Chapter 2
The following evening, Lefty was feeling anxious because he still hadn’t been able to get a moment alone with Kinley to talk to her.
Time was running out—the conference was only scheduled to run for another day and a half, and if he didn’t get a chance to clear the air between them, he had a feeling whatever tenuous friendship he might’ve sparked with Kinley would truly be lost forever.
And something within him knew that if he lost her, he’d regret it for the rest of his life.
So Lefty was bringing in reinforcements…
the Delta team who was assigned to Kinley’s boss.
It was late at night, and Walter Brown had retired to his hotel room hours ago.
Doc had volunteered to watch his room to make sure he didn’t decide to go on a late-night stroll while Lefty spoke with the other team.
They were all sitting in the hotel room Lefty was sharing with Grover and Oz, who were currently watching over Winkler while he met up with other representatives for drinks. The rest of his team were either exploring Paris on their down time or sleeping.
“Okay, we’re here,” Merlin said. “What’s up?”
Looking around at the five men, Lefty wasn’t sure where to start. He felt kinda silly telling them he wanted to spend some time with a girl and needed their help, but that’s essentially what was going on.
Trying to figure out what he wanted to say, Lefty studied the other men.
Jangles, the only blond in the group, with his blue eyes and boy-next-door looks, had no problem with the opposite sex—he was constantly being hit on by women all over the globe.
Lefty had heard him bitch about living in DC…
and being “pestered” by politicians’ wives.
He also knew the man disliked when women made the first move.
He much preferred pursuing, rather than being pursued.
Woof had brown hair and an uncanny way with dogs, which was how he got his nickname. It didn’t matter if the team was on a dangerous mission or on guard duty, like they were now, dogs always seemed drawn to him. He never went anywhere without a few dog bones in his pocket.
Zip was the youngest of the other team, at thirty. He had a gnarly scar on his thigh from a childhood accident that literally looked like a zipper. The man was constantly smiling, and was by far the most positive person Lefty had ever met. And that should’ve been annoying, but somehow wasn’t.
Merlin was the old man in the group, and the unofficial team leader, even though at thirty-five, he was hardly old. But everyone gave him shit because his hair was already graying around the edges. He didn’t talk a lot, but when he did, people listened.
Rounding out the team was Duff. He was a big son of a bitch, and surly to boot. Most people gave him a wide berth and did their best not to get on his bad side.
Merlin and his men might spend a lot of their time on protection duty, but that didn’t mean they were any less lethal when hunting down terrorists.
Lefty had seen the five men in action and couldn’t deny they were good.
Damn good. There weren’t a lot of teams he’d want at his back if the shit hit the fan, but these men were definitely counted in that number.
“I need your help,” Lefty said into the prolonged silence after Jangles had asked his question. “It’s nothing life-or-death, but since you’re guarding Walter Brown, I figured you’d be the best people to ask.”
Lefty could tell that piqued their interest.
“Is Brown in danger?” Woof asked.
“Not that I know of,” Lefty said honestly.
“He’s an ass,” Duff said with a scowl. “I wouldn’t be surprised in the least if he’s pissed someone off who wants to see him dead.”
Lefty didn’t bother to hide his opinion.
“I happen to agree with you,” he told the other man.
“He’s got a lot of people snowed, they think he’s a good guy, but we’ve watched him long enough to know that while he might have his moments, generally, he treats anyone he thinks is beneath him like shit, and it’s gonna come back to bite him in the ass sooner or later. ”
“Can’t come soon enough for us,” Merlin muttered.
“Asshole made Kinley cry yesterday,” Jangles said with a shake of his head. “For no reason other than he could.”
Lefty tensed at hearing that. “What’d he do?” he bit out.
Jangles either didn’t notice Lefty’s pissed-off tone, or he simply ignored it.
“She’d spent most of the night typing up the notes from the meetings the day before and the printer in the business center at the hotel wasn’t working.
She gave him a jump drive with the notes and apologized for not being able to print them for him, and he went off.
Yelling at her, telling her there were dozens of people lined up wanting to work for him. ”
Lefty took a deep breath to try to control his anger, but it didn’t do much good. “I need to talk to her,” he blurted. “Without her looking over her shoulder to see where Brown is and wondering if he’s gonna ask her to do something stupid, like get him another fucking pastry from down the street.”
