MyGod,did she have a sweet ass. The fabric of her dress clung in all the right places. His words didn’t register until after the click of the door.
Thatwasn’t a very LT thing to say. “Since when do you get jealous?” I asked. The three of us had shared more than one woman in the past, and being jealous had never been an issue.
Ethan’s jaw clenched so hard, I was shocked that there wasn’t an audible crack. “I’m serious, Cal,” he said. “If she signs the contract with us, then she’s our client. We don’t fuck clients.”
I bit back a groan. Damn him, but he was right. That was the rule that we had agreed on when we started the firm. “She’s a beautiful woman,” Foster said a little mournfully. At least, mournful for him.
A laugh punched its way from my gut. “Well, holy shit, if Foster says something about a woman, that means we’re obligated to seduce her,” I said half-jokingly.
Foster was closer than a brother, but the dude didn’t talk much. He hadn't in all the years we’d known him.
When he gave his opinion on something, even something as innocuous as the obvious beauty of a woman, it was a big deal.
“Fuck off.”
“Shut up, Cal.”
They both spoke at once, and I had to shush them when the door pushed open again. Adrianne was even better coming than she was going.
She had a luscious, curvy body, wavy brown hair, and chocolate eyes that hid absolutely nothing. “Have you guys decided who’s coming home with me?” she asked.
I stood. “That would be me,” I said without waiting for either of them to say anything else. I'd known Ethan a long time, and if he had his way, we'd be treating this woman like any other Hollywood starlet we'd worked for... but I saw the way she reacted to us.
It was going to be impossible to ignore, whether Ethan wanted to ignore it for now or not. “That okay with you?”
She nodded. “Perfectly okay.”
Ethan held up a manilla folder. “We do need to sign the contract—”
I grabbed it from him, ignoring his death-glare. I had been the target of that look many, many times over the years. It didn’t affect me anymore. “I’ll go through it with her and give it to you tomorrow,” I told him, but my eyes never left her face. “Did you drive? Or can we take my car? Either way, I need to stop and get my go-bag from my office.”
“Go-bag?”
“Clothes and other essentials ready to go at a moment’s notice,” I explained and started leading her out of the office. “We never know how these jobs are going to pop up, and sometimes, going home first isn’t an option.”
“I took an Uber here,” she admitted. “I didn’t want anyone following my car.”
Over her shoulder, Ethan grinned. “That was smart, Adrianne,” he said, and her cheeks flushed the prettiest shade of pink I’d ever seen. “Callan will take you home, and then he can walk you through the contract. If you have any questions, he should be able to help, or he can call me, and I’ll go over things with you myself.”
His words were pointed, and as we walked out of the room, I raised my hand in acknowledgement. “See you in the morning, boys,” I called over my shoulder.
Adrianne had already made it to Ethan’s assistant’s desk when he called out my name. “Callan!” I looked back. “Watch yourself.”
“I got it, Merc.” I shut the door a touch harder than I meant to, and the slam echoed throughout the front office.
Adrianne stared at me. “Everything okay?” she asked.
“It’s fine,” I assured her, even as anger boiled in my gut. Ethan didn’t usually question my judgementthismuch. He wasn’t lying when he told Adriane that he trusted Foster and me with his life... so why didn’t he trust me with Adrianne?
It wasn’t like I was some kind of barbarian. I could behave myself.
“Do you need to run home?” Adrianne asked. “I don’t mind making a stop if there’s something specific that you’d like to grab.” She smiled, and it held a hint of a tease. “Pillow, security blankie.”
I had a moment to imagine taking her to my apartment, her sitting on my couch or perched on a stool at the counter, waiting while I packed an overnight bag... and the righteous confidence that I had in myself only moments ago disappeared.
If I had her anywhere near my bed, I’d never let her out of it. “Nah,” I said. “My go-bag is pretty well-stocked.”
Adrianne didn’t look quite convinced, but we stopped by my office so I could grab the duffel that I’d carried around in some form or fashion since becoming a SEAL. It was a tenement of being in the military toalways be prepared, and once I got into the habit, I couldn’t break myself of it.Not that it’s been a bad thing, working here, I thought.