“Anyone else?” Brantley asked.
No one spoke up this time.
“Good. I’ll let RT know I’m signin’ off on the four new investigators, including Deck.”
Brantley noticed JJ peering behind him, her expression going from pleasant to neutral in less than a second, and then she was making a beeline for the kitchen. Before he could glance at the monitor to see what had caught her attention, he heard the beep of the electronic keypad outside the door. A second later, Baz was walking in.
His expression was priceless when he glanced at all the faces staring at him, then down to his watch with a frown.
“I know I’m late,” Baz muttered.
“That you are.” Brantley gave a chin nod in greeting. “If you’re not early, you’re late.”
Reese snorted. “That’s not a rule.”
“In the Teams it is,” Brantley countered.
Baz strolled over to his desk. “What did I miss?”
“We were just finalizin’ the new hires.” Brantley took a sip of his coffee. “Any concerns?”
Baz looked around again, then his gaze settled on Brantley. “Depends. Anything different from what we discussed last night?”
“Nope.”
“Then I’m good. We puttin’ them to work today?” Baz asked.
“Depends,” Reese remarked, echoing Baz as he turned to Luca. “Do we have cases lined up?”
“I’ve got several, yes,” Luca confirmed. “I figured Baz can finalize them this mornin’ so you can give ’em your approval.”
Brantley shook his head. “Don’t need my approval. I trust y’all to handle it.” He pushed to his feet. “With that said, Reese and I have a conference call with the Sniper 1 team. Holler if you need anything.”
He didn’t wait for anyone to call him back, eager to get out of the building for a little while. They’d spent the majority of the week inside, discussing their potential candidates, doing interviews. Give him a mission of any kind and Brantley was all over it. Force him to do interviews and … well, he’d rather shoot his own foot with his .45.
But he was fairly certain there was one thing worse than interviewing potential employees and that was conference calls.
*
Reese was thankful the conference call scheduledfor this morning had only lasted half an hour. It had been slated for a full hour, but they’d been able to tie everything up quickly, ending the call with time to spare. Always a good thing considering Brantley’s overall view of conference calls in general. Reese had tried to assure him they would lessen in frequency over time—at least he hoped—so they just had to endure until RT was comfortable they had everything they needed.
Reese knew the quick call contributed to Brantley’s good mood. So far, their morning had gone better than expected, and because Brantley was smiling more, Reese knew there was one thing that would ensure it stuck around for a bit.
Well, two things really, but since they’d already indulged once today, he figured some time at the range would be a welcome interruption. And while the idea of some down and dirty sex was rather intriguing, Reese knew they wouldn’t find the privacy necessary. Here at the house, there were too many people waiting for them, and unless they were going to get a hotel room or attempt to contort themselves in the truck, they had very few options. Plus, neither of those set the mood, no matter how spontaneous.
So sex was out of the question. For now.
He got up from his desk, walked across the open area to Brantley’s office, leaning on the doorjamb.
“I’ve got a suggestion,” he said, keeping his tone teasing.
“Yeah?” Brantley’s eyes widened.
“Somethin’ you love to do,” he baited.
Brantley leaned back in his chair, smirked. “Oh, I do love to do you.”
No matter how hard he tried, Reese couldn’t keep his cheeks from heating. He should’ve been used to Brantley’s sexual innuendo by now, but it still got him every time.
