Page 113 of My Temptation

“Don’t need to meet,” I replied. “I think I’m better on installs.”

“I wouldn’t agree with that.” Jax cut in. “You’re good at installs, but you did a hell of a job on this case too, so if you want to split your time, we’re fine with it.”

“Need a partner if you’re working in the field,” Kyle teased.

I ignored him, knowing he was trying to stir up trouble. “You guys are all trained for fieldwork. I’m not, and to be honest, with my sister and niece in town, I’d like to do jobs that keep me local for the most part.”

“That’s fair,” Brody replied. “But if you change your mind...”

“Don’t see that happening,” I admitted. “But I appreciate it.”

“Any updates on Samson?” Striker cut in, and when I shifted my attention to him, I saw his eyes locked on me, and if I didn’t know better, I’d swear he looked sympathetic.

“Heard from the director,” Jax replied. “He said they got even more than they’d hoped from Samson’s partners and clients. According to him, what they have on Samson will stick, so they’re happy. They’re also extremely appreciative that we helped. Because of that, we’re expecting more government contracts coming our way.”

“Who’s getting those?”

“We’ll divide them up. Those jobs tend to be longer, more detailed. I don’t want to wear out anyone by utilizing them too much.”

Kyle snorted. “We got one already, didn’t we?”

“Just this morning,” Jax conceded. “Luckily, it’s local and shouldn’t take too much time. Anyone want it?”

“I’ll take this one.” Nick volunteered.

“You volunteered pretty fast,” Mila pointed out. “What are you trying to avoid?” She snapped her fingers. “Oh wait, you’ve been helping with wedding stuff, haven’t you?”

He laughed. “Yeah, and I need a fucking break.”

Everyone laughed, including me, but I was surprised to hear Nick say that. He couldn’t seem to spend enough time with Maddie.

“Not getting cold feet, are you?” Kyle asked.

“Nope.” He shifted his attention toward Kyle. “Just can’t talk about cake flavors and flowers for one more minute.”

Mila shook her head. “Typical.”

“What the hell’s that supposed to mean?” Nick asked, but he was grinning.

“You think all you have to do is ask her to marry you, and then she’s responsible for everything else.”

“Just wanna marry her,” he confessed. “Don’t care where that is or when, although the sooner the better. The rest of it doesn’t matter.”

“It does to her,” Mila pointed out.

“That’s exactly why I agreed to it,” he replied. “But if we don’t take a break from each other and wedding talk, we’re gonna end up in the car on the way to Vegas, even if I have to handcuff her to me.”

“Yeah, you need a break if you’re threatening to handcuff her to the car.” Jax chimed in, which I thought was odd. He usually didn’t tolerate personal talk for long and rarely participated in it. He was all business, all the time. When I looked toward him and noticed his eyes were on me, it made more sense. “Sometimes a break allows you time to figure out what’s important.”

“It’s just fucking cake,” Nick announced, and everyone chuckled, including Jax, who finally looked toward Nick. “I don’t care if it’s vanilla or carrot.”

Sliding my gaze toward Nick, I saw that he was talking but he was watching me and Mila. He was trying to distract everyone from the uncomfortable silence between us and I appreciated that, but it wasn’t working. It was obvious to everyone in the room that something had changed between us, and it was something we weren’t handling well.

“I’m not coming if you serve carrot cake,” Kyle spoke up. “A vegetable should never fuck up cake like that.”

“Were you even invited?” Jax asked sarcastically.

“I’m always invited,” Kyle replied.

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