Chapter 1 #2
Finn mentally slapped his hands together in prayer pose and begged the powers that be to spin up Echo Team soon so someone else could watch over her.
Or, at the very least, he prayed for “Lois” to return.
Lois was kind. Sweet. Funny. Hell, even flirty.
Finn would also take the Julia he’d met at Roman and Harper’s engagement party in April. They’d barely spoken that night, but she’d been nice enough.
This Julia was a force to be reckoned with. That movie The Perfect Storm? Yeah, Julia Maddox was the storm. And she’d thrown a gale force of negativity his way from the moment she learned her brother hired a bodyguard after she’d specifically told him no.
Dalton, what are you doing here? Julia had asked when he walked into her office two weeks ago.
Sorry, I mean Finn. She’d smiled as if his presence was a welcome surprise and stood from behind her bright white modern-looking desk, then brushed her hands down the sides of her red pencil skirt paired with a black silk blouse.
Your brother didn’t tell you? I’m here about the threats. Someone, uh, wants you dead.
Her smile had quickly transformed to a frown.
Someone always wants me dead. Comes with the territory of being a successful woman.
She’d gracefully returned to her chair and focused on her laptop.
Michael is overprotective. Your services are not needed.
Julia had begun typing as if she fully expected Finn to walk away.
And not-so spoiler alert, he didn’t leave.
After a lot of heated back-and-forth once her brother arrived at the office, Julia had managed to renegotiate the terms of the deal. Finn sure as hell wouldn’t want to go up against her in a board meeting or whatever the hell rich businesspeople did for a living.
She’d settled for allowing Finn to keep an eye on her everywhere but at home, insisting she trusted her building security and the 9mm she kept by her bed.
Thankfully, this was Julia’s first date in the thirteen days and fourteen hours (yes, he was counting) since he’d begun guard duty, which meant they’d spent more time together than either liked.
The fact he screened every meeting beforehand, business and personal, including this wonder boy she’d met last month on Instagram, sent Julia over the edge.
Hell, if he had a sister who found her dates online, he’d be relieved to have someone ensure they not only looked like their profile photo but weren’t of the psychopath variety. Julia should be thanking him instead of sending him death stares every five minutes.
You sure these letters aren’t from someone you met online? he’d pressed earlier that day in her office.
I haven’t been on a date in over a year.
Finn had been standing close enough to breathe in her perfume.
She always wore the same fragrance. Subtle.
Sexy. A hint of something familiar he couldn’t quite put his finger on.
Her intoxicating scent combined with an almost imperceptible trace of sadness he detected in her words had him wanting to gather her in his arms, comfort her.
Until Julia had glared straight into his eyes and jabbed the white-painted nail of her forefinger to his chest. Not that it’s any of your business.
Damn. His friends back in Massachusetts always warned him to stay away from women who wore white nail polish. They said it was a sure sign of a heartbreaker.
“Julia’s clearly trying to scare you off,” Harper went on.
“Drive you nuts, so you’ll quit. It appears she’s working damn hard at it, too.
” Harper bit her lip which did nothing to hide her smile.
“She’s obviously independent and most likely stubborn.
But no, she doesn’t hate you. She’s just pissed that her brother arranged protection. ”
Finn stroked his jaw, forgetting he’d trimmed his beard last week and it was much shorter than it’d been for months. He regretted the decision. It was too short. Prickly and itchy. Sort of like Julia’s personality.
“You guys set me up for this gig, didn’t you?” Finn asked a heartbeat later. Harper and Roman had been exchanging odd looks ever since they’d arrived, and a little voice in the back of Finn’s mind told him something was up with those two. Maybe they could see their plan was failing.
When Harper lifted her eyes to the ceiling, Finn knew she was searching for a lie. Roman only grinned.
“You all made sure I’d draw the short straw when Michael asked one of us to keep her safe.
The whole thing was rigged. Damn you all.
” Finn shook his head and tsked, feigning disappointment.
But he wasn’t all that surprised. After all, he was the only single guy left on the teams. “Your game of matchmaking was an epic failure.”
“No, we weren’t trying to set you up.” Harper’s voice was pitched a touch higher than normal, and she fluttered her eyelashes one too many times.
The woman was totally bluffing. “But come on, would any attached guy on Echo want to tell their wife or fiancée they had to glue themselves to a hot millionaire businesswoman as her bodyguard?”
