Slade (The Protectors #6)(67)
Jill opened her mouth to answer, and then slammed it shut. Looking away, she tried to make the words she wanted to say form in her head so she could answer the question with her numb lips. Looking back, she opened her mouth again and everyone in the room watched in anticipation of what she was going to say. “Ah, which part?” finally came out of her mouth.
“Which part?” Sloan sat back, his stare becoming more intense.
“Yeah, which part?” Jill took a step forward, but when the floor shifted suddenly, she retreated to the wall. She felt herself sliding toward the left, but Adam used his arm to slowly slide her back up. “Why do you always answer a question with a question?”
“What the f*ck you doing?” Steve whispered, pushing away from the wall, bending his head to her as he looked at the ground. “Shut the f*ck up, Jill.”
Anger hit Jill right in the gut, swishing around with the nausea she was feeling, and it wasn’t a great combination. “No, I won’t shut the f*ck up.” This time when she pushed herself away from the wall, she walked slowly with concentration to the front of Sloan’s desk.
“Jill.” Sid actually tried to stop her, but she jerked her arm away. “Sloan, can we do this when she’s sober.”
“I’m not drunk. I’m just a little fuzzy.” She grinned at the word again, but then turned serious. “I did what I felt was right. If it was one of your Warriors with a cock−”
Groans sounded throughout the room. “Here we go again,” Sid sighed, but had the biggest grin on his face.
“We wouldn’t be having this conversation. Would we? No, I don’t believe we would. Believe it or not, Sloan, I can make snap decisions without a cock. Amazing, I know, but I can.” Jill saw George’s crumpled business card on Sloan’s desk and went to pick it up, but it flew out of her hand and landed at Duncan’s feet. He picked it up and handed it to her. She tried to straighten it out with one hand since her coffee was in the other. Giving up, she held it out, crumpled, toward Sloan. “This could possibly lead to information we need. I took a chance. I have a brain and I use it daily. I didn’t put anyone in immediate danger.” She tossed the card on his desk when he didn’t take it.
“You broke protocol.” Sloan eyed her, but a light of respect gleamed in his eyes.
Jill tilted her head, looking at Sloan “I’ve come to know all these guys.” She threw her hand out with the coffee cup, moving it around to all the guys as Warriors jumped out of the way when the hot liquid flew everywhere. “And I bet…this…ah…this…cup of nasty-ass coffee, they’ve all broken protocol. Sometimes it may work out and sometimes it may not, but again…I bet this nasty-ass coffee that George Groper will come through for us.”
“And what makes you so sure of that?” Sloan’s calm was making her a bit nervous.
“Because I saw his fear.” Jill put the coffee down on his desk, then looked at her hand, which had started to hurt, small little blisters had formed. She looked away from it to Sloan, not looking drunk at all, but like someone who knew exactly what she was talking about. “I know that fear. I know that feeling of being stuck in something and there is no way out. You will do anything, and I mean anything, to feel safe again. I saw that in his eyes. I felt it in my gut.”
No one said a word, nothing. Not even Sloan.
“I trust my instincts. They’ve gotten me through a lot in my life.” Jill blew on her hand. “And instead of yelling at me, which is fine when I really screw up and I will really screw up, just trust me on this one. I don’t need swats of congratulations on my ass like you guys do−”
“That’s football,” Jared added with a horrified expression. “Warriors do not swat the asses of other Warriors.”
“Whatever.” Jill frowned at Jared for interrupting her. “If I’m wrong, you all can stand here and scream or whatever at me, but I know I’m not wrong on this.”
God, she was going to puke, or at least thought she was. It was so back and forth like a friggin’ war going on in her stomach. Wishing to hell the room would stand still, she took another deep breath, but she had one more thing to say.
“And I swear I will never drink during a job again.” Jill groaned when the room tilted. “But I was scared and it helped relax me.”
“Jill, none of the Warriors would have let anything happen to you.” Sloan sighed, “You need to trust that they have your back.”
Jill tilted her head, but wished she hadn’t. “No, you’re wrong. I was afraid to let you guys down. I wasn’t afraid of what would happen to me because I knew none of you would let anything happen to me.” Jill smiled with a shrug. “The last two tiny drinks, which I think are the ones that made me fuzzy, were because the girls wanted to celebrate my first night. I’ve never had that before, so I did, but it will never happened again because I really don’t like the feeling I’m having now.”
A few chuckles filled the room. Sloan looked toward Slade. “Slade, take her to her room−”
“No,” Jill interrupted, picking up her coffee carefully. “I’m kind of upset at anyone with a cock right now. I’d rather go on my own if you’re finished.”
Sloan’s lip twitched. “I’m finished, for now.”