“Let’s get to work. And don’t get dead.”
Donovan slid his hand into mine and led the way through the house to the side door. There was a stretch limousine half pulled into the small garage, a whole third of its butt sticking out the door. Joss nearly knocked us over, pushing past us so that she could open the door. She even found a chauffeur’s hat somewhere that she took off and waved with a flourish as she bowed.
“Thank you, my lady,” Donovan said in his most haughty tone of voice as he ushered me inside.
Joss smacked his ass with the hat as he went to slip inside. “Hey!”
She just shrugged, looking around as though trying to find the real culprit.
Donovan laughed.
She slammed the door behind him and climbed into the front, making a show of closing the partition between the two sections to give us privacy. Donovan slid his arm around me and tugged me into his arms, kissing me quite intensely. I pressed my hand against his jaw, sliding my fingers over the curve just below his ear to tug him closer.
“I’ve wanted to do that all day,” he said when he came up for air.
“Me, too.”
I moved closer to him, resting my head against his chest, loving the feel of his heart beating under my cheek.
“Can I ask you a question?”
He groaned, the vibration rushing through me. “Haven’t we covered this already? Joss is not my girlfriend. I don’t have a girlfriend. I just let you think I did because I was trying to see how jealous you would get.”
“Nice to know,” I said. “But that’s not what I was going to ask.”
“Oh.”
“What’s the deal with Joss? Why doesn’t she talk?”
Donovan shifted, forcing me to sit up. He looked uncomfortable, like he didn’t really appreciate the turn in conversation.
“I’m just curious.”
“It’s really her story to tell.”
“Yeah, well, she’s not telling much of anything.”
He glanced at the partition, then he sighed.
“She had a family. She managed to do what the rest of us haven’t: find some normalcy outside the military. And from what Ash tells me, she was very happy. But then there was an accident…”
“Accidents seem to follow Ash and those close to him around.”
Donovan glanced at me, and I knew it was the wrong thing to say.
“Bad things happen sometimes, Kate. It doesn’t have anything to do with who you are or who you know.”
I sat up a little more and slid further over on the slick seat.
“You have nightmares. Ash and David lost their parents. Joss lost her family. What happened to Kirkland?”
“I don’t know what you mean.”
“You’re all broken.”
He glanced at me. “Not broken, Kate. Just human.”
“Yes, well, the five of you seem to be more human than most.”
Chapter 18
Donovan
The ballroom of the Florence Inn Hotel was a literal Who’s Who of Hollywood with a few Silicon Valley refugees and politicians thrown in for good measure. And Kate seemed to be in her element.
She strutted right into that room, a smile glued to her lips and greetings flying as she moved from person to person. I felt like a puppy on a leash being dragged across the floor without any idea of what the hell was going on around me.
“Better watch out for this one,” David said in my ear through the Bluetooth bud I’d placed there as we got out of the car, “she’s ambitious.”
“Mind your business,” I muttered.
The Bluetooth was supposed to be a way for the team to stay connected, not be a gossip channel. We couldn’t let ourselves get distracted from our mission. Even if these people were as overstuffed as the couch in my parents’ den.
About two hours in, Kate grabbed my hand and pulled me toward the dance floor.
“I need a break,” she said with a tired sigh.
“And here I thought it was just you wanting to be in my arms.”
“There is that, too.”
I pulled her into my arms, cradling her against my chest as we began to sway across the floor to a song that wasn’t really intended to be a slow song. But I don’t think she minded, and I knew I didn’t.
“Kind of makes up for the fact that you chickened out of taking me to prom.”
“Chicken out?” I pushed her back slightly so I could see her face. “You were the one who was afraid your dad would have a stroke or something when he found out about us.”
“Yeah. He might still.” There was a twinkle in her eye that I knew. She was teasing me.
“Is there something for him to find out?”
She shrugged even as she rose up on her tiptoes to kiss my bottom lip gently.
“Let’s not get distracted,” Ash immediately said in my ear.
I grabbed her hand and twirled her away from me, causing the guy dancing with some tall, blond woman a few feet to our right to glare at me. I shrugged, pretending to be slightly inebriated by stumbling as I gathered Kate back against me. The guy turned away.
“We better behave,” I whispered against her ear.