“It is definitely a pleasure to meet you, doll. You’ve been a lifesaver.” He lifted her hand to his lips and kissed the top of it.
“Cool it, Calvin, let us meet the beautiful personal assistant. Damn, Blade and the guys are very lucky men in deed,” Cooper said. He shook her hand and gave her a wink as he looked her over with interest.
“If I had a personal assistant that looked like you I’d be in the office more often,” Gavin said then smiled at her and she shook her head.
“I hope everything is to your liking, Calvin,” she said and motioned with her hand around the room and to all the white lights illuminating the place.
“This is stunning. You did wonderfully. Where is our guest of honor now?” he asked and glanced at his watch.
“I have Dale and Virgo keeping them busy by the main areas in town celebrating the BBQ weekend. Are the rooms okay for you gentlemen?” she asked them.
“Mine needs a little improvement,” Cooper told her as he licked his lower lip.
“Oh my, is there anything I can do to make the room better?” she asked.
“It would improve by a thousand percent if you were to join me in there.”
Her eyes widened, and Calvin and Gavin chuckled.
“You walked right into that one, sweetheart,” Calvin said.
“Just ignore the imbecile. He never could land a classy lady with his inappropriate lines,” Gavin teased.
“I thought it was a pretty good line. You can’t blame me for trying. She’s gorgeous and petite. Totally my type of woman,” Cooper said and then winked at Cora.
They heard Sage yell something and then realized she was warning them that Blade was coming along with the others.
“Here we go, honey. Let’s see if I got him this time around,” Calvin said, and they all turned to look at the entryway, prepared to yell surprise.
* * * *
“Do you think Cora will be here?” Cason asked as they walked into the Main Street Inn, which was exceptionally crowded.
“I don’t know. She was acting suspicious all week,” Beau said.
“She avoided our eyes, that’s not a sign of a woman not lying or up to no good. I think we’re going to have to confront her,” Blade said.
“She’s not trying to weasel her way into Calvin’s pockets. You’re wrong on that, Blade,” Avery stated firmly.
“What does it matter? We all think she’s up to no good. We’ll talk to her on Monday about it,” Asher said, and they all somberly entered the Inn.
“Good evening, gentlemen. How is everyone tonight?” Sage asked them as she greeted them by the front hostess station. One glance around the room and they could see there were no tables available.
“Good, Sage, how are you?”
“Fine. Listen, I’m sorry but the table I reserved for you are taking their time with dessert. It may be another thirty minutes or so. Would you mind if I set you up at a table for some drinks outside? The first round is on me.”
“I guess we don’t have much of a choice. Has Cora Hopkins, our personal assistant, arrived with her children yet? They’re supposed to be joining all of us,” he asked.
“I’m not sure. But if you just head that way I can show you where you’ll be seated and when she arrives I’ll bring her back.”
“Thanks, Sage,” Cason said, and Blade was grateful he did. He felt disappointed, and he wondered why. Probably because he was attracted to Cora and couldn’t act on that attraction and she hadn’t showed up to join them as ordered. He was firm about her showing up tonight. Why wasn’t she here yet? He kept telling himself that his interest in her was purely to get his team the woman of their dreams. But her odd behavior this week sent up the radar that she was up to something.
But then he walked onto the back patio and received the shock of his life.
“Surprise!”
* * * *
Blade looked pissed. Shocked, but pissed off. She of course hid to the side and would make her escape as soon as possible, but for right now she took the opportunity to absorb what Blade, Beau, Avery, Asher, and Cason looked like. As people swarmed Blade, even women who snuck their way onto the patio the moment they heard that it was Blade’s birthday surrounded him. His team shook their heads, denying they had anything to do with the surprise, and then Calvin roared aloud about finally catching Blade off guard and got high-fives from their friends.
Cora couldn’t help but to smile.
“Hey, looks like you helped pull that off. You’re going to stay for a bit, right?” Sage asked Cora.
