Total pages in book: 155
Estimated words: 146392 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 732(@200wpm)___ 586(@250wpm)___ 488(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 146392 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 732(@200wpm)___ 586(@250wpm)___ 488(@300wpm)
Zach’s gaze went steely. “If your sister didn’t have a shiner, I would swap you out in a heartbeat. You are not here to seduce Ben Parker, and if you can’t do your job, I’ll find someone who can. Kara can take the night off. Lou, what the hell? Are you a professional, whole, grown-ass woman or a teen from an overly religious community who will cry if she shows a knee? Both of you need to get your shit together because this is serious. This is not a place where we should think about our love lives.”
“Here, here,” Samantha said, nodding approvingly Zach’s way. “And Ollie’s club is just as bad as this. Papa wouldn’t bankroll him. Told him if he wanted a sex club, he should earn it. It’s in the suburbs. It’s so bad.”
“Then why do you come all the time? You know what makes a sex club terrible? Having your sister in it,” Oliver complained.
Lou started to pull out a chair next to Zach, a flush still on her face. “I don’t think a unicorn sweater makes me less capable of doing my job. It’s not like there’s a dress code.”
“There is absolutely a dress code, and I’m following it. And I think this is going to help me a lot,” Kenzie argued. “He’ll give up all the intel because he likes my boobs.”
A growl came from her dad’s mouth.
“Babe, she is my daughter,” Charlotte reminded him.
And Lou was his sub. He stood and pulled the chair next to him out. “Louisa, have a seat.”
“I’m fine here,” she insisted.
“Are you in the club or not?” He deepened his voice. “Whether Zach or my uncle want to acknowledge it, this room is part of the club, and we have an agreement between us.”
The room seemed to still, all eyes going to Lou.
She looked like the cutest deer in the headlights ever. “We’re in a meeting.”
“In the club. So you can have this seat or you can sit on my lap. It’s your choice, but you should make it quickly because the lap is going to be the only thing open to you in thirty seconds. In this club, you are my sub,” he explained.
“Fuck me, this is why you drink so much,” Zach said to Ian.
“This team is way more fun than ours,” Samantha whispered her brother’s way.
“Are you serious?” Lou ignored everyone, staring his way.
“As the heart attack my uncle is about to have. I think Zach might survive. He’s young. His heart’s probably pretty good, and he’ll just slide into my uncle’s place. He’s been getting ready for that for a long time,” TJ replied.
Lou frowned, but she moved to the seat beside him.
He breathed a sigh of pure relief and helped push her chair in. It was time to show her how nice it was to be his sub. And yes, he was a bastard because in this case “sub” was a placeholder for girlfriend and then wife. “Can I get you something to drink? Are you hungry? I stopped by the bakery near your place and got some of those spongy cookies you like.”
Kenzie sat up, her boobs dangerously close to popping out. If she was moved by Zach’s dressing down, it didn’t show, but then she wasn’t really dressed so it probably didn’t matter. “You got madeleines? Yum. I’ll take a couple.”
“Can you? Can you fit anything else in that skintight catsuit?” His uncle frowned his cousin’s way.
“Mom, Dad is body shaming me,” Kenzie replied, her eyes narrowed.
“Sweetie, maybe you should change. I don’t think it’s a good idea for you to get involved with a foreign operative at this point,” Aunt Charlotte said, her tone sympathetic.
TJ slid the box of cookies in front of Lou and passed her the other thing he’d prepared for her.
She picked up the coffee mug, breathing in the scent. “You made me matcha?”
“I looked it up on the Internet and figured out how to make it,” he explained. It hadn’t been particularly easy, but lucky for him Coop had ensured the bar had one of those fancy coffeemakers. It helped him make tea, too.
Lou smiled at him for the first time all day. “Thanks. And thanks for the cookies. I haven’t eaten today because I got kidnapped.”
“You skipped lunch because you were trying to avoid me,” he countered.
The smile didn’t go away. “Fair.”
He leaned over. “You’ll find there’s a turkey sandwich with barbecue chips in your locker. I want you to eat it before you get ready for the evening. You’re going to need some energy.”
He half expected her to argue with him, but she simply nodded and took a sip of her tea.
The discussion between his uncle and cousin came to an abrupt end as the door opened and a man with light hair and what could only be described as rugged good looks stepped in, followed by Tasha, who’d gone to pick him up at the airport, along with her fiancé, Dare. Dare was somewhere in the club getting ready for the evening, helping set up scenes and making sure things would run smoothly. TJ wondered what that car ride had been like because the last he heard, Dare still wasn’t speaking to the man who’d played him for at least six months.