Page 21 of Challenging Luke
Well, alrighty then. It was time to move the conversation along. There was only so much sex talk she could handle in a twenty-four-hour period and Trista usually exceeded that limit in the first five minutes they hung out.
MONICA: I’ll be sure to pass the message along when I see your husband. But right now I need to get ready for work. Can’t be late.
BFF: Remember what we talked about. Don’t let my father push you around.
Like she could forget. It wasn’t just Ash and Trista pressuring her now. Luke had joined the bandwagon as well.
MONICA: I won’t. I even plan on leaving at a reasonable hour tonight.
She didn’t add that her reasoning was because Luke was having someone watch over her. Maybe that someone would be him, but either way, she wasn’t about to make the person hang out at her office for longer than necessary. Besides, one day wouldn’t hurt or maybe this was the start of turning over a new leaf.
Only time would tell.
CHAPTER TWELVE
“Bentley Gray and Erik Lamont. AKA Falcon.” Caden slapped a folder onto the conference table. “Both work for W.J. Protective Services which is owned by Westley James.”
“Why do I feel like I’ve heard that name before?” he asked Caden, rather than trying to figure it out on his own.
“Because he’s a legend. The agencies have a love-hate relationship with the man. He doesn’t hide that he has no patience for bureaucracy and marches to his own tune.”
Oh, that’s right. He never had the pleasure of working with the man because he had left the bureau before Wes started his company but friends of his that he worked with on occasion would talk fondly of him. The higher-ups obviously didn’t show the same sentiment.
“So they’re good men to have in our corner.”
“They certainly can’t hurt.” Caden shrugged. “Want to tell me why you had me run them?”
“Known associates of Monica.”
He didn’t need to say much more than that. The information Caden pulled would’ve included their spouses and that connection was previously established due to Ash’s connection to the company.
“Now it all makes sense.”
“What’s that smirk for?”
If Ryker was considered the obnoxious one on their team, then Caden was the complete opposite. The man was all business all the time. It was great during an assignment, but he sometimes worried about his friend. The man needed to loosen up.
“Just never thought I’d see the day where a woman has you looking at every man in her life.”
That wasn’t what he was doing, was it?
“Just taking the normal precautions we would take if this was any other assignment.”
It wasn’t a lie, but it wasn’t the whole truth either and his friend knew it. Nothing about Monica’s situation was like anything they had faced before.
“I’m not saying it’s a bad thing, just a little unexpected. I thought if anyone fell first, it would be Austin. That man is always talking about settling down.”
“Hey, I heard that!” Austin hollered from where he was organizing a filing cabinet on the other end of the room.
“I wasn’t being quiet about it.”
That was another thing about Caden. He was honest to a fault and didn’t give the first fuck if he offended someone in the process.
“I agree with Caden. My money would’ve been on Austin as well,” Nash chimed in.
“Screw you, fuckers.” Austin gave them all the finger. “Just because I believe in love doesn’t mean I’m going to fall for the first woman I fancy. There’s such a thing as soulmates and I fully plan to wait to find mine.”
“Soulmates are a crock of shit,” Jayce added just like he knew his friend would.