Three Little Words (Fool's Gold #12)

Angel’s expression turned pained. “You get the glory because you’re in sales. We’re all working just as hard.”


“Do you hear anything?” Ford asked Justice. “I’m getting a buzzing sound in my ear.”

Justice turned from his laptop and opened the folders. He glanced at the printed copies of emails, along with the signed contracts.

The workload at CDS was divided equally. Justice, who had pulled the business together, coordinated all their activities and kept everything running smoothly. Consuelo was in charge of classes and training. Angel put together custom programs for their security clients and the corporate customers, while Ford was in charge of sales.

“Don’t make trouble,” Justice said mildly as he reviewed the documents. He was tall and broad shouldered, and the only one of them wearing a suit. Ford, Angel and Consuelo had on cargo pants and T-shirts, which in Consuelo’s case was really a tank top. The influence of their military training. The clothes provided for easy movement in any situation.

“Nice,” Justice said, looking up. He turned to Angel. “I’ll touch base with the companies to find out the details of what they’re looking for. Then you can start designing the programs.”

Angel looked disgusted. “How are you doing that? You have new clients nearly every week and we’ve only been open a month.”

“Jealous? I’m good at what I do.”

“Don’t make me separate you two,” Consuelo said.

“I’ve got style, bro,” Ford said, ignoring her. “Real style.”

There were three parts to the CDS business plan. The first types of client were ones already in the security business. CDS provided advanced training for senior operatives and basic training for new hires. Most companies found it cheaper to outsource instruction.

The second source of income came from corporate clients looking for a unique team-building experience. Using the town as a selling point, Ford presented the idea of a simple series of survival exercises to grow trust in a group. Most of the corporate clients picked weeks of festivals for their dates, bringing in the employees on Monday and flying in family members to join them on Thursday. At the end, there would be a group hug and a round of “Kumbaya.” Or some crap like that.

The final source of income was from classes held for locals. Self-defense and basic exercise. It was good for the town, good for CDS, and that was all he cared about.

“You don’t have style,” Angel grumbled. “Look at that thing you drive.”

“It’s a classic.”

“It’s an embarrassment to Jeeps everywhere. The company should come take it away from you.”

His friend’s comment made him think about what Isabel had said. Which made him think about last night and the feel of his mouth on hers.

Nice. More than nice. He’d been aware of wanting to pull her close and do a lot more than kiss. Sometime while he’d been gone, his ex-girlfriend’s little sister had grown up. Now she was funny, sexy and completely off-limits. Isabel was troubled and he didn’t do troubled. She was also the commitment type, which, again, was not him. But a guy could sure dream.

“If we could get back to business,” Justice said. He went through the rest of the schedule. “Angel’s getting more work than he can handle.”

“Thanks to me.” Ford grinned. “Damn, I’m good.”

Consuelo rolled her eyes.

“Don’t ask him to help me,” Angel demanded. “Don’t even think about it.”

“You can’t design all the curriculum yourself,” Justice reminded him. “Not at the beginning when it’s all new. We’ll all help.”

“But I’ll be the most help,” Ford said.

Angel lunged for him. They tumbled to the floor, wrestling and punching each other.

Neither of them was trying very hard. If either of them put in any effort, there would be a fairly serious injury...or seven. Justice had already lectured them on not doing anything to increase their health insurance premiums.

“Are we done?” Consuelo asked.

“Apparently,” Justice said and turned back to his computer.

Angel rolled Ford a couple of times and tried to get an arm around his neck. Ford twisted and got away, only to have his friend pull him back to the mat. Consuelo grabbed her coffee and stepped over them.

At the door, she paused and looked back. “The Maá-zib Festival is coming up. The highlight is a man getting his heart cut out. I’m volunteering both of you for the sacrifice. Don’t worry about thanking me.”

CHAPTER THREE