Assignment: Learning to Love [Hawt Men In and Out of Uniform 2] (Siren Publishing Everlasting Classic)

by Honor James

  After the phone call that took far longer than Gigi had anticipated, she moved to hug Michael tightly once he hung up the phone. “Will this work?” she asked with a whisper of a sound. “Please tell me that this is going to work. I want to be able to have a life with you.” A cabin in the woods. That was creepy sounding, and yet romantic sounding all at once.

  “If he can get them here in the time frame, it will work. I’m not going to let this guy hurt you,” he said softly. He pressed a kiss to her lips and hugged her close. “All right, let’s get out of here before Reece has kittens. Don’t say anything about the plan to anyone. No one can know about it. Any hint and this guy could decide to come right at us both. Now, up woman. We need to secure the house so that no one can see in, and so that nothing we do can get out to our watcher. If he wants information, he’s going to have to fucking work for it now.”

  “Sounds good. Okay, what’s first?” She looked toward the windows and frowned. “I have a bunch of blankets that we could put up on the windows. That would block everything except for sound but the sight I can do this, right?” There was a lot that they had to do but she was certain that they would be able to do it, together.

  “We’re going to go a little higher tech than that. At least for the sound,” he told her. “Reece, we need some of those little gadgets to muck up sound. The ones that hook right to the glass,” he said.

  Reece gave a nod. “We should have some in the bags. I’ll have to get more, but we can do this room and the kitchen for sure. Might even have enough for the bedroom, but beyond that we have to pull more in. What about sight lines?”

  “We’re going to use what she has. Most of it’s drapery that with a few safety pins we can seal up. The blinds we’ll use a blanket over top, and secure it to the wall to block everything out. Any room that you go into that doesn’t have the pieces on the window, turn music or a TV on before you talk in there,” he said to her. “I doubt he can be on every window, all the time, but I’d rather be overly paranoid than not.”

  “Okay.” She took a deep breath and then sighed. “We will do this. We will find out who this is and then we will make them pay for their crimes, right?” For killing her beloved cat, for shooting her and generally making her life miserable. “Although I would like to thank them for one thing, one person.” She grinned toward Michael. “As messed up as this all is, it’s good because it means that I was able to meet you. Right?”

  “I think I got the better end of the deal,” he said with a smile.

  “Ah, hell,” Reece muttered. “That would be my cue to get out of here. I’ll go get the electronics while you two do, whatever the hell it is you’re thinking of. Right, going, bye!” he called.

  “Damn, chased him off,” he murmured. Leaning in, he pressed a kiss to her lips.

  “Darn,” she whispered and wrapped her arms around his neck to pull him closer. Gigi kissed Michael back with the same desperate need and desire that she had been feeling from the moment she met him. A heat that could melt steel was how she felt around him.

  Chapter Eleven

  Gigi flipped the pancakes and turned the bacon. “Michael.” She called through the small cabin. “Food’s on.” Well, small wouldn’t be the right word. The cabin had three bedrooms, four bathrooms, a kitchen, and a massive living room. She just felt like it was small because of the very, very freaking large men that were currently staying with them. She loved those guys though. Not the way she loved Michael, but they were all like big brothers to her and she adored them for that.

  She saw Cutter first and grinned. “Hey you. Where’s Michael?” Michael’s plan had been perfect. They had backup in the form of his unit, Marines one and all, and all of them very good at their jobs. They were there to help keep watch on the number of acres that were attached to the cabin that they were in. They had many break points in the woods and all took turns scouting and keeping eye on things. All but Michael, who stayed glued to her side, and she was good with that. “Who’s on patrol this morning?” she asked with the slightest of frowns.

  Swiping a piece of bacon, he nibbled on it as he leaned against the counter. “Michael’s in the little boys’ room, he’ll be out soon. Said something about getting all pretty for you,” he said. He was teasing her, he did that a lot actually. “Let’s see, Jacob is sleeping, so is Markham. So that leaves me and Connor on interior. Which means that Harker, Bradley, Yoshi, and Timmons are out sneaking around in the woods.”

