Page 76 of Second First Kiss

He’d been distracted by her on the night one of the robberies had occurred. Had one taken place the night they’d had sex?

Avoiding his gaze, Kat stacked her papers and stood. “That’s all that I have for now. I’ll work on figuring out a way to narrow down who it could be and how much stock is missing. And I will reset everyone’s passwords, and start building a new firewall, but I’ll have to start from the ground up.”

“That works for us,” Lucas said. “Better safe than have something like this happen again.”

She looked at Lucas with so much hesitation and insecurity in her expression Nolan wanted to pull her into his lap and cradle her until she knew that it wasn’t her fault. That it was all on him. He’d made the decision to fool around. He was a big boy, and he could take the heat.

“Anything else?” Lucas asked when she hesitated.

“I was going to email you, but I figured it was a family decision so I might as well bring it up here,” she said, then looked down at her boots in a rare sign of vulnerability. “I don’t know if you’ve all heard that I’m fighting for custody of my kid sister and it’s a big fight. A letter of reference from my boss stating that I’m now working a respectable job would go a long way in convincing the social worker and judge that I’m fit to care for my sister.”

“Not a problem,” Nolan said with a fierce protectiveness coursing through his body.

“I addressed the entire family,” she said. Then she whispered for his ears only, “I don’t want special treatment because of … you know.”

Again addressing the group, she continued. “You don’t have to answer me now. In fact, take your time to think and discuss it. And thank you all for giving me this opportunity.”

With that she turned to walk out of the office. Nolan couldn’t help himself. He stood and held open the door for her. She shot him a look cold enough to cryogenically freeze his nuts. As she passed through, he caught a whiff of that surprising floral perfume she always wore.

Chin up, she walked down the hallway, her hips swinging in a show of what he was never going to have. And it wasn’t his dick that was aching—it was his heart.

The door shut and everyone burst out laughing.

“No problem?” Lucas, the only one not laughing, said, repeating Nolan’s earlier statement. “Your girlfriend’s been working here less than a week and you’re ready to give her a company-backed recommendation.”

“She’s not my girlfriend and, yes, I am. She’s been working for us down at the bar for nearly three years and she’s a damn hard worker. She’d also make a great guardian for her sister. Hell, she’s already the parental figure. Plus, I’ve seen her with Tessa, and she loves that kid. Would do anything for her. We’re writing the letter.”

“Nolan’s right,” Milly said.

“I’m with Milly,” Jax added.

“You can count me as a hell yes,” Brynn said.

Nolan didn’t usually use his size to intimidate his brothers, but this subject was a nonstarter. They would write that letter and Lucas would sign it on company letterhead. Nolan puffed out his chest and stood to his full six foot three, just to make sure Lucas knew what was what.

“Not your girlfriend, my ass.” Lucas rolled his eyes. “Can we get back to business? I have back-to-back meetings today.”

“Works for me. But for the record, I’m trying to respect her wishes.”

“Glad to know. Now back to beefing up security. What else are we doing?”

“After learning that, I’m putting up covert cameras that will work on a separate system so that no one but the people in this room and the people working on the project will know about it. I’m also having all the locks rekeyed, and adding locks with keypads so everyone will have their own code so we know who’s going where and when.”

Brynn raised her hand. “I hate to even bring this up. But should we tell Mom and Dad?”

All four brothers said no in unison.

“How can we not tell them?” Brynn, the family blabbermouth, went on.

“Do you want them to give up Santa Barbara and move back to Sierra Vista?” Harris asked.

“Yes,” she said. “Yes, I do. I still can’t believe Mom and Dad are selling the house.”

“I’m thrilled for them,” Nolan said. “They deserve this. After all the shit we put them through as kids, and all the years they ran this lodge, I’m glad they’re putting themselves first.”

“I am too, obviously,” Brynn said. “But do they really have to sell the house? I mean, all our memories are there.”

Nolan had a moment of reflection. He hadn’t thought about some other family living in his house. Not having Christmas morning there around the fireplace, picking their own tree from their vast yard of sequoias and Douglas firs. Then there were his parents. They were no longer going to be a car ride away. They were eight hours away, which hadn’t been so bad, but that had only been three months of separation. Without his mom’s pressure would the siblings really keep up with weekly family dinners? And BBQ on Monday Night Football?

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