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“She knows that’s not who I am, and that’s not the person she fell in love with. She’s on board with me following my dream. How could I not give her the dream of a big wedding? But I’m outnumbered here. I need you, Gen. You’re my best friend and the only member of our family I like. You can’t leave me hanging out here with just Autumn in my corner.”
Gennessey let silence stretch between them, part of her wanting to keep her cousin in suspense since he dropped the bomb on her the way he had. “Of course, I’ll be there. We made a pact, and I don’t go back on my word.”
“I knew I could count on you. And I had Autumn to include a plus-one on your invitation. I thought you could bring someone to act as a buffer between you and the family.”
She snorted. “I’m not sure I can subject someone to our family during all this. They’ll try to turn your wedding into a double ceremony with me and my plus-one.”
“I have your back, just like you have mine. We’re in this together. Like always.”
She smiled, her love for her cousin strong even when she wanted to wring his neck. “Like always. Listen, I need to get back to work. We’ll talk more later. Give Autumn a hug for me.”
“Will do. Love you, Gen. And thank you.”
“Love you too, Cohen.”
She ended the call and lifted the invitation from her desk. She stared at it as if her vision could disintegrate the paper into a pile of ash. Instead, the pretty font and fancy paper seemed to mock her. It was a reminder of the misfit she was and had always been.
For anyone but Cohen, she would have crushed the invitation and deposited it in her trash can, never to think of it again. But he was her one constant. Whenever she felt lonely and insecure, he had a way of drawing her out, of making her believe she was worthy of doing whatever she wanted even if it brought on the scorn of her family.
She would be there for her cousin, and she had one month to prepare for the extended time with her family, including finding a plus-one who could stand strong against the force of her overbearing relatives.
She’d faced down killers and terrorists during the course of her career, and she’d managed to come out unscathed. She wanted to believe she could handle a family wedding with the same results.
Suddenly a month didn’t seem like nearly enough time to prepare for battle.
Chapter Two
Brennan “BB” Beckett sipped his draft beer as his friends laughed and swapped tall tales around the table. His wide smile was for show because he hadn’t heard a word they said.
He had noticed the pulsating music driving the gyrating bodies on the dance floor. He had noticed the jeans fitting like a second skin and the top with the deep V neckline giving a delectable view of cleavage. He hadn’t missed the mass of black curls swinging out as the woman who held his attention spun in time to the music.
He noted the pair of hands resting on her curvy hip and resented the fact they belonged to the asshole who swayed behind her. He didn’t miss the beautiful smile she flashed at her dance partner and tried not to be jealous of it when all she ever gave BB was a glare.
There wasn’t much about Gennessey Croft he didn’t notice, and try as he might, there wasn’t anything he could do to gain her attention, at least in the positive way he wanted. He earned a lot of scorn and anger, but none of the sweetness and fun she bestowed on others around her.
He pissed her off just by existing, and he’d stopped trying to figure out why. Just as he’d stopped trying to erase his attraction to her. Both were pointless pursuits.
Taking a long swig of his beer, he tried to focus on his friends. They were technically his coworkers at Knight Security and Investigations, but they were as close as family to him. They were all different from their personalities to their service in various branches of the military, but as members of KSI’s Alpha Team, they spent more time together than apart. They operated as a unit in the field, and they had each other’s backs in life.
His team had been joined by their women to make for a boisterous bunch occupying the table at their favorite hangout, Torch.
Wings Tyler held his wife, Courtlyn, close to his side so he could whisper in her ear. From what he knew about Wings and from the deep flush on Courtlyn’s cheeks, he guessed his buddy whispered a lot of inappropriate sexy words meant for her ears only.
His boss and former team leader Jay Colter had passed on the evening to be at home with his wife, Payton, and their daughters, Davi, Stephanie, and their newest addition, Lucy, who happened to be one of the cutest four-year-olds BB had ever met. Though Davi and Stephanie had been teenagers when Jay and Payton adopted them, the couple couldn’t resist adding the toddler to their family once they learned of her need for a forever home.
Cole Atwood, otherwise known as Panther to their group, sat with his arm around his wife, Sydney, who also worked at KSI as a computer analyst. Zane Wilder and