“Like you.” Lincoln appeared out of nowhere, pressing a kiss to my cheek..
“I’m glad you loved them, princess.” King squeezed my hand.
“Now keep eating,” Yates growled. I rolled my eyes but did as he said, secretly loving how bossy and grumpy he could get. I listened to the four of them talk as I slowly sipped my coffee.
I watched casually as Dermot and Stratton handled the security, ordering groups of people around. It was hot. I still felt a bit weird about the security situation, like there was some aspect to it that I was missing… But it was easy to ignore it while staring at them.
Stratton was wearing an all black outfit, his shirt showing off his tattoos and his expression completely stony and expressionless. Dermot was wearing a black polo with aviators that made him look hot as heck.
I hopped up, ignoring the calls to come back, as I made my way towards Stratton. Without caution, I wrapped my arms around him as he looked down at me, his eyes melting from ice chips into clear pools of water. “Morning, angel. How did you sleep?”
“Wish I had woken up to you next to me, but pretty good,” I teased. “The flowers were gorgeous.”
“I’m glad you liked them.” He dipped his head, brushing his nose against mine.
“Baby girl,” Dermot called out before walking over, ignoring the men he’d been talking to. “You look fucking edible.”
I made a surprised noise as he kissed me hard, making Stratton grumble. Then Dermot was gone, back talking to the men, my eyes wide as I looked up at Stratton in confusion.
He shrugged. “He’s a bit worked up today, not positive why.”
Maybe because we had all but had sex yesterday…and then he came inside me? That would be a solid reason to be a bit worked up.
“Dahlia!” Sterling’s voice called my attention back to the table, my chest suddenly clenching as I narrowed my eyes at the woman standing near him.
Stratton kissed the shell of my ear before he let me go, and I looked over the objectively gorgeous woman near my men as I walked. My eyes darted to each of them, noticing their gazes were completely on me, making me breathe a bit easier.
I wouldn’t lie, though—this woman was intimidating.
First of all, she had to be 5’8”, maybe 5’9”, and was built like a model with long, lean muscle. She was dressed in jeans and a black shirt with combat boots, her black hair tugged back in a tight ponytail. She examined me with curious bright blue eyes that held no hostility, and when I offered her a hesitant smile, she nodded back.
“What’s up?” I asked, looking over at my boys before back at her.
“This is Devyn,” King explained easily, seeming to watch my reaction. “She is one of the possible bodyguards we’re considering for you.”
Oh.
I offered my hand to her. “It’s nice to meet you, Devyn. I’m Dahlia.”
“I know.” She flashed a small polite smile.
“She was recommended by India Lexington,” Yates added.
My eyebrows went up. Well, that for sure gave her a bit of brownie points overall.
“Let’s talk?” I motioned towards the pool chairs, and she followed after. I was a bit nervous, but I tried to channel my mom’s confident energy as I sat down, offering her a polite smile.
“Is it weird, going to people’s houses for this type of thing?” I asked curiously.
Her laugh was authentic. “Yeah, it’s a bit different. I actually don’t normally do this type of thing, but I was changing my location from the East Coast to here, and India suggested contacting the Rosses to see if they needed any help.”
I nodded and then tried to figure out a serious question, I hadn’t exactly been prepared to do an interview today.
“What made you want to be a bodyguard?” I felt like that was reasonable.
She was so relaxed, and the way she seemed to ease the awkwardness of this situation had me already liking her. I didn’t really have any friends that were girls, so I always felt like my communication was slightly off while interacting with them.
“I was trained in the military,” she explained before adding, “Not US-based; I actually am from Novosibirsk.”