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Her face flushes. “Sorry.” She sighs, then touches her radio. “The others are making me touchier and more defensive.”
The others are Epsilon bodyguards. Something we both have in common: SFE loves to jab us with hot pokers. They’ll mostly antagonize Frog when none of us on Omega are around, but we’ve caught ‘em enough. Banks went off on Novak not long ago, calling him a fucking coward, but us fighting Frog’s battles isn’t gonna help her with these pricks in the long run.
It might just make it worse.
They’ll say some shit about how she can’t even defend herself without backup, so how is she gonna protect a client? I’ve heard it all before.
Only it was said to me.
Add in the fact that Frog is only turning nineteen in December, a girl, and the boss’s little cousin, she has more tender spots they’ll poke at than me.
Just as I open my mouth to respond to her, my phone beeps.
Gut dropping, I dig my cell out of my pocket and glance at the text.
DAD
Wanna grab a bite to eat tonight?
My stomach churns. Normally I wouldn’t reply. I’m on-duty, but talking to my dad is now classified as a security operation. So I quickly send a message.
I’m working now. I’ll let you know if I get off later.
He’s fast to reply.
Yeah, yeah, I see how it is. I’d choose to be chummy with Loren Hale over me too.
Shit.
I text back with one hand, telling him it’s not that. Just doing my job so I don’t get fired. I’ll talk to him later. And I pocket my phone.
My dad won’t divulge anything incriminating if he thinks I’m personally close to Xander’s dad and the famous ones. There’s just no way. He’s too careful.
That article about Lo hating me—it needs to run.
Lo is the one hesitating. It’s why it hasn’t hit the press yet. He said he hated the first draft of the article. Well, he’s probably been through ten rounds of edits by now.
Feels like he’s stalling. For what? I dunno. I thought he’d love an opportunity to paint me as a cockroach online.
“Gabe eats like five pounds of tuna salad a day,” Frog continues talking about my old roommates. “Who eats that much tuna?”
“Maybe he’s a cat,” I say, mentally distracted and trying to focus.
Focus.
“Our resident cat lady would know,” Frog smiles over at Jane, who’s happily chatting Luna’s ear off about the cocktail hour.
Jane switches her sequined pumpkin purse from her left hip to her right for the fifth time. She’s been doing that all afternoon. Must be uncomfortable. Being that pregnant can’t be comfy. Her belly is swelled beneath a fuzzy Dalmatian print sweater and a peachy tulle skirt, and she perches her hand on her lower back like the heavy front load is bearing on her spine.
“Oh! What if we have the caterers serve different hors d'oeuvres in every dead-end of the maze?” Jane says excitedly, stopping to jot a note on her phone. “We can even have little tables along the pathways with petit fours.”
“The lost people get satiated too,” Luna muses.
“Precisely.” Jane types away, but takes time to adjust her purse again.
I approach. “Want me to hold your pumpkin?”
She’s confused. “My…? Oh,” she realizes. “Yes, that’s sweet. Merci beaucoup.” She hands me the purse.
I slip the gold chain strap on my shoulder. Pumpkin at my side. “Accentuates my ensemble,” I joke, gesturing to my plain fit today.
“Very glam,” Frog compliments me.
“What do you think, Luna?” I ask as a friend to a friend. Just friends here. Gotta remember that.
She skims me but mostly stays on my eyes. “I never saw you as a pumpkin kinda guy, but it could work.”
“Artichoke is more my style?” I watch Jane out of my peripheral. She’s on the move, and I casually spin towards her and everyone follows after me.
“Uh-uh,” Luna shakes her head. “Maybe a zucchini since it pairs well with your eggplant.”
My cock.
I grin. “Stop making so much sense. It’s…” Turning me on. Don’t fucking say that. I intake a tight breath, unsure of whether we’re making this harder for ourselves or easier.
Luna looks just as uncertain. Her smile flips upside-down. Pain knives my side, especially when she catches up to Jane and leaves me behind.
“You should know something,” Frog says very quietly, very seriously.
I stiffen. “About Luna?”
She nods. “I can’t break Luna’s trust in me—I won’t, so don’t ask me to tell you everything.”
“Why tell me anything at all then?”
“Because you’re my friend too.”
Never thought I’d be friends with another girl, to be honest. Probably should be more like a big brother and mentor to Frog, less so like a friend, but being the responsible bodyguard camp counselor might not always be in me, even if I want it to be.
Then Frog adds, “I really don’t want to see your heart get broken.”
