“What about Holly?” Becs inquired as she took a seat at her desk, cutting off his view of her perfect ass.
“Upstairs with JJ,” Luca muttered, still focused on his monitor.
Becs chewed her bottom lip but didn’t ask anything more.
Evan could almost feel bad for Becs. He was sure she thought they were shutting her out when that wasn’t the case at all. Luca was merely being Luca, doing his best to keep her at arm’s length. The guy had been doing it ever since Becs made it clear she was interested in him as more than a co-worker or friend. Not that she’d said it outright—not that Evan knew, anyway—but Luca acted like she’d declared her love for him on a billboard for the world to see.
As for Evan, it hadn’t been his intention to ignore her, nor did it have anything to do with her skills. Becs was brilliant, from what he could tell. But she was also a complication he did not need in his life. And since they’d become friends outside the office because their daughters were BFFs—a term his daughter said hehadto use becausebest friendswasn’t cool—Evan was spending far too much time in Becs’s presence as it was.
“Anyone heard from Jay or Charlie?” Slade asked.
Luca grunted.
Slade laughed.
Evan realized Slade wasn’t asking because he cared. He probably did, but Slade was running through the list of employees in an effort to frustrate Luca, who preferred quiet in the mornings.
Evan found it interesting that all these personalities somehow managed to gel. More than that, they worked well together. The Off the Books Task Force had earned a reputation with local law enforcement as a go-to for help when they needed it. And thanks to their affiliation with Sniper 1 Security, federal agencies were now occasionally looking to them for assistance.
Despite the recent changes in the team, they were as strong as ever. Perhaps more so now that Jay Hernandez had officially transitioned from an analyst to an investigator after Trey left the task force. Jay’s position had been filled by Holly, who had initially been hired as JJ’s assistant. Now Elana filled that role. As far as investigators went, the task force was back to having four teams of two now that Atticus James had come on board. And though they gave Atticus shit about it, there was no relation to JJ. The kid couldn’t have come at a better time since Sniper 1 Security called Decker Bromwell to the home office back in June.
“Do you need me to help with anything today?” Becs offered.
“Whad’ya think, boss?” Slade asked, his question directed at Evan.
“We’re good. Nothing pressing,” Evan answered, sparing a glance at Becs so she wouldn’t think he was avoiding her. Which he was.
He probably should’ve leaned on Becs more, but spending too much time with her was not a good thing as far as he was concerned. It was bad enough that he couldn’t stop thinking about her. Day, night. It didn’t matter. And when she wasn’t plaguing his thoughts, she was often stopping by his house to pick up her daughter. Because of their chaotic schedule, Evan’s mother was now filling in as a full-time babysitter for both girls, so it wasn’t uncommon for Becs to be lingering in his living room talking to Kaye about her day.
Those social chats were the very reason Evan had started going to the gym. Not because he’d needed it, although he had, but because he preferred to be whipping his body into shape rather than risk asking Becs out on a date when he knew that would be the worst thing that could happen. Technically, he was merely trading one form of torture for another.
“Is Sophia excited about her birthday party?” Becs asked.
Realizing Becs had managed to drag him into the conversation, Evan nodded. “She is.”
“Are all the girls she invited coming?”
“They are,” he confirmed, tapping the keys to make it look like he was too busy to talk.
“That’s right,” Slade called from his desk. “She’s nine today, huh? Why’re you here?”
“They call this a job, Slade,” Luca noted, glancing over his shoulder. “People show up for it.”
Slade scratched the side of his nose with his middle finger, glaring at Luca.
Luca chuckled, his gaze shifting to Evan. “She havin’ a party this weekend?”
“Slumber party,” Becs answered for him. “Carly and some other girls from their class last year are gonna hang out with Sophia all weekend.”
Evan nodded.
“Shit, dude.” Luca whistled. “A house full of nine-year-old girls? You’ve got some boulder-sized stones, you know that?”
“You’re welcome to come help out,” Evan told him.
“I’ll be there,” Becs noted, then glanced at Evan. “I promised your mom I’d help.”
Great. Just what he needed. A weekend with Becs.