  “Heavens. Those boys.” She adored Michael’s crew but they were like a bunch of kids right now and that made her giggle. “So how excited were you boys when Daddy had the latest batch of gadgetry dropped off?” It had been odd, a plane flew by and dropped a case of weapons and gear that had all the men drooling like toddlers.

  “Why do you think they are out there?” he asked with a laugh. “They are all out playing with the latest in gadgets. Most of this shit we’d never see during our tours. It’s all way outside our normal budgets, so it’s definitely been fun. Oh, before I forget.” He dug into a pocket and pulled out a wrapped box with a slightly squashed bow. “Your father had this in there for you, too. Meant to give it to you yesterday, but I sort of got distracted.” She watched his cheeks turn pink as he ducked his chin slightly in embarrassment.

  That had her grinning and she shook her head. “Daddy does love the gadgets.” She took the package from Cutter and thanked him. She moved to the table and opened the box. Lifting the small lace piece, she gasped. “Oh God.” Her father had sent her her great-grandmother’s wedding veil. Why? She didn’t get it.

  Tears prickled at her eyes as she recalled the woman. She had been ancient when Gigi had last seen her but she was so full of life. She was a pistol of a woman, and the men all kowtowed down to her because she totally ruled the roost. “Oh Nana,” she whispered with love as she stroked the lace.

  Cutter was peering over her shoulder. “Well, that’s kind of an odd gift to send someone. Something you’re not telling the rest of us, Michael?” he asked.

  “What’s that?” her man asked from behind her.

  “Her father sent her a wedding veil. I’m guessing from the tears she has going and the Nana bit, it was her grandmother’s.”

  “What?” Michael sounded really confused.

  “My great-grandmother’s actually,” Gigi said with a grin and put the veil lovingly back in the box. “I always loved Nana’s style and wedding veil and gown. No clue why Daddy would send this to me.” She shrugged and turned to look up at Michael. “Hey you. Breakfast is ready there for you if you want some. The boys are out playing with all the lovely goodies Daddy sent to you all.” She went back to thinking about her great-grandmother. The woman was the closest thing to a long-term marriage that Gigi could recall. “I figured they would be,” he said in a distracted tone. He was staring down at the veil in her hand. Shooting Cutter a look, the other man suddenly took off out of the room.

  “I’ll get the kids,” he called as he departed.

  “You do that,” Michael said in return. “Come on, honey. Let’s get the food on the table so we can feed the herd. Maybe they’ll even all vanish for a bit so we can have some alone time.”

  “Oh I love how you think, Mister Man.” She put the box on the shelf in the living room and then walked back to the kitchen with him. “It’s all done, just have to put it in the dishes and get the milk into the container and a pot of coffee on the table. I will dish up the food into the serving dishes if you will get the drinks.”

  “Done, and done,” he said. “I’ll even put another pot of coffee on. We both know that there’s no way that one will do with this crew.” Stepping away from her, he attended to his part of the meal prep, and she got busy dishing up all the food.

  Once the food was on the table, she heard the men starting to come in. “Wipe your feet and wash your hands.” She looked at Michael and grinned. “Oh, and if any of you are bloody, please don’t dribble on the floor like last time?” Yoshi and Timmons had be
en playing around and tossed a blade, sadly Connor tried to catch it, with his shoulder. Poor guy would never live that one down and she knew it.

  “No blood,” Connor said. “Not this time anyway,” he added with a grin. It was odd to see with the camouflage paint he and the others had on their faces.

  “Give us two minutes and we’ll be right back,” Yoshi told her. They all disarmed, mostly, before heading through the cabin to one of the many bathrooms.

  “Clean up after yourselves this time,” Cutter said as he came into the room. “If I have to clean that crap off the vanity again, I swear I’m going to beat each and every one of you.”

  “You can try,” Yoshi shot back.

