Total pages in book: 155
Estimated words: 146392 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 732(@200wpm)___ 586(@250wpm)___ 488(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 146392 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 732(@200wpm)___ 586(@250wpm)___ 488(@300wpm)
“TJ.” She had no idea who she was dealing with now. What had his mother said to him?
“Well, it was too fast. I didn’t get a chance to do the whole stare-at-you thing. I had to get in there with my tongue,” TJ began.
“There is not enough Scotch in the world.” Big Tag shook his head and looked like he was ready to flee again.
“Get in there.” Theo Taggart pushed his brother along.
“You need to make him stop,” Big Tag complained. “Your son is the one doing this. This is not Lou’s fault. Lou is a nice girl.”
Lou is a nice girl. Lou is a smart girl.
“Lou would never do these things,” Big Tag continued. “It’s TJ’s fault.”
“It is definitely TJ’s fault,” Kala agreed. “He’s saying all these nasty things to her like we don’t have ears.”
Zach reappeared, frowning. “There are no more chairs. Not any that I can get in here. It’s okay. I can stand.”
“TJ perving on Lou is probably the worst thing that happened all week, and that includes him getting his ass kidnapped.” Kala pointed her cousin’s way. “If I’d known you were going to get all handsy with my bestie, I would have gone in myself and murdered you right there.”
“That’s the way, baby girl.” Big Tag found his seat. “You protect the smart one at all costs.”
The smart one. The nice girl. The girl who everyone came to with their problems because she was the sensible one. Louisa Ward always made good choices.
“I don’t mind standing.” Erin had joined them, her hands on her husband’s shoulders.
“You can join me, baby,” Theo said, bringing her hand to his lips.
Big Tag didn’t have a problem with that, and he’d almost certainly walked in on Tash and Dare at some point. They all had. They were not circumspect in any way and the walls were thin, so she’d definitely heard some nasty talk coming from Tash’s fiancé.
It was only her. Lou, who was supposed to stay sweet and single because she was so smart she shouldn’t have any physical needs at all.
She pushed back her chair, and all eyes were on her for once. It was weird. She was always in the background, always in the shadows.
She stared down at TJ. “You said something about your father’s back. We should help the older generation out, shouldn’t we?”
A slow smile spread over his lips, and he moved so she could maneuver onto his lap.
His comfy lap. Comfy except for the erection she could already feel against her butt.
“See,” he said as his arm went around her waist. “Isn’t that better?”
How long had they played these roles? Lou, the academic, and TJ, the soldier, and never the twain shall meet. Good as friends, but they didn’t fit together anywhere else. Except she fit fine on that man’s lap.
She leaned over, whispering far more softly than he had. “It’s like we’re in the club. That’s all. You gave me something I needed. I think I might need this too.”
She might need her friends to see her in a different way because maybe, just maybe, then she could see the possibilities, too.
“That’s enough for now, sub,” TJ replied.
His uncle groaned again.
But she could have sworn, right before his head hit the table, that the man smiled.
* * * *
“All right. Now that we all have seats or laps and our boy in danger has what is apparently his favorite blankie, can we get serious?” Big Tag asked. “We’ve got a flight in less than two hours, and I’ve got to hand our hired idiot over to German intelligence. They want a word, but all I’ve gotten out of him so far is that he works security for a man named Friedrich Huber. The man’s a known arms dealer. He runs guns in and out of Africa and the Middle East.”
TJ knew he should probably send his uncle a death stare, but he was kind of right. Lou was like a blanket. He wanted to wrap himself up in her and she smelled like fabric softener, and damn that was sexy to him.
He hadn’t realized how much his family would help him by pointing out how nice Lou was. He understood why she’d slid onto his lap, and it wasn’t all about wanting to be there. It was about wanting everyone else to think she could be there.
He would use that. He’d meant what he’d said. He could be ruthless when he needed to be. He’d always carefully hidden that part of himself, preferring to be Lou’s golden boy heroic type. It was precisely why he’d never mentioned all the assholes he’d warned off her. He was Lou’s friend, the one she could count on to always do the right thing.
Now he needed to access the bad boy she brought out in him.