Page 42 of Guarding Grace (Hawk Security #2)

Grace

With Constance and Zane keeping watch outside Terry’s place, and Terry, Duke, and Jordy messing with the security system and adding cameras, Serena and I were free to hang out.

“Do you have any wine?” my best friend asked. “I feel like a glass to take the edge off.”

I thought for a moment and decided my hangover had abated enough to nod in agreement. I went to check the fridge. “Dammit, Clyde.” My cat almost tripped me. “Over here he’s always underfoot like I’m going to leave him. He so wants to get back home to my apartment.”

“I think this is a pretty nice place.” She shrugged. “At least you can find him.”

“It is nice, but it’s not mine. The cats need us to be home. Hopefully someday we’ll get there again.”

Terry’s place was much bigger than mine, and the tracker collar had been invaluable this morning in finding Bonnie. “The other cat will only show herself if I open a can of tuna.”

Serena cocked her head. “ They need to get home, huh?”

I nodded. “We all do. I’m only here until the danger is over. They’re not happy.”

“The cats? What about you?”

“What about me? ”

“Why wouldn’t you want to stay?”

Her question was nonsensical. I stared at her until the refrigerator beeped at me for keeping the door open too long. I closed and opened it again. “I have a perfectly fine place to live. And a week ago, I hated him and he hated me.”

Serena shook her head. “Earth to Grace—he never hated you.”

Remembering Terry’s words, I gave in. “Maybe so, but he treated me like crap.”

“And now?”

I couldn’t hide it from my best friend. “He’s been great, and I think…”

She waited patiently.

The fridge beeped again.

“I know it’s too fast, but I think I’ve fallen for him, the Terry I see now. We haven’t even dated, not once. How weird is that?”

“Trust me.” A dreamy look came over her face. “When it’s right, there’s no such thing as too fast. It was the same with me and Duke.”

I considered that… When it’s right, it’s right .

“Now where’s that wine?” Serena asked.

I looked back inside the fridge. Terry had two choices. “Pinot grigio or Chardonnay?”

“Either.”

“Life is about making choices.” I reminded her of her own words.

She giggled. “The pinot.”

I brought over the bottle and glasses and flopped down.

“You look tired.”

I twisted the corkscrew in. “I had a hangover this morning, but it cleared up quickly. I think it was all the adrenaline from the shooting, and now that it’s worn off, it’s catching up with me.

” With a pop, the cork came out, I poured for both of us.

I’d thrown myself into work all afternoon as an escape from thinking about it, and somebody had to lead by example.

Serena took her glass and sipped. “Watching you this afternoon, I was surprised at how little this morning seemed to affect you. If they’d been shooting at me, I would’ve wet myself and hidden in a closet for the rest of the day.”

I rolled my eyes. “Give me a break. You’re the strongest woman I know. You survived a car bomb.”

She nodded slowly. “That was a bad day.”

“I was at work today. For my people, I have to be the adult. I can’t show fear.

When we lost the Archer Brothers account last year, I had to be the one to tell them it was no big deal and shelter them from the truth that it cost us almost two hundred thousand in custom materials.

I almost didn’t make payroll the next month.

” I sipped from my glass. It went down cold.

“You don’t have to take all the responsibility on yourself.”

I stared into my glass for a second, looking for an answer other than the one I knew. None appeared. “Yes, I do. They depend on me. Their families need the paychecks I write.”

“They’re adults. You should tell them what’s happening. Be honest with them. They could be a support to you as well.”

“But I don’t know what the truth is. I don’t know when this is going to end.”

“Terry and the guys will find your cousin and this Rudi character and put an end to this madness,” she assured me.

“Hey, ladies,” Duke said as he arrived with Terry just behind him. “Solving the world’s problems?”

Serena lifted her glass. “Just waiting for our men to stop playing.”

He came up behind her and leaned over to nuzzle her ear. “Playing? This is serious stuff—camera angles, encrypted connections, and shit.”

She turned and rose up to give the big guy a seriously wet kiss. “I bet two teenagers from Best Buy could have finished it quicker.”

He pulled back with a smirk, but didn’t break contact with her, keeping a hand on her hip. “No way. It’s technical as hell the way Jordy links this stuff together.”

I noticed that crinkle at the edge of Serena’s eye. She was toying with him.

He looked around the kitchen, sliding his hand up her side and pulling her close. “We put you in charge of cooking dinner, and I don’t see much progress.”

“We outsourced,” she told him. “Pizza will be here any minute.”

I looked away. Their dynamic was cute as hell. Would Terry and I be this comfortable around each other soon?

“Did I hear pizza?” Jordy said, rounding the corner. “Hey, get a room.”

An hour later, most of the pizza had been devoured.

Serena and I were cleaning up while Jordy, Duke, Terry, Constance, and Zane all worked on laptops.

Jordy had parceled out territories to each of them to comb through CCTV footage that had been triggered by the search for Rudi Sanchez. He said there were so many hits to check because they didn’t have a clean photo of him for facial recognition to work with.

“Got another possible,” Constance announced.

Jordy got up to check it out. “I’ll put it on the list.”

Dying of boredom, I caught Terry’s eye. “What’s the plan for tomorrow?” What I really wanted was to go to bed with my man and pretend we could ignore the killers we knew were out there.

Terry left his seat on the other side of the table to sit next to me.

As soon as his big hand took mine, it made a huge difference.

“Tonight the four of us take watch shifts,” he said. “Tomorrow you go to work and do your normal thing. Two of us will be with you. Everybody else will be locating this Rudi turd. Lucas is even bringing on some contract help. Then when we catch him, you can put this entire episode behind you.”

I grasped his arm and leaned my head on his shoulder. “Promise?”

“I promise.” He kissed the top of my head. “Why don’t you go and get some sleep?”

I straightened up. “What about you?” With the awful premonition that tomorrow would be even more dangerous than today, the last thing I wanted was to sleep in an empty bed.

“I’ll join you when I can.”

Terry

We’d flipped coins for watch assignments, and I ended up outside, in the car. Constance drew the roaming slot outside with me.

Duke made the mistake of offering to swap with her.

She almost bit his head off. Lady was not a term that applied to her when she got riled. She was tough as nails and refused any accommodation.

A half hour in, a light from the doorway surprised me. Zane walked out, waved, and started my way.

I lowered the window. “Out for a stroll?”

“I thought I’d relieve you.”

I checked my watch. “You’re not on for hours. You should be catching some shut-eye.”

“I’m a SEAL. We don’t need no fucking sleep, so why don’t you go inside and get some, jarhead? ”

“Marines pull their own weight, sailor boy.”

He put his hands up. “Didn’t mean any disrespect. It’s just that you’ve got a woman inside who needs you, and…I don’t.”

As tempting as the offer was, it wouldn’t be fair. “I’ll stand my shift, but thanks.”

“Lucas said you’d say that.”

That surprised me.

“He also said to tell you it was an order.”

My cock insisted that I stop arguing. Lucas was the boss, after all. I opened the door and climbed out, slapping Zane on the back. “In that case, thanks, man.”

“I got your back. You know that.”

I nodded. “Thanks again.”

Once inside, I waved to Jordy and slipped silently into my bedroom. With the sliver of moonlight that came in through the curtains, I was able to see as I shucked my clothes and sat on the side of the bed.

“I’ve been waiting for you,” a sleepy Grace said. She pulled back the covers.

I slid in next to my warm woman.