The moment that Sam finished, the two big men were heading for the door, but only after dropping a kiss to the top of Amelia’s head.
“Keep your head in the game, Mackenzie,” Sam called over his shoulder.
Amelia rolled her eyes. “I always do, Mackenzie.”
He shot her a grin and opened the front door of my place, heading out without another word.
Amelia followed them, and I hung back, trying to give them a bit of space.
“One more thing before you go,” Amelia said when her dad and brother were halfway down the steps.
Both stopped and turned to survey her, hesitance on each of their faces.
“Yeah?” Silas asked hesitantly as if he was ready for an invisible blow.
“Lynn suggested a job in Uncertain,” she said softly. “Is that a good place for me to go to look for one?”
Silas’ brows rose. “That would actually be perfect. It’s kind of far away, though. That kind of commute every day wouldn’t be that fun.”
“He also mentioned it’d be something that I could do from anywhere in the East Texas area. It’s not a job that I would have to do at the office,” she told him.
Silas looked intrigued. “What job is this?”
Sam crossed his arms across his chest and waited for a hit.
“A job. Crimes against children. With the FBI.”
My brows rose at that, thinking that Amelia could totally rock a job like that.
Silas was already shaking his head, and Sam’s mouth twitched as if he hadn’t expected anything less from her.
“Absolutely not.” Silas was already moving toward his bike.
“Just think about it!” she called. “Lynn said he had connections.”
“You can keep dreaming, sweetheart,” Silas said as he got on his bike and started it up.
Sam gave a two-fingered salute to the two of us and got on his bike as well, and the two of them rode out seconds later.
“So,” I said, “your dad has a problem with you working for the FBI?”
Amelia laughed and grabbed my hand, leading me back into the house.
“My father has a problem with everything I do,” she said. “It started when I was young—as young as I can remember—and it’s never ended. Anything he deems as too ‘scary’ he totally shuts down.”
“He’s worried about you,” I found myself saying gently. “He’s allowed to worry, baby.”
“My father is ex-CIA.” She paused. “At least I think he’s ex. I have no fucking clue sometimes.” She turned to look at me. “He has a lot of enemies. And though I know he’s doing it because he loves me, and wants to be protective, he kind of buried me alive in his protection. He has a lot of enemies. Shiloh, Sebastian, and Sam’s childhoods weren’t the greatest. They were in constant danger thanks to his profession, and he spent their whole lives wishing that he could take that away. And I think when it came to me, he felt like he could do a better job. Only, that better job came with him being overbearing, incredibly overprotective, and watchful to the point of intimidation. Do you know what it’s like to date when everyone knows your father will kick their ass if they hurt you?”
My lips twitched.
She rolled her eyes. “I’m serious.”
I didn’t doubt her for a second. Especially after that meeting with her dad on the front porch still very fresh in my mind.
“And, to make matters worse, there were my brothers.” She groaned, covering her face with her hands.
I laughed and gathered her into my arms.
“Let’s go run to Target,” I said. “We’ll buy you some high-end necessities.”
She melted into me. “Sounds good.”
Chapter 13
Stop being picky and give that ugly motherfucker a chance.
-Things not to say to a single woman
Amelia
Adam’s ‘good idea’ turned out to be bad.
Very, very bad.
Mostly, things were great upon arrival. No hiccups. Nobody glaring at me and pointing and calling me names.
Though, we did have to travel to Longview, which was a much bigger town, to do Target.
When I’d suggested to Adam that Walmart was okay, he’d looked at me like my head had grown two sizes.
“We’re not doing Walmart,” he said. “Do you ever see the People of Walmart? That’s a very real thing. And, sadly, they aren’t even the tip of the iceberg.” He paused. “Nathan told me of an arrest he made last night.”
I knew that it was going to be good, so I asked.
“A woman decided to steal something,” he said. “Ask me where she hid it.”
I almost didn’t want to know. “Where?”
“In her vagina,” he said. “The whole thing. Right up her snatch.”
I gagged a little. “That’s gross.”
He shrugged. “That’s life at Walmart. And I’m sorry, but unless I need something super, duper bad, I avoid it at all costs. We’re going to Target.”
And to Target we went.
The drive itself took thirty minutes, and since we were still stuck in Adam’s truck, it wasn’t nearly as fun of a drive.
I mean, I would much rather be wrapped around the man for those thirty minutes, feeling the wind in my hair, than sitting in the seat beside him.
But he held my hand the entire time, so that made it kind of worth it.
After parking at the back of the lot—which was quite busy for the middle of the week might I add—we walked inside.
We got inside the store and were browsing the underwear section when the first person noticed who I was.
She sneered at me, whispered something to her friend, and kept moving.
I added a couple of packages of plain ol’ cotton underwear to the cart that Adam was pushing.
“Bras?” Adam asked. “You use cotton bras, too?”
I shrugged as I reached for a pack of sports bras. “What did you want me to do, run in a push-up bra? Spoken by someone that doesn’t have boobs.”
He shrugged. “I don’t know. I just kind of expected you to wear something a bit sexier. Or, maybe I was envisioning lace. And you put something in there that has ‘maximum coverage and support.’” He read that last part off the packaging.
I looked at him, then said, “My boobs are slightly big, Adam. That means they don’t stay where they’re placed. They need the support and coverage.” I paused, grinning at him. “Imagine running naked. Where would your dick and balls go if there was nothing to hold them in place?”
“Touché,” he teased. “What next?”
What was next was socks.
Then a couple pairs of sweatpants, tank tops, and a pair of flip-flops.
“I’m too picky about workout gear to get it here,” I said, passing that particular section. “I’m picky about the fit. Seams. Shit like that.”