Page 14 of Saved By the Marines (Soldiers Of Misfortune)

“Thanks,” she all but purred and I had to shift to ease the pressure behind the stupid tight fitted pants. Her hands raised and she started adjusting my bowtie. “You guys look really good, too.”

Jas snorted, but he looked away when her gaze met his. I was still shocked he was behaving himself around her, mostly. We’d see how long that lasted. Something about her was a thorn in his side. Probably the same thing that had my dick hard in my boxer briefs. Not something about her, everything about her.

Senator Michaels chose that moment to come down the stairs. He looked at us in surprise, but just nodded as he took his daughter’s hand and headed out toward the cars.

Probably didn’t think we’d clean up this nice.

Getting into our SUV, I smoothed out the arms of the jacket I was wearing and winked at Jasper, who climbed into the back seat. We should be riding with the senator and Bailey, but he’d insisted on us taking our own vehicle. Probably didn’t want us that close to his smoke show of a daughter.

Wolfe kept a close eye on the Senator’s vehicle in front of us as he drove.

“These get ups are uncomfortable as fuck, but I look damn good in mine,” I commented. Jas rolled his eyes and Wolfe shook his head. “Bet I could slay some serious pussy if we didn’t have to work.” I kept it to myself whose pussy I wanted to drive my cock into. Wolfe got a bit pissy about mixing work and pleasure.

“Shut up, you ugly asshole. We both know they wouldn’t go for you while I’m around,” Jas told me with a wide grin.

I chuckled as I turned in the seat to face him. That wiped the smirk off his face and his eyes narrowed on me. “You realize people think we’re all brothers,” I told him.

“So?”

“So if I’m ugly, then so are you, dumb ass.”

“Enough. I swear you two are worse than children,” Wolfe growled at us. “We have work to do tonight. We need to stay focused.”

Jas and I stopped bickering and a mischievous glint entered his eyes. We’d known each other long enough now that I didn’t need to wonder what his plan was. I waited as he grabbed Wolfe in a choke hold from behind. Wolfe swore, the vehicle swerving. As soon as he straightened it out, I reached over and scrubbed my hands over his gelled hair, making it stand up in tufts. Jas released him as I sat back in my own seat.

“Fucking children,” Wolfe muttered, running a hand through his hair to try to fix it. We all fell quiet after that. Wolfe ran us through our priorities for the night and we went over how we planned to keep an eye on the senator. He didn’t need to do the same for Bailey because taking our eyes off her was going to be damn near impossible.

We followed the senator and Bailey to the party, keeping an eye out for anything out of the ordinary. As soon as we stepped out and handed the vehicles off to the valet, Bailey caught sight of us and laughed.

“What happened to you?” she asked. When Wolfe just glowered around the room, casing it for anything that might be a threat, she stepped forward. “Lean down.”

Her father was already speaking with someone nearby, so we were waiting on him. I watched with envy as she helped smooth Wolfe’s hair back down. She was standing so close to him he had to be getting a good look down that bombshell dress.

“Bailey.” There was a disapproving tone in Senator Michael’s voice.

He didn’t treat the staff like human beings like his daughter did. He definitely didn’t like her touching us. Giving him a knowing smirk, I offered her my elbow. She took it and it gave me a smug sense of pleasure to watch the senator’s irritation grow. He wasn’t about to cause a scene in front of all these people though.

From there it was a whirlwind. I watched Bailey smile and laugh at all the appropriate places, but there was a dimness in her gorgeous green eyes that made me frown. Most women would love all the extravagance surrounding her, but if I had to guess I’d say she was miserable. She covered it well, but it was there. Her eyes didn’t match her smile. Then again, I didn’t know her very well yet. I could be wrong.

Everyone sat down to dinner and we lined up against the wall behind Bailey and her father’s chairs. She turned and laughed at us over her shoulder. “Your seats are right here.” She motioned to three seats across from her.

Senator Michaels shot her a dark frown. “You bought them plates?” He only kept his voice low enough that the guests surrounding us didn’t overhear.

“Yes, Father, I did. You said you wanted them to blend in.” She arched a brow at him and I had to smother a laugh.

“It’s ten thousand dollars a plate, Bailey.”

I choked on the swallow of wine I’d taken as soon as we’d sat down. Jas helpfully pounded my back until it felt like my lungs would burst out of my chest and land on the table in front of us.

Bailey fluttered her lashes and gave her father a wicked smile. “It’s for charity,” she said in an innocent voice. “Imagine how well it will reflect on you that you just donated fifty thousand dollars.”

This wasn’t one of his re-election fundraisers. It was for a local charity. It was clear to see that he wasn’t happy spending his own money and that if it wasn’t going to benefit his re-election efforts he wasn’t willing to do it.

I had to bite back a chuckle and both my friends were grinning at her backhanded response. The smile fled my face when Senator Michael’s hand fisted on the table cloth. If he thought he was going to do something stupid—like hit her—we were going to have a problem. I’d shove his ten-thousand-dollar plate up his ass.

Luckily for him, he pulled himself together just as the first round of food was being served. He chatted with others around him throughout the meal, the smarmy pleasant mask slipping over his face like it had always been there.

I didn’t like the man. Trusting my gut instinct was huge for me and something told me he was a piece of shit. Oh sure, he’d decked himself out in glitter and gold, but underneath he was still shit.

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