Total pages in book: 76
Estimated words: 71110 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 356(@200wpm)___ 284(@250wpm)___ 237(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 71110 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 356(@200wpm)___ 284(@250wpm)___ 237(@300wpm)
He felt the biggest smile cross his face as he quickly texted back.
It would be my pleasure. And I’ll check on Lou.
The heart emoji that came back did stupid things to him.
“I’m going out with Daphne tonight,” he said, standing and sliding his phone in his pocket.
Alex helped Big Tag to his feet.
“Damn it, I’m going to end up feeding him tomorrow morning,” Big Tag complained. “Well, come on then, Boom. Let’s go check on the girls. Apparently yours is involved, too, and she’s smarter than all of mine combined. My girls will turn her into a supervillain. Those damn books are going to kill me.”
He went to open the door for Ian, chuckling at the thought of Big Tag being taken down by a YA book.
Lou liked those books. Maybe he should read them so they could talk about how different it was being in the actual CIA. He tried to read some every day. It helped to keep the skill up, but he still often had to use context to figure out words that didn’t make sense to him. Fiction could be a challenge, but he would work harder for Lou. Maybe they were on audiobook. He liked to listen to books. “What did you think of them, boss? Beyond the fact that it’s not what the Agency taught you.”
Alex trailed behind them as they made their way across the landing toward the girls’ bedrooms. “Yes, Ian, what’s the difference between your lived reality and YA romance? Because you’re the spy who really did fall for the enemy.”
“Charlie was not my enemy. I was her enemy, and she fell for me,” Tag insisted. “And those books are completely unrealistic. Except for the part where they force the students to learn how to make change in foreign currency. That is the real shit. It’s what tripped me up when I was working in Saudi. I couldn’t make change in riyals. It’s how they knew I wasn’t a local.”
“Yeah, because the almost seven-foot Nordic look didn’t clue them in,” Alex snarked.
“I blend,” Ian argued.
Ian didn’t blend. Ever.
Ian opened the door, and it felt like the world stopped.
Kala was on her knees on the floor with Lou standing over her and Kenzie, Tash, Brie, and Devi standing around watching.
Lou was finishing up the last knot on a pretty good tie, but the one on Kala’s wrists were too loose.
All the girls were staring at the three of them with super-wide anime eyes, and not a one of them moved except Lou, who hadn’t figured out they’d gotten caught.
“That should do it,” Lou said, stepping back. “If you can get out…” Lou finally noticed they were there. She stopped for a moment, a very young deer caught in the headlights. “I’m sorry, Boomer. Kala bet everyone that she could get out of anything, and I recently studied up on knots because it happened in the book and I thought it was cool. I can get her out. I’m sorry, Mr. Taggart.”
Boomer waved that off. “Tag’s not going to be upset about anything but you missing that knot there.”
He knew his boss.
Ian moved into the room and looked down at his daughter. “Yeah, Boom’s right. You gotta get the one around her wrists tighter or she’ll wiggle her thumbs out and then you’ll lose. Here. I’ll help.”
“Dad, that’s not fair,” Kala yelled even as her dad fixed the problem.
“There’s no fair in spying,” Ian said with a grin. He gave his daughter a thumbs-up. “You get out of that in two hours and I’ll give you a twenty. The rest of you, it’s hot dog time. Everybody down to the pool. Good job, Lou. A little more practice and you’ll be excellent at hogtying your peers, and that’s a special skill, young lady.”
“Dad!” Kala tried to flip herself over.
It wasn’t really a hogtie. Not like a scary one. More like Lou had roped a calf and the calf was Kala.
“Good luck, baby girl,” Ian said, walking out.
Kala could be a little bloodthirsty at times. He felt the need to plead Lou’s case. “Hey, Kal, you know she was just playing around, right?”
Kala’s eyes flared, the rage of all the worlds in those baby blues. “I’m not mad at her. I like Lou. Lou’s cool, and she’s real good at building things. I’m mad at my dad. I could already be done if he hadn’t screwed things up. He better have that twenty because I am getting out.”
“Charlie, we got one less for hot dogs,” Ian called down.
Good. There would be no revenge on Lou, and that meant one more hot dog for him. He watched as Lou ran down the stairs with her new friends.
And he had a date with Daphne. A real one, that she acknowledged as a date.
The day was looking up.