Page 2 of Inevitable

Hunter stood at the door of their equipment room and held up his hand to get everyone’s attention. “Since I was team leader on this op, the responsibility of buying you assholes a drink falls on my shoulders.” Turning his head, he smirked. “Damn good thing mine are huge.”

The laughter that followed that pronouncementmight’ve woken the dead had Claire’s walk down the hall not stopped it cold. Brady ran his eyes up and down his girl genius and almost fell over.

Claire Hughes wasn’t dressed as a librarian on this fine Saturday evening. No, she was dressed to set a man’s heart beating. The woman who was known for her love of flowered dresses was gone, and in her place, was a woman who had every single one of her deadly curves on display. The fabric reminded him of bandages and all he could think about was peeling the thing away from her body…her sexy as fuck body.

Holy shit, he thought. Where the hell is she going?

“You all can roll your tongues back in your heads. Sweet baby Jesus, it’s not that shocking.” She slid her hand up her hip and frowned. “I brushed my hair. Big deal.”

He hadn’t even noticed the soft curls that hung down her back like a curtain as he let his eyes roam up and down. It was difficult to decide what he liked best. Probably all of it. He’d thought the woman he’d been joking and flirting with for the last couple of months was hot, but he had no idea she was this hot.

Hunter was the first to speak. “Yeah, Claire. It kind of is. Where in the hell are you going?”

Flipping her hair over her shoulder, she jutted out her hip and smirked. “None of your beeswax. Working with you all is like having a bunch of nosy and overprotective brothers. There is no way I’m telling you where I’m heading because I plan on having fun.”

Hell’s bells, there wasn’t a brotherly feeling in Brady’s whole body. That he was damn sure of. Glancing at the men gawking at Claire, he didn’t know how they could have brotherly feelings, either because the woman who stood before them was the very definition of feminine perfection. Five and a half feet of soft curves and long lines was making his mouth water. Add to that a mass of brown, silky hair and big hazel eyes with a smile that could make him do her bidding…well, he was just about a dead man. “One of us could go along and be your designated driver,” he said as he stepped closer. When she gave him a pitying glance, he realized how lame it sounded.

“The only thing I’ll say is that I’m going dancing with my friend and…” Checking her watch, she grimaced. “I’m late.”

She hitched her purse up on her shoulder, pulled the bottom of her dress down and walked around the gawking bunch of them. “See ya. Wouldn’t want to be ya,” she called over her shoulder as she sauntered away from them.

Brady and the others were rendered speechless as they watched the sway of her hips. “I had no idea,” he commented quietly.

“I’ve known her for three years and neither did I,” Hunter replied.

“Maybe we should track her phone and see where she’s headed,” Kane added. “If she’s going out with her best friend, Andi, we definitely need to tag along.”

Miles scrubbed his hand down his face and shook his head. “None of us can hack worth shit and we all know that Claire has made her phone all but untraceable. If she doesn’t want us to know where she’s going, then there’s no way we’ll find out. The woman is part ghost.”

“It’s actually good news she’s getting out there,” Kane said firmly. “She hasn’t had a date in like two years and this means she’s ready to get back on the horse.”

“I’ll be her damn horse,” Brady muttered quietly. He didn’t know Claire that well, so he didn’t feel comfortable making the comment audible. What he did feel comfortable with was making a damn plan, despite her horrible taste in music and love of reality television. Those were things that could be worked out. What couldn’t be was his heart beating a million miles a minute.

“Let’s get rid of our gear and head out for that drink,” Hunter said before walking into the equipment room. “I need about three now that I have to call Quinn and let him know what his cousin’s up to. The man is going to shit kittens when he finds out Claire is hitting the town dressed like…a…” He let out a breath and didn’t finish. “Forget it. I’ll just tell him she’s out with a friend and leave it at that.”

“Smart move,” Kane commented. “You don’t want to get on Claire’s bad side by tattling. She’s not a woman who should be scorned.”

“Agreed,” Hunter said as he walked into the equipment room.

The men followed and started divesting themselves of their weapons. Brady’s locker was at the end of the row, so he had a little quiet as he took off his kit.

Truth was, he needed a hot minute to figure out what the hell was going on. He’d seen a thousand beautiful women dressed more scantily than Claire over the years and he never felt more than either appreciation or lust. Whatever was flowing through his body was a lot more than either of those things. It was richer and darker somehow. Rolling his head from side to side, he closed his eyes. Seemed he was going to learn to like pop music.

God save him.

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