“I still think it’s sweet,” Lou said before diving back into whatever she was working on.
Ben sat back, staring at the board they’d made weeks ago. Tracking Manny’s movements around the globe. Trying to pinpoint where he would strike next.
Or he could think about the scene he was going to perform with the most gorgeous girl in the world. That seemed like a much nicer way to spend the afternoon.
When had he become this guy? He was a workaholic. It wasn’t like he hadn’t dated while he worked, but he never let a woman take up space in his head when he wasn’t with her.
Kenzie had built a mansion there, and his brain was twenty-four seven Kenzie Taggart.
“Hey, babe. You want to ditch work and go see a movie?” Kala walked in and planted herself right on her husband’s lap. She glanced over Ben’s way. “Hello, Benjamin. I hope you are having a good day.”
Ah, the Peace Accords were still in place. Although Kala’s politeness often scared him. “I hope you are having a good day as well.”
Lou snorted and shut her laptop. “All this love is making me hungry.”
Cooper had an arm around his wife’s waist. “Well, that’s going to make TJ happy. What do you say we hit up that fish and chips place you love and take the crew out for the evening while the olds play. If we drink enough, we might not notice your dad railing your mom in public when we get back.”
Such a weird world he found himself in. But he wouldn’t go back. Not for anything.
“You know I’m thrilled my parents play at Sanctum and I never, ever enter that club,” Lou announced. “Is there a reason we haven’t gone to Ollie’s club? I think we made an excellent decision when we opened The Hideout.”
Kala’s lips curled up. “I’ve heard Damon wouldn’t front Ollie the money for his club and they don’t have a couple of handy billionaires around to cover the costs. So Ollie’s club is a pit of despair. Vivi’s words, not mine.”
A sharp huff came from the doorway. “I will be having a talk withVivian. How dare she impugn my beautiful club?”
“It’s a dump,” Sami said, walking behind him. It looked like the whole gang was here. They’d been spread out, investigating the properties they’d found during the Nepal mission, but it looked like they were all at base for the next couple of nights. “But it’s our dump.”
Ollie wore a suit even though he’d been around the office all day. He frowned in that rich-boy male-model way of his. “Well, I didn’t have an inheritance to buy a whole building in Chelsea with. My parents decided to stay alive, and that apparently means I’m on my own.”
Sami snorted. “I’m telling them you said that.”
Ollie’s eyes went wide. “Don’t you dare. I was only joking, and Dad’s loaning me money for reconstruction of the second floor. How was I to know that tiny hole in the roof would lead to a deluge?”
“For fuck’s sake,” Lucy said as she strode in. Though she didn’t look Kala’s way, she seemed to know instinctively where she was and held up her middle finger. “You should know because I told you, and I also told you I could fix it. My father is big on fixing things himself. I started learning home improvement at a young age. I can also build furniture.”
“Yes, evil furniture,” Kala said.
“It’s not evil.” His whole fucking world walked in. Kenzie was in jeans and a sweater that contrasted with that gorgeous hair. She looked soft and sweet and so fuckable it made his cock ache. He’d had her twice a day for almost three weeks, and he was fairly certain no amount of time or familiarity would make him want her less. “You know the dining room table you’ve sat at for years that I told you I found at a garage sale?”
Oh, he loved it when she got that evil glint in her eyes.
Kala sat up. “She did not build it.”
Lucy flashed her a grin that held all the arrogance in the world. “Shipped it to her for her birthday. Which is also yours and proof that the universe does indeed make mistakes.”
Kala sighed. “Damn it. That’s the solidest table. You can’t get that shit at a furniture store. It’s because of her deal with the devil. The table at our place sucks. It can’t even handle the weight of two people.”
Kenzie dropped herself right on his lap. Like she belonged there. Which she did. She looked at him seriously. “Is she being nice to you?”
“She wished me a good day like we’re back in the Gilded Age and met up in the park before going about our days amongst the common people,” he admitted.
“You’re welcome, Mr. Parker,” Kala said and wrinkled her nose. “I almost called him sir. But like little s Sir. Not big s. I caught myself. That would have been gross. Also, just because Ollie’s club is a dump is no reason to stay away when we have to share. The price of admission is catching sight of my dad’s ass. Now I’m thinking about that table. I almost declared fight club over it.”
Oh, they were not doing fight club. He started to say something but Kenzie stopped him, looking to Lucy.
Lucy sighed. “I had my dad do it. I thought about putting a curse on it that would make her lady bits itch for years, but my sister wouldn’t let me. She said curses should be saved for the truly evil people of the world and then they put it to a vote on whether Kala was evil. I lost. Stupid democracy.”
“I commissioned a table from Lucy a couple of weeks ago since I saw what Cooper was planning to buy. Let me say it was not built for two tops to go at it on,” Kenzie offered.
