Rock Chick Reborn (Rock Chick #9)(54)

“No,” Lee retorted. “After that six months, he’s got three months shadowing each man. Hector, Vance, Mace, Luke and finally me. He’ll learn by seeing, then doing, and he won’t be involved in anything that he’s not ready for. That’s for him but that’s also for the protection of the team. After that, he’s got a year where he gets assignments I’d give Bobby or Matt. Assignments where he doesn’t go out without a partner until I’m sure I can step that up and he can go out alone. That’s nearly two years in training and a year of what’s essentially probation before I’ll even consider him taking shit on as a full-fledged member of the team.”

Huh.

Well.

Shit.

“And just so this is all out there, if Sniff gets out of the armed forces and he wants a spot on my team, he knows that’s guaranteed,” Lee continued. “The Army will teach him most of what he’ll need to know and we’ll fill in any gaps. I have no questions in my mind he’ll serve his country and come to me the man I’ll need him to be. And when that happens, Shirleen, I’ll look forward to having him on my crew.”

Huh.

Well.

Shit.

“Are you done laying me out now?” Lee asked impatiently.

“You should have told me,” I declared.

“It’s the men we both want them to be that they wanted to do it and obviously, I agreed,” he shot back.

Huh.

Fuck.

Whatever.

“Roam is an exceptionally gifted writer,” I shared.

“Good. I’ll look forward to reading his mission reports,” Lee returned. “Now are we done?”

“You’re a pain in my ass, Liam Nightingale,” I told him.

“Glad that feeling is mutual. Now we’re done,” he muttered.

And then he hung up on me.

Slowly, I took the phone from my ear and narrowed my eyes at it.

“Baby,” Moses whispered.

I raised narrowed eyes to him.

He did not, as many did (and should), rear back.

He grinned at me.

“Have I failed to tell you I was in the Army?” he asked.

He did, indeed, fail to tell me that.

“You were in the Army?” Sniff asked.

Moses turned to him. “Yeah. It’s a good choice, son.”

Lord!

“The vapors are comin’ back,” I declared.

Three sets of male eyes turned to me.

All three were amused, though two were also exasperated.

The brain behind one of those sets made a decision.

“You’re on duty,” Roam announced, his attention to Moses while tagging the sleeve of Sniff’s shirt and pulling him toward the front door. “Her vapors are serious. Good luck,” he finished.

“You’re gonna need it,” Sniff muttered as he followed Roam.

Moses just shook his head, smiling and watching them go.

I moved to the wide hall that led by the kitchen to the front door.

“Where you boys going?” I called.

“Out,” Roam answered, but he wasn’t done. He stopped at the door and turned my way. “And for the record, we’re not at the place in this situation where we’re down with some dude spending the night with our mom.”

“Totally not down,” Sniff agreed.

I felt Moses come to stand behind me as I studied the ceiling.

But one could say (that one being me) I absolutely loved the words “our mom” coming out of my boy’s mouth.

The front door opened and I looked there.

“Be good. Do right. Make good decisions. And come home safe to your mother!” The last I shouted because the door was closing. “Those boys,” I mumbled irritably after the door shut.

I barely got that out before I was turned into Moses’s body with his arms around me.

I put my hands on his biceps (as best I could with one, seeing as I still had my phone) and looked up at his face.

His eyes were roving over mine.

“Was in the room when both of my daughters were born,” he shared strangely.

“Yeah?” I asked.

His gaze finally stopped on mine. “So that was the third most beautiful thing I witnessed in my life.”

Oh no.

I was going to start crying again.

I swatted his arm and warned, “You’re gonna make cry.”

“Have at it. All your mascara’s gone already. There’s no reason to hold back anymore.”

Oh no!

I put my hands over my face, conking my own damned self with my phone.

Lord, I was a mess.

He shoved my face in his chest.

“Are you even partially clued in to how much those boys love you?” he whispered into the top of my ’fro.

I was.

I absolutely was.

As an answer, I took my hands from my face, wrapped my arms around him and pressed my cheek to his chest.

Boy, it felt so good being in his arms, I could just hug this man . . .

For eternity.

“Yeah,” I whispered back.

“So if anyone ever told me I was gonna get caught by my woman’s two teenage boys after making love to her for the first time, necessitating me scrambling to get my clothes on, and help her with hers, I’d take that blow if they told me I got to witness what I just saw.”