Total pages in book: 22
Estimated words: 20775 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 104(@200wpm)___ 83(@250wpm)___ 69(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 20775 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 104(@200wpm)___ 83(@250wpm)___ 69(@300wpm)
“I’ll be staying in the second bedroom,” Hollis replied, pointing. “And we aren’t going anywhere. A little room service and then an early bedtime.”
“I’m really boring,” Layla said, grinning. “Don’t tell anyone.”
“I’ll stay,” Forrest said, ignoring her comment as he looked at me for confirmation.
To be honest, leaving his surly ass in the client’s hotel suite seemed like a terrible idea but neither of the other two were offering. When we’d taken the contract the team had agreed to start in the morning, not that night, and I understood why they weren’t giving up their night.
“There’s only two bedrooms,” Layla said apologetically glancing at Hollis.
“I won’t be sleepin’,” Forrest replied.
“You’re going to stay up all night?” she asked him dubiously.
Forrest’s lips twitched behind his beard. “It’s my job.”
“He can stay awake for days,” Lu said, slapping Forrest’s back. “Can’t you, big guy?”
“If you’re sure?” Hollis looked between us.
“I can send you a revised contract,” I confirmed.
“Thank you,” he said, shaking my hand again. “Gotta be honest. You guys kind of freaked me out.”
“Wasn’t our intention. Better to over prepare, yeah?”
“Right.”
We left the room as Layla asked Forrest if he’d like anything to drink. Eli only made it a couple doors down before he started chuckling and within seconds all three of us were quietly losing our shit.
“What the fuck was that?” Lu hissed, her eyes wide. “Mr. Good ’ol Boy looked like he was about to beat that manager to death.”
“He’s got a thing for her,” Eli whisper shouted, pointing over his shoulder. “I’ll bet you a hundred.”
“I’m not takin’ that bet,” I replied, shaking my head. Forrest had always been pretty circumspect when it came to dating, I couldn’t even remember a time when we’d met one of his girlfriends. The fact that my best friend had just showed his ass in front of a client was actually pretty startling.
“Why’s everyone laughin’?” Ephraim asked, poking his head out of a door down the hall.
“Oh, my god, Eph,” Lu said, still snickering. “You should have seen Forrest growling at this poor woman and making her manager shit his pants.”
“You got the layouts and routes mapped?” I asked as I stopped at my door.
“Almost finished,” Ephraim replied as Lu and Eli pushed past him into his room.
“Send ’em over when you have ’em.”
“Will do, Chief.”
I let out a deep breath as I let myself into my room and kicked my shoes off. Hollis was probably right and they were being over cautious, but beyond not asking for security from the moment they got off the plane, he seemed to be handling shit the way I would’ve. He’d made a good decision calling us in. A lot of security companies hired well qualified personnel, and we’d dealt with a lot of good people, but our team was a bit more specialized than the usual.
Checking the clock, I pulled out my phone.
“Hey baby,” Cecilia answered quietly. “How’d the meeting go.”
“Weird,” I replied honestly, laying down on the bed.
“How so?”
“Forrest was bein’ an ass to the client.”
“Forrest?”
“Like I said,” I huffed. “Weird. What are you guys doin’?”
“Well, our Forrest is sleeping peacefully for another two hours, I hope.” She chuckled. “And the girls and I are watching a movie.”
“Did they get their popcorn?”
“Of course.” I could hear her smile through the phone. “Olive fell asleep already, with her hand in the bowl. Meg’s still awake, but she’s starting to crash.”
“Am not,” Meg murmured in the background.
“You gonna have them sleep with you tonight?” I asked, wishing I was there. I didn’t mind the out of town jobs most of the time, but sometimes it just sucked being away from them. They were growing so fast, I hated missing any of it.
“Probably,” Cecilia whispered. “You want mama to rub your back?”
“She must be sleepy if she’s sitting still long enough to rub her back.”
“She is,” Cecilia whispered. “My dad stopped by.”
“Called it.”
“I know.” She laughed. “He and mom both did, actually. She asked to take the big kids to the park tomorrow.”
“You gonna let them go?”
“If you were home, I’d feel better about it, but yeah. I said they could. I didn’t really have a choice since she asked right in front of them.”
“They’ll be fine,” I assured her quietly. “Your mom wouldn’t let anything happen.”
“I know that rationally,” she whispered. A few seconds later her voice was louder. “But tell it to my anxiety.”
“Baby, even if I was there it’s not like I’d be with them at the park.”
“Again,” she huffed. “Rationally I know that. I just feel like a rubber band. The longer we go living this peaceful life, the tighter I get pulled. At first it was just a little, now, it feels so tight I’m waiting to snap.”
“You need to call that therapist you like.”
“And when would I have time to go?”