Total pages in book: 148
Estimated words: 139606 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 698(@200wpm)___ 558(@250wpm)___ 465(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 139606 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 698(@200wpm)___ 558(@250wpm)___ 465(@300wpm)
“Did you sit outside the door all night?”
Kala shrugged. “Nah. I went back to base and slept for a couple of hours. I figured you’d be a while. He looked clingy.”
He’d been amazingly clingy. “He’s a top.”
The elevator doors opened, and they stepped inside, Kala’s lips curling up. “Seriously? Like a trained top? Way to gravitate toward our dad.”
“Ewww.” Tasha shuddered. “He is nothing like Dad, thank you very much. He’s polite and nice. And you’re talking, Mistress Kala?”
That earned an outright grin from her sister. “I simply find it interesting that you have all of Sydney to pick from and you find a Dom.” The doors closed, and the elevator started the inevitable drop to the lobby. “You know that’s the reason it didn’t work with Asshat.”
She should have known Kala would bring this up now. “I thought it didn’t work with Chet because he was a cheater.”
“Well, that, too, but even if he’d been the sweetest guy with monogamy in his heart, it wouldn’t have worked with him,” Kala argued. “Besides Kenz, you are absolutely the subbiest chick I know when it comes to sex. You’re wired that way, and maybe you could have settled for less if you hadn’t been raised by the Dr. Ruth of his generation.”
She had to snort at the image of their six and a half foot, looked-like-he-ate-nails-for-breakfast father as a small German sex therapist in a fussy suit, but it was kind of true. “Well, you might be right about that. Dare Nash was exactly what I needed.”
“And that’s why I’m asking if you’re okay,” Kala said, her tone going serious.
She was quiet for a moment. “I was wondering if maybe it wouldn’t hurt if I saw him again.”
A low groan came out of her sister’s mouth. “Damn it.”
It was stupid, and she wasn’t about to let her team down. “I know. I can’t.”
“Tash, you know how many great things I want for you, but I think it would be a mistake to try to live two lives in the middle of a mission. I should know because I only get to live half of one, and it’s still hard as hell,” Kala replied. “This is our first mission without heavy oversight…”
And Kala wanted it that way. They all loved their dad and mom, and Drake and Taylor Radcliffe were great liaisons with the Agency, but the team wanted some leeway. They’d spent two years with their parents directing their every move and Drake and Taylor supervising from Langley. This was the first time they were on their own. It was an easy op that could get real complex if she started fucking up. She took a long breath as the doors opened again. “You’re right. The op is way more important, and it’s not like I’m in love with the guy. He was great in bed, and I needed that. He was also excellent at stroking my ego. Now I’m absolutely sure of what I need, and when we get back to Dallas, I’ll let Coop set me up with one of his friends.”
“Good. We’ve got a couple of tops I really like,” Kala said as they walked into the beautiful lobby. “And one of them is a doctor. Well, he’s going to be a doctor. He’s in the same residency program as Aidan and Carys. Oooo, everyone loves a doctor, Tash. Mom would be so proud.”
She could see out of the front window that there was a car waiting, a convertible with a familiar driver in the front seat. “You called Tris?”
Kala shrugged. “Thought it would be more fun than taking a cab. And he’s promised us mimosas. I thought Lou could use a nice brunch. She was quiet last night. Fucking TJ.”
Tasha stepped out into the early morning light, followed by her sister.
Tristan Dean-Miles sent them a heart-stopping smile. He had curly dark hair and green eyes that sent almost every woman in a two-mile radius into a swoon. Lou was in the back, wearing a T-shirt and jeans and some sunglasses that looked designer and were almost surely Kenzie’s.
“Hey, Tash. The walk of shame looks good on you. I hope you have a lot to be ashamed of,” Tristan said with a wink. “So much shame.”
There wasn’t a whole lot of that kind of shame in Tristan’s life lately. Tristan had been in love with her cousin Carys since they were kids. Despite his sunny smile, she knew the distance had put a strain on their relationship. Tristan, Carys, and Aidan O’Donnell had been something of a threesome since high school. Carys and Aidan had gone to college and then medical school together, and Tristan had joined the Army after they’d graduated and then the Agency team. And now they barely talked, and Carys and Aidan were planning a wedding that did not include Tris.