“I don’t want to smell them on Darcy,” Raven added, his voice gruff once again.
Aubrey cocked her head to the side and frowned. “Smell them…”
Darcy tsked and quickly crossed the distance to Aubrey. “Ignore him,” she said with a dark look in Raven’s direction. “He’s the possessive sort.” She touched Aubrey’s arm briefly and motioned to the phone. “Continue with your ideas.”
Aubrey jerked her arm slightly and chuckled. “Ouch, you zapped me again.”
Darcy smiled. “Told ya it happened a lot. Sorry.” She turned around and winked at the group.
“No worries,” Aubrey said as she rubbed her arm then looked back at her phone. “Um…what was I saying?” She scrolled through her notes and gave her head a shake. “Right, two men, both armed. I’ve had extensive weapons training, as well as hand to hand combat and defense but I’m best with—”
“A bow.” Jaylon blurted, desperate to interject, to force her gaze his way once again.
Aubrey snapped her head to the side, practically knocking him on his ass with her stare. “I was going to say gun.” Her frown deepened. “How did you know I use a bow?”
Smooth. Way to play it cool. “I carried it upstairs didn’t I? I’m no stranger to hunting. I know the feel of a recurve over my shoulder.”
She held his gaze. “You could tell it was a recurve just by carrying it in a bag?”
Damn it! No, I could tell it was a recurve because I saw you take a shot at a werewolf. “Dave said you mentioned it in your interview, a hobby.” He lied. Darcy made another move toward her but Jay gave a minute shake of his head. At this rate, Aubrey would be so hopped up on whatever spell Darcy kept pumping her with that she’d soon forget why she was there at all.
“That’s right!” Dave nodded. “You did mention it briefly and it’s on your resume.”
Aubrey glanced at Dave. “I did?” Her frown deepened, as she almost certainly wondered why she would put something like that on her resume. It wasn’t really a skill that would come in handy for a personal security job.
“Heightened perception will be an asset. It’s a valuable skill to have. Dave will get whatever security clearance is necessary for the weapons needed.” Mayhem nodded in Dave’s general direction. “Any other questions you have can be answered by Darcy. We’re late for work.” He nodded at each of the men, leaving Jaylon for last. “Downstairs in five. We’ve got a few new songs to work on.”
Jaylon knew what that look meant. Get your ass downstairs and stop fucking shit up with Aubrey. But he couldn’t help it. It was like his brain shut down when he was near her. He needed, with every ounce of his being, to touch her, especially now as a tendril of her wet hair fell loose from the rest, and slipped across one eye. He wanted to be the one to brush it back behind her ear, to run his fingers down her cheek, along her jaw. He wanted to see if her skin felt as silky smooth to the touch as it looked.
Aubrey glanced from Mayhem to Jay and held his stare once again, those blue eyes of hers piercing him with questions. She opened her mouth and he snapped out of his reverie. “There’s a gym in the basement with everything you might want for a workout.” He shrugged as he dragged his gaze down her luscious body. “You look fit. I figured you’d want to know.”
Her eyes widened for a moment before crashing into a look of utter confusion. “Um…okay…thanks.”
“And if you’d like to do some target practice with the bow, the west lawn is safe. No one goes there.” He left before anyone could argue—more importantly, before he would say anything stupid or insulting. Besides, he had some shit to do.
Chapter Seven