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Carter’s jaw and fists clenched. Hell, his ass cheeks probably did, too. Not a visual I wanted in my head.
But obeying someone else’s orders would be more difficult for Carter than stripping in front of twenty-plus people.
Shannon stood and offered him a large, bright green leaf that seemingly came from nowhere. “You can have this, though, to, um, cover yourself.” Her gaze dipped straight to Carter’s crotch, and her cheeks flamed to match her red nail polish.
Carter angled his head and replied in a flat voice, “I’m going to need a much bigger leaf.”
CHAPTER EIGHT
CHARLOTTE
“Well then. I didn’t expect ink beneath that shirt, but wow,” Lucy said into my ear as Carter tossed his black dress shirt. His back was to us, and he had a tattoo of black feathery wings inked on each side of his shoulder blades, and when his back muscles pinched, the wings came together like he could fly.
Are you the fallen one? A fallen angel?
He pivoted to the side, giving his back to the other two women on our team, Mya and Gwen, and began unbuckling his belt. For whatever reason, he’d rather Lucy and I see him strip. That was interesting.
I turned, offering him privacy, then snatched my sister’s arm, urging her to look away as well. But she appeared stuck in some stupefied trance by a guy who had to be almost twenty years older than her.
No daddy issues allowed. Please, God. We have enough issues in your dating life.
I heard his belt connecting with the pavers, and my mind wandered. Was it just his belt? Had he removed it from his pants before dropping it? Was he dragging out the efforts to hide his embarrassment? He didn’t strike me as that type of guy. Would Jack be that kind of guy? Shit, what was wrong with me?
“Lucy,” I hissed when she’d yet to follow my command.
“Oh, yeah. Right.” Lucy faced me, flushed.
“Guess you weren’t lying about needing a bigger leaf,” I overheard an unfamiliar voice say. Maybe a woman from another team. And I guess that answered the question about the belt.
I sure as hell had no plans to strip, but I also couldn’t afford to tell certain truths if asked. Heels, panties, and a dress was all I had on.
“You can put your briefs back on,” Stephen directed after a chuckle. “We were kidding about the leaf. And the nude thing.”
Carter grumbled something. It was more like a growl. He wasn’t happy. And I got the feeling you did not want to piss that man off. But at least complete nudity wasn’t on the table tonight.
“Next up, Mason,” the host announced a few seconds later, forcing us to return our attention to the polygrapher.
But when I spun around, it was Jack I noticed first. He was scrubbing the back of his hand along his jawline while staring at the polygraph machine. Was he worried about lying, too? Hell, was our entire team a bunch of liars?
I had to remind myself Lucy and I were there for the money, which meant we couldn’t afford to lose any points if we truly had a shot at winning. But there was still the hurdle of Jack being there to get over before I could consider making it as far as the finals.
“Ever shot a gun?” was Mason’s first question.
“Yes,” he quickly answered.
“Why?” the interrogator, Shannon, asked.
Mason shrugged. “Marines.”
While he was peppered with a few more questions, I stole a look at my sister. Lucy was focused on . . . damnit, on our nearly naked teammate, Carter.
Carter, in only his tight black briefs that didn’t leave much to the imagination, leaned his muscular body up against one of the pergola columns. His arms were folded across his chest, but he didn’t seem all that shy about his current state.
Lucy seemed to be focused on the veins that cut down his sculpted body and disappeared into his briefs, though.
“Last question, who on your team would you like to spend the night with in the treehouse if you were given the chance?” Shannon pressed, fingering her red nails through her blonde hair, which hung in loose waves around her face.
Mason looked straight at Mya, then his attention dipped to Lucy.
