Lennon’s blonde brows rose with surprise. “Really? I mean, sure he’s pretty buttoned up, but he really doesn’t seem so bad…”
She trailed off, seeming to realize the way her words sounded and she reached up to give her ponytail a nervous tug.
“Let’s just say Maverick isverygood at his job, but his people skills leave a lot to be desired.”
“That’s where I come in.” Zeke’s voice came in from behind us, making me nearly jump out of my skin. I hadn’t realized just how closely they were following us.
Zeke’s pale skin was flushed from the summer heat and he reached up to tug his tie loose as the rest of our team filed into the lobby after us.
“Will you dears be needing fresh towels?” the old lady at the front desk asked as she pulled her crochet shawl more tightly around her shoulders as if it was the dead of winter outside and not the height of summer.
“No ma’am,” I told her, my usual soft spot for nice old ladies making me stand straighter and speak more formally.
One of the only good foster homes Dallas and I had ever lived in had been with a lady just like the one behind the desk.
Mrs. Forsyth had been kind to us—even when Dallas made her life hard by getting into fights at school.
Those two years had been some of the best and had probably saved our lives.
The old woman behind the counter reached up to give my face a nice little pat. “Such a polite young man.”
“I’m the one who comes in and smooths out all of the hurt feelings that Maverick causes by being his usual, sunshine-y self,” Zeke continued behind me as I only half-listened to him.
I could feel Maverick’s irritation with the direction that the conversation was going but our team leader remained quiet, probably just happy we were back in the bed and breakfast and out of the street.
“And what about you?” Lennon asked Dallas as we made our way to the little rec room that sat toward the back of the house overlooking the picturesque garden.
The sun was beginning to set now, finally ending a day that seemed to have gone on forever and I breathed a sigh of relief.
“Me?” Dallas asked as he flopped down onto the old, beaten couch and stared up at Lennon who stood in front of him waiting for his answers. “You mean you don’t know?”
Lennon rolled her eyes. “Unlike you guys I didn’t get a folder on each of you with everything about you in them.”
Dallas leaned forward and I watched a familiar, mischievous look fill his face. “Guess what my role is on the team. In fact, guess all of ours.”
“This game feels stupid,” Lennon replied, crossing her arms over her chest.
“If you guess right I’ll take you to get pancakes in the morning without a fuss,” Dallas offered, swinging the proverbial carrot in front of her face.
“Dallas…” Maverick cautioned with a growl, unhappy with the other alpha’s unsanctioned bet.
“Relax, Mav, she’ll never guess mine right,” Dallas said, clearly proud of himself.
That was enough to piss Lennon off because she let out a little growl of her own that sent a shiver down my spine.
“Fine,” she said, pointing at Zeke first. “Zeke is the people guy. If someone is going to talk to the media, it’s him.”
“That was a gimme because he already told you,” Dallas teased, clearly enjoying making the omega angry.
Lennon ignored him and turned to me. “Brooks is your body man. The brawn of the team. If there’s a potentially serious situation he’s who you put on your protectee.”
Dallas’s smile dropped at the official language she was using. “Wait—”
“And you, Dallas Wilson, who always seems to underestimate me for some reason, you’re the linguistics expert. You speak four languages not including English and you run logistics. Nothing gets past you when it comes to security. Or at least, that’s what I thought.”
“You said you didn’t have files,” Dallas grumbled, irritated at losing so soundly.
“I lied,” Lennon replied cheerfully. “In what world would Inotwant to be fully briefed on the men who were meant to be my protectors?”