  Shaking his head, Michael pulled her chair out for her. Cutter was already pouring coffee into a mug as he claimed a seat.

  “How long have you all served in the same unit again?” Gigi asked while pouring herself a glass of milk. “All of you are like a bunch of brothers. I like it. It’s really unique and refreshing to see you all working so well together.”

  “Michael and I went through basic together,” Cutter told her. “Yoshi, we met when we were first thrown out into the big, bad world. The others were already a part of a unit when we joined up with them. Over time we found that we all worked rather well together, and eventually we were put in a team together. Which is also when we met Jacob and Harker. They were the last two to join our group of misfits.”

  “You guys are like a bunch of brothers. I like it.” She said with a nod. Lifting her glass of milk once they were all settled, she looked at every single one of them and said, “I’m happy to have such a wonderful band of brothers as my own. I’m keeping you all. Every single one of you.” There was a pause and she added, “But you have to avoid my mother at all costs or she’s going to pinch your cheeks and slip in your beds. Poor Michael is still telling her no.”

  “Michael’s already warned us, Gigi,” Connor said. He came back into the room with a clean face and his grin in place. “He’s given us lots of details about her. We also all read the file that he did up on her. It had a lot of valuable information in it. Besides, if we don’t want her to see us, she won’t.”

  “Good, then I won’t have to worry about it.” She hoped that they would be able to spend a little more time with Michael and Gigi. She wasn’t kidding when she said she wanted to keep them. The rag-tag band of men were wonderful. They were all sweet in their own ways and made her want to have them as a part of her family. She had never had brothers, and who better than these men?

  A finger brushing down her cheek had her looking up to see Michael looking at her. “Hey, what has you thinking with that devious little look on your face?”

  “Oh God, what is she planning now?” Yoshi asked. He made a face when she looked his way, then grinned nice and wide.

  Gigi shrugged and leaned into Michael’s touch. “Well I was just thinking that it might be very nice to be able to keep you guys once you are out of the service. Have any of you thought of going into business together once you are out for once and for all?”

  “We’ve thought about it,” Cutter said. “We just were never sure what to do. The whole security business is just so cliched these days, everyone does it, or becomes a cop. We’ve talked about it now and again, usually when we’re bored out of our skulls in the field. So far we haven’t come up with anything we can all agree on. But if you have a few ideas, shoot.”

  “Yes, everyone has done security but—” Gigi paused in her speech and then took a deep breath. “Okay, hear me out?” she asked and when they nodded, all of them looking at her, she twined her hands with Michael’s and gave his hand a squeeze. “Yes, everyone has security firms but how many of them would have a firm with highly trained Marines running it? Men who have been in the very thickest of things? I don’t know.” She shrugged and looked at each man. “You are all special in your own ways and you all have your own specialities. I personally think that with a little help from people, you could have a thriving business. Especially when word gets out that you kept me safe, too.” She was a nobody, but her father was a somebody and her writing was a somebody as well.

  “There are a few out there, a number of them have already tried to drop bugs in our ears about coming to work for them. But not a one of us wants to work for someone else, which was why we were thinking about doing our thing, together. We work as a team, we do it well, and we always do it together. Anyone else is just disruptive. There are a couple of people we wouldn’t mind having join us, in whatever our venture is, but that would be it. They aren’t part of the team, but they are of a like mind to the rest of us,” Yoshi said.

  “See, exactly.” Gigi liked the way that they worked together and the way that they moved as one flawless piece. “Personally I think that you guys would do a great job, but that’s just me.” She shrugged and added. “I would even invest in you guys getting up and running. Only because I know that you will be a success.”

  They shared a look, and Harker was the one to shrug. “We could keep her around as the mascot.”

  Bradley snorted at that. “More like Michael’s cheerleader.” He leaned over into Connor and batted his lashes. “Oh, Michael, you’re just so studly and hot,” he said in a falsetto voice.

