Total pages in book: 113
Estimated words: 105825 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 529(@200wpm)___ 423(@250wpm)___ 353(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 105825 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 529(@200wpm)___ 423(@250wpm)___ 353(@300wpm)
I stared. Colton, the big, scary ox of the team, had a touch of imposter syndrome? “That’s not going to happen,” I told him. “The others respect the hell out of you. I’ve seen the way JD talks to you when he’s handing out orders. He trusts you. He knows you’ll get the job done.”
Colton nodded gratefully, embarrassed. And I nodded back to him, because I felt better, too. Maybe we both just needed to believe in ourselves.
I took my coffee back to my dad’s office, took a deep breath, and started plowing through the decisions one by one.
The next day, Marcus returned with everyone’s new suits and the men disappeared in turn to try them on. At the same time, Emily, Kian’s girlfriend, and Stacey, Bradan’s girlfriend, stopped by, bringing cupcakes. I took to both of them immediately: Emily was warm and down-to-earth, not at all how I’d imagined the President’s daughter would be. And Stacey was a whirlwind of efficient energy: I found her intimidating until Emily shared how she’d fallen off her stool in a cocktail bar the night before.
“I didn’t fall off,” protested Stacey. “I went to sit down and missed my stool. Someone must have moved it.”
They’d taken Erin out shopping and she’d returned with a whole new look. The baggy, shapeless hoodie she’d shown up in was gone and she was sporting a green angora sweater that hugged her body and a pair of tight black jeans. When Danny walked in and saw her, he stopped dead in his tracks. The soft wow he finally whispered made me go melty: he was so obviously crazy about her. He grabbed her by the waist, picked her up and spun her around, then hugged her against him and we all Ahhed.
“I bought other stuff as well,” Erin told him excitedly. “Some strappy tops and a skirt and—” She put her mouth close to his ear and whispered something.
Danny’s eyes went wide. “Like in the book?”
Erin nodded, blushing.
“Excuse us,” said Danny and marched off, still carrying her.
“She found this leather corset,” Emily whispered to me. “Sort of Lord of the Rings meets Victoria’s Secret. We may not see them for a while.”
At that moment, Bradan walked in, in his newly-tailored suit. Stacey’s eyes went wide. “Ohmygod! I haven’t seen you in a suit since the double wedding! You look amazing! ”
And he did. The suit was midnight blue, subtle and refined, but as he moved you caught little glimpses of the silk lining which was the bright cyan of a Caribbean bay. The jacket was perfectly cut to show off his powerful shoulders and the tight lines of his waist, and the pants were just tight enough to let you see his muscled ass. He looked like the CEO of a company that made space weapons, about to play high -stakes poker. Bradan grinned, pleased but nervous: he’d always sort of blended into the background but now, suddenly, he stood out.
One by one, the other men filed in, in their new suits. They didn’t look respectable, exactly, but they did all look gorgeous. Colton, in particular, was transformed: with a crisp white shirt stretched across his chest, you realized just how wide and strong those pecs were and with his dark beard and brooding good looks, he looked like some underworld billionaire. But I only had eyes for JD. As he straightened his jacket, I could see the exact curve of his chest where I’d laid my head as I dozed off. As he adjusted his tie, my eyes locked on that soft lower lip and my own lips tingled, remembering his kisses. And then our eyes met and there was so much there, sadness and regret and that agonizing pain…
I tore my eyes away and took a deep, calming breath. I’d managed before him. I could manage after him.
Except…after was so much harder because now I’d always be thinking about what could have been.
“You all look badass,” said Gina, leaning against a wall. “I’m sticking to my flight suit, though.” She was trying to stay upbeat but I knew she must feel like a fifth wheel. She’d taken turns on guard duty and watching the cameras, but there wasn’t much for her to actually do, and I felt sorry for her.
So I’d done something about it. “Come with me,” I told her.
She followed me up to the roof, curious. As soon as she saw the gleaming, blue-and-white helicopter on the helipad, her eyes lit up.
“My dad bought it a few years ago so we could get to sites faster, but we so rarely used it, we wound up storing it at the airport,” I told her. “I thought, now that you’re here…”
Gina ran over to it, opened the door and inhaled. “It still has that new chopper smell!” She turned to me, beaming. “I never get to fly anything as new as this, it’s always rentals or old military stuff!”