Page 32 of Sebastian

“Uh, are you going to introduce me to your friends?”

“Of course?—”

“No wait! Go sit out front and give me a minute to get everything back here situated. No reason a bunch of ridiculously gorgeous men need to see me at my most frazzled.” She glared at Seb, surely daring him to comment. “I’ll be out to take your orders in a minute.”

Sebastian turned to the guys and smiled. Walking back out into the bakery, he sat down at the corner table and sighed. The two customers who were in the shop when they arrived had left, and now they were the only ones in the bakery. That was probably for the best.

“She’s gorgeous, Cap. No wonder you had us hurry out here for babysitting duty.”

“Shut up, Hawk,” he replied. “I am sorry I had to call you out here a few weeks early, but not because it was an inconvenience to you dickheads. Besides, I made a final decision about Montgomery Defense. I’m about a week away from closing on a location in Silver Springs, so you guys would be down here anyways.”

“Can we work on the name of the business, Cap? It’s a little Seb-centric, don’t you think?” Stone joked.

“No,” he replied coldly, and the guys all laughed.

“Alright, alright,” Stone held his hands up in surrender. “You are bankrolling this whole project, so I guess that’s fair. Now, you want to tell us what’s good here? I missed breakfast and I’m starving.”

* * *

“Why do you guys call Sebastian ‘Cap’?” The guys all laughed at her question, and she felt the heat rising in her face. She thought it was bad being around Seb and his wall of muscles, but sitting now in front of his five buddies, also all former SEALs, well…she felt like her heart might stop beating at any moment.

“He was our team leader. It fit,” Stone answered.

“Well, that, and he reminds us of Captain America.” Gunner jabbed at Seb’s ribs with his elbow and Emma laughed.

“I can see that.” She paused for a moment. “So, do you all have nicknames?”

“Of course,” Hawk stretched his arm out behind Emma and pointed to each of the guys. “Gage is Tracker because he can basically find any information we need. Maybe not always legally, but he’ll get it for us. Nash is Wings, which is a little on the nose since he’s had his pilot license for like a hundred years.”

“I’m not that old, asshole.” Nash grumbled, making Emma laugh. The man was one hundred percent certifiable as a gray fox, though Emma would guess he went gray earlier than most men.

“Hate to break it to you, buddy, but you are. Okay, let’s see, who else. Well, Stone is Doc, again on the nose with his nickname ‘cause he’s a trained medic and has sown each of us up more times than we’d like to count. Gunner is Reaper…” Emma’s eyes went wide at that nickname. “It’s okay, beautiful. He might be as mean as a mongoose on a Monday, but he’s one of the good guys, and a top sharp shooter. There wasn’t a target assigned to him that ever survived.”

“Wow.” Emma whispered. “And what about you?”

“Me? Well, I’m Phoenix.”

“Ah, because Hawk and Phoenix are both birds?” That got a chuckle from the guys.

“No, beautiful, it’s because even when I’ve been certain Death had me in his clutches, I’ve risen from the ashes of whatever shit show I’ve gotten myself into and survived.”

“Oh.” Her cheeks flushed, and she dragged her bottom lip between her teeth.

“What about you? You got a nickname?” Hawk asked.

“Well, most people just call me Emma, or Em. But this guy,” Emma pointed to Seb. “He calls me Sprinkles.”

“Cap, I hate to break it to you, but that’s cliche as fuck,” Gage laughed.

“And besides,” Nash craned his head towards Emma’s display cases. “I don’t think I see a single sprinkle in this place.”

“That’s what I tried to tell him.”

“Like your nickname for me is any better?” His voice sent a shiver down her spine. It was teasing and yet possessive all at the same time. She didn’t dare look into his eyes, for fear of melting into a puddle in front of all his friends.

“Oh God, she’s got a nickname for you? I bet it’s hilarious. Come on, gorgeous. You’ve got to tell us.” Stone’s eyes were begging and she couldn’t resist.

“Suits,” she mumbled.

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