Ethan’s voice came through the comm with a chuckle. “As soon as little bird is off the ground, brother.”
Which wouldn’t be for another four or five hours. They had the whole wedding ceremony and party afterwards to guard Senator Tom Cotter’s daughter – Caroline. Since Senator Cotter was head of JSCOC, which meant he was TF-S’s boss, Task Force Scorpion had been engaged to be the head security detail on the event.
Ethan’s comm crackled again. “Celine’s not out there, you know.”
Aaron grunted out a couple of choice words to his teammate, knowing exactly where Celine was. He always knew. Not that he hadn’t tried not to keep tabs on her, but damned if he could stop himself.
He needed to get some distance between them ASAP before he let her tempt him to break his rules and take her.When he’d asked her to help out on the mission, he’d been aware of the attraction between them, but until he’d been in forced proximity for so long, he’d had no idea just how hard it would be to keep his hands off her.
Aaron turned his attention from thoughts of Celine to the crowd of sequined dresses and Armani suits and crossed the grand foyer. Every political wanna be and who’s who of D.C. would be here for the event. “Once this mission is done, I’m headed to Big Whiskey’s, wanna join?”
Maybe he could drink her out of his mind. After two full weeks of having to touch and train her for her role in the wedding, his dick was hard enough to crack in half. He’d thought the hardest thing he’d ever had to do was training for the Special Forces – he’d been wrong. Having to keep his hands to himself and act like he wasn’t bursting with need every time she walked past put SF training to shame.
“Hell no. Kate’s meeting me at my place. Why don’t you ask Celine if she wants to check out your hotel room?”
Because if he got one taste of her, he’d never be able to let go.And that was breaking cardinal rule number one for him: no long-term relationships. He was a hit it and quit it kinda guy. “Not my type.”
Ethan snorted. “Sure.”
Aaron chose to ignore that comment. There really wasn’t any arguing when he’d been basically walking around with a hard on for her for two weeks. His teammate wasn’t blind. “I’ll meet up with you in twenty to take the last shift on Little Bird.”
He and Ethan had been assigned to walk Caroline and her entourage from her room to the actual ceremony.
“Roger.”
Aaron finished edging the foyer with its vaulted ceilings and pristine white walls. The swelling crowd edged closer to the grand double staircase and spilled through open doors on the right to a large ballroom where the wedding would take place.Aaron kept moving, easing toward the front doors where Jared, his teammate, was checking each guest.
“Jared,” Aaron stopped close to him. “Any sign of J?”
“Nope, all clear,” Jared answered and took the next invite.
“K. Going to make one more round. See you inside." Aaron strode out into the cool night air. A long line of stretch limos filled the circular driveway, another A-lister sitting inside waiting for their turn.
They had been worried about Mr. J making an appearance, Task Force Scorpion and Tom Cotter’s sworn enemy, but coming into the heart of the country and attacking when he was so exposed would be risky. As the ceremony time grew closer, the likelihood that Mr. J would make an appearance faded.
Aaron hooked a right away from the vehicles and across the huge expanse of lush lawn, eager to put some distance between himself and the noise. The crowds didn't bother him really, as a special forces operative he was used to moving in and out of all kinds of situations. He was a trained chameleon, ready and able to handle any problem.
Aaron slowed his pace and scanned the perimeter. An empty yard and hundred-year-old oak trees stretched out all the way to the twelve-foot brick wall surrounding the property. If Mr. J did try to breach the property, scaling the huge, monitored wall would more than likely be his last choice. Aaron checked his watch. Time for his shift.
He quickly finished up his perimeter check and circled around the back. He could head straight to Caroline's room to take over guard detail as planned, and if he was lucky, by the time he got there, Celine would be completely immersed in wedding preparation and unable to leave Caroline’s side.
Some of the tension he'd been carrying in his shoulders eased as he ducked inside a regular looking white door, made sure to lock it behind him and navigated his way through the maze of hallways. They had about an hour before go time.
He should be able to get another glimpse of her from a distance, safely surrounded by the wedding entourage. He could say a quick goodbye, and book it the hell out of there before he did something stupid like kiss her.
Aaron blew out a breath and turned the corner down the last hallway before reaching Caroline's bedroom, happy with this plan.
"Aaron?"
Celine softly spoken voice froze him in his tracks. Shit. Adrenaline raced through his system. Just the sound of her voice undid him. Aaron closed his eyes and forced his mind to go blank. No matter how much he wanted her, he had a station to get to. Carefully he turned to face her and the second he locked eyes on her in that aqua blue strappy dress, his heart kicked over in his chest.
This whole past week of training together, Celine had taunted him with skintight shorts and cute little tank tops that teased and tortured. He had managed to get to a point where he could control his reaction to her knowing exactly how she would look and act every day.
And for some dumb reason, he hadn't thought about her wearing anything but that.
He could have never envisioned the sexy dress hugging her every curve, neckline dipping down low enough to reveal the swell of her breasts. Aaron stared, fascinated, as her nipples hardened right before his eyes. He tried to swallow, but his mouth had gone bone dry. "What are you doing out here?"
A teasing smile spread across her pink lips and she gestured to the door on her left. "Freshening up a bit and giving Caroline a little bit of space."
