Was her father right? They’d fought and fucked and they had talked.
Shit. He’d talked. She’d asked him questions and he’d soaked up the attention. She knew what his favorite movie was. She knew he missed his mom’s meatloaf and wished he’d had siblings because he felt alone sometimes.
She seemed so perfect, so well put together.
He’d had to talk her down this morning. She’d been damn near feral.
There was a lot of rage under her happy, shiny exterior. But there was a problem.
“We’re on an op. An op that doesn’t exactly have an end date. We’re going to be stuck in some tiny safe house living on top of one another. How am I supposed to date her like that?” He wasn’t sure there would be time after this op. They would likely have to go their separate ways. This was their best chance to see if it could work.
Taggart snorted. “Uh, you have your apartment.”
“Dude, The Garden is massive.” TJ looked enthusiastic again. “It’s like fifteen stories in the middle of London.”
“It’s six, and it’s not that amazing,” Taggart countered. “It’s barely even a club.”
That got his attention. “It’s a club?”
He didn’t have to ask what kind of club. He knew. When they’d told him they were going to London since their portion of the mission would be based in Europe, he’d envisioned a cramped brownstone or acluster of tiny flats they would all have to share. He should have known.
Taggart nodded. “Yes, it’s a lifestyle club run by one of my business partners, a man named Damon Knight. Former MI6. And yes, I’ve already arranged for your Master rights. I might have already known where you trained and what your trainer thinks of you.”
Of course he did. He had no secrets from these people, but they kept everything from him. “And what is that?”
“He told me you were a responsible top, if a bit cold,” Taggart explained as though he hadn’t blown right past all boundaries. “I have my theories as to why you didn’t warm up to the subs.”
“Because they weren’t her,” Ben admitted. He needed to be honest with the man. He would apparently find everything out anyway. “I don’t know that I would have trained if I hadn’t met her. It’s not that it doesn’t speak to me. It does. I was surprised how much it did. But I trained so I could give her what she needs. I won’t take another sub. If this doesn’t work out, I’ll be vanilla the rest of my life.”
“So do you want to game plan?” Cooper asked. “Use this chance to run a real scene with her whether it’s private or public.”
“Private at first, but I’m open to moving into the public sphere of the club if she likes it.” He knew she did. She’d walked him through her club, The Hideout, one night. She’d worn a blue corset, and she’d looked so fucking delicious he couldn’t stand it. Was she sad he hadn’t slapped her ass silly? Had she been expecting it and he’d been remote because he couldn’t stop thinking about the fact that she could have died? “I have my own room?”
“Yeah.” Cooper ran logistics. He would know the layout and what they would need, and he would likely be the one to assign spaces. “All the couples are together. Kenzie offered to bunk down with… I’m not allowed to say her name out loud or Kala will appear, and it’s a whole ritual. I’ve been told it’s how Appalachian witches toss out demons. I’m worried that she knows that.”
Ah, so they were going to be working with Lucy Brooke Flanders. He’d witnessed some of the way Kala interacted with the young woman she called her nemesis.
Taggart stood up. “You and me both, buddy. If you are going to discuss scenes, then it is my time to join my wife.”
Taggart walked off and he was left with Cooper and TJ.
It was kind of nice to be one of the guys when the “guys” weren’t psychopathic narcissists. He’d held back, but it might be better to play this straight. To be honest with them. Let them help him. It could make them trust him more.
Yeah, it didn’t have anything to do with the fact that he liked these guys. Or he would if he let himself.
The same with really getting to know Kenzie Taggart. He should know the target.
“So how would you play it?” Ben asked.
“Well, I think she might appreciate the element of surprise,” Cooper began.
Cooper leaned in and Ben listened.
* * * *
Damon Knight was an attractive man around her dad’s age, and like her father, he could truly express his disappointment. Sometimes Kenzie wondered if they taught that particular look in the military. Or in Dad School. “Tag? Are you serious? Did you bring two wanted criminals into my club?”
Thank the universe. A shudder of relief went through Kenzie. She was worried she would spend the entire rest of the day focused on how Ben wasn’t interested in her anymore. Now she could watch her dad and Damon go at it. They could be amusing. Of course, anything was more amusing than sitting in her own head right now.