Five men pinned Lefty with their intense gazes.
“You looking for a piece of ass on the job?” Duff asked.
“No…and fuck you for thinking Kinley’s that kind of woman.”
“Interesting that he defended Kinley’s honor but not his own,” Zip said with a smirk.
“Look, I met Kinley in Africa. Brown wasn’t very nice even back then, and she ended up in the middle of a fucking protest because he’d sent her out to get him a cup of coffee.
We talked a bit and everything seemed good.
I liked her, wanted to get to know her more.
We exchanged numbers and emails, and I thought she was as interested as I was to keep in touch.
But she didn’t return even one of my messages.
And now, she won’t even look at me. I must’ve fucked up somehow, and I just want to make things right.
Besides…the woman needs a break. She’s been working nonstop since she got here. ”
“So what do you want from us?” Jangles asked.
“I want to steal Kinley away for a few hours in the morning. The representatives have some sort of brunch thing tomorrow morning, it’s nothing important, just a lot of hobnobbing.
But Brown will probably insist Kinley stand against the wall throughout the whole thing, just because he likes having her at his beck and call.
I want to take her for a walk. Get some fresh air, see the sights of Paris for a few hours.
But I’m not sure how to do that without him being even more of an ass or threatening her job. ”
“Could she tell him she’s sick?” Zip asked.
“Possibly,” Lefty mused. “But I’m not sure Brown is the kind of man to let Kinley take the morning off even if she’s feeling under the weather.”
“She could claim to have a slight fever and a cough,” Duff said without cracking a smile. “If he thinks she’s got that Coronavirus, and she could give it to him, he might be willing to leave her alone.”
“Ouch, man. Harsh,” Zip said, but he was nodding as he said it.
“But it wouldn’t keep him from calling her,” Lefty said.
“I could slip him a laxative,” Jangles said with an evil grin. “He wouldn’t even want to leave his room, and it’s likely he wouldn’t advertise to anyone, even his assistant, that he’s having…digestive issues.”
“I’m not sure drugging our charge is the best idea,” Merlin said dryly.
“If you go with the sick excuse, maybe don’t say she has a fever.
That could get her quarantined,” Woof said.
“Maybe just say she has a migraine and is throwing up. Or… Oh! I know. Say she’s got really bad cramps.
Most men don’t like discussing anything that has to do with a woman’s period.
That way she’s not contagious and won’t have to worry about being quarantined or anything, and she can ‘recover’ in time for the afternoon meetings.
I can even volunteer to be his assistant for the morning.
He might not go for it, but from what I’ve seen on this trip, he’s mostly making Kinley fetch and carry shit for him.
I can take notes if he needs me too, as well. ”
Lefty thought about the plan for a moment.
It wasn’t ideal. Brown could still decide to fire Kinley for being sick at an inopportune time.
Or he could refuse to allow Woof to be his assistant.
But he couldn’t think of anything else that would work.
He wanted Kinley to have a stress-free few hours with him, but he didn’t want to jeopardize her job in the process.
Then he remembered the story she’d told him about her boss insisting she take an entire week off when she caught the flu a year or so back.
She’d mentioned it in Africa. In a rare display of kindness, Brown had even ordered chicken soup to be delivered to her apartment.
It had surprised Lefty that her boss had been so compassionate.
Kinley had simply shrugged and said he had his moments.
“Okay, menstrual cramps it is,” he told the other guys. “Thanks, Woof, for volunteering to be Brown’s bitch boy for the morning. I’ll owe you.”
“Yeah, you will,” Woof said with a chuckle.
“I’ll put Jangles on duty at her door to make sure no one tries to bother her,” Merlin said.
“Just in case Brown decides to visit or something. I doubt he will. Woof’s right; he’s not going to want to discuss her womanly issues.
It won’t keep him from calling her, but we can at least run interference if he does show up. ”
“Thank you,” Lefty said with a relieved sigh.
“Don’t fuck with her,” Zip said in an uncharacteristically serious tone. “She’s one of the most genuine people I’ve met in DC. She always has a smile for us and is constantly asking if there’s anything we need.”
“Yeah. And as you know, a lot of the people we’re assigned to protect act like we aren’t even here,” Woof added.