“Leaving a wake of destruction every chance I get,” Rebel replied.
His brother laughed. “Sounds like you.”
Rebel eyed the four little ones, instructed two of them to climb on, and for the other two to chill in the family room for their turns.
Both kids—his sister’s youngest and his bro’s youngest—sat on his foot, clung to his jean-clad calves, and squealed with delight.
Walking straight-legged, like Frankenstein, Rebel made his way toward the kitchen, saying hello to the clan as he passed them.
“I’m Joaquin,” he said to an attractive woman with shoulder-length, dark blonde hair.
“And quite the celeb from all this commotion. I’m Paula.”
With both kids clinging and giggling, Rebel walked around and around the first floor, entertaining them. When their turn came to an end and they protested for more, Rebel managed to redirect them to a pile of toys in the middle of the family room.
The next two kids hung on and Rebel repeated the ride. By the time the oldest kids climbed on, he’d gotten a decent workout.
While today should have been nothing but joy, he’d not slept well. Tossing and turning, he couldn’t get Brit’s words out of his head.
I would never want to work with a rogue agent. Even if you were the last agent on earth, I would never, ever, partner with you.
Now that he’d be training and leading the BLACK OPS rescue team, he had to be the ultimate team player. If he wasn’t, someone could die. He had to set an example of how he wanted them to behave.
It would be a huge adjustment, but he was up to the challenge. He also knew that Brit was right. The fact that she’d quit her job over what had happened had been hard to stomach. Somehow, he’d make it up to her.
Just as Rebel deposited the oldest children in the family room, his cousin moseyed over.
“Thanks for meeting me and Kayleen the other night,” Kurt said.
“Is she swinging by today?” Rebel asked.
“She’s got other plans,” Kurt replied. “My parents think we’re going too fast, plus they don’t really like her. Anyway, I’m waiting to tell everyone about our engagement.”
“Gotcha.”
Kurt stepped close. “Mom overheard Kayleen on a call and said she sounded like a total B.”
That caught Rebel’s ear. “Hmm. Do you think you should take a step back?”
His sister Rebecca joined them, her friend Paula by her side. Rebecca patted his back. “I wanted to give you and Paula some time to talk.”
For the past year, Rebel’s sister had been parading her friends in front of him. Ever since Angie, he’d stopped dating. Even so, his sister had taken it upon herself to make sure he stayed in the game. He appreciated her intentions, but he hadn’t been in a good headspace to get close to a woman.
Until his night with Brit.
Even that had gone to hell, though it had nothing to do with their sizzling connection, and everything to do with their careers.
Rebecca wrapped her arm through Kurt’s. “Help me in the kitchen, cuz.”
Paula was attractive, but his thoughts stayed anchored on Britain. Beautiful, sexy Brit who took out three men from fifty yards in the dead of night, across a street, and through a window.
Hard to top a badass like that.
His convo with Paula was chill, but he wasn’t feeling the vibe. No adrenaline powering through him. No real interest in spending more time getting to know her.
When the conversation ended, he said, “Good chattin’ with you. I need to talk to my mom.”
“Of course,” she replied.
