Who was she kidding? Normal wasn’t in her wheelhouse—not anymore. “We met at Aces Bar and Grill a few months ago. I work with Jessyka.” She still didn’t know why on earth she’d opened her mouth and offered to be Indy and Draven’s wedding photographer when she knew it was against the rules. Desperation, maybe. The need to feel normal for once. The need to lift some stress from Indy’s shoulder was definitely a factor. Once she’d seen evidence of her skills, Indy had insisted she wanted nobody else to take the images, which would remind her of the biggest day of her life when she married Draven, and the original photographer canceling must have been fate. “I guess we hit it off and became friends. When the photographer let her down, I offered to do it.”
Rose would never admit she was also relieved, as she wouldn’t have been able to attend the wedding if she wasn’t here for work. Being part of the wedding in this capacity meant she didn’t need to fork out a load of money she didn’t have for a new dress. She had been about to send her RSVP saying she couldn’t attend when the photographer called Indy and canceled.
“Mysterious, I like that.”
No, no, he wasn’t supposed to like it or supposed to have that intrigued look on his face. She wasn’t a puzzle Caleb Hunt should get tangled up in, and she definitely wasn’t a puzzle he should want to solve. She put the top on her bottle of water and curved her lips up into a smile that didn’t quite reach her eyes, but hopefully, he wouldn’t notice that either. “Will you excuse me for a moment?”
She didn’t wait for his reply. She turned away and made a beeline for the restroom. She needed a minute to regroup. Being in a crowd was getting overwhelming. Most women might think she was nuts from walking away from Caleb’s flirting, but she wasn’t here to hook up, and one-night stands weren’t her jam. Nope, if he was looking for a notch on his bedpost, then there were plenty of people at this wedding who could fill that space for him. She was supposed to stay under the radar. That was another one of the rules she lived by. Getting involved with someone so well-known in the community was not something she could or should do. Period.
3
Iwonder what her story really is.
Former Navy SEAL and black ops operator for Nemesis Inc., Caleb Hunt, watched Rose as she walked away from him. Disappointment he hadn’t been able to engage her in conversation warred with the desire to follow her. But he could tell she was uncomfortable around him, and he refused to be a dick.
From the second she’d shown up at Draven’s mom’s place this morning to take photographs of Draven, his groomsmen, and his family as they got ready for the wedding, Caleb had been fighting himself and the semi-hard-on he had going on in his pants.
This is ridiculous; she’s clearly not interested. Go ask someone else to dance.
But he didn’t want to ask anyone else to dance. The bridesmaids, while lovely, didn’t make his chest do that weird flip-flop thing inside it. Besides, most of them were either related to the happy couple or attached to his teammates. While his brothers-in-arms wouldn’t mind him dancing with their wives and partners, they would definitely not be happy if he danced with them the way he wanted to dance with the pretty photographer named Rose.
“You strike out?”
He dragged his eyes away from the door Rose had disappeared through and glared at his brother, Kacey. “Fuck you.”
“Hah, I knew it.”
Who knew Delta Force would produce a Michelin-grade chef, and wasn’t it a hoot that it was his brother? Who also knew that all the time Kacey spent making sure they all ate when they were kids while their parents worked five jobs between them to keep them afloat would turn into him being Nemesis Inc.’s resident chef? “Shut it, Kacey, before I put your face through that damn cake you spent all week baking.”
“If you do, I swear to fuck I’ll plant you somewhere even Google can’t find you,” Kacey warned. “I think it’s my best one yet.”
“Of what? Three? Four?”
“A blast charge is less fiddly than piping frosting designs.” Kacey grabbed himself a beer and twisted off the top. “If Willow hadn’t helped me there at the end, we’d have no cake at all.”
“Aww—” Caleb cut himself off and turned back to the door, some kind of second sense alerting him, and he watched as Rose came back into the ballroom.
“You have it bad, bro,” Kacey said. “Don’t tell me the great Casanova Caleb Hunt has finally found a shy bone in his body. Go ask her to dance or something; maybe get her number.”
“She’s working.”
“That’s never stopped you before,” Kacey reminded him. He drained his beer and placed the bottle back on the bar. “Know what? I’ll go ask her for you.”
Caleb grabbed the back of his brother’s shirt and hauled him back. “No, no, you won’t.” He somehow knew Rose would hate it if Kacey was a jerk. His brother wasn’t exactly known for his tact at the best of times. “Leave her alone.” He’d figure out another way to get to know her. Hell, he’d ask Indy or Draven’s sister Lizz for her number if he had to or start dropping into Aces every time he was in town. But for now, she was working. He wouldn’t hit on her until she was off the clock. What he was watching finally made sense, and he nodded toward where she followed Draven and Indy toward the stage where the cake was still waiting to be cut. “I think they are gonna cut the cake.”
“I should get over there.” Kacey pulled free of his grasp and took off in their direction.
Shit, I didn’t think that one through.
If his brother said anything to Rose, he would kick his ass, he decided. He could drag him outside the hotel and do it with Draven and Indy, none the wiser, just like when they were kids and trying to keep their squabbles from their folks.
He stayed at the bar and watched as Rose directed Indy and Draven in cutting the cake, taking pictures of every single second.
He replaced the champagne with a bottle of beer and took a swig as he watched Draven make a move as if he were going to rub the cake all over Indy’s face.
“If you do that, Draven, I swear I’ll Photoshop every single photo of today to show you with a tiny dick.”
Caleb choked on the drink he’d just taken from the bottle and spewed it onto the floor. He hadn’t expectedthatto come out of Rose’s mouth.
