2
When Finn arrived at Cade “Hercules” Thornton’s office, he was greeted and waved through by Lexy, Herc’s personal assistant. He wasn’t sure what kind of temporary assignment Herc planned to put him on, but he was eager to find out. Joe had been gone a whole week already, and Finn was getting antsy.
Part of it was nerves. He didn’t remember the last time he and Joe had gone on a mission separate from each other. Unfortunately, Joe’s current mission called for a translator but not a medic, and Finn didn’t speak Urdu. Joe wasn’t going in alone and he was capable of holding his own, but Finn was still uneasy about Joe beingout therewithout him. They’d worked so many missions together that they were practically a single, well-oiled unit at this point, and Finn didn’t trust anyone else to look after Joe’s back as well as he would.
The other part was that he hadn’t gotten laid since Joe left. That wasn’t usually a problem because they weren’t in a committed relationship—more like very good friends with very good benefits—and Finn could find someone to hook up with if he wanted to. No, the problem was that he didn’t feel like going to the effort to find someone. He’d scrolled through the dating app on his phone and kept swiping left until he ran out of options because he hadn’t see anyone worth swiping right on.
Maybe, at the ripe old age of thirty-six, he was finally ready to stop indulging in random hookups. If he was honest, the thought of being with Joe long-term was appealing, but Joe was a white-picket-fence kind of guy. Joe even got wistful every time he saw someone with their dog, but he traveled too much, often leaving the country for weeks at a time, which he didn’t think would be fair to the dog. Instead, Joe had a somber-faced black and gray Maine Coon named Ezekiel, who was content to stay with the elderly couple next door while Joe was away.
As much as Finn loved Joe—and he did—he couldn’t take that last step toward commitment. He might be getting tired of hookups, but he wasn’t a one-man man. No, his version of an ideal relationship involved at least two men, and he didn’t think that would fit in with Joe’s picket fence scenario.
Pushing all thoughts of his personal life aside, Finn knocked on Herc’s door before opening it. “You wanted to see me, Herc?” he asked as he stepped inside.
“Finn! Good to see you!” Cade Thornton stood up, unfurling himself from behind his desk with surprising grace for such a large man. And Hercwasbig, taller than any of the men who worked for him except for Gabrielle “Mojo” Crowe. He was also broad in the shoulders, and, despite the leg injury that had ended his career as a mercenary, Herc could do anything his men could, and better than most of them. He stepped forward to shake Finn’s hand. “I hope you’ve enjoyed having a break because I definitely need your skills now.”
“You have perfect timing,” Finn said as they shook hands. “I was getting restless.”
“Figured you might be.” Herc gestured for Finn to take a seat, and then he leaned back against his desk. “I was tempted to send you along with Morrissey, but there is no way you could have passed for Pakistani, not with those green eyes. But it turns out to be a good thing I didn’t. Do you remember Joker, Blaze’s XO in Bravo Company?”
The handle sounded familiar, but Finn couldn’t call up a face to go with it.
“I remember hearing about him,” he said, wishing he hadn’t sat down so he wouldn’t have to tilt his head so far to look up at Herc. “Why?”
Herc seemed to notice Finn’s discomfort from the grimace he made, and he chuckled before moving back behind his desk, sinking down into his comfortable chair with a sigh. “Joker’s an old salt at L&G, but age and wear and tear finally caught up on him. He mustered out. He’s nursing a shoulder injury from his last deployment, and I guess it comes as no surprise that us guys well over forty don’t heal as fast as we used to. I’ve agreed to take him on to see how he likes the security business, so I’d like you to see to his training. And also make sure he gets physical therapy for his injury. He doesn’t always like to do what he’s told, if you know what I mean.”
“Not a problem,” Finn said, unable to hold back an eager grin. This mission might not land him in the middle of a war zone with lives on the line, but it would get him out of the house and using his skills. “I’ve had plenty of practice dealing with ornery mercs.”
Herc laughed outright at that. “I’ll say. I remember how you’ve handled D-Day’s bluster. Hopefully Joker won’t be that bad!”
“No one could possibly be as bad as D-Day,” Finn said, letting out a little snort.
“Yeah, but he’s worth it. Usually.” Herc shook his head, looking amused. “Shall we go meet your new partner? Or would you rather introduce yourself?”
A little flare of alarm shot through Finn, and he regarded Herc with growing concern. “Temporary partner, right?”
Herc raised a brow. “I was only thinking in the short term. What, are you worried I’m taking Morrissey away from you forever?”
Finn released a long, slow sigh of relief. “It’s just the way you worded it—‘new partner’—I wanted to make sure I understood what you meant.”
A teasing gleam appeared in Herc’s eyes. “Sorry, I wasn’t trying to give you a heart attack, Finn. Okay, your new, temporary partner. How’s that? Though I recall that Joker is quite the player, if you know what I mean. You two will make a very interesting pair, for however long it lasts.”
Finn’s face grew hot, and he knew his fair skin was betraying him with a blush. “We’ll see what happens,” he said. Given his attitude about men other than Joe lately, he wasn’t going to approach this new partnership with any assumptions about what may or may not happen.
“All right.” Herc stood up once more and then moved to the door of his office. “Let’s get started. I figure you can take a couple of days to introduce him around, assess his condition, get him familiar with the facilities here and in Richmond. When you think he’s ready, I can give you a cupcake assignment to break him in. Like most of the guys coming out of the field, he’s going to have an adjustment to the slower pace of the job.”
Finn rose to his feet and followed Herc to the door. “Sounds good,” he said. “If he gives me too much trouble, I’ll call for backup and let Pita work him over with those big baby blues.”
Herc chuckled. “Funny you should mention Pita,” he said cryptically. He led Finn past Lexy and then on toward the big gym that took up a significant amount of the Hercules Security facility. As they stepped into the spacious room, which was occupied by many of the off-duty bodyguards, Finn caught sight of Payne Gibson, AKA Pita, which was short forpain in the ass. Although Pita was much smaller than most of his coworkers—including his big husband, Hunter, who trailed along in his wake—Finn had heard Hunter comment that ‘kinetic energy increases mass’ as an explanation for why Pita was actually much bigger than he looked. At the moment, Pita was chattering away a mile a minute as he hauled a tall, rangy, older-looking man with sandy hair around, introducing him to the gym’s occupants.
“And this is Mojo. He’s from Oklahoma, and he’s even taller than Herc,” Pita said, delivering the introductions at lightning speed. “His spotter here is Dead-eye, our best sniper. You might have heard about how he saved Geo and his clients by taking out the guys chasing them from the top of a hotel in Kyrzbekistan. Over there is Tailor. He’s a medic, and we call him ‘Tailor’ because he threatened to sew D-Day’s mouth shut once.”
Finn’s mouth went dry as he took in the sight of the newcomer. Why did the guy have to have a beard? A neatly trimmed beard was one of Finn’s biggest weaknesses. Before he could speak or move, however, Pita spotted him and Herc and led Joker over to them.
“There you are! I was showing Joker around like you asked,” he said cheerfully.
“So I see,” Herc replied drily, but his lips twitched. “If I can get a word in edgewise, I’d like to introduce Joker to Finn. Joker, this is Brian Finnegan. He’s going to be overseeing your training and PT.”
Joker looked at Finn, and there was no missing the gleam of interest in his blue eyes. He held out a hand. “Finn, is it?” he said, his voice deep with a distinct Texas drawl. He smiled, showing even, white teeth. “Pleased to meet you. I appreciate you agreeing to take me on.”
