“No, sir,” Grant lied to the man.
“Well, just wait.” Cantrell chuckled. “You stick around this one long enough, it’s bound to happen again.”
“Hello...” a blushing Brynnon waved a hand back and forth in her dad’s peripheral. “This oneis standing right here.”
The senator simply laughed again, speaking a little lower when he added, “See? I swear, she’s the spitting image of her mother. Got both her beautiful looks and attitude.”
Looking appalled, Brynnon’s voice rose an octave. “Dad!”
Laughing, her father simply wrapped an arm around Brynnon and gave her a squeeze. “Oh, calm down, sweetheart. You know I’m only telling our new friend the truth.”
“He’s not ourfriend. He’s my bodyguard. One you insist I have, even though I don’t need him.”
Grant hid his reaction to the statement, her words stinging a hell of a lot more than they should.
Blatantly bypassing Brynnon’s continued objection to Grant’s presence, the senator smiled at them both. “The food is just about ready. Why don’t we all go have a seat in the dining room while we wait?”
Brynnon started in that direction but stopped when she realized Grant wasn’t following.
Her pretty brows turned inward. “You’re not coming?”
He was surprised that didn’t make her happy and wanted to tell her so. Instead, Grant did his best to control his irritation. “In a minute. I need to go over a couple of things with Coop first.”
Without another word, the confusing woman turned and followed her father across the large entry toward the hallway leading to the dining room.
Waiting until they were out of earshot, Coop grinned. “Brynnon seems great. I totally expected her to be all hoity-toity and stuck up, but she acted genuinely nice. I guess I shouldn’t be all that surprised. Her dad’s pretty cool. You two really getting along okay?”
Grant tore his eyes from the entryway where Brynnon had just disappeared to and looked back at his teammate. “Any new threats?”
Coop blinked at Grant’s obvious change of subject. “Not in the last two days.” The other man’s brows scrunched together. “You seem grumpy, even for you. What’s the matter...do you not like her, or something?”
I like hertoomuch.“She’s fine.”
“Fine?” The other man looked confused. “If you say so.”
Done with the topic, Grant let out a frustrated breath. “I say so. Now, can we please focus on the reason we’re here instead of how fucking sweet you think Cantrell’s daughter is? It’s bad enough I had to stand here and watch your mutual fucking flirting session.”
Coop put a hand up between them. “Whoa, take it easy, man. I was just asking if you two were getting along. Jesus.”
Shit.Coop was right. He needed to get his head in the fucking game. Otherwise, he’d risk letting his true feelings for the woman show. The slow upturn of Coop’s mouth told him he was already too late.
“Holy shit.”
“What?” Grant kept his expression flat.
Coop’s eyes grew as big as saucers. Blurting much too loudly, “Dude, you like her!”
“Shut the fuck up,” Grant growled, his eyes flying over to the direction where Brynnon and her father had vanished. Glaring back at Coop, he whispered angrily, “Are you seriously that stupid, or are you trying to get us both fired?”
The idea that Grant may have an actual romantic interest in someone apparently trumped any threat of reprimand from the senator because Coop began to chuckle. “Oh, my god.” He covered his mouth but then held his hands up as though he were praying or some shit. “This is the best news I’ve ever heard. Like, seriously epic.”
“There is no news,” Grant hissed. “You’re assuming shit you have no business assuming.”
“Oh, no,” Coop shook his head, amusement flickering in the young sniper’s hazel eyes. “You like her. It makes perfects sense now.”
“The fuck are you talking about?”
“You.” Coop pointed at him. “Ever since your last gig with the Senator, you’ve been walking around like you’re pissed off at the world.” He shrugged. “Well, more than usual anyway.”
