“Easy. You’re not going to pose as security. I told them that you were a group of friends that I knew from my hometown.”
“That’s why you asked us to dress in regular clothes,” Craig surmised.
“Yes. They’re not going to run security on hometown friends of mine.”
“Why the whole team?” Alec asked. “You could have brought in just one of us to meet her.”
“Frankly, I don’t trust my security team anymore, and if they are planning something, I figured it’s best to be prepared.”
“You’re making it kind of hard to do our jobs,” Craig pointed out. “If we’re posing as your friends, it’s not like we can set up surveillance like we normally would.”
“That’s what I’m counting on. I’m thinking that Tessa will let down her guard more if you meet her before the gala. Then, when you show up with me, she’ll have already talked with her father. They won’t be as suspicious around you.”
“So, you want us to check out the father and see what he’s up to?” Alec asked.
“Right. I was hoping you could all meet Tessa tomorrow. The gala is on Friday night, so that gives you a few days to chat her up and get to know her. Then on Friday, while watching my back, you’ll also be digging into her father and getting a sense for where he’s at. I have to know if he’s using me to get to my company.”
“And if he is?”
“Then things are over with Tessa, if she’s involved. I hope she isn’t, but my gut is telling me that she’s not as distanced from her father as she says she is.”
“Why not just cut her loose?” I asked curiously. “I mean, I get that you like her, but is she really worth the risk?”
He glanced at everyone else uncomfortably before leaning in so only I could hear. “Do you remember our talk the last time you were with me?”
I vaguely remembered him telling me that he would like to know what it was like to have even a tenth of the love that Alec felt for me. “I remember.”
“I really like Tessa. If there’s even chance that she’s the one, I don’t want to fuck it up by proving to her that I don’t trust her.”
I understood that more than anything. I took his hand in mine and nodded. “Okay. We’ll take care of it.”
✯✯✯✯✯
“Who else thinks that this job is completely ridiculous?” Craig asked, raising his arm.
“Shut up,” I said, irritated more than anything.
“Just me? Seriously, you want to be here, Alec?”
“Why not?” he shrugged. “All we have to do is prove that she really loves the bastard and then we can all get back to our lives.”
“We’re not here to prove that she loves him,” I corrected. “We’re here to see if she’s working with her father to get to his company.”
“Yeah, and she probably is,” Craig said, “which makes this whole thing totally pointless. I say he just walks away.”
Alec stared me down as he cleaned his gun. “Maybe she really likes him. Maybe this is all in the douchebag’s head.”
“Would you stop calling him that?”
“Why do you care?” he asked.
“Because I happen to like him.”
“And that’s the problem,” Alec growled. “You’re not supposed to like anyone other than me.”
“Hey, she likes me,” Craig said indignantly. “And I’m a very good catch, not that I want anything to do with either of you,” he added quickly. “I think we’ve all clearly established that there will never be anything between us.”
“Would you just shut the fuck up about that?” Alec growled. “Seriously, I don’t think you really understand how to let something go.”
“I’m just saying, it was a disturbing time in my life. I’ve never had two people fuck with my head so much.”
“It was all your fault,” I pointed out. “You were the one that couldn’t read between the lines with Dr. Sunshine.”
“Can we get back on topic here?” Alec asked. “The point is that Jamie is an adult and perfectly capable of picking his own women. He hardly needs you to help him out.”
“Apparently he does, otherwise he wouldn’t have called us.”
“Yeah, I’m still not sure that he’s not just using this opportunity to get in your pants.”
“And if he was really trying to get in my pants, don’t you think he would have tried a year ago?”
“Now he knows we’re engaged. It’s now or never for him.”
“But he didn’t know that when he called us,” I pointed out. “Alec, you need to let this go. He’s not trying to get in my pants.”
“But you like him,” Alec snapped.
“Yes, I think he’s very nice.”
“And very handsome,” Craig piped up.
“And that’s helpful how?” I snapped.
“What? I’m just saying, the last time we were here, I couldn’t help but notice that he has similar qualities to JFK Jr. and that was one very handsome man. You could do worse.”
“She has me, fucker.”
“I know. Geez, I’m not actually suggesting that she run off with him, but if things with you fall through…”
“They’re not going to fall through,” I said, cutting off Craig’s train of thought. “Seriously, it’s like you want to cause an argument between Alec and me.”
“Well, they are entertaining,” Craig grinned. “Besides, this job is going to be so boring. Are you telling me that you really want to schmooze a bunch of rich guys all night at a gala just to find out if this guy is trying to steal his company? I mean, there is literally no chance for action here. And we can’t meet any women to take home because we’re already spoken for. This sounds like the boringest job on the face of the earth!” he said, smacking his head down on the table.
“Why don’t you look on the bright side here?”
“What bright side?” he asked incredulously. “No, really, I’d like you to point out what about this job is making you so damn cheerful.” He held out his hand and started ticking off fingers. “We’re not