“Bullshit.” Finn looked over at Julia’s table to verify she hadn’t ghosted him and slipped out the back. That was more likely to happen than any real danger striking. “No. You’re definitely trying to set us up.”
Echo Team had been dubbed the FSGs. Forever Single Guys. And now, it was simply TSG. The Single Guy.
But he was okay with that.
Mostly.
Harper frowned. “Oh, come on, you don’t want to be single. I know you don’t.”
“I’m fine with being single. I only hate it on days that don’t end in Y.” Finn shot Harper a wink, and Roman laughed.
“Mm-hmm. Sure. It’s not easy being single. It kind of sucks, actually.” Harper was likely speaking from experience because of the difficult path she and Roman had taken to get to where they were now.
Finn stepped back and brought a hand over his heart as if her comment about him being single did indeed hurt.
“Single sucks, hm? Salt right in the wound. Just rub it in. Yeah, I’m feeling pretty shitty now that you keep reminding me.
” He couldn’t hide his smile, but then he remembered he was technically working, so he glanced at his “target” once again to ensure she was still alive and kicking and in no imminent danger.
When Finn returned his focus to his friends, Roman was ogling his fiancée as she feathered her fingers down the column of her throat to the low neck of her pink blouse.
She normally wore silly graphic shirts and jeans, but this place had a dress code, so she’d worn a dressy top with skinny black pants and heels.
Harper turned back to Finn. “I was hoping you’d dress up tonight to help with the whole winning-her-over thing. You know, wear something a little less Roman-like.”
“What’s wrong with my clothes?” Roman complained, looking down at his gray long-sleeve tee, the top few buttons undone, then on to his black jeans.
Harper laughed. “I love how you look, babe. But Julia is a stylish, high-powered businesswoman. Look at her, she’s like a goddess, so maybe—”
“I should change myself for her?” Finn shook his head. “Hell no. And wait, why are we discussing this? There is no ‘winning-her-over thing’ happening.” He pushed his sleeves to his elbows. “And also, I’m not dressed like Roman.”
With pursed lips, Harper skated her gaze over Finn.
His jeans were a little lighter than Roman’s, his shirt slightly darker, and they both wore boots.
Okay, so maybe they did dress alike, but they were guys.
Best friends. What’d she expect him to wear, a suit and tie?
If Julia didn’t like him for who he was, then . . .
Whoa, what am I thinking? I don’t want her. It doesn’t matter.
Harper carried her attention to Finn’s face, one dark brow lifted in challenge. “You’re practically twins tonight. Plus, you have the same hair, beard, bodies and . . .”
“Bodies, huh?” Roman asked with a cocky twitch of his lips. Harper let loose a laugh that quickly turned into a yelp when he playfully slapped her ass. “If Finn and I are so similar, why’d you end up with me?” Roman challenged, an easy smile parked on his face.
“Oh, simple.” Harper shrugged. “He doesn’t have any ink. I’m a sucker for a few tatts. Annnd, he didn’t ask.”
At that, Roman swatted her ass again, causing the full glass of water in her hand to bobble and nearly spill.
Finn chuckled. Oh, she was going to get it when they were home.
And damn, Finn envied their relationship.
More than that, his dick mourned the fact it’d been about five million years since he’d had sex.
It may have taken them forever to end up together, but Finn was happy that his buddy and Harper had finally achieved their happily-ever-after.
Roman really was a lucky man. Harper was smart as hell, gorgeous, and a total sweetheart.
Some people believed men and women couldn’t be platonic friends, but Finn disagreed.
He’d always thought of Harper like a sister, same as Jessica Scott.
Now Jessica Hayes since she’d married Asher, Bravo Three.
Even though it’d been years since Marcus, the first man to hold the title of Bravo Three, was killed and Asher replaced him, there were still times when the loss of Marcus reared up and hit Finn hard.
Marcus had been the only Teamguy married at the start of their new jobs in 2013, and Luke had initiated a no-marriage rule after his death.
He didn’t want any more widows. But then Luke went and fell in love, and like dominoes, the rest of the guys found their soulmates, too.
“Regarding your matchmaking plan, it’ll fail. I am who I am. She has no interest in me. Not even a quarter of a teaspoon worth of interest.”