DONOVAN (Gray Wolf Security, #1)(38)

“Thank you.”

She inclined her head and smiled.

I turned and looked at myself in the mirror, more than satisfied with the image that looked back at me. I was wearing a simple black shift that I bought weeks ago that someone had thoughtfully gotten from my closet at home, my hair pulled back into a simple French knot that I’d perfected from watching YouTube videos when I joined the workforce. My makeup was simple but sophisticated, thanks to this small woman.

“Your name is Joss, right?”

She nodded.

“You don’t talk much.”

She shrugged as though to say there wasn’t much to say.

I studied her face for a minute, then nodded myself.

“You’ve probably got it right. It’s the rest of us who are still trying to figure it out.”

She gave me a thumbs-up with a sweet, crooked grin. Then she gestured toward the door.

Time to go.

They were all there in the living room. Ash in dark clothes not unlike Joss’. Kirkland in jeans and a dark leather jacket, that charming smile permanently affixed to his face. And Donovan.

Dapper was probably the word my father would have used for how Donovan looked. I would have said drop-dead sexy. The tux looked like it was made for him, the way it fit his broad shoulders and thick arms almost perfectly. The jacket accentuated those broad shoulders and still managed to emphasize his narrow hips. And the high collar was exactly Donovan’s personality. No tie, but formal enough to still look right.

“Hey,” he said softly, his eyes moving slowly over me. And when our eyes met, we were the only ones in the room for that brief second.

“Okay, soldiers, let’s go over this one more time,” Ash demanded.

I wanted to slap him. Or make him disappear.

“Joss will drive you to the hotel. You are not to make any detour, no stops anywhere but the hotel parking lot.”

Joss nodded.

“Then Kirkland and I will be stationed inside the ballroom. Joss will take up a position by the back door. And we’ll have a team scattered throughout the hotel.”

Ash focused on me then, holding up a smartphone. “This is connected directly to David’s program. If you find yourself in trouble for some reason and you cannot identify a member of our team, you push this button,” he said, brushing his thumb over the home button at the bottom of the phone. “Do you understand?”

“Yes, sir,” I said.

He studied my face for a second, then handed me the phone. “Keep it on you at all times.”

“Wouldn’t think of putting it down.”

Ash stepped back and studied each of us, one at a time, his eyes lingering on Donovan.

“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?”