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“Lena Clark. I heard. And I saw enough last night when you picked her up to know it’s more than a rumor.” Eric turned his attention back to the helicopter. “I guess you’re right. It might work out with Luke.”
“What? You’re not going to lecture me on how I shouldn’t screw around with Lena? How I shouldn’t hurt her after what she’s been through?”
Eric raised an eyebrow. “Are you messing with her?”
“No,” he said evenly. They’d laid out the terms of their deals. He belonged to her at night and she pretended to be his during the day.
“But that didn’t stop Katie from threatening me,” Chad added.
“I’m willing to bet Lena is stronger than you think,” Eric said. “If you screw up, I won’t be the one to kick your ass. Neither will Katie or Georgia. Lena can do that all by herself.”
Chad’s phone vibrated against his thigh. Pulling it out of his pocket, he glanced at the screen. His home phone number. “Excuse me, Eric. This might be Brody or Katie calling about
my brother.”
“Chad?” Lena’s voice erased the oh-­shit-­did-­something-­happen-­to-­Josh feeling.
“Hey Lena, how’s my girl today?” He walked away from the helicopter.
“I have an interview.” Excitement disrupted her calm, in-­control voice.
“That’s great,” he said, his mind stuck on the fact that she’d called him to share the news. Or maybe she’d started with Georgia and Katie, crossing them off one by one until she reached “fake boyfriend” on her list of go-­to contacts.
“It’s today at four,” she added.
“I’ll go with you,” he said at the same time she asked, “Would you come—­”
She broke off, ending her incomplete question with a laugh. “Thank you. It’s the first interview since I started looking. I’m a little nervous.”
“You’re taking Hero?”
“Yes. Maybe.” She paused, drawing a deep breath. “It would probably be better if I left him in the truck.”
“I’ll stay with him. Keep Hero company while you’re inside. And afterward we’ll celebrate. I know just the place.”
“You don’t have to do that,” she said. “And I’m not big on fancy restaurants.”
“Good.” He glanced over at Eric. “I’m not taking you to one. But trust me, beautiful, you’ll like this surprise.”
“I might not get the job,” she said.
“We’ll celebrate either way,” Chad said, the plan taking shape in his mind. He dropped his voice lower, not wanting Eric to overhear. “Where I’m taking you, Lena, you can call the shots. But when we get home tonight, it’s my turn.”
“WE’D LIKE TO hire a veteran.”
The middle-­aged man with a mustache and rotund belly designed to fill out a Santa suit raised his hand, rubbing the back of his balding head. Lena could feel the unspoken but hanging in the air, filling the cramped office. The wire factory covered a half-­acre parcel on the Independence Falls town line, but the manager’s workspace occupied only a fraction of the land.
“I served two tours in Afghanistan, sir,” Lena said, her tone level and even. She stared at the manager’s shiny head. He had no clue what it took for her to sit here, without Hero by her side. Every breath was measured and precise, focused on getting her through this interview without succumbing to panic.
“I believe I would be a good fit for your security team,” she added.
The man shook his head. “When I posted the job, inviting veterans to apply, well, I’ll be honest, I expected a man.”
She bit back the words, After serving on the front lines I think I can handle protecting the gate to your parking lot with a stun gun.
“I know it sounds like a simple job,” he continued. “But we had someone try to break in and steal a spool of cooper wire. In a truck.”
Lena blinked. Clearly a man who’d served in the military could have stopped the truck. But a woman could probably only handle a compact car. Because the U.S. armed forces only handed out the stop-­a-­truck-­with-­a-­stun-­gun superpowers if you had a penis.