Calculated Risk (Blackbridge Security 5)

All seems normal around here.

“Where have you been?” Jude asks when he notices me.

“Working. You should try it sometime.”

“The team has been injury free for eighteen days,” Jude responds.

“Great. You had to say it out loud?” Flynn complains. “Now you’ve jinxed us.”

“I don’t conform to your superstitions,” Jude tells him before looking back at me. “Did I tell you that I ran into Hayden?”

He laughs when my body tenses. “You didn’t. When? Today? Is she here?”

“Interesting,” Kit says. “Is this the girl from the shooting class?”

It doesn’t surprise me that he’s gotten details on a conversation he wasn’t even present for.

“It was yesterday at the gun range,” Jude explains.

“Classes are on Thursday.”

“And the range is open seven days a week.” Jude’s eyes narrow. “She mentioned you telling her to not worry about aim for now.”

Flynn chuckles. Kit huffs a laugh.

It’s clear with both their reactions that they know exactly what I did.

“She was scared of the gun,” I argue, unwilling to confess the truth.

“And you’re well aware that starting with all the fundamentals—including aim—is pertinent,” Kit says.

I frown but keep my eyes on Jude, hoping he’ll tell me how she’s doing without me actually having to ask the damned question.

“So you sandbagged her, so she’d be more likely to ask for more help.” Flynn explains my intentions out loud, and I can only guess how ridiculous it sounds to these guys. “If I had to guess, I bet you stood behind her and physically positioned her arms, didn’t you?”

They all laugh when I clamp my mouth closed.

“Pitiful, man. Just pitiful.”

Jude’s smile grows at Kit’s reaction. “I know you’re too stubborn to ask, so I’ll tell you that she looked good.”

She always looks good, I want to say.

“What was she wearing?” My eyes snap to Flynn. I’m seconds away from knocking the cheesy grin off his face.

“Very feminine slacks, and—” If he mentions a blouse, I’m likely to punch my best friend in the face. “A flowy top. It looked like silk.”

“Jude,” I warn. It’s the only one he’ll get.

Another round of laughter comes from Flynn as he stands. “Just ask the woman out already. Maybe it’ll put an end to that hostility you’re feeling grow in your chest.”

I think hitting each one of them for having a good time at my expense also sounds like a viable option.

“She’s getting better,” Jude says. “I helped her establish eye dominance, and by the end of the lane rental she—”

“Quinten, I have another case to discuss with you,” Deacon says as he walks into the room, interrupting a vital conversation.

Jude snaps his mouth closed, refusing to continue. I walk away, working through how to get the information out of him later. He’s having fun with this right now, but eventually I’ll get him to spill. I’m barely able to pay attention to Deacon once we’re back in his office going over the file.

Never in my life has someone been able to make me lose focus so easily. Maybe Flynn is right and asking her out would be the best way to go. More likely than not, I’ll spend a little time with her and realize we aren’t compatible, or she’ll shoot me down, and I’ll know exactly where I stand with her.

Thursday can’t get here soon enough.

Chapter 14

Hayden

The second to last class is wrapping up, and I don’t know if I’m anxious because Parker didn’t show up at all or if it’s because I don’t want them to end.

It could also be because I have to once again go home to a house I no longer feel safe in. Exhaustion is weighing down on me, but when I close my eyes at night, I can’t sleep. It’s making me irritable to the point I snapped at someone at work earlier today for something that normally wouldn’t cause my blood pressure to spike in the slightest. I apologized profusely, but felt guilty for the rest of the day.

“How are you feeling about it now?” Quinten asks.

The attention I’m getting right now is nothing different from what he’s offered to every other woman in the class, but I bask in it, slowing my response time to make it last just a little longer.

At first sight, I judged this man as angry and frightening because of his size and the way he holds his mouth in a nearly constant frown, but the more I look at him and watch him, that opinion changes. I find him giving small smiles of approval when someone celebrates their success with shooting. He’s quick to give compliments at a job well done, and he’s a true instructor, explaining and showing when there are issues rather than getting upset and agitated when one of us can’t do what he’s suggesting the first time.

“Hayden?”

“Yes, I’m getting the hang of it. Jude’s advice earlier this week helped a lot, too.”