"Seven will be fine," I breathed before glancing down at my now empty bit of card-boarded bowl. "Do you want my phone number, too? You know, just in case something happens?"
"That'd be great, Lulu," he replied looking like I'd just handed him his lottery check.
So I'd wasted four days with my hints when all it would've taken was giving him permission to use my first name?
The inner workings of the male psyche was a deeply mysterious thing.
*.*.*.*.*
Silo, storming back by the conference room on the way to his desk, couldn't help but overhear the young couple who ate lunch there. Flipping a bitch in the middle of the hall he raced to Bishop's office.
Dare was seated in one of the visitor's chairs with his feet up on a corner of the desktop.
"You are not going to fuckin' believe this! Meat asked princess out and she said fuckin' yes!" he boomed after closing the door.
"You're shittin' me," Dare breathed.
"Meat? As in young Mel?" Bishop asked incredulously.
"That's the one. Now I need one of you fuckers to tell me why him and not us, huh? What's he got we ain't?" Silo's disbelief was hard to miss.
"He doesn't even have game, for Christ's sake!" Dare yelled.
"Maybe that's the attraction," Bishop ruminated. "She's bright and scary smart so maybe quiet is more her goddamn type."
"He don't seem so quiet when she's around," Silo advised. "Fuckin' little chatter box during their fuckin' little lunches."
"You think she'll do him?" Dare got straight to the point.
All three men looked at each other. They had a pool going to see which one of them was going to get underneath those cute as fuckin' hell petticoats and by how soon. But with her agreeing to go out with the soon to be recruit, the game had changed.
"I call two weeks," Bishop yelled, pulling up his calendar on the computer and changing the labels written in the same pink as her hair.
"Nine days," Silo intoned, moving around to stand behind the IT manager's chair.
"Shit. He's my fuckin' responsibility and my time with him starts in four days. So I'm gonna ensure the kid hits it in five." Dare announced with a challenging grin.
All three men looked at each other before they all burst out laughing.
Dedication
As ever this book is dedicated to my progeny—you know who you are, especially for listening when mom starts talking about people that aren't even real!
And to Jennifer Guffey. A reader who took the time to email me and ASK for the Hellion Series after reading Hiding in Plain Sight. I can't thank you enough, Jennifer!
Hat's off to Laura Kingsley, my editor and Faustino Gaitan, my book cover designer. You two are helping me learn how to be a professional author instead of a girl that just types out some books about love.
And to you, dear reader. For taking a chance on a new author and sticking with her as she is still learning and growing. It really means a lot!
For those of you that have been with me on this journey, thanks for the memories!
For those of you still on your way, where've you been? My heart's been waiting for you!
Author Bio - J.A. Hornbuckle
Aren't we all curious about the person who wrote the story we read? I know I am.
Here's what I know about myself:
I love red wine
Live music gives me tingles no matter what style
Muscled, long-haired men are my own personal kryptonite
I can't deal with the cold which is why I live in Phoenix, Arizona
Of course that's just the tip of the ice-berg!
At first meeting me, people think I'm somber and a little stand-offish. I'm really not. It's a case of my outsides not matching my insides. Because there's a freaking party in my head almost twenty-four seven.
I'm old enough to know better but still young enough to do it anyway (...the best part of aging is that you know the CONSEQUENCES of your actions and weigh the internal scales accordingly!)
I love writing, especially romances but only where the 'man' portion is a part of the ro-man-ce word. And...I believe, really do have faith, that there are happily-ever-afters and hope you do too.
Feel free to contact me:
Email: [email protected]
Website: http://www.jahornbuckle.com (Be sure to sign up for my newsletter!)
Facebook: J-A-Hornbuckle
Twitter: @JAHornbuckle
Goodreads: J A Hornbuckle
Other Books by J.A. Hornbuckle
Pole Dance
Human Hieroglyphix I
Tap Dance
Human Hieroglyphix II
Everybody Falls
Bewitchments
Hiding in Plain Sight
A Grantham Christmas
The Possibility of Trey (A Hellion MC Novel) Page 28