  Connor puffed up his chest, flashed a toothy grin, and buffed his nails on his chest. “I know,” he said in a voice that sounded eerily like Michael.

  “Oh the things you do to me, Michael,” Bradley kept going, throwing in a hefty sigh at the end.

  Connor wrapped his arm around Bradley’s shoulder, and leaned in. “I’d like to do more things to you, Gigi.” Both men made kissy noises before the table burst out laughing.

  Gigi snorted and looked up at Michael. “You know.” She moved in closer, her hand to his chest and she leaned in saying. “We could show them just why I scream so loudly.” She heard the silence behind her and added, “But that would give them all a complex because they would sadly never be as good as you are so I guess they will just have to keep guessing.”

  “Nicely put, honey,” he said. Leaning over, he gave her a gentle kiss on her lips, his own lips curved into a smile. “I love you,” he whispered. Another quick kiss to her lips before he leaned away. “Eat, the lot of you. We need to get everyone back out on patrol, no telling when this asshole is going to show.”

  “You’re darn right you love me.” Gigi patted his chest and nodded. Licking her lips, she pulled back and let out a breathy sigh. “I hope that he never shows. Sad I know, but I’m all for hiding away with the lot of you guys and pretending the world doesn’t exist.”

  Cutter grinned and nudged Connor. “Told you she liked us.”

  Michael rolled his eyes, and let out a groan that sounded pained. “I really wish you hadn’t said that to them, love. Now we’ll never get rid of them. Ever.”

  “Sure you will, eventually,” Yoshi said. “Once you run out of food, likely not prior to that though.”

  That had her grinning and she winked. “It’s okay. I do rather adore them. They are like a bunch of brothers to me. I think that I will keep them.” She didn’t look away from Michael as she added, “However, when I find out who set the firecrackers in the back I will make them dig up all the plants and replace the poor things. Caught them on fire.” She snorted. “Bad of them, wouldn’t you say?” It had been a harmless prank and she knew it, she just couldn’t figure out who did it.

  “Very, and nearly gave me a heart attack. On top of getting my hopes up that this was soon to be all over for you. I think I should just shoot them,” he said. Out of seemingly nowhere, he produced a silenced 9mm and pointed it across the table. He didn’t look away from her as he aimed at the men. “What do you think, love?”

  “I think you would get blood on your dad’s floors and then he would be very upset with you.” She didn’t look away from him, didn’t even move to pull the gun down because she knew that he wouldn’t shoot them, at least not enough to give them an excuse to have to
leave. “I do love you, Michael.” She had only said that to him one other time, and now she could say it without falling over and instead with a huge smile on her face.

  “Damn,” he breathed out. “Just for hearing you say that, I won’t shoot them,” he told her. He tucked the weapon back out of the way, wherever he’d gotten it from, and leaned in to kiss her. “I love hearing you say you love me. You really need to say it more often.”

  “I know, but it wouldn’t be the same if I did now would it?” she asked with a grin and let her hands move up and down his chest. “I think we should however make them clean up. What are your thoughts on that?” That way she would be able to get Michael naked with her all the sooner.

  “Oh lordy, I think they’re going to get naked,” Harker muttered.

  “I think you have the best ideas ever,” he said. Standing, he hauled her up from her chair, tossed her over his shoulder, and turned. “I want this place spotless. Also, tighten up the warning system we have on the east approach. I think something furry was out there rearranging some of our sensors.”

  When Michael turned, Gigi put her hands on his ass and lifted herself. Pushing her hair out of her face with one hand, she left the other on his ass and waved at the men. “Bye, boys. And yes, yes we are going to get naked and stay that way for a long while if I have my desires answered. Just saying.” She giggled and then full-out laughed when Michael swatted her ass. Oh yes, life was very good. Even when in hiding.

  “You love taunting them, don’t you?” he asked when they reached their room. He bent over, and let her down onto her feet once more, keeping her steady while she regained her balance. “Not that I don’t mind, I like the fact you can one up them so damn easily.”