“Just a little while. I left the kids home with Mom, and well, I don’t really belong here with their friends. Calvin just asked me to help him pull this off. My job is done,” she said then rolled her eyes and released a long sigh. Sage chuckled as she placed her arm around Cora’s shoulder and hugged her.
“Come on, we’re going to have a drink together. You deserve it and I want to hear all about how hard of a time Blade gave you this last week when you said he seemed suspicious.”
Cora chuckled now, but the last few days were torture.
* * * *
“So, that sexy little personal assistant of yours is one hell of a woman. I knew I liked her from the first phone call I had with her, but damn, in person she is something else,” Calvin told Blade, as he Beau, and Cason talked about how Calvin pulled this off. Asher and Avery were standing nearby with Gavin and Cooper.
“Cora had something to do with this?” Beau asked before Blade could.
Calvin took a sip from his drink. “Sure as shit did. She handled most of it. Told me you guys were giving her the stare down like she committed murder.” He chuckled.
“The poor thing was a nervous wreck. Where did she go anyway? I want to buy her a drink, or two. Where did you find her?” Calvin asked.
“She’s ours, so don’t try to get her to quit and move out to Dallas,” Cason said and winked.
“Shit, I thought you meant yours as in your woman. I need to find her so I can get to know her better. I bet Cooper or Gavin already moved in on her. I swear Cooper was undressing her with his eyes,” Calvin said as he looked around for Cora.
“Leave her alone. All three of you. She’s not interested,” Beau said firmly. Calvin turned to look at him, shocked at his tone.
“Is that right?” Calvin asked.
“Maybe,” Cason added.
Calvin smiled. “Well then, if I were you I’d get that across to Cooper real fast. I think he’s got it set in his mind that Cora’s going to be joining him in his room tonight.” Calvin took a sip from his drink as Beau, Cason, and Blade looked around for Cooper and Cora.
Immediately Blade saw Cooper with his arm around Cora’s shoulders as she and Sage talked by the small bar. Gavin was there and two other guys from in town. His chest tightened, anger filled his gut, and as he took his first step in that direction to intervene before they scared Cora, Asher, the most calm of the group, was halfway across the room.
“Oh shit,” Blade said, and they all headed over.
* * * *
Cora and Sage were laughing as Cooper, Gavin, and two deputies from town were telling stories about Matt and Quaid, two of Sage’s husbands. Cora was laughing so hard, and just as Cooper laced his arm over her shoulder as he whispered some added details to his story, Asher showed up, looking pissed off.
“Hey, Asher, was Blade surprised?” Cooper asked him as he eased his arm off her shoulder and kept his hand on the back of her chair. He took a slug from his bottle of beer, and Asher looked annoyed. His brown eyes zeroed in on Cora’s legs that were crossed, and she suddenly felt as if she were in trouble or had done something wrong. It was so weird. His angry face went to a calmer one real quick, and he placed himself in between Kevin, one of the deputies, and her thighs.
“Thanks for the chuckle, Cooper, don’t worry, Cora and my lips are sealed. See ya later, Cora, great job on the party planning too. I think Blade was shocked for sure.”
“Thanks, S
age, I’ll see ya before I go. I’m just finishing this one drink,” she told Sage.
“He was surprised.” Asher began to answer her question as the others showed up. Kevin, the other deputy they called Durango, and Cooper wished Blade a happy birthday and then shook his hand and the others’ hands.
Durango took Sage’s spot and placed his hand on Cora’s chair on the other side. She felt kind of uncomfortable. She didn’t know Cooper or Durango, never mind Kevin, but they seemed nice and they were friends with Sage’s husband for years.
“So Calvin got ya good. That man has been planning this for weeks. But then you got this sweet, beautiful woman as your personal assistant and it was in the bag. Cora, you did real good, baby,” Cooper said to her and then caressed a strand of hair from her cheek, using his thumb to also caress her skin. She pulled back and thanked him as she moved forward on the seat and out of his reach.
When she caught Beau’s expression, she felt herself becoming anxious.
“Yeah, it seems our sweet little assistant helped pull one over on the commander. If you guys don’t mind, we’d like a few words with her,” Avery said, sounding serious. Cora had a feeling that they weren’t too happy she helped plan this surprise. But she really didn’t think it was all that big of a deal. When people had good friends, they did things like threw surprise parties for them and celebrated together. She never had any friends like that, so she was envious.
“Oh, don’t give her hell because of Calvin’s conniving ways. She was just trying to make Blade happy. Besides, I think I hear our song playing. Come on, doll, you owe me a dance.” Cooper took her hand and led her away from the guys and back onto the patio and the dance floor.
She tried to get him to stop, feeling kind of embarrassed. What in the world was he doing?
“Cooper, I don’t owe you a dance. What in the world are you doing?” she asked. He pulled her into his arms just as the fast song was finishing up. She paused and was about to walk away when the slow song started and he pulled her close again and started leading her around the dance floor with a few other people enjoying the music.
“Cooper? What are you doing?”
“Just ensuring a happy, perfect future for my good retired military buddies,” he said with a smile and let his hand fall so low on her back it was nearly to her ass.
“Cooper.”
“Calm down, Cora, I’m not going to try anything on you. At least not when I know those guys got it bad for you.”
“What?”
“I’ve never seen them look at a woman the way they look at you. It’s so possessive and obvious that they’re jealous. It’s fucking great,” he said and moved her around the dance floor. When they passed Blade, Avery, Asher, Cason, and Beau, they all looked pissed off.
“They’re just angry from me helping out Calvin. I think they thought I was doing some sabotage work this week in the office.” He chuckled.
“They are not the most trusting men. Can’t blame them, especially Beau and Blade. They went through the roughest time most recently. But you seemed to snag their complete attention.”
“What do you mean?” she asked.
“Darling, those five men want you. They’re watching me right now, and for the rest of the night I’m going to have to watch my back or one of them might scalp me,” he told her. She knew he was exaggerating, but of course his comment reminded her of Kever and Anthony and how Kever told Arabella he had scalped men when he was a soldier. Cason, Blade, Beau, Avery, and Asher were all Special Forces. They were capable of hurting, even killing. She felt that feeling begin to fill her inside.
“Hey, I was only joking about the scalping,” Cooper told her.
She gave a small smile. “I’m fine. I really think we should stop dancing,” she said, and his grip was firm but his smile gentle.
“Hey, I’m just messing around with them. We’ll finish this dance and then go check out the food. There is a BBQ festival going on in town besides here in the Inn. This place is amazing.”
She smiled.
“I know. I was impressed when I first saw it too. You think Calvin was pleased with the decorations and the setup? He’s so picky.”
Cooper chuckled as the dance ended. He guided her off the dance floor, his hand at her lower back.
“He sure is picky, but he’s a good man to have on your side.”
“Cora, I’d like a word with you,” Beau said as he met them at the end of the dance floor. He looked upset, and the expression he gave Cooper sent the man away pretty quickly.
“Well, maybe we’ll grab a bite together another time, sweetie. I’ll catch you later,” Cooper said and winked then headed toward Gavin and Calvin. Cora locked gazes with Beau as he waved his hand for her to walk first. When she felt his hand at her lower back guiding her, she was amazed at the attraction she felt. She hadn’t felt a thing with Cooper. She hadn’t been scared out of her mind either. Perhaps she was learning to read men a little better than before.
“What did you want to talk about?” she asked him, turning her head to look up toward him. Of course, even in high heels, the man towered over her. His green eyes bored into hers.
“We saved a seat at our table over there. Some friends of ours are joining us from Salvation.”
“Oh, I met them earlier. They’re very nice.”
“We’ve known them for years. They’re good friends of ours.”
She gave a soft smile and went to head in the direction of the table, but Beau stopped her. He turned her toward him, and his hand smoothed along her hip to her lower back. He bent lower to whisper.
“No more dancing with Cooper.”
“Why not?” she asked.
His eyes darkened, and he gave her that authoritative look he had when he was being demanding. She swallowed hard.
“Just don’t,” he said and then reached up to caress her chin. “You look beautiful tonight. You’re feeling better?”
It shocked her, Beau being so caring and gentle. She didn’t associate words like compassion, gentle, soft, and understanding with men like Beau and Blade. Cason had to be some of those things because of his position as a deputy. Asher and Avery showed that side of them too, especially around the kids. Beau did, too, in his own way but, he and Blade still intimidated her the most.
She nodded her head and then heard the men calling her name.
“There she is,” Wes called out.
“Come sit over here next to us,” Gia said. She was sitting next to Marianna. Cora found herself looking toward Beau, who nodded his head for her to take the seat across from the two women. Beau took the seat next to Cora, then Cason took the seat on her other side, and Blade, Avery, and Asher soon joined them. Cora was surprised at how comfortable she felt having dinner and celebrating Blade’s birthday with his friends.
She kept catching him watching her, and it made her feel on edge. But worse was the way Beau kept a hand over the back of her chair and would rub her exposed skin on her shoulder by her neck. Cason would slide his hand along her thigh to her knee, and she was feeling the anxiety begin to get stronger and stronger.
She tried leaning forward to get Beau to stop caressing her skin, and she would slowly push Cason’s hand off of her knee. The loss of their touch hit her all at once, and she realized as anxious and nervous as their touch made her feel, it also turned her on. She overanalyzed that, which wound up decreasing her anxiety slightly. She gave up getting them to stop and eased back and let them touch her as she listened to Gia and Marianna talk about art and two galleries Marianna and her men owned in Dallas and in Houston.
She was impressed with them, and Gia even mentioned how she used to live in New York and how her ex tried hunting her down in Salvation. She went on to explain about painting and designing. It made Cora think about her own dreams and goals, and the fact she hadn’t the opportunity to explore anything once she got involved with Anthony.
“Have you seen Blade’s collection of lighthouse paintings?” Gia asked her.
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“No, I haven’t.”
“They’re in his study and I think in his formal living room,” Gia told her.
“I work in the home office and have been limited to the kitchen and the front living room.”
“Oh, well, you have to ask to see the paintings, they’re gorgeous,” Gia told her.
“I’ll show you them tomorrow,” Cason chimed in.
“Tomorrow is Sunday,” she said.
He reached over and ran his knuckles down her cheek softly.
“Tomorrow I’ll show you,” he said with a soft smile.
She felt her cheeks warm, and then that anxious feeling hit her harder. Gia and Marianna chuckled, and Cora looked up at Cason.
“Please, Cason, I told you.”
“We’ll talk later,” Cason said just as the food arrived.
* * * *
Arabella saw the men talking to her sister and keeping her by their side. Earlier, she was dancing with some guy, Cooper, and Arabella could tell that Beau, Cason, Avery, and Asher were jealous. Then Brook and Smith told her that Cason and the guys asked to be Cora’s guardians. It freaked Arabella out. The five men were hard to read. Beau and Blade scared her most, and it seemed that Blade wasn’t taking the same role as the others. Smith explained that it was complicated, and Cora couldn’t handle complicated.
As the night went on and Arabella noticed how the men surrounded Cora and didn’t let her out of their sight, she became more concerned. Her sister had to know that the men wanted to claim guardianship and that Brock was waiting on making a decision. But she could tell by her sister’s body language that she was on edge. More than likely it was from getting the physical attention she wasn’t used to from these men.
They were staking a claim, and Cora wasn’t stupid. Perhaps her sister did like the men and was interested, even letting her guard down. Arabella felt her stomach ache with concern. She gasped as the strong, thick arm came around her waist from behind.
Brock.
She closed her eyes as his lips connected with her skin. His warm breath tickled her.
Soldiers of Pearl 2: Healing Souls (Siren Publishing LoveXtreme Forever) Page 11
