Campaign of Desire (CSA Case Files 4) (30 page)

“Ethan needs more than that,” Lach said, allowing Lauren to get in her hug. Ever since he’d taken a bullet for her, she’d treated him like royalty. If it didn’t ruffle Connor’s feathers so much, Lach would have put a stop to it long ago. “Lauren, this is Phoebe. Phoebe, Lauren.”

“Does he expand his vocabulary around you?” Lauren said with a twinkle in her green eyes. She winced when Derrick grabbed a hold of one of her auburn locks, his grip looking sticky as well as tight. “It’s nice to meet you, Phoebe. This is the man of the hour, Derrick. I’m just the honorary aunt. Please come inside out of the cold.”

“It’s nice to meet you as well.”

Phoebe had her public relations smile displayed on her face. It was one that Lach recognized well and as much as he wanted to reassure her that she would fit in and that the hour would pass by quickly, what happened next derailed that by a landslide.

“Did you like the corset I made? The sapphires that I attached around the breast cup came out beautiful, although I did have to make sure they were a couple centimeters away from the edge so they didn’t bother your skin.” Lauren put Derrick down and holding him steady by the hands, he took three steps toward his mother who was on her knees waiting for him. “Phoebe, this is Derrick’s mother, Emily. You know a lot of the men on the team, so it’s better to associate us to them. I’m Connor’s fiancée and Emily is Jax’s wife.”

“Thank you so much for allowing me to join the party,” Phoebe replied with a courtesy smile and nod. She gave no indication that Lauren’s talk of the corset had thrown her off of her stride, although he could see Phoebe’s fingers tighten on the wrapping paper. He lifted the gift out of her hands and handed it to Lauren. “Lach’s told me a lot about all of you.”

“We’re glad that you’re here, Phoebe.” Emily picked up Derrick and placed him on her hip, watching with amusement as the agent behind them closed the door and took his stance between the exit and a window. “What can I get you to drink? Everyone seems to have congregated in the kitchen, but we’re still waiting for Crest, Kevin, and Elle.”

“A water will be fine, thank you.”

As everyone turned to go through the living room and into the kitchen, Lach put a restraining hand on Phoebe’s arm. Not wanting Lauren and Emily to overhear, he slowly took off Phoebe’s coat along with his own. He hung them on the coat rack next to where the agent was standing, ignoring what appeared to be a smirk on the man’s face. Just because he was Secret Service didn’t mean that Lach wouldn’t take him out if necessary.

“Phoebe, Lauren’s job is to redesign certain items, not unlike your gift. Mainly by adorning them with gems. She usually doesn’t do clothing, but I put in a special request.”

“And you didn’t think you should tell me that before I met her?” Phoebe asked, although the words strung together as more of a hiss. She was running her hands down the front of her denim and fixing what appeared to be nonexistent problem with the hem of her sweater. “Is there anything else I should know?”

Lach sighed audibly when the door opened behind them, revealing Kevin and Elle. The kitchen door swung open at the exact same time and he knew that as everyone filed into the living room, Lauren and Emily had told everyone else that he was here with a woman. Lach had spent some time together sharing his past with Phoebe, but he hadn’t really gone into the personal details of the team. What the hell had made Lach think this was a good idea?

*   *   *   *

Phoebe laughed when Derrick plopped into her lap as she was sitting cross-legged on the floor. Lauren and Emily were also in the large circle, the opened presents in the middle with wrapping paper and ribbons strewn everywhere. Derrick loved all of his gifts and couldn’t keep his attention on just one. Elle, whom Phoebe had figured out was Kevin’s girlfriend upon earlier introductions, was on the couch with Jessie. The men had disappeared back into the kitchen, along with Taryn. The only one who had yet to make an appearance was Gavin Crest.

“I have to say, I haven’t had this much fun since, well, I can’t remember when,” Phoebe said, loving the ease in which the ladies got along. It was refreshing to be around these types of friends versus the formal settings she usually found herself in. That’s what they felt like too—friends. “Again, I appreciate you letting me join.”

“Are you kidding?” Elle took another bite of her cake before finishing what she was saying. “You take the pressure off of me. Being the new girl in the group can be hazardous, especially with Ethan around.”

“Oh, I wouldn’t say…” Phoebe wasn’t sure how to proceed with this conversation. Were she and Lach together as in
together
? Or were they still in the too early stages of this exploration to actually label it? She launched into her public persona. “Lach and I are taking things slow. It’s not easy having a Secret Service agent around twenty-four seven when trying to get to know someone.”

“I can so relate,” Lauren said, leaning back against the base of the couch. “Connor and I met during one of his cases, and honestly things haven’t calmed down since.”

“You don’t even want to know my story,” Emily quipped, clapping her hands as Derrick stood once again and wobbled his way over to his mother. “That would take a whole Friday night and two bottles of wine.”

“I’m the only normal one here,” Jessie said, waving her hand.

“Oh please,” Elle replied, reaching behind her to place her empty plate on the side table. “You want to talk about chemistry? The tension between you and—”

“Hello, ladies.” Crest stood in the doorway, pinning Elle with a stare as if daring her to continue. Much to Phoebe’s amazement, the tall beautiful woman with the most stunning raven colored hair she’d ever seen stood and gave the formidable man a hug. He returned the gesture, although Phoebe felt like she missed something important. “Where is the team?”

“In the kitchen,” Elle replied, waving a hand in that direction before taking back up her position on the couch. “Go. We’re having more fun without you guys. Oh, and Derrick loves the blocks. Thank you very much.”

No one spoke a word until Crest had maneuvered his way through the mess, although he did take time to stop and wish Derrick a happy birthday. Jessie had brought Crest’s gift with her, a set of large age appropriate building blocks, due to the fact that he knew he would be running late. The little boy had grabbed a hold of the older man’s tie and Phoebe was struck by how gentle Crest was in first distracting the boy and then removing it from his grasp. Within seconds the ladies and Derrick were left alone once more.

“There is no way that he isn’t in the lifestyle,” Elle commented, patting Jessie’s leg. Phoebe once again felt a little left out, but remained silent in hopes of garnering more information. “You’ve got your work cut out for you.”

“He’s made his position clear,” Jessie said, reaching for her water bottle that was on her side of the couch. “I now have to make mine. Can we talk about something else please? How is the club doing now that Elle isn’t managing it? Has it fallen into rubble? I haven’t been there to play these last few weeks.”

Phoebe felt like she’d been slammed in the chest, but she did her best to cover it up. Two things had hit her at once. Elle had been referencing that Jessie and Crest had something going on between them and that Jessie had to be talking about Masters. She focused on the second part of that revelation. Did this mean that Lach wasn’t the only one who was into the lifestyle?

“Jax took over the accounting while Eden, the new bartender, does the inventory,” Emily said, grabbing a soccer ball from the box of sports balls that Lach had purchased. She rolled it to Derrick, who was standing in the middle of the uneven circle. “Connor took responsibility for the background checks on the members.”

“Um, bear with me, but we are talking about Masters, right?” Phoebe couldn’t contain the question and she was grateful when the women didn’t blink an eye at her inquiry.

“Jax and Connor are co-owners of the club,” Lauren explained, reaching back for a hair tie that Elle was holding out for her. She gathered up her auburn curls and secured them in such a way that the strands were out of her face yet cascaded over the back of her shoulders. “Elle used to manage Masters until she took over for a non-profit organization that offers women assistance who need help off of the streets.”

“You run the Crescent Foundation, right?” Elle asked, leaning forward with excitement. “I’d love to share ideas with you sometime.”

“I’d like that,” Phoebe replied, meaning every word. She was still reeling from the information she’d just learned, but she didn’t feel comfortable asking too many questions. She would certainly speak with Lach about it, considering he’d left out some very important information. “I haven’t been to the offices lately, but I plan to stop by next week if you’d like a tour. It’s nothing fancy, but you could meet the volunteers that I have on staff.”

“Too much testosterone in there,” Taryn muttered, bursting through the door. Phoebe had met her earlier and loved her feistiness. She gave as good as she got with the men, never backing down. “Ethan is driving me crazy.”

“He’s worried about you,” Emily said, lifting her knees up to her chest so that Taryn could squeeze by on her way to the couch. Derrick followed her and then made a squeal when she picked him up. Taryn settled herself in between Jessie and Elle, Derrick on her lap as he tried to take her glasses. “We all are.”

“I’m fine,” Taryn declared, finally allowing Derrick to have her eyeglasses. It didn’t interest him long and he dropped them in her lap, crawling down her legs to play with something else. He wobbled his way on unsteady feet to pick up another new toy. “Phoebe, tell us, does Lach say more than ten words to you?”

“Yes,” Phoebe responded with a laugh at how Taryn had gracefully changed the subject. “Although he does revert back to his standard, especially when dealing with the agents assigned to me. I think he scares the Secret Service.”

A cough sounded from the entryway and Phoebe flushed, realizing that the agent could hear every word that was said. Having someone around twenty-four seven was wrong on so many levels, but she knew it was necessary. It was so nice not to have to worry about who she was with this group of women. They hadn’t asked her once about her father or the campaign.

“It’s too quiet in here,” Ethan announced as he swung open the door and snatched Derrick off of the ground. The little boy screamed his delight and clapped his hands. The other men followed, Lach bringing up the rear. Phoebe had thought that he and Crest were the only ones carrying, but something made her think they were all armed in some way. It most likely had to do with the man they were looking for and not the fact that she was here. It had occurred to her that who she was might pose a problem for them. “Phoebe, what’s your secret on making McKinnon talk? I heard him actually carry on a conversation with you earlier.”

Lach flipped Ethan off behind Derrick’s head. Phoebe thought it funny that there was a jar full of one-dollar bills on a side table labeled
cuss jar
. The only one to have to put one in this afternoon had been Jax when Ethan came out of the kitchen with popcorn. She wasn’t sure what the joke was with that, but she found herself so entertained by this group that she figured she’d find out sooner or later. At least she hoped.

“Dollar,” Emily quipped, hitting Lach on the back of the calf.

“I didn’t say a word.”

“Flipping the bird counts.” Emily leaned back against Jax when he took a seat behind her. “Ask Jax. That’s how he thought he’d get around it when Connor would show up unexpected.”

“What can I say?” Jax replied with a shrug. “I allow her to run a tight ship everywhere but the bedroom.”

Emily must have pinched him somehow, some way, because Jax grabbed both of her hands and then playfully bit her neck. It struck Phoebe how at ease everyone was and how they’d gone out of their way to make her feel the same. When she glanced up at Lach who was holding his hands out to her, his dark eyes contained a mixture of emotions. One being that they’d overstayed their welcome and that he wanted her back at his place to continue where they’d left off two nights prior. Her body instantly reacted and she placed her hands within his.

“Speaking of the bedroom,” Lach murmured against Phoebe’s ear once she was standing, “I think we’re well overdue for some time to ourselves. You have thirty seconds to say goodbye to everyone or I’m not responsible for my actions.”

Chapter Twenty-Three