. I now stand beside a normal guy, digging through the cupboards for wine glasses and rifling the pantry for paper plates.
“Should I stay here and wait for the pizza, or do you girls have a way of hearing the doorbell from the roof?”