Total pages in book: 53
Estimated words: 49006 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 245(@200wpm)___ 196(@250wpm)___ 163(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 49006 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 245(@200wpm)___ 196(@250wpm)___ 163(@300wpm)
“Got an answer.” I laugh at Jude’s classic smart-ass response.
“Hopefully, you do.” I run my hand down my face, trying to figure out a way to word this in a way it doesn’t make me seem desperate, when in fact, I am.
I’m desperate to lay my eyes on Maci.
I’m desperate for the feel of Maci.
And I’m desperate to know how we had such a good night and how she could leave without so much of a hint of her.
“Can’t give you a response if you don’t ask and stare off like a lovesick fool.” My gaze snaps to his.
“Fuck, you already know.” I shake my head.
“After Winnie came back, I started tracking everyone’s movements. How do you think I was able to get the contract I have? I didn’t run the woman through the system, but I can if you want.” Jude shrugs his shoulders like it’s no big deal that he’s got details on us at all times.
“How long will that take?” I’ll circle back to the bombshell he dropped, probably the next time all nine of us are sitting around the table at Undercover Lovers. I don’t know how far we’d want to drag this, and Jude is one hundred percent coming from a good place; everyone would agree with that. The women, though, they might be well and truly pissed.
“Depends on if she’s been in the system before. Give me a day or two, and I should have your girl. What’s her name?” Jude is doing something on his tablet before dropping it to the couch and reaching for mine. I had it in my hand when I walked in after going over everything with the tower, plus it holds my schedule, another app Jude developed and tailored to what I needed it for.
“Maci. I have no idea how you spell it or what her last name is.” Not enough to go off, or I could have done it myself.
“I’ll get it sorted out. On the least likely possibility, I can always use my hacker skills.” He cracks his knuckles like it’s not against the law and that it might not backfire on him with the contract he currently has.
“Don’t do all that. You can’t find her, I’ll cut my losses.” That’s a damn lie, and it tastes bitter coming off my lips. I’d probably ask Trent next and go down the line.
“You ever known me to not be able to find someone or something? I’m like a dog with a bone. Might take a bit of time, but I’ll find her. Now, let’s go about showing you how this works. Then I’m going to finagle my way up to the tower and see if they want to be a part of this demo, too.” Jude’s fucking mind, it goes a million miles an hour. He’s working on one thing while thinking about the next and developing another in the background. We go over everything that needs to be gone through—how to disable them and enable them, where all of them are located, which is everywhere except the bathrooms. There’s even one in the bedroom, but it’s currently turned off, and it will stay that way if I have anything to say about it. It’s quick and fast because that’s how Jude rolls. When everything is said and done, Liam is back on the plane with us, and Jude is heading out the door to find his next culprit to work his magic on. As for me, the knot in my gut settles down a bit now that I’ve got someone helping me find the woman whose taste still lingers on my lips.
5
MACI
“I think I’m going to need to find different shoes,” I tell Samuel in the middle of our last flight of the day. We’re sitting down since we caught some headwind, and the captain decided to turn on the seatbelt light, which meant all of us are in our seats. I’m ready to take them off, find a pair of sneakers, and say the hell with it. Except I think it’d be frowned upon doing so my very first day on the job.
“Oh, honey, those are the absolute worst. Like, yes, when you’re out with friends having a drink, total baddie move. Here you need the barest of a heel, and while it pains me to say it, more of a shoe something a grandmother would wear. We’ll fix that before your next shift.” I mentally calculate how much a pair of shoes will put me back and realize that even though it’s adding another charge to my already too-high-for-me credit card, this is a must.
“I know. I should have scavenged something from my mom’s closet. Except she wears the same style of shoes I do.” I shrug. We have a similar style, and growing up, you could find me pilfering her closest for shoes, clothes, and makeup. Mom would pretend like it was a big deal, but Dad later informed me she’d buy certain things with me in mind. Especially when I became a teenager, my parents instilled on me the importance of having a job and paying for the extra wants, including helping pay for my car insurance and gas. I also developed a penchant for clothing. We’d do back-to-school and summer type of shopping, but if I wanted anything extra throughout the year, it was on me. Birthdays and Christmases only go so far when you’re kind of a clothes and shoe whore. And believe me, I wanted more.