“Got it.” I checked my weapon and made sure it didn’t have a safety.
Sergeant Hernandez smiled. “I see you’ve done this before?”
Played laser tag? A million times, but it had been a few years, and I was really looking forward to it. I nodded.
He took me to the entrance and patted me on the back. “Your future’s at stake here, Ms. James. Shoot the hostiles and rescue the hostage.”
SergeantHernandez was a bit intense, but it only added to the experience. Nodding, I promised to do my best and started slinking forward.
The first hostile was only a few feet from the entrance and standing in plain view. I shot him and jumped behind a divider. I took out two more on my way to the next divider. Three more went down over the next three minutes. I was feeling pretty cocky by the timeI rounded the fifth divider and almost ran smack into another hostile. I startled him, and before he could get his gun aimed, I shot. His vest pinged and went dark.
The obstacle course was longer than any I’d ever seen, and it took me almost fifteen minutes before I reached the first door. As soon as I sneaked past it, it opened, and I shot the hostile coming out. A cardboard cutout flew downat me from the ceiling between the second and third doors, but I got a headshot off on it. I was having the time of my life—and getting in a decent workout—by the time I reached the fourth door on the left.
Holding the handle, I put my back against the door and slowly turned the knob. The door creaked open. It reached the halfway point before a body came flying at me. I fired two shots and pushedthe dummy aside.
Asher was sitting in a chair in the middle of the room, holding a giant bouquet of tiger lilies, Gerber daisies, and others I didn’t know the names of but loved.
“Are you my prize?” I asked. “Or the hostage? Or another hostile?” I didn’t know what was up, so I didn’t lower my gun.
He set the flowers down on the chair and dropped to one knee. “Actually, I was hoping to bemore a fourth option. Like your husband. Marry me, love.” His hand trembled slightly as he pulled a small box out of his pocket and held it out to me.
My heart leapt into my throat. “For real??”
He laughed. “Yes. For real.”
Tears formed in my eyes. I blinked them away and dropped my gun, nodding as I gestured for him to get up.
“This is the part where you say yes,” he said, rising.
“Yes!”It was all I could manage before his lips were on mine and familiar voices cheered in the background. I laughed, and tears ran down my cheeks, as Asher kissed me silly. By the time he finally put me down, Addison and Jake had emerged from their hiding spot behind a corner divider.
Asher slid the most gorgeous old-fashioned engagement ring that I’d ever seen onto my finger and took us all outto celebrate. I’d never been happier in my life.
“I missed you last night,” I said while we waited for our food.
“I wanted to come over, but that first night...you dropped to your knees and I swear I almost asked you to marry me right there and then. I would have been so pissed at myself for ruining the surprise.”
I laughed, my cheeks burning at the memory of that night.
“Wait, what?” Addisonasked, butting in. “Dropped to her knees?”
She’d been deep in a conversation with Jake and I didn’t think she’d heard me. “Uh...” Shit! I couldn’t think of a single thing to say.
“Dylan Linn James, you had sex and you didn’t tell me?”
I didn’t answer. Keeping my gaze locked on Asher, as I silently prayed we’d poof to Asher’s house now, so I could avoid this whole conversation. Nothing happened,and the air around us was charged with tension.
“She’s staring at me, isn’t she?” I asked Asher.
Laughing, he nodded.
“Dammit.” Turning, I smiled at my bestie, hoping to derail whatever train of embarrassment was about to come roaring from her mouth.
“You know what, forget it,” Addison said. “You two can get freaky tonight, but tomorrow you have some serious explaining to do, missy. You cantell me all about this on the way to our new job.”
“New job?” Asher and Jake both asked, sounding horrified.
“Yes. One of my cousins is in need of our amazing detective services. We start tomorrow!”
Asher and Jake both groaned.
“What? It’ll be fine,” Addison assured them. “We’ve handled a bucking horse, taken down a corrupt DA, and un-framed Dylan. What could possibly happen that we can’thandle?”
“One ofourcousins?” Asher asked.
Addison’s smile faltered. “Point taken. Still, relax, Ashey. We’ve totally got this.”
I smiled up at my crazy bestie, hoping she knew what she was talking about. It could happen, right?
