Chapter 1
Nine years later...
“Just grow a pair and ask her, already.”
“Shh! Keep your voice down, dipshit,” Trevor warned his teammate and friend from across the table. “She’ll hear you.”
Derek gave him an unapologetic smile. “Good. At least then she’d know you’ve got a thing for her.”
Derek West was R.I.S.C.’s technical analyst and all-around smartass. R.I.S.C.— Rescue, Intel, Security, and Capture—was an elite, private black ops firm based out of Dallas.
R.I.S.C.’s Alpha Team—the team both he and Derek were on—was comprised of five men and one woman. All former military, they provided several different services, ranging anywhere from installing and testing out high-end security systems, to trudging through the swamp looking for Homeland Security’s latest target.
And pretty much everything in between.
Jake McQueen, Trevor’s best friend and former Delta Force teammate, owned the company and was the leader of Alpha Team’s team. Trevor was his SIC, or second in command, but for the past two weeks, he’d been the one in charge.
While Jake was away with his new wife, Trevor had been left to man the fort. He’d learned quickly how this side of the job could be a pain in the ass. But he’d gladly deal with the headaches that came with being boss if it meant Jake could finally take his long-awaited honeymoon with the love of his life.
The guy had wasted years pining away for his childhood friend’s little sister, but after Olivia was kidnapped and nearly killed by a sadistic drug lord, Jake had finally come to his senses and married the woman.
Seeing those two together and happy had gotten Trevor to start thinking about his life. His future.
But that didn’t mean he wanted to discuss it with Derek or any other member of Alpha Team.
“I don’t have athingfor her.” It was the first lie Trevor had ever told his friend.
“Right. That’s why we’ve been coming to this outta-the-fucking-way diner to eat instead of going somewhere in the same time zone as the office.”
Trevor rolled his eyes. Derek could be so damn dramatic. Joe’s was less than a twenty-minute drive from their downtown office.
“I like the food here.”
D laughed so loudly, several customers turned in their direction. “One, the food here is greasy as shit. And two, with the exception of your lady, the service has been mediocre, at best. Just admit it, Trev. You’ve had a hard-on for that tiny little thing ever since we first stumbled across this place.”
Trevor’s gaze slid over to the petite blonde Derek was referring to. Wearing a pair of perfectly fitted jeans and a black T-shirt, she began to take an elderly couple’s order.
Like every other time he’d come here, she had her long, blonde hair pulled up in a messy bun. A few wavy tendrils had escaped, framing her face and brushing the back of her neck.
She smiled at something the older man said, deepening the matching set of dimples on her cheeks.
Trevor suddenly found it hard to breathe.
