Total pages in book: 41
Estimated words: 39250 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 196(@200wpm)___ 157(@250wpm)___ 131(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 39250 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 196(@200wpm)___ 157(@250wpm)___ 131(@300wpm)
The sooner, the better, considering I caught movement in my periphery. Fucking Beckett. He was heading over, and he wasn’t alone. Maybe if Kiera and I looked busy, he’d back off.
“I just need to grab my usual gear from my locker,” I said. Watch, personal phone, wallet—the shit I didn’t travel with for work. Then I sighed, ’cause Beckett couldn’t take a hint. He came to a stop right next to us, so I had no choice but to tilt my head his way. “What,” I asked flatly. Somehow, he’d roped Coach, Danny, and Darius into this too. “Seriously, Quinn?”
Darius furrowed his brow. “I don’t know what’s happenin’. Beckett asked me to come over.”
Beckett shot him a look. “Because it looks better if we’re a unit.”
For chrissakes. “Get over it, man. So you lost your burger when you tripped on a pebble—”
“It was a grenade launcher,” he bullshitted.
“That seems unsafe and unlikely during Hell Week,” Danny noted.
“Especially at a gas station once the training was over and they were headed home,” Coach added.
“Shut the fuck up, both of you,” Beckett told them.
“Yeah, I’m out.” Darius cleared his throat and clapped Beckett on the shoulder. “Once you’re done flushin’ the rest of your dignity down the toilet, we’ll go grab a burger with the new operator. I can carry yours if you want.”
I felt my shoulders shake with laughter as he walked off, and Danny and Coach didn’t hold back for shit. Their laughter echoed more than Kiera’s ever could.
Beckett’s jaw ticked with tension, but he tried to hide his annoyance behind a smile that he sent Kiera.
“Anyway. You’re clearly new here, and given that Hyatt’s never brought anyone over to HQ, I can only presume you’re special and that this is serious. I’m Beckett, by the way.” He extended a hand.
I narrowed my eyes.
Kiera smiled back. “Nice to meet you, Beckett. I’m Kiera. And I hope I’m special.”
“Be real careful now, Beckett.” I scratched my nose.
His smile widened. “When you’re ready to hear funny stories about Hyatt, we have a fuck-ton of memories to share with you.”
That was it. I had limits. I took a step toward him and leveled him with a serious look. “Once she’s locked down properly. You don’t tell her a fucking thing until she has my name. Are we clear?”
“Hoo boy.” Coach lifted his brows in surprise.
Danny let out a whistle. “Damn, Hyatt.”
Beckett smirked and straightened so we were face-to-face. “Why? Are you worried something will send her running? Speaking of runs… That time in Somalia…”
I scowled. “I was sick, dammit.”
“I agree,” he laughed.
I flicked Kiera a glance. “I had malaria. Okay?”
She let out a soft laugh and hugged my arm. “You don’t have to worry, baby. Remember, I’m a nurse. I’ve seen it all.”
Damn right. I mean, wait. I still had my reputation to uphold—
“But you know…? We should get together,” Kiera said to Beckett. “I’d love to get to know more of Hyatt’s coworkers. And I make a mean steak sandwich—perfect for both happy hour and a game. Wings and beer are included, of course.”
I shut my mouth, annoyed at the opportunity she’d given Beckett to fuck with me, and…fucking amazed. She wasn’t even going to try to pull me away from the family I had at Hillcroft. She was joining it.
These past few weeks, I’d wondered if the feelings developing and stirring and growing…if it was me falling in love or something. And yeah, it fucking was. She was it.
“Count me in,” Beckett replied. “Leighton and I are free this weekend.”
“Fantastic. What about you?” Kiera faced Danny and Coach.
Danny took it in stride and smiled. “Absolutely. Em and I will be there.”
So this was happening? We were having people over for dinner?
I…
That’d never happened before. I’d never done that. What did I have to do? How did these things work?
EPILOGUE 1
Seven months later
Kiera Lane
“Right now?”
I nodded and yanked the towel from around his hips. God yes. “Right now.” I stared at his sexy body, from his thighs and the V to his solid frame and big cock, as I walked backward until my legs hit the bed. “Don’t even think about it, pilot.”
He stopped from reaching for the condoms in the nearest nightstand drawer, and he lifted a brow at me.
“It’s your fault,” I accused. “You know that.”
Months and months ago, he’d put that fantasy in my head. The one about him…breeding me…and it took all my willpower not to succumb to it on a daily basis. So I compromised with my sanity instead. When I was two days away from my period, I said fuck it.
It worked most of the time.
“I’m not complaining.” He smirked as I sat down on the edge of the bed and pulled him closer. “And you can blame me all you want. But we both know the truth, don’t we?” He combed his fingers through my hair and gripped his cock, and I had to freaking clench at the mere sight. “Come get it, hellcat.”