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Kincaid nods, the reference to his daughter not a surprise for him. “I didn’t figure she would. We need to get a count of how many are willing to sleep in a tent because we have a huge group and only so many cabins.”
“If we double up on the cabins—” Kid begins.
“No,” Hound interrupts. “I think privacy is important.”
Several men chuckle before they can help themselves, but it falls away quickly when Kincaid clears his throat.
Hound and Gigi have three kids together but hearing any details about your children having sex, grown or not, can’t be comfortable.
“One family per cabin,” Kincaid agrees. “Em and I don’t mind being in a tent.”
Each guy speaks their preference.
“Harley, I presume Alyssa is going to want a normal bed?” Kid asks, making notes on his phone.
A wide grin spreads across Harley’s face, and I immediately know the reason for it. My blood sings with happiness for them.
“I think all families with small children should get the cabins,” Kincaid says, taking the attention from Harley so the man doesn’t have to make the announcement right now if he doesn’t want to. “I remember traveling with the girls, and it’s miserable without a little space to yourself when you’re not in the comfort of your own home.”
“Agreed,” Hound says.
“Before the trip, remember we have the party this weekend,” Kincaid says.
“A lot going on at one time,” Shadow mutters.
“We can’t cancel the party. We’ve scheduled caterers and staff. It would be rude to do it now. Those people have been counting on these jobs,” Kincaid reminds everyone.
The party.
Drake is going to bartend at that party. I didn’t exactly forget, but it hasn’t been in the forefront of my mind this last week either.
I’ve been more focused on not showing up at the bar. Controlling myself in his presence seems like an impossibility. We already got caught in the hallway, and after what happened at Hale-ish and in the hotel room after, I don’t know if I could go back to just sitting at the bar and watching him work.
I’d never be able to turn the man down if he made another offer to join him upstairs or suggested I meet him after his shift was over.
Now I have to worry about not getting caught watching the man bartend here at the clubhouse, among a group of men that are highly trained to read unspoken behaviors. I’ll have no way to hide how I feel or what I want from the man. My finger itches to grab the bike keys from my pocket and dart away.
But then I think about watching him from afar and the thrill of the challenge of not getting caught brings. It’s not like anyone would have a problem. If Kincaid didn’t trust Drake, he never would’ve invited him to bartend at the party. There are too many other qualified people around town for him to have to choose someone he didn’t trust. The invite coming directly from the Cerberus president means a lot because it could’ve easily been Em or Misty to extend the invite.
Maybe I’m finally working through all of my issues that go hand in hand with the desires I feel. I don’t think what happened in Denver was a cure-all, but I definitely haven’t spent every second of the last week, dwelling on regret for how Drake and I spent our time.
I know I feel a little guilty for not feeling really guilty which I know makes no sense, but I’m not the one who wrote the book on this stuff.
“Boomer?”
I snap my head in Kincaid’s direction.
“What’s up?”
Several of the guys chuckle, and my cheeks heat in embarrassment, cautious about what I was asked and feeling like an idiot for missing it.
“Tent okay?”
“Of course,” I say. “I never expected to get a cabin.”
Kid nods as he types into his phone, taking notes for Kincaid.
“Em and Misty have lunch waiting for everyone. It may be best to wait until it cools down this evening before picking back up,” Kincaid says. “I can’t have anyone having a heat stroke.”
We follow Kincaid into the clubhouse, none of us complaining about how cold the showers will be with so many heading to their room to take one.
We haven’t gotten word on when the new members would get here, but extending the living area and adding a second story on to the clubhouse are all in preparation for them to arrive.
Kincaid is using the construction as the reason for us not working right now, but I know it has more to do with everyone working through their counseling sessions with Dr. Alverez, after what happened to Aro in Costa Rica. I know, despite him not even being present, that the man blames himself for what happened. Somehow he’s internalized Aro’s mistake in choices, and he’s doing everything he can to prevent it from happening again. One solution is mental health assessments after every mission, making sure each person is in the right headspace for the next. He’s also going to have more teams and rotate them, giving us more time off instead of the back-to-back jobs we’ve been used to.
