Beau Sinclair
Shadow Force Tactical
Without hesitating, I pressed send and sat back in my chair, crossing my arms. “There, I sent the girl an email. I doubt I’ll hear anything else from her, but no one can say that I didn’t try.” I turned toward Zach, who was now sitting on my couch.
I had hunted for the best couch on the market when I started the office. If I were going to constantly have my men in here, the least I could do is give them a decent place to sit. I might have been a grouchy asshole most of the time, but I did have a heart.
“Good, hopefully she reaches out. If not, we can put an ad out in the paper or online for a personal assistant. I’m sure we will find someone who can help take some of the load off your shoulders.”
I picked up the file I was originally hunting for and read through it, making sure everything I needed was inside it.
“Game night is still on for tonight, right?” Zach asked, interrupting my train of thought once again. I grunted my response and waved him off. There was no way I would make it to game night if I didn’t finish up here first.
The doorbell rang justas I was pulling the marinating steaks from my fridge. After yelling out that it was open, I headed to theback to start the grill. It wouldn’t be long before the whole team showed up for poker night.
“Hey, man, where do you want us to put the beer?” Seth asked. Josh and he had arrived together. Those two were inseparable, almost as if they were brothers separated at birth.
Gesturing toward the fridge, I went back to prepping the food for tonight. “Zach told us that you reached out to Rebekah. Did you hear anything back yet?” Josh queried after a moment.
“Nah, I checked my email one last time before I left the office this afternoon. I don’t think it’s going to work out, but it’s fine. I’ll continue to handle it for now until we can find someone to fit the needs we have.”
Seth nodded as the doorbell rang again; more of the guys had shown up. Matt, Patrick, Zach, and Chase walked into my kitchen, and I greeted them before heading out back to drop the steaks on the grill.
“Eric said he would be here, but he had to drop Sarah off first,” Chase said after I walked back inside, filling us in on the missing team member.
Eric was the only member on the team who had any kids, but we all adored her. Being a single dad was hard on anyone, but Eric never planned on losing his wife and almost losing his daughter in a tragic accident. We all watched him battle a new kind of demon that day, but he’d come so far.
Sarah had all of her uncles wrapped around her finger, but not a single one would utter a complaint. She was the cutest three-year-old I’d ever seen. I’d never wanted kids, but having her around sometimes was nice. Especially since I could give her back at the end of the night. I wanted to be called Daddy, but only by a Little girl.
Over the next twenty minutes, the guys set up the poker table in my living room while I finished grilling the food. With the food done, we all settled down to eat.
“Beau, Josh said that you finally came to your senses and decided you were ready to hire some help,” Patrick commented.
I swear, this group of men was some of the biggest gossips I've ever encountered. There wasn’t a secret to be had with this team, and nothing ever managed to escape their watchful eyes. I guess that was what happened when you worked with highly trained soldiers, where the difference between life and death could be found in the smallest clues.
Grunting, I swallowed the bite of steak I had in my mouth before responding. “Since Gossip Queen over there likes to spill the beans about everything.” I threw a look at Josh's way. “Yes, I reached out to the girl who showed up at the office the other day. I didn’t have a number to call her, but I did send an email to the address that she left.”
“Do you think she will follow up with you?” Matt asked with an eyebrow raise. Out of all my guys, Matt was the most skeptical about new people, which, given his background, was understandable. He was also the person who would bend over backward to help those he called family.
“If she does, I’ll be surprised. It’s a little strange that she only had an email to provide to potential employers, but I’m not going to judge her on that. I’ve already decided that on Monday, I’ll work on putting out a help-wanted ad,” I say, clearing the table to get ready to play some poker.
After grabbing a beer from the fridge, I slid my phone out of my pocket, noticing that Eric was texting me.
Eric: Hey, boss. Just letting you know that I won’t be making it tonight.
Beau: All right, is everything okay, man?
Eric: Yeah, I showed up to drop Sarah off at her babysitter's apartment and found Charity sick as hell. No way I’m leaving my three-year-old with her just to come play poker.
Beau: I get it. You can always bring the nugget with you. You know all of us adore her.
Eric: I know. I don’t want to leave Charity in this state. I’ll check in with you later.
Beau: Let me know if you need anything.
Eric: Roger
“Will just be the seven of us tonight, Eric got held up at Charity’s house. She’s sick and he didn’t feel comfortable leaving her alone,” I announced, sitting behind my poker chips. It was no hidden secret that he had a soft spot for the babysitter, but he would never jeopardize his daughter’s care to act upon any feelings he claimed didn’t exist.
