“Do you really not see how beautiful you are? Or do you hope no one else sees it?”
“I know I’m okay to look at,” I said, walking over to him. “You’re right that I don’t want people noticing my appearance.”
Saint leaned forward and rested his elbows on the counter. “When you say appearance, do you mean hair and eyes? Or are we talking about your T and A?”
“What do you think?”
Saint stood up and slid closer to me. “I think you have curves in all the right places and it’s not a bad thing for a man to notice them.”
Feeling grumpy again, I shrugged. Saint leaned closer and his lips brushed against my cheek.
“Most men aren’t Playboy,” he whispered then teased my lips with his. “I know I’m not.”
“Two nights sharing the same bed proved you aren’t,” I said, staring into his eyes. “Did you want to touch me?”
Saint stepped back and frowned. “Now, you’re messing with me.”
“Yeah, but you started it.”
Grinning, he took my hand. “Let’s have a quick breakfast before the big game. I can’t wait to shoot someone with a paintball gun. I really hope I get one of those smug rich boys.”
I walked with him out of the apartment to the elevator. “You were a smug rich boy once. Why all the hate?”
“No hate. I know how much they need to be shot. All rich boys do. I’m doing them a favor, you see?” he said, giving me a wink.
Saint’s good mood infected me and I smiled the entire ride to the Johansson house. He parked the SUV behind a dozen others and looked at me.
“I have to play tough guy during the match.”
“No problem,” I said, grumpy again. “I wasn’t going to make goo-goo eyes at you the whole time.”
“Weren’t you?” he said, grinning.
“I have a rep to protect too.”
Saint studied me before sighing. “We better go before I decide to ditch this crap and take you somewhere private.”
Rolling my eyes, I still grinned at how his gaze made me feel like the most stunning woman ever. My vanity didn’t last once Vaughn slopped paint on my face.
“I’m going to have you hide in the bushes and ambush people,” he whispered, wiping excess paint on his camo pants. “Don’t tell Saint our plan.”
“Right because it’s such an amazing fucking strategy.”
Judd laughed. “He’s a horrible leader.”
“Fine, you be the leader.”
Judd shrugged. “Harlow, you feel free to run around screaming and drawing them all towards you. We’ll hide and pick them off as they shoot you.”
Vaughn frowned at me. “Tell him that’s stupid.”
“I think you’re both stupid, but the only way to prove I’m right is to do one of your plans today and the other one tomorrow. I’ll hide today and prove Vaughn’s an idiot.”
“The mouth on this one,” Vaughn said to Judd who shook his head in fake disbelief.
The guys goofed around a bit more before putting on their angry enforcer masks for Cooper who was tense.
“Be careful. I don’t want you getting hurt,” he said to me.
“You’re worried about us too, right?” Vaughn asked.
Cooper shrugged and walked away. Laughing, I pointed at the dissed enforcers. They repaid my laughter by finding me a bush to hide in that smelled like dog crap. Getting comfortable in the hot, stinky hiding spot, I waited for someone to walk by that I could ambush.
Hiding proved difficult when a guy stopped at my bush to take a piss. I jumped up before he whipped out his hose. Our guns pulled, he had the better shot, but didn’t take it. I pulled the trigger and nailed him in the shoulder.
“Ow,” Cowboy said, still aiming at me.
I heard a sound behind me just in time to see Dutch fire his paintball gun. His shot landed against my thigh.
“Hell, yeah, ow.” I frowned at Cowboy. “Why didn’t you take the shot?”
“The bush was blocking your thigh,” he said, backing up. “Your scary boyfriend said we could only shoot you in the outer thigh or else he would go Hulk on us.”
I spotted Judd and Vaughn lurking behind Dutch and Shadow, so I kept talking. “Wait, you don’t think I can handle myself out here just because I’m a girl,” I whined, beginning to fake cry behind my hands.
The men frowned at me in the way men tended to frown when searching for an off button for a woman’s tears. Before realizing the con, Dutch and Shadow were shot in the backs.
“See you guys tomorrow,” I said, walking away.
Vaughn and Judd disappeared back into the woods to hunt more targets. I knew the Three Musketeers remained behind me, but I wasn’t interested in them. No, I was looking to have a talk with my babysitter. While I expected that coddling shit from Vaughn, I couldn’t believe Saint would pull it. We needed to have a chat about putting Harlow in the corner.
Chapter Twenty Four ~ Saint