Chapter 2

Chapter Two

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Callie

“Why don’t you just come on as my girlfriend? Everyone will believe that, and you can get close without it looking…out of place.”

I take in the man standing in front of me. My gut reaction is to tell him to go fuck himself but that isn’t going to further the reputation of the S&P. I got lucky when Heath Phoenix and Quill Solace talked my brother into letting me come on the team. He was not excited about the prospect at all. And now this asshole is giving me shit.

It’s not like my brother sees me as anything other than a little girl. And this dipshit is going to make it ten times worse. I can feel my brother’s eyes on me waiting to see if I can handle myself the way I need to.

“I would rather be your maid. It will allow me to slip in unnoticed. Being your girlfriend is too…visible for me to do any good.”

“But I don’t take my maid to award shows with me and I highly doubt anyone is going to believe these two guys are anything other than security. They practically have it oozing from them.” He finally takes his eyes off me so he can run them over the others. “And I’m betting this one used to be a police officer.”

I see my brother’s eyebrow tick up. “How did you…? You read our bio.”

“No. I didn’t have time to get past Callie’s since Bruce just handed it to me. It’s in the way you stand, the way you carry yourself, and the way you keep checking all the exits. It’s been fairly recent that you made the change, I would assume. Most cops lose that rigidness over time.”

“Who are you?”

I see the corner of his mouth tilt up in an eat-shit grin. “I wasn’t always this pretty. I’m sure you know exactly what my background consists of since you probably did your homework before taking me on as a client. So, let’s cut the shit and get down to business. As I was saying, Callie pretending to be my girlfriend would make things run a lot smoother because then it would be expected for her to be everywhere I am. Makes the most sense.”

I bite the words I long to say back and give the arrogant jerk in front of me my coldest look. “That’s Ms. Thatcher.”

“What is?”

“My name. It’s Ms. Thatcher.”

“So, no husband.” He runs those eyes over me again and I have to fight the knee-jerk reaction to shiver. I can understand why so many women find him so hot. “Good to know.”

And that it’s made him so vain is also evident.

“Like I said I prefer to be your maid.”

“And I’m telling you that leaves a huge gap in my security.”

I finally turn to my brother who surprises me. The look on his face tells me he’s actually thinking about what this idiot is trying to propose.

“Absolutely not! Eli, you cannot be giving this serious thought. This is stupid. The stupidest thing I’ve ever heard.”

“It has some merit, sis.”

“No, it doesn’t.” I look over at Geo who is looking anywhere else but me. “You wouldn’t do this to any of your male security, damn it.”

“I’m not attracted to men sadly or your brother would be up for the part, I’m sure.”

“This is bullshit!” I spin on the balls of my feet and make my way to the front of the house. I already know the layout from the intel packet.

My arm is grabbed in a very familiar way telling me who is trying to stop me long before I decide to turn around. My brother. The asshole who agreed with the other asshole in the room.

“Look Callie, wait just a minute. Can you please just wait?” Because he asked, I stop and turn to stare him down. “Look we’re not asking you to sleep with the guy. Just pretend to be his girlfriend for a few weeks. I don’t like it any more than you do and wouldn’t ask if I didn’t think it was needed.”

I roll my lips between my teeth until they are nothing more than a thin line of disappointment. I know that’s what I look like because I’ve seen that same look on the man standing in front of me.

“I get it stinks, but it’s part of the job and you wanted to do the job.”

“That isn’t fair, Eli.”

He doesn’t say anything else but, in my head, I can hear him finish the thought. Life isn’t fair, you take what it hands you and you get over it. The words aren’t said in my brother’s voice though but that of my father. God knows I’ve been told the refrain enough over the years. I got it every time I tried to do something my big brother did. When he went to the police academy to follow in our father’s footsteps, I informed our father I wanted to do the same…and got the whole spiel. He didn’t want me to be a police officer because it was too dangerous. He didn’t want my mom to worry about her daughter. Her daughter. Like I wasn’t even his child because I was a girl.

I straighten my spine and look at my brother. He didn’t want me to do this either. My safety was mentioned again, even though I shoot better than him, I beat his ass at hand to hand, and I passed all the tests required with better scores than anyone else, including him. They aren’t going to take this away from me. Not this time.

“Fine. I’ll be his freakin’ fake girlfriend but when Dad asks how things are going with the new job, I’m so ratting you out over this.”

I turn back around to find the movie star standing in front of me. He must have cut through the living room in order to make it ahead of me. The smile on his face says he heard every word spoken between me and my brother. Damn it. This whole job has gone to hell so fast it’s like a runaway train veering off the tracks…while on fire. And looking at Mr. Hollywood’s smarmy smirk only makes the feeling of impending disaster that much more certain.