Page 131 of Theirs to Take

“I have,” he admitted, “at Carrie and Evan’s wedding. She was Carrie’s maid of honor, and I was Evan’s best man, so we were kind of thrown together.” Not that he had any complaints about being tossed together with the raven-haired beauty. Mina was gorgeous and he had to admit, having to walk her down the aisle and dance with her wasn’t a hardship. Eli was just glad that he didn’t follow his gut and ask her out on a date because now, they were going to be working together every day and that would have been awkward, to say the least.

“It was a great day,” Luke said. “It was nice that Carrie’s father stuck around for the wedding.”

“Yeah, he’s a character,” Eli said. Carrie had convinced her father to stick around for the baby to be born, and he agreed. He had practically moved into her, and Evan’s house and Eli loved being invited over to hang out with her dad. “Jack’s a great guy.”

“Well, you’re going to be in training today with Mina, and then, I’ll show you to your office. You’ll be on the fifth floor. It’s where the entire risk assessment team will be housed.”

“Sounds great,” Eli sarcastically said.

Luke chuckled, “Yeah, I guess that being stuck in training all day doesn’t sound very glamorous, but I promise, it gets better.”

“I know, I’m just joking around,” Eli said.

“Sometimes I forget that you and Evan are nothing alike. You guys look so similar, but you have a sense of humor and your brother—”

“Doesn’t,” Eli finished for him.

“I was going to say that, but as his friend, I didn’t want to sound like an ass,” Luke said.

“As his brother, it’s okay for me to call him names and sound like an ass. It’s expected, really,” Eli teased. “I’ve always liked giving my brother a little bit of hell.”

“And you’ve been so good at it,” Evan said, walking into security. “Hey, man,” he said to Luke, shaking his hand. “How’s it going?”

“Good,” Luke said, “how's things with you and Carrie?”

“She’s going to have the baby any day now, and she’s more than ready. She’s been working half days, trying to take some time for herself before the baby gets here, but it’s driving her crazy. She’s the type who likes to go full speed, every day. I’m just hoping that the little guy or girl gets here before Carrie goes completely crazy and takes me with her.”

Luke and Eli both laughed. He knew how excited his brother was about the baby. It didn’t matter that it wasn’t his by blood. Once he married Carrie, he became that baby’s father. Eli had to admit, he was pretty damn excited about being an uncle for the first time. He planned on being the coolest uncle on the planet—as long as he didn’t have to change any dirty diapers.

A soft knock at the door had the three of them turning to find Mina standing in the doorway. “Um, hi,” she squeaked. “I’m Mina Flores. I’m here to start my first day,” she said to one of the security guards at the door.

“Hey, Mina,” Evan said, pulling her in for a quick hug. “It’s good to see you.”

“You too,” Mina said.

“You remember Eli,” he said. She nodded and held out her hand to him.

“I’m looking forward to working for you, Mr. Kingston.”

“Please don’t call me that, Mina. I’m fine with Eli.”

“Okay, Eli,” she said, releasing his hand.

“And this is Luke Tracy,” Evan introduced. “He’s one of the heads of security here at McTavish.”

“Nice to meet you, Mina,” Luke said. “I’ve heard good things about you from Evan here.”

She giggled, “He has to say nice things about me. I’m his wife’s best friend.”

“She’s not wrong,” Evan said, shrugging. “My pregnant wife will beat the crap out of me if I say anything bad about Mina.”

“Well, I’m very excited to start today,” she said. “I’m looking forward to working for McTavish Industries,” Eli noted that she seemed a bit nervous, be he understood the first-day jitters. He had them too.

“Great,” Luke said, “HR is expecting you both,” he said.

“I’ll take them up,” Evan offered, “I’m going that way.”

“Thanks, man,” Luke said, “good luck you two. If you need anything, just holler.” Eli followed Mina and Evan out of security after thanking Luke and noted the way that she clutched her bag. She was holding onto it as though it was her lifeline. They filed into the elevator and Evan pushed the button for the third floor.

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