“Oh, really? Because I did.”
Liam stood beside Ian, only mocking his ultra-alpha stance a little. Maybe a lot. “Would you like to let me know how you’re going to explain little Miss Sunshine to our mark? I thought you were doing the gay thing as your cover.”
“Our cover is solid.” Adam pointed down to his pants, a ridiculously tight pair of denims that molded to his legs. “Look, jeggings. Trust me, there’s no worry on that front.”
Jake grinned. “They didn’t have any in my size. Guess guys as big as me don’t wear jeggings.”
An arm crept around Adam’s waist. “I think you look hot, babe. And I’m not exactly staying with them, you know, Ian. I have a very nice hotel room in Kensington. That’s on the whole other side of the city.”
“There’s nowhere in London that’s not a couple of Tube stops away. You are getting back on a plane tonight,” Ian said.
Jake and Adam started to puff up. Serena moved from between them and faced down Ian herself. Or rather faced up. She was a good foot shorter than him.
“I’m not going home.”
Ian growled.
“Fine. I’m not going home, Sir.” Serena stood her ground even though she flinched just a little. “I might be pregnant.”
Ian’s eyes flared. “Then why were you drinking vodka tonics the last time I saw you?”
“It’s too early to tell.” Serena’s eyes were wide with a hint of mischief in them.
“Oh, I can tell, Serena,” Ian shot back. “I can walk outside right now and find a stick for you to pee on.”
That was Ian. Always a giver.
“Back off, Ian.” Jake pulled her back.
“Not when she’s disrupting the op,” Ian replied.
Serena’s eyes rolled in a way that would ensure her ass was red at some point in the day. She was an awfully cute little brat. “I’m not going to disrupt anything. And I’m not leaving. We’re trying to get pregnant. I can’t get pregnant if my husbands are on a different continent. And before you offer to ship their sperm via UPS, you should know that I intend to do this the old-fashioned, traditional way.”
Yes, Serena Dean-Miles was so traditional she’d married two men. Well, legally she’d married one, but the other had come along for the ride. “Serena, you have to stay in Kensington. You can’t come to Jake and Adam’s place. I don’t even want you within a mile of Liverpool station.”
Avery’s apartment was in a building just across from the station. She was conveniently situated between a fast food joint and a pub called Dirty Dick’s.
Serena turned to him, her eyes bright as though she recognized a reprieve when it was offered to her. “I promise. I won’t go near that part of the city. I’m working on a book. I’m on a hard deadline, so it’s very unlikely you’ll see me at all. I’ll just send them a text when I’m ovulating.”
Adam grinned. “We tag team on the baby making. It’s my sperm’s turn next time.”
Ian groaned. “God, I did not need to hear that.”
Liam didn’t understand the impulse to create a tiny human thing that would be utterly dependent on him and require hours of upkeep. Simple. That was the only way to live, and that meant avoiding hairy entanglements like children. He could barely maintain friendships. “Can we move on to the actual work portion of this evening?”
He wanted the rundown on the blond asshole who’d been hitting on her. She’d obviously known him. He didn’t need competition. He needed to be the only thing little Avery thought about. He needed to find a way to become her obsession.
Serena’s eyes lit up, and she ran for her notepad. Liam groaned. If he let her stay, she would inundate the whole team with questions and then later this little meeting would undoubtedly show up in one of her books.
“Jake and Adam, no civvies allowed.” Liam didn’t want to become one of her bloody heroes. They inevitably lost their balls to some girl.
Serena looked up. “What? Come on. I just want to take a few notes.”
Adam simply picked his sub up and started for the door. “You’ve pushed them enough, love. Time to go and wait for us to be done. You knew we were working. I’m taking you back down to the dungeon.”
She pouted up at him. “Yeah, but I thought I could watch.”
“Not this time, baby. Sit out in the club and don’t pester Master Damon with questions,” Jake said as his partner opened the door.
“But he seems so interesting.” Serena’s voice faded as Adam carried her away.
“We’ll be lucky if Damon doesn’t toss us out on our arses, as he would say.” Ian growled right before throwing himself in the chair at the head of the table. “Reports, people.”