The Men with the Golden Cuffs (Masters and Mercenaries #2)(78)

Sure enough, Serena was sniffling into her phone. “It just didn’t work out. Fine. Okay. I did. Well, both of them. No. We didn’t get to that part. They decided they didn’t want me.”

“Bullshit, Serena, and that’s twenty for lying.” Jake narrowed his eyes, attempting to Dom her from the front seat.

She looked up at him. “You can’t spank me anymore.”

“Watch me.”

She went back to her phone call, though a little quieter now. “See, he’s brutal. No. Yes. I didn’t say I didn’t like it, but I don’t now because he’s an *. Can’t we just talk about this at lunch?”

“There’s no lunch, Serena,” Jake said. “We’re going home.”

“She has lunch with Bridget and Chris once a week. This was the only day they could do it this week. I coordinated their schedules. I made the reservation myself,” Adam pointed out. He already knew her habits. He loved to be involved in the ins and outs of her daily life. He had no interest in being one of those boyfriends who went his own way ninety percent of the time and just came to his lover for a little sex. He wanted to be important to her. Hell, he wanted to be indispensable.

A fat lot of good that had done him.

“I always have lunch with my friends. It’s the only time I get out.” Serena had her hand over the phone, and there was a lost look on her face.

Adam understood. It was her routine. She found comfort it in. The rest of her life was a chaotic mess, and she wanted to be with the only two people in the world who hadn’t let her down. It was just a couple of hours, and she would be safe.

Jake held his line, but Adam had known he would. “No. You’re going to cancel everything. Including that signing.”

“I can’t cancel the signing.”

“She can’t cancel the signing. We have everything in place.” Adam had worked his ass off to make sure that signing happened.

She frowned, that gloriously plump bottom lip quivering just a little. “But if I cancel the signing, then the terrorist wins.”

He wanted to laugh. She was so damn funny.

Jake didn’t seem to find it amusing. “And if I don’t make you cancel it, then I let the terrorist gut you with a really big knife.”

God, Adam wanted to keep her safe, but he was kind of on Serena’s side on this one. What were they doing here if she couldn’t even make a single appearance to promote her own work? “Aren’t we supposed to be protecting her so she can go on with her daily life?”

Serena leapt right on that. She pointed to Adam. “What he said.” She put the phone back to her ear. “Sorry, babe, we’re trying to figure out if the reasonable * is going to win or if the guy with a two-by-four shoved straight up his ass will prevail. Yes, that’s Jake.”

Adam stifled a laugh, but Jake turned around in his seat. “Two-by-four, Serena? Sweetheart, that’s nothing compared to the plug I’m going to shove up yours. You know what little brats who tease their Doms get? They get a nice fat ginger root shoved up their rectum.”

She whispered into the phone. “Yes, he just threatened to fig me. No. He can’t do that because he isn’t really my Dom. No. Ewww. You can’t watch. That’s not research, Chris.”

Jake looked back at Adam, sadly shaking his head. “You don’t have any say in this, man. You already checked out.”

Adam felt a little surge of anger. Jake had gotten him in this trouble in the first place. He’d been the one to get Adam really angry. If they had done this Adam’s way, they would have climbed into bed with her and asked her about the situation. But no. Jake had to make a worst-case scenario out of everything, and now he wanted to shove Adam out? “I am still on this case. If you have a problem with it, take it up with Ian.”

Jake wasn’t the only one who could make a decision. Adam switched lanes and made the next right hand turn.

“Where are you going?” Jake asked, his voice tight.

“It’s Saturday. It’s almost eleven o’clock. I’m taking our client to her lunch date.”

“Reasonable * won. But I think he won because he’s driving. I’m not sure I’ll be allowed out of the car,” Serena informed Chris. “Yeah. I totally need one. Order a pitcher.”

“No liquor, Serena,” Jake barked. He turned his eyes back to Adam. “I need to know you’re still in this with me.”

“I’ll keep her safe. I’ll do my job.” But he was already thinking about how much her smile lit up his whole f*cking day. How was he going to keep his hands off her? Because she’d made it plain she didn’t want him anymore. He wasn’t going to beat his head against a wall. He’d been up front and honest about everything he wanted, and the first mistake he made she’d tossed him out without even being willing to listen to an explanation. He’d been down that road before, and he couldn’t do it again.

“That wasn’t I meant, man.” Jake sat back, a long sigh coming out of his chest. “I need you, man. I’m not any f*cking good at this. I can’t save it on my own.”

“There’s nothing to save except her life. Let’s do what we should have done in the first place. Do our jobs. She’s the client. Nothing more.” He kept his words quiet, but every syllable was an ache in his gut.