Total pages in book: 158
Estimated words: 149641 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 748(@200wpm)___ 599(@250wpm)___ 499(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 149641 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 748(@200wpm)___ 599(@250wpm)___ 499(@300wpm)
“She’s never had a Lou,” Taggart said quietly. “Kenzie has always had friends around her, but she’s never once had the kind of connection Kala found with Louisa Ward, and don’t think I don’t praise the day Boomer brought that kid into our lives. I would trade all the friends Kenz had before for her to find one half as loyal and lovely as Lou. She’s had her sisters, but she has to share them. I’ve always known Kenzie’s best friend will be the man she falls in love with, but I worry she’s struggling right now and won’t be able to make proper choices and won’t have that one friend who could change her mind.”
He’d had a friend and it wrecked his whole fucking life.
Ben took a long breath. He wasn’t going to let Manny in today. Not now. He wanted to understand the gorgeous woman he couldn’t stop thinking about. “How is she struggling because she seemed competent earlier today. Hence me thinking I’m kind of an asshole for considering spanking her. She did take Gabby down, and she did it without harming her.”
“And you can praise her while you spank her,” Cooper explained. “Look, I would never tell anyone to discipline a woman or man who didn’t enjoy and choose to be disciplined, but after an op, you need a debrief and not merely about the intel collected. If you’re involved, you both need to come down from the adrenaline and talk about how it made you feel.”
Scared. Proud. More than a little hot. Outraged at the chances she took.
He admired her. “It’s hard for me to follow my instincts.”
“Because they were so very wrong once,” Taggart said slowly. “Because you didn’t see the threat until it was far too late. Benjamin, don’t let that man ruin your life. It’s admirable that you want to hunt him down and bring him to justice. But it won’t matter if you lose your soul while you do it. Don’t sacrifice something that could be the best thing that ever happened to you. However, you need to actually get to know her. Spend time with her that doesn’t involve national security.”
“You need to watch dumb movies and go to restaurants and share food and sleep in all cuddled up,” TJ said. “You need to know her.”
“I’m worried if you don’t know her, no one really will.” Cooper took a long drag off the beer he held. “Ask about her scars. Ask how she got them. You’ll be surprised, and it will tell you a lot about what she’s willing to do when she believes in something. How far she’ll go for her team.”
Her scars? She had several. They didn’t bother him at all. They were proof that she was smart and she’d survived. She was beautiful, and no marks on her body could make her less.
Was her father right? They’d fought and fucked and they had talked.
Shit. He’d talked. She’d asked him questions and he’d soaked up the attention. She knew what his favorite movie was. She knew he missed his mom’s meatloaf and wished he’d had siblings because he felt alone sometimes.
She seemed so perfect, so well put together.
He’d had to talk her down this morning. She’d been damn near feral.
There was a lot of rage under her happy, shiny exterior. But there was a problem.
“We’re on an op. An op that doesn’t exactly have an end date. We’re going to be stuck in some tiny safe house living on top of one another. How am I supposed to date her like that?” He wasn’t sure there would be time after this op. They would likely have to go their separate ways. This was their best chance to see if it could work.
Taggart snorted. “Uh, you have your apartment.”
“Dude, The Garden is massive.” TJ looked enthusiastic again. “It’s like fifteen stories in the middle of London.”
“It’s six, and it’s not that amazing,” Taggart countered. “It’s barely even a club.”
That got his attention. “It’s a club?”
He didn’t have to ask what kind of club. He knew. When they’d told him they were going to London since their portion of the mission would be based in Europe, he’d envisioned a cramped brownstone or a cluster of tiny flats they would all have to share. He should have known.
Taggart nodded. “Yes, it’s a lifestyle club run by one of my business partners, a man named Damon Knight. Former MI6. And yes, I’ve already arranged for your Master rights. I might have already known where you trained and what your trainer thinks of you.”
Of course he did. He had no secrets from these people, but they kept everything from him. “And what is that?”
“He told me you were a responsible top, if a bit cold,” Taggart explained as though he hadn’t blown right past all boundaries. “I have my theories as to why you didn’t warm up to the subs.”