Page 87 of Peace Under Fire

“Oh, my God—Yes!” Mandy shot to her feet.

Jacob sent her a thundercloud look.

Uh oh, perhaps she should have tempered her enthusiasm.

“It’s my day off.” Alaska stopped at the bottom of the deck. “Let’s have a girl’s only afternoon. Cocktails and chit-chat. There are Mai Tais and Daiquiri mixers somewhere in the kitchen. We can grab some and head to Brick’s and…well, our cabin. There’s nothing like cocktails to put you in a relaxed mood.”

Mandy wouldn’t know. She’d never had drinks with girlfriends before. But she was ready to test the theory for herself. “Daiquiris sound fabulous. I’ve never had one before.”

She tried to temper her enthusiasm so she wouldn’t sound too dorky, or set off Jacob’s explosive mood. But Jacob stiffened, then slowly lifted his head.

Uh oh.

Deliberately, he set his gun down and wiped his hands on the rag in his lap. Somehow the motion came off as both challenging and pissed. “Is Brick going to be there?”

Mandy braced herself. His eyes were glittering like black diamonds. He was about to say something inappropriate and humiliating, she just knew it.

“Excuse me?” Alaska turned to him with a confused look.

“Brick. He’s your fiancé, right? You two are living together? Is he going to be at the cabin with you?” He wasn’t looking at Alaska as he spoke. His gaze was focused entirely on Mandy’s hot face.

“Uh…no. He’s heading up a group hike.” Alaska paused, her gaze flitting back and forth between Jacob and Mandy. Her eyes cooled. “Why? Is there some problem I should know about?”

Mandy drew back her shoulders. She was not going to let Jacob ruin this for her. No way.

“He’s just making sure I know Brick’s living with you and thus off limits to me.” Mandy jumped in before Jacob had a chance to put the worst possible spin on whatever he was about to say. “I may have mentioned a couple of times how amazing Brick’s eyes are.”

Once they were alone, she’d explain the situation to Alaska, reassure the other woman that she wasn’t trying to poach her man.

“A couple times?” Jacob scoffed with a roll of his eyes. “Try dozens.”

The exaggeration startled Mandy. She planted her hands on her hips and glared back. “Excuse me? It was not dozens. It was twice. Three times at most.” Jacob responded with a heavy scoff and an extravagant roll of his eyes. Mandy turned to Alaska and threw up her hands. “He’s exaggerating. Yes, I noticed Brick’s eyes. They’re amazing. Anyone would notice them.”

“I didn’t,” Jacob snapped.

“You don’t count,” Mandy snapped back, keeping her eyes on Alaska’s face. The other woman’s eyes were dancing now, and she looked like she was about to laugh. “I’m sure Alaska is used to women noticing how good-looking her man is.”

Jacob snorted, staring back. His shoulders loosened. “So, you admit he’s off-limits?”

And there went that lovely pretend crush.

“Brick? Yes.” She released a deep, theatrical sigh of disappointment and headed down the wood steps to join their guest.

Alaska laughed and linked arms with Mandy. “Not to worry. This place is full of gorgeous single men. Has Brick introduced you to Tiny?” She asked as she led Mandy down the path. “If you’ve seen that teen flick Sixteen Candles from way back, well, Tiny looks like a grown-up version of the kid from that film—the love interest I mean.” She shot Mandy a wicked grin and a wink. “And then there’s Pipe. He’s English, you know, with the yummiest accent.”

“Really?” This Pipe could make an intriguing new pretend crush. “I love English accents.”

“Doesn’t everyone?” Alaska jiggled Mandy’s arm as she walked. “I’ll introduce you.”

“…for fuck’s sake.”

It wasn’t until she heard Jacob’s low, disgusted growl behind her that Mandy realized he was following her. Even now—on her girl’s afternoon—he was following her.

Mandy stopped, turning to glare. “You’re not a girl.” Just in case that wasn’t clear enough, she added, “This is a ‘girls only’ afternoon. You’re not invited.”

She was not letting him horn in on her time away from him. No way.

Jacob’s jaw started working. “I go where you go. That’s the whole point of a protective detail.”

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