“I mean, if you wanted to get married sooner…” Jay pulls Soph along at a trot as he follows his brother and soon-to-be sister-in-law. “I could totally do it. I could even do it right now. The spotlights look good, right? The stars are out. Turner is here, he could wash the shit off his face and escort you.”
Jess turns back with surprising speed and snarls, “You are not marrying us, Jay Bishop! I will not spend the rest of my life listening to you tell people you married us.”
“But I did the online test!” He jogs to catch up when she turns away. “Jessica. I did the test! I got an almost perfect score.”
“It’s true.” Soph nods. “And what he didn’t get, I fixed for him. As far as the state is aware, he’s totally qualified.”
“No! Don’t encourage this nonsense, Sophia.”
“Spencer.”
Alex Turner’s gruff voice brings me around until I stop with a smile. The town’s chief of police is shorter than me, but then, most people are. I hit seven feet tall not long after I enrolled in the US Army, back when I was eighteen and fresh out of high school.
I like that every man has to look up to meet my eyes. It shows them who’s in charge, and stops most pissing matches before they start. It’s a rare occasion when a man steps up to me in a bar. It’s not unheard of, of course, proven by the scars I now wear on my face and brow, but most men step down once I stand and dare them to come forward.
Even when I take their women home. Even when I give a man every reason to want to take me out, very few take me up on the offer.
Turner’s chest and face are splattered with red. His dark hair is wild from drying paint, and his goggles are shattered, as though a real bullet passed through. His blue eyes dart between me and his sort-of-sister’s back.
Jess is not actually his sister. She’s his friend’s sister. But their family is as tight as mine, so if I consider little Jessie my responsibility after only knowing her a year, then it ain’t hard to figure the cop feels the same way after knowing her since birth.
“How’s it feel, knowing you lost to a girl, Chief?”
He sniffs, smudging paint when he runs a hand over his broad jaw. “She cheated. She wasn’t supposed to be part of this.”
I chuckle and turn to follow the rest of the crowd from the yard. Alex steps up beside me, while his best friend and deputy hurries ahead to keep up with Jess.
“War is all about cheating though, no? You put me in the field, I’m gonna do whatever I have to do to be the last man standing. Fuck your morals and shit. Those manners my momma taught me don’t much count when someone wants to take me out.”
“But we’re not at war, Spence, we’re playing a game. And Jessie should have her feet up somewhere safe, not be skulking around a munitions range with a weapon in her hands.”
I laugh. “You’re totally pissed she tagged you. You can admit it.”
“I hate that she got me. She cheated!” He points to the crowd as they step through the back door of my building. “She’s supposed to be safe and happy, or in a damn hospital having a couple babies, butnooo. Now my wife is gonna smack me down for getting paint in my hair. Then she’ll laugh because I was tagged by a girl.”
“Bitches be crazy, Chief.” I clap his shoulder and catch the door before it swings shut. “Getting married is a rookie mistake. Live my life, and no one will ever bitch at you about shit again.”
“Spencer!” Jess’ twin sister, Laine, charges across the room with a sheet of paper half scrunched in her hand. Laine wears Daisy Dukes sometimes, too. And when it’s too cold for that, like tonight, she wears skintight jeans that frame her shape and almost always result in me getting caught looking. “You didn’t order that security system for the new client? What the hell? I gave you the damn order.”
“Nobody ever nags you?” Alex shoulder-shoves me as he walks away and snickers.
I turn back to the blonde and wait for her to stop in front of me. “You gave me an order?” I lift a dangerous brow and stare her down. “You think I take orders from scrawny little scrappers like you? You’re not my girl. And your man doesn’t scare me, so…”
“No! I don’t mean Igave you an order. I meant I ordered a damn security system. I put the slip on your desk, followed by a bright yellow Post-it to remind you. Why didn’t you buy the stupid thing? Nadia’s expecting installation by the end of next week.”
I pluck the sheet of paper from her delicate hands, and though I act like her bossiness is annoying, inside, it makes my heart sing. Laine used to be quiet as a mouse and scared of her damn shadow. Now she orders me around and gives no shits when I show her my gun.
It’s a damn shame she’s already in love with her band-geek boyfriend, because she and Jessie are identical twins, and I can’t say that doesn’t intrigue me.
“So…” I meet her blazing eyes. “I’ll order the system tomorrow, get express shipping, and then everyone is happy.”
“But express shipping costs more,” she shoots back. “You waste our money. Are youtryingto be annoying?”
“Areyoutrying to piss me off?” I take another step forward so we stand toe to toe.
Her fire dims instantly, and she swallows what I assume is nervousness from her throat. Men don’t get this close to her these days. Not any man that isn’t inside this room right now, andherman isn’t here, which adds another layer of doubt for her. With Angelo at her back, she can do anything, but his absence makes her doubt herself. She’s tempted to pack up and run.
Her sister watches our exchange. So does Turner. Kane and Jay and Eric also watch, and prepare to jump in if she needs it, but she doesn’t know all of these eyes watch her back in Ang’s absence.