“Thank you.”
“There is coffee and water already on the table, and pastries will be coming shortly.”
“Sounds good.” Eli glanced at the group of men sitting around the huge conference table that could easily fit twenty or more people. Then he walked to the one who stood.
“Hello, I’m Travis Forrester, and I’m one of the partners you’ve talked to the most.”
Eli shook his hand. “I’m Eli Turner.”
“Yes, we’ve been expecting you. I’ll introduce you to the ones who are here. We’re missing one partner, but he said he’d be here shortly.”
Eli walked around the table, shaking hands and introducing himself before taking a seat close to the door.
The door opened before too much was said, and a small, pretty woman walked in and froze and stared at them.
The huge guy behind her snorted, wrapped his hands around her waist, and lifted her out of the way. He smiled when she gasped at the abrupt movement but still didn’t take her eye off the men.
“Guys, I’m Caleb, for those that don’t know me, and I’d like you to meet Bella.”
“I thought you said you had five partners?” she whispered urgently.
Caleb chuckled. “I do, baby, right now. These other six guys we’re recruiting from police stations, Homeland Security, one or two are FBI agents, and then that dickhead,” Caleb said, making the guys in the room laugh when he pointed at David. “He used to be a Highway Patrolman.”
“What happened?” she asked.
“He probably got fired.”
David snorted, which made Eli grin. He noticed the woman’s face turned sad when she looked at David.
“Really?” she said to David. “I’m sorry.”
David grinned and shook his head. “I didn’t get fired, honey. That’s what your dickhead daddy likes to tell people. If he gets out of hand, come to me.”
Eli’s brows snapped together as he concentrated on the two newcomers. They certainly didn’t look like a father and daughter, but nowadays, things were different. The big guy could be her stepfather for all he knew.
Caleb growled. “You stay the fuck away from her.”
The woman looked at the guy in surprise and then clutched his arm with her hands to get his attention, which she did instantly.
“You aren’t really mad, are you? Because that would be silly. You’re the only dad…” She paused and looked around the room. “I mean, man, I’ll ever want or need.”
What the hell? His interest spiked, and it was hard to hold back the questions he had for the pair.
Eli had never found the woman he wanted to spend his life with. He couldn’t see it happening any time soon because he knew it would be next to impossible to find the type of woman he was attracted to. He rarely saw the traditional kind of woman, one that needed him for everyday things and easily gave up most of the control of her life to him.
He knew he got it from the men in his family. They had all fallen in love with women who thrived in an atmosphere where they didn’t have to worry about everyday things. Some people would call them submissive, but it went deeper than that for him, and he didn’t know how to describe his needs or where to find such a woman.
Because he had lost hope of ever finding the woman he needed, he set his sights on a career that would be exciting and fulfilling for him.
His father and grandfather, the only two people alive in the family besides some distant cousins, had been shocked that he wanted to go into law enforcement, and not just any one but Homeland Security.
A grin widened when he remembered the bluster of both men as they’d tried to talk him out of it. Fortunately, they had given up after a while, but he still heard them gripe about it, especially after the accident.
That was another reason for looking into this opportunity. He knew he couldn’t take chances as he had in the past. His grandfather was eighty and slowing down, and his father was taking care of his father and the business. There wasn’t much to do since they hired very competent people to manage all the different pies the family was into, but the family still had to oversee them.
Now their argument was they wanted grandchildren and great-grandchildren.
They despaired of ever getting any because Eli had never found the woman he wanted to spend his life with.
But now, Caleb’s woman looked exactly like the woman he’d been looking for.
Caleb smiled and patted her hand. “I know, baby.”
“Why are they staring like that?” she whispered.
Caleb scowled. “I’ve no idea. What’s up?” he asked.
Travis cleared his throat. “It just we’ve ever seen you like … this.”
“Like what?” Caleb snapped.
“Nice,” Travis said, making Eli cover his mouth to hide the smile.
Bella gasped and frowned at Travis. “He’s always nice. The only person I’ve seen him be mean to was my mother, and she was horrible to me, and he was protecting me.”
Travis held up his hand to stop her. “I know, honey. He’s my friend, and I consider him a brother. It’s just that normally he’s a bit … impatient. You bring out the nice in him.”
She smiled up at Caleb. “Really?”
“Yes, baby. I’m only nice to you.”
“But you could try to be nice to everyone, right?” she asked hopefully.
There were several chuckles and grunts of disbelief.