Page 6 of A Dead Man's Pulse
Beaming, Charlie moved to stand beside him, facing Clutch’s grave. He watched and waited for Logan to lift his right arm and then followed suit, his little hand stiff at his temple. His father must have taught him how to do it right.
Together, they slowly brought their arms back to their sides, and Logan pivoted to face him. After giving the boy’s mother a smile, which she returned, he said, “It was very nice meeting you and your mom, Charlie. I hope I can live up to your expectations of what a hero is someday because I’m really going to try.”
Chapter Four
“So, is he going to take the job?”
As Angie’s lyrical voice drifted through his cell phone, Ian flagged down the waitress for the bill. “Doesn’t look like it. He’s got five more minutes before I walk out of here.”
If Reese didn’t show, Ian would have to go back to the five other files he had sitting on his desk and make a decision with Devon on who to offer the position to. But he really wished the guy would show up—not only because Ian thought he’d be a perfect fit for the new team, but because the retired Marine needed a reason to get up every morning. Otherwise, he’d just waste away—another dead soul among the living.
“Will you be in the mood to go to the club tonight, Sir?”
Despite his disappointment over Reese, a grin spread across Ian’s face. That single word “Sir” out of his submissive’s pretty mouth always got his dick twitching, no matter what was going on at the moment. The club she was referring to was Ian and Devon’s other business, which they co-owned with their cousin, Mitch Sawyer. The Covenant was a private, elite BDSM establishment in the Trident Security compound that the Alpha team all belonged to, having been in the lifestyle during their military years.
When Ian first met Angie, she hadn’t been in the kink community but had a healthy curiosity about it. He’d introduced her to his world, and she’d come to love and need it as much as he had.
“When am I not in the mood to go play, Angel?” The waitress slid a thin leather folder with his bill in it onto the table and then stepped away again.
A feminine snort came over the phone. “Okay, that was a stupid question. But if your answer had been ‘no,’ I was prepared to bring out the big guns.”
“Which would be?” His woman had definitely caught his attention with her flirtatious tone.
“Oh, just that I got a delivery today from someone’s favorite lingerie catalog.”
And, damn, now he was hard as a rock. He had a huge lingerie fetish, loving how a woman looked and felt in silk and lace, and Angie enjoyed indulging him in it. His fiancée rocked sexy undergarments like no other woman he knew—the more see-through, the better. When she and Ian had first started dating, Angie had found out she’d been harboring an inner exhibitionist up to that point in her life.
“The red, fishnet body stocking?”
“Mmm-hmm,” she responded in a husky, sultry tone. “The crotchless one. I think you’ll want me to wear the red stilettos with it too.”
“Are you trying it on right now, standing in front of the full-length mirror?”
“Mmm-hmm.”
Fuck, she was killing him. He winced as his pants tightened in his crotch, as he shifted to retrieve his wallet from his back pocket. He was about to tell her to get her green vibrator—or JGG for jolly-green-giant—for some phone sex, but across the dining room, the front door to the pub swung open, and in walked Reese. His sharp eyes scanned the patrons, and when he spotted Ian, he marched over, sheer determination on his face. Without acknowledging or noticing the fact Ian was on the phone, he said, “I’m in.”
After staring at the man for a moment, Ian nodded and then pointed to the opposite seat in the booth. The phone sex would have to wait until he was on Trident’s private jet later. At least, then, he’d be able to get himself off at the same time she did. “I have to go, Angel. My appointment just showed up.”
“Oh, good. Love you, Sir. Call me from the plane.”
“Love you, too, Angel. And I will—have JGG primed and ready to go.” A few months ago, he would’ve been embarrassed saying “I love you” to her over the phone in someone else’s presence, but now, he didn’t care who knew how much he loved his woman. She was the reason he lived each day with a lighter heart than he’d ever known, and now he had the chance to offer someone else a different reason to get up every morning.
Disconnecting the call, he set the phone on the dark wooden table as Reese took a seat. Ian flagged the waitress back over and handed her the bill with his credit card. “Sorry, we’ll be here longer than I thought. Keep the tab open for now, and please bring me another Bud Light. Reese, you want anything?”
The man glanced at the woman. “I’ll have the same, please.”
“Sure thing,” she responded before heading over to the bar.
Ian studied his potential new employee—it wasn’t a done deal yet. There were several mandatory requirements Reese had to accept. “You got in just under the wire. You sure you want to do this?”
The man’s eyes narrowed. “What? Did you finally come to the conclusion hiring me was a bad idea sometime in the past two hours?”
Shaking his head, Ian pushed his phone aside and crossed his arms on the table. “Not at all. Just making sure you’re a hundred percent positive before I expend any more energy on you.” He paused. “How was your session with the shrink?”
“Confidential.”
Ian snorted at the annoyed tone of voice for that one word. “Not if you’re on my team it isn’t. Rule number one for me hiring you—you’ll continue to see a shrink in Tampa whenever you’re in town. Two or three times a week, depending on what the doc says. I’ve got three of them from the government-approved list, who are experienced with veterans with PTSD, for you to choose from. You don’t like any of those, then we’ll look until we find one we both agree on.”
