Page 57 of The Bodyguard and the Bombshell

“Hey, Daisy, could you tell Slater our parents are at a game night?” Rand was eight, the same age as his best friend. He was an adorable moppet of a kid, with his mom’s eyes and dad’s jawline.

“Uh, we’re allowed at game night.” Slater Murphy looked like a carbon copy of his dad.

Devi grimaced, and her voice went low. “This is what I always fear when we work here. How did the others handle it when we asked?”

The talk. The moment when they stopped simply being thrilled they’re at a fun night with their friends and wondered what the hell their parents were doing.

And then they figure it out and the world becomes kind of gross but also wonderful because hey, your parents are regular old people who love you and make you grilled cheeses and also, one might like to tie the other one up and spank her until she can’t see straight. It was actually beautiful when she thought about it.

“Uh, it’s kind of a special game night,” Brianna began.

Daisy didn’t think it would work with these two. They needed a more interesting explanation to glom on to.

Rand’s eyes narrowed as his young brain started working through the problem. “Slater’s right. I would be allowed at a special game night,” Rand insisted. “My parents let me play all the games. Even the hard ones.”

“I told you what they’re doing,” Slater said in a whisper that wasn’t all that quiet. But the kid was trying.

Unlike her besties, she knew this conversation was an inevitability and one they could run with. She’d be more worried they’d figured it out if she was dealing with the girls. What she’d learned was boys had spectacular imaginations at this age. There were days when she thanked the universe the twins hadn’t procreated yet. She’d learned the truth far too early because Kala Taggart couldn’t let it all be a mystery. No. She had to figure out how to get into the air ducts. There had been pictures Daisy couldn’t unsee. She was pretty sure Slater hadn’t done anything close. “Oooo, what are they doing, Slate?”

Slater looked around and then leaned in. “I think our parents are in a secret society.”

Actually, he was pretty close. Daisy nodded. It was time for a misdirect. She wished someone had misdirected her. “I think you’re right. Now the question is are they good or evil.”

Rand gasped. “They would be good, of course.”

Daisy shrugged. “I don’t know. It could be fun to have supervillains for parents.”

Supervillains at this age would be way easier for them to deal with than normal, actual sexually active parents.

Rand seemed to think through the problem. “My mom does a lot of stuff with a computer my dad says is ambiguous morally. I don’t know what that means, but it could be supervillain stuff. Also, my dad’s watched The Joker like fifty times.”

It meant Kyle Hawthorne needed to watch more movies, and MaeBe Hawthorne was a badass hacker, though her talents were used for good. However, the goal this evening was to stave off the inevitable moment when these kids figured out their parents were total pervs. “See. There you go. Tonight is secret society business. One day you’ll be a part of it, too. You should probably get some rest. After all, there will be missions involved.”

Rand’s eyes lit up. “That’s so cool.”

Slater grinned. “We should practice. Let’s get the guys together.”

The boys ran off.

Devi shook her head. “Great. Now they think their parents are supervillains.”

Brianna sighed and sat down. “Well, it’s better than knowing. I found out way too early what was going on. Of course I also kind of grew up surrounded by sex positive stuff. That’s what happens when your mom’s known for a series called Soldiers and Doms. I’m thinking about writing Amish romance. It could be my rebellion.”

“Nope. Your mom would simply read it and tell you how proud she is of you,” Daisy said with a sigh. The Dean-Miles clan wasn’t big on shame of any kind. “And my da would say why can’t you be more like Brianna. Look, she’s writing books about love without a penis in sight. Just a man and a woman and a cornfield like God intended.”

“Well, the rest of us have spent all our lives hearing Uncle Li say”—Devi went into a fairly serviceable Irish accent—“Thank the heavens my Daisy would never do that.”

Daisy frowned. “It wasn’t like I encouraged him.”

“You didn’t exactly fess up either because let me tell you every time he said it, you had done it,” Brianna countered. “So now you have to deal with the fact that your father knows you’re as imperfect as the rest of us. The question is, was it worth it.”

“Was he worth it?” Devi countered. “That’s the real heart of the matter. You’ve been with Nate for over a week now. Are you getting bored? Because you get bored easily.”

Bored? With the hottest man she’d ever met? With the sweetest guy in the world? It was more like she was obsessed with the man. She thought about him all day and dreamed about him at night. It was weirdly exciting to do normal things with Nate. And having the moms around wasn’t as awkward as she’d thought it would be. They had meals together and watched movies, and the moms pretended they didn’t notice how often she dragged Nate into a privacy room. The things they’d done in the princess castle… “No. I’m not bored. We’ve been together pretty much twenty-four seven for over a week and I miss him. I wonder what he’s doing.”

“He’s sitting in the other room watching a bank of security cameras,” Brianna pointed out.

“Yes. He’s too far away.” She knew the fire would fade. They’d pretty much gone at it three times a day. The sex was phenomenal, but it was the soft times in between that made her know she was in love with him. Real love. Real, never-look-at-another-man-again love.

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