Total pages in book: 117
Estimated words: 111416 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 557(@200wpm)___ 446(@250wpm)___ 371(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 111416 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 557(@200wpm)___ 446(@250wpm)___ 371(@300wpm)
“You’re not carrying a purse.”
“And you are so damn observant.”
“Just so you know, we can’t see your underwear.”
“And you never will.”
A grin spread across his dangerously handsome face and he finally took a step back to stop blocking her entry. He lowered his voice a hair. “That sounded like a challenge.”
“Obviously, one you’d never win.”
One side of his mouth tilted up even higher and his dark eyes sharpened.
Oh yes, he was going to be so much fun to deal with.
“Think so?”
“Know so,” she answered with confidence, stepping over the threshold.
He scrubbed a hand over his mouth and when he was done, his cocky grin was wiped away.
She stopped in front of him and turned until they were face to face. Unlike him, she didn’t bother to lower her voice for what she said next. “I bet you’re the kind of guy who thinks he can convert lesbians, aren’t you?”
She heard a bunch of snickers, groans, hoots and laughs from the large conference table placed in the middle of the third floor. She hadn’t taken a good look in that direction yet since she’d been busy dealing with the man in front of her.
Once she was done with him, she’d deal with the rest.
“Is that what you are?”
“You’re making me wish I was,” she muttered, but loud enough for everyone to hear.
“Damn! What a fucking burn!” came from someone at the table along with a burst of deep laughter.
“Can we fucking get started?” someone else shouted.
Narrowing her eyes just slightly, Nova held his a few more seconds before turning to face the rest of the team already seated around the long conference table.
It was large enough to seat the fifteen members of the task force. Along the walls were four desks with computers, but the room didn’t hold much else.
That would have to change. A lot more equipment would be needed than just fifteen bodies and a place to sit. She wondered if Crew had ever led a federal task force before.
But what caught her eye next was a cot in the back corner.
Why would there be a cot? Not only a cot, but one made up using precise military corners. Someone had been to boot camp. Or attended a strict police academy.
Was someone crashing here at night? Or was that only there for late nights?
It didn’t matter. She was sure she’d find out the reason eventually.
The floor plan was wide open with wide-planked hardwood floors that had been previously painted white but most of the paint had been worn away. They’d probably be beautiful if they were resurfaced and stained.
Every window she could see was boarded up from the outside and the panes on the inside were either covered in thick dirt or cracked.
While the floor and windows looked like they hadn’t been touched in years, in contrast, the smell of fresh paint filled her nostrils. Someone had slapped at least one coat of white on the walls. A blown-up map covering the area the Tri-State Drug Task Force would be dealing with was pinned to the wall opposite of where she stood.
Their work area had plenty of overhead lights, plenty of open space to work and, as she turned her head back toward the cot, she noticed what looked like a single bathroom in the other back corner.
Sharing a bathroom was slightly better than nothing since she’d have to tolerate urine on the floor and seat since most guys had shitty aim. They could hit a moving target with their service weapon from a twenty-five-yard distance. But a toilet a few inches away? Fucking impossible.
“Take a load off, Wilder,” Crew instructed, pointing to an empty conference chair at the opposite end of the table from him.
“Sorry I’m late.”
“A little warning would’ve been nice.”
Oh no he didn’t. “Do you have your phone on silent?”
“Yeah, because we’re about to…” His mouth slammed shut. The group leader grimaced and picked up his phone off the table where it had been placed face down. “Fuck.”
“Mmm,” she murmured and headed toward the empty seat, eyes and grins following her as she went.
The guy who answered the door trailed her, too, but before he could pull out the chair for her, she grabbed it and did it herself, plopping her ass down and glancing around at the full table, giving her new temporary coworkers a few nods and chin lifts.
The door man ended up sitting three seats away, but his unreadable eyes remained on her.
Her guess was he was probably a pro at cards. He had the poker face down pat.
She ignored him and turned her attention to Crew, now standing at his end of the table. “All right, now that we’re all here we can finally get started. You were all chosen for a reason and I’ll try to use your strengths where needed.”
Admittedly, Crew was even more handsome closer-up. He had to be in his early- to mid-forties. His hair had more gray in it than she remembered, and last time she saw him, he wasn’t sporting facial hair. The wiry hairs covering his chin were almost all white, while the rest of his beard was salt-and-pepper to match his hair.