Page 27 of S.O.S. Billboard

The two grinned at each other, and Billboard had no doubt they’d soon become fast friends.

“Next to her,” Billboard continued, “is Prez, with his wife Maygan.”

They both gave smiles and hellos as acknowledgement before Billboard moved on.

“Then we have Wiley and Solina.”

“Hi Wiles,” O’Shea greeted. “So, this is the woman you couldn’t shut up about when you were in my neck of the woods?”

Solina playfully punched Wiley in the shoulder. “I hope it wasn’t anything terrible.”

Billboard knew Solina was extremely sensitive about the hoarder tendencies she’d managed to control before she met Wiles.

“On the contrary,” O’Shea answered without a second’s hesitation. “He gushed about how wonderful you were the whole time.”

Solina beamed and leaned her head onto Wiley’s shoulder. He bent down, kissing her temple possessively, and she gave a happy sigh.

While Billboard had been making the introductions, Brigid and Sarge had managed to scoot around them and grab chairs.Unnecessarily, Billboard pointed them out. “You know those two reprobates already.”

O’Shea snorted. “Trouble with a capital T, both of them.”

“I won’t say otherwise,” Billboard chuckled before going on. “And of course next to them are Mizzay and Perk.”

The last-mentioned one of the team leaped to his feet, skirted around the table and approached O’Shea with his arms spread wide. “I was wondering when you were going to take the trip north, O’Shea.” His flirting baby-face was firmly in place. “I thought maybe I hadn’t made the impact I intended, and you’d forgotten all about me.”

Perk’s spider-like appendages—because that’s what they resembled to Billboard right now—went around O’Shea. Then after what Billboard considered an inappropriate hug-length, the encroaching man picked her up and spun her around.

O’Shea threw back her head and laughed. “Impossible that I wouldn’t rememberyou, Perk,” she chortled as her feet landed back on terra-firma.

“Yeah,” Billboard gruffed, edging between them and draping his own arm proprietarily over O’Shea’s shoulders. “He’s hard to forget. Like a nasty infection.”

Perk’s brows went up, but after a moment’s confusion, he chuckled. “Well. I see now. That’s how it goes, huh? Beaten to the punch,” he sighed. Perk held both palms up toward Billboard. “I get it, BB. Snooze, I lose. And because I clearly waited too long, I’m ceding my claim, which means there’s no need for pistols at dawn.”

Right.Perk was annoying, but pretty damned funny, just the same.

Billboard hadn’t thought to make any statement, overt or otherwise, about his interest in O’Shea, but it seemed like Perk had forced it, and everyone now knew. Rather than clam up as he normally would have in the past, he spoke out.

“Okay. In case you were wondering, O’Shea and I have decided to see where things between us might go,” he revealed.

O’Shea’s pretty face turned pink, and Billboard felt that his own coloring might be lighting up a bit, until—

“Uh, what about…?” Brina’s nose scrunched up as she left her question dangling.

Billboard knew what she was asking, and answered before anyone else could second-guess him, or get a hair across their ass. “For those of you who don’t know already…” He quirked his mouth at Mizzay and Brigid. Hefiguredthey would have filled everyone in, but he guessed they’d held their mouths for once. “…Peggy and I called it quits a few weeks ago.”

Sounds of sympathy started up, but Billboard shut them down. “No. There’s no need to feel bad about it. We’ve known for a few months that things were running on fumes. And we parted as friends, so there shouldn’t be any awkwardness when Peggy joins us for any get-togethers.”

Often, their SOS team would hang out with the Devons’ brothers, as well as other mutual acquaintances they’d met through their business connections. He had no doubt Peggy would show up at one of those, sooner, rather than later, and she would have bounced back quite nicely, because that’s who she was.

“It’s all for the best,” Mizzay spoke up, looking around. “Youz all know that situation wasn’t going anywhere, anyway.” Her face turned gleeful. “And FYI, you lozers, I win the pot. My pick was May, and that’s when they officially ended things.”

There were hilarious murmurs of cheating, and hints of Mizzay’s super-powers, before Del deftly took charge, changing the subject.

“Okay. Billboard, if you and O’Shea would take a seat please, we’ll stop yapping like little old ladies and get down to business.”

There were grumbles all around, but only half-hearted ones because SOS ops were like their lifeblood, and they all knew Del never missed a chance to go over current jobs when they were together. Even with the wives present.Mostly, they hid nothing from their spouses, although no delicate intel was commonly shared.

“I need to know how things are going with all your assignments,” Del queried.

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