Ultimate Courage (True Heroes #2)(68)

“You and Souze have been going out in public.” Confused, she tipped her head to the side.

Laughter danced in Alex’s eyes. “Yes, but this time it’ll be with this purpose in mind and I can’t think of something I want to do more than take you out to dinner.”

“Oh.” She bit her lip and blinked back emotion. “I’d like that a lot.”

More than that. To be included, be a part of it. She’d love to.

“Good. After work, I’ll get Cruz or Forte to give you a ride with a two-hour head start over to Revolution to get freshened up. Then Souze and I’ll come pick you up for an early dinner. Sound good?”

She smiled. “Absolutely.”

He kissed her then, and his hands roamed over her.

Laughing, she came up for air. “We do have work today.”

He growled against her throat. “And it’ll still be there for us.”

“I refuse to be late!” She squirmed and gasped when he slid a finger inside her.

“We’ll be quick.”

She clutched at his shoulders and answered, breathless, “Okay. Quick. Quick is good.”

He was ready. It was hot. And oh wow, his idea of quick blew her mind.

*



“I’m home!” A ten-year-old whirlwind blew into the front reception area.

Elisa smiled. Or maybe she was still smiling from when Alex and she had made it back to Hope’s Crossing just a couple of hours earlier. “Welcome back. Your dad’s wrapping up the first morning agility class and then he’ll meet you up at the house for second breakfast. Mind if I join you two?”

She loved the idea of second breakfast on the weekends. Actually, the men of Hope’s Crossing did it all through the week because they ate like training athletes. Five to six small meals a day. But on weekends, they did it so Boom could snack with them and get in quality time with her father.

“Duh. Food is always better when you join us. Dad actually talks.” Boom stampeded past the front desk. “Heading up to the house now.”

Elisa actually glanced up from entering the data for the latest new client and did a double-take. “Whoa. Hold it.”

Boom froze, ducking her head and lifting her shoulders as if cringing would hide what Elisa had already seen.

“Let’s see.” Elisa stood up to see over the high counter of the reception desk better.

Slender shoulders slumped, and Boom turned to face her.

No laughing. Laughing would be bad. “I take it you ladies had a sort of makeup experiment last night?”

Boom heaved an exaggerated sigh. “This morning before breakfast.”

Oh, dear. So the raccoon-style eyeliner and mascara had been on purpose and not the result of a night sleeping with it on. “I see. And all of you have similar…looks?”

“Maybe?” Boom scrunched up her face. “Marlene brought her mom’s makeup kit, and we each did our own. Grace and Marlene have more practice.”

“Ah.” Elisa struggled for a light tone. “Even with someone teaching me, it takes me a couple of tries to get it the way I want it to look.”

A dam burst inside Boom. “I don’t get it. I don’t. You and Lyn and Sophie always look like yourselves. I don’t want to look like somebody else. What’s wrong with me?”

“You’re incredible,” Elisa said simply. “Nothing’s wrong with you.”

Boom stared at her for a moment. “Makeup is stupid.”

Elisa chewed her lip for a minute. Boom was young, really young, and more interested in sports and mixed martial arts, to boot. Most of her friends were boys. That’s why last night’s sleepover had been unusual, according to Gary and Greg. But Boom was still a girl and going to school with other girls.

“Here’s the thing. I don’t think liking any particular thing is stupid. I like what I like, and I try to respect what other people like.” Not the easiest perspective to maintain sometimes. “So if a person likes makeup, it’s their thing and that’s okay.”

Boom grabbed a pen from the container and flipped it over and over between her fingers, clearly still agitated. Elisa watched her and wondered if Alex did the same thing.

“Liking makeup doesn’t make you any less able because you can still go toe to toe with any of the boys at Revolution MMA.” Elisa tapped the counter in front of Boom, bringing the young girl’s gaze up to meet her own. “But being able to do anything the boys can do does make it kind of uncomfortable with some girls, doesn’t it?”

“They shouldn’t matter.” The stubborn tone was something Boom had inherited from her father.

Elisa smiled as she recognized it and admitted silently that she loved it in both of them. “They shouldn’t. But leaving yourself open to their kind of criticism isn’t fun, either. Besides, there’s a good reason to learn how to do your nails and experiment with makeup.”

Boom’s eyes widened. “There is?”

Elisa nodded. “Skills are always good to have and learning to do your own makeup is a skill. It lets you look the way you want, when you want, at will. You can go natural any day of the week with no cosmetics at all. And if you have the skill, on the one night in a million, you also can give yourself a Cinderella moment. All on your own. Minimum stress.”