Slade (The Protectors #6)(66)

“Black is best.” He grinned at her as he backed out, and pulled onto the road.

“I have to have sugar.” Jill went to put the lid back on.

“Jill, I’m telling you the truth here. You want to be sober and on your toes, because Sloan is pissed.” Sid laughed when she groaned.

“I hate coffee without sugar,” she griped, but drank it anyway.

Pulling into the compound, Jill sighed. “How bad is it going to be?” she said once they got out of the car.

“You just better hope that this works out with Georgie boy.” Sid shook his head. “Took balls doing what you did, that’s for sure.”

Jill headed up the walkway to the door, but stopped. Slade leaned against the wall, his arms crossed as only Slade did as he waited for her. She took another sip of her coffee watching as he nodded to Sid, but his eyes never left hers.

“You okay?” His voice was deep, without emotion.

Nodding, Jill slowly walked toward him. “Are you mad at me, too?”

His lips twitched, but he didn’t smile. “We’ll talk about that later.” He reached out, lifting her chin up, kissing her softly. “Let’s get this over with first.”

“Okay.” When he turned to open the door, she stopped. “Did he really hear me call him an *?”

Slade’s face turned grim. “That’s the least of your problems, Jill.”

“Dammit,” Jill cursed under her breath. Slade opened the door for her and she walked in, weaving a bit to the left.

“Have you ever drank before?” Slade steadied her so she didn’t run into the doorframe.

“Not a drop. I’m still a little fuzzy.” Jill grinned up at him. “Fuzzy. Fuzzzzzy. That’s a weird word.”

As soon as they entered, the women ran out into the entryway. “How did it go?” Nicole grinned.

“Did your wig stay on okay?” Caroline frowned, looking at her wigless head.

“It went great.” Jill grinned real big, then swayed when she held up her coffee as if saluting.

Nicole leaned in and sniffed. “Are you drunk?”

“Maybe a little,” Jill whispered. “I only had a couple.”

“You said you had one and a half.” Sid frowned with his hands on his hips.

“Well, Dad,” Jill frowned back, “I forgot about the two I had in the back before I left, but they were little.”

“Shit. Those were shots, Jill,” Sid cursed, glancing at Slade, then Nicole. “Go make up some more coffee. Has she ever drank before?” Slade just shook his head.

“And bring the sugar.” Jill nodded, pointing at Nicole with her coffee. “Lots of sugar.”

“Hey.” Damon stuck his head out of Sloan’s door. “Come on, so we can get this over with.”

“This is going to be ugly,” Sid said, looking at Jill. “How drunk are you?”

“I’m fine.” Jill grumbled. “I just feel really relaxed and want to smile a lot, but other than that, I’m fine. What’s the big deal? So I had a few drinks. Performing barely dressed in front of a bunch of men isn’t easy. I’d like to see you do it without drinking, Sid.”

“Come on,” Damon called out again. “I want to get this shit over with.”

“Okay, grumps.” Jill headed that way. “Geez, stop being so grumpy all the time.”

“Jill.” Slade stopped her. “You need to get ahold of yourself. Sloan…”

“Needs to take a chill pill.” Looking up at Slade, she smiled. “You are a hot-ass man, you know that, Doctor Slade Buchanan. How about me and you forget about all this nonsense and−”

“Now!” Damon shouted this time.

“Okay!” Jill shouted back with an irritated frown, turned and headed toward the office, but was stopped this time by Nicole and Pam who were trying not to laugh. Nicole poured more black coffee into her foam cup.

“Be careful, Jill. It’s hot,” Nicole warned.

“I just want to tell you both that Damon and Duncan never once looked at one of those women. I mean they looked, but they fake looked. You two should be really nice…” she slyly gave them the most awkward wink, “to them tonight.”

“Jill,” Damon growled.

“Damon,” Jill growled back and started walking again. “A little thanks goes a long way. I’m helping you out here, buddy.”

Everyone became quiet as soon as Jill walked into the room, except for Sloan who was on the phone. Seeing Steve and Adam against the wall, she raised her cup of coffee to them with a goofy grin, then headed their way, squeezing herself between them. Raising the cup to her lips as if hiding what she was saying, she whispered, “What did I miss?”

“Are you drunk?” Adam frowned down at her.

Jill huffed. “No.” She held up her cup. “Coffee.”

“She’s shitfaced,” Steve laughed.

Sloan hung up the phone, his eyes going straight to Jill. Okay, that sobered her up a little and actually worked better than the nasty non-sugared coffee she was drinking. He continued to stare at her to the point where Steve started sliding away from her.

“Do you want to explain what the f*ck that was all about?” Sloan didn’t yell; he didn’t growl; he just asked the question with a calm, cool demeanor that scared the shit out of her.