Total pages in book: 146
Estimated words: 136425 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 682(@200wpm)___ 546(@250wpm)___ 455(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 136425 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 682(@200wpm)___ 546(@250wpm)___ 455(@300wpm)
“I’ll keep you to that,” he replied. “Bye, Lace.”
He hung up.
“I didn’t know you had a girlfriend.” Hunter McKay stood at the end of the lockers. He was a couple of years younger than Cooper, and while they didn’t look a lot alike, they both held themselves in similar fashions. His shoulders were straight, his arms crossed over his chest and a judgmental look in his eyes.
“I don’t.” How had he missed someone walking up on him? Devi. He’d been thinking about Devi. Another reason to take her rejection as the good thing it had been. She made a smart decision. He needed to make his own by not pursuing her further.
She would be one more person he had to lie to.
Maybe he got to the other end of this and he could have some kind of a life, but for now he had to be happy just getting to know his brother.
And praying Cooper never found out he was his brother.
Cooper’s adopted brother stared at him warily. “I suppose it’s none of my business.”
“It’s not.” It was clear the kid had some serious instincts. He would bet Hunter wasn’t quite sure why he didn’t like Zach, couldn’t put his finger on it, but the distrust was there. “However, if you need to know, I was talking to Lacey. She’s a friend of mine in England. She’s looking to help one of my relatives with an art showing.”
Cover was a good thing. Keeping it was even better.
Hunter caved. Zach would bet it would be hard for the kid to stay mad or suspicious of anyone for too long. Hunter McKay was too happy to hold on to the more bitter emotions. “Sorry. I’m just… Well, I was worried, but my brother says you’re a good guy so I’ll let you know that someone is waiting for you in the hallway. I guess she changed her mind.”
Devi.
Every single reason he had to take that rejection like a champ flew straight out of his brain, and he couldn’t get to that door fast enough.
It was a bad idea. A horrible mistake.
And he was making it.
* * * *
“How about you? You’re Devi, right? You need a scene partner?”
Devi Taggart felt like a deer in the headlights. Zach. Zach Reed. Captain Zach Reed. The single most gorgeous man she’d ever seen had asked the question, and she was standing in the middle of the hallway wearing fet wear and generally hanging out like a creeper gathering information for her besties. She had meant to find out what was going on with her cousin, Carys, and those two men of hers, not get an invitation to play with that glorious hunk of Dom.
He was one of the spy guys. Oh, she was well aware there was a part of the membership of The Hideout that called the group the spy kids, but this was not a kid. Zach Reed was all man, and her whole body clenched at the thought of being a badass bitch and claiming him for herself. She was Erin Taggart’s daughter. Badass bitch was in her DNA.
Except she flaked. She meant to say something, but she kind of squeaked and then felt herself turn a brutal shade of red—another DNA gift from her mother was pale skin that hid nothing. And then she ran.
She slammed the locker room door behind her, barely breathing.
Not her finest moment.
Her two best friends were standing in the lounge portion of the women’s locker room. Daisy O’Donnell was studying for some kind of test, but she was scheduled to address the new training class at some point this evening. Devi was pretty sure the studying was for a college entrance exam. Bri was hanging out working on the plot for her latest story. Daisy usually played on Saturday nights, but her Dom was on assignment as a bodyguard for McKay-Taggart.
“You okay?” Bri was wearing jeans and a T-shirt, her golden brown hair piled high atop her head. She’d been scribbling in a notebook, a sure sign she was plotting and not writing since she did that on her laptop. Sometimes Bri’s room was covered in sticky notes covering all aspects of her stories, from characters to plot lines to dialogue she wanted to put in a future story. She loved being around Brianna Dean-Miles and her glorious brain. And Daisy’s kind heart.
They were her closest friends since before they could remember anything.
So it was okay to tell them how idiotic she’d been. “No. I am not okay. I am… I don’t know what I am. I might need a drink. Don’t the twins keep cold vodka magically around at all times?”
Daisy stood. “Was someone mean to you? Was it a Dom? Because I can call Nate. He’s had to work with my dad all week. He would love to beat someone up for you.”