Total pages in book: 110
Estimated words: 107557 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 538(@200wpm)___ 430(@250wpm)___ 359(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 107557 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 538(@200wpm)___ 430(@250wpm)___ 359(@300wpm)
“She’s fine. She’s capable of looking out for herself,” Bella insisted.
“We’d do the same for any of us. Since she doesn’t want to be treated any differently, we’re going to ride her ass and test out the man who’s getting a piece of that ass,” Crew explained with a shrug.
“Did anyone notice that every time she introduces him to someone new, she only uses his first name?” Jamison asked.
“No shit,” Crew answered. “It’s so we can’t run a background check.”
Rez’s mouth dropped open. “Oh, damn, I hadn’t even thought of that. That’s exactly why she hasn’t mentioned his last name. And they’re always in her car so we can’t run his plate. Damn, the woman is smarter than I thought.”
Finn snickered. “Yeah, because the second she left the night of the Christmas party, we all would’ve rushed upstairs to one of the task force computers to do a deep dive on him.”
Bella groaned and Sloane insisted, “Leave the poor guy alone.”
“We’d only do it because we care about her safety,” Crew explained not-so-innocently.
“Did you run my plate?” Sloane asked.
When all eyes turned to Decker, he shrugged. “She already knows I ran a background check on her. She was moving into my house and taking care of my kid.”
“What about me?” Mel asked.
All eyes turned to Finn next. He wore a suspiciously blank face.
“You did a background check on me?” she squeaked.
“Well, yeah, I ran your plate first. I mean, we were going to use you as a paid informant, so…”
The women turned to look at Bella. She grinned. “There was no need. We’ve known each other since we were kids. He knows everything about me. And I mean everything. I have no secrets that he doesn’t know about.”
“Well,” Rez started, “somebody needs to tail her and get this guy’s plate so we can run a background check and see what dirt we can dig up.”
“No,” Bella said sharply, “you need to leave her alone.”
“Hey, he could be an axe murderer. Don’t serial killers wear bowties?”
“Monty’s perfectly capable of protecting herself,” Jamison said. “She works in a fucking prison, for fuck’s sake.”
“What if that’s where she met him?” Rez asked. “He could’ve been a prisoner.”
“It’s happened,” Crew agreed. “It would make sense if he’s a serial killer.”
“Mind your fucking business,” Jamison ordered. “The poor woman’s just trying to get some dick and you all are trying to ruin it.”
“Poor woman,” Rez repeated on a snort.
“All right, shut up now,” Bella hissed. “She just walked in the back door with her man in tow. Don’t do anything stupid.”
“Wonder what took them so long?” Amusement crinkled the corner of Decker’s eyes.
“They probably did a little detour so she could get a good thumping.” Crew pounded his fist into his palm.
Rez grimaced. “What the fuck, asshole. Stop. That’s like picturing my sister getting it on with someone.”
“You don’t have a sister.”
“Yeah, so she’s it and now I have images in my head that…” Rez faked gagged.
Jamison’s lips twitched. “Do you think he knows what he’s doing?”
Crew kept his voice low. “Nerds are deceiving. He’s probably hung like a horse and fucks like a machine.”
“You sound like you’re speaking from experience. You have something to share?” Jamison asked.
“Nope. I’m not into horse cock.”
“Well, yeah, if you were, I’d be concerned. We might be having an intervention for you instead of Nox.”
Finn asked, “Are we going to try to get him alone?”
Bella shook her head. “You guys are horrible.”
Sloane agreed. “They’re forcing me to break out the spray bottle.”
“Add vinegar to it and aim for the eyes,” Bella instructed.
“I’m going to pull her aside.” Rez wriggled his eyebrows and rubbed his hands together.
“Leave her alone,” Bella warned.
Rez shook his head. “Impossible.” He glanced over at Crew and Finn. “Maybe while I have her distracted, one of you can kidnap and grill him. Anyone have duct tape?”
Bella aww’d. “Look at the way he stares at her. Don’t you dare ruin this for her.”
“He looks at her with cow eyes,” Sloane said.
“Cow eyes?” Rez asked.
“You never heard of that? It’s like when someone is head over heels in love with someone.”
“Blech! And they hold hands, too!” Finn shuddered.
“We hold hands,” Mel stated.
“But not like that,” Finn insisted.
“There are different ways of holding hands?” Mel asked.
“This conversation is totally ridiculous,” Bella said, shaking her head. “Why do men act like such children?” Her gaze bounced from one woman to the next as each of them shrugged.
“Okay, I’m going for it,” Rez announced. “Someone try to lure… What’s his name?”
“Clark,” Jamison answered.
“Clark,” Rez repeated. “Someone lure Clark Kent away and interrogate him while I keep her busy.”
“Godspeed, brother,” Finn said.
Rez snorted, stepped away from the group, caught Monty’s attention and called her over to him by tipping his head.
Her eyes narrowed on him and her hand tightened in Clark’s.
He pointed at her and mouthed, “Just you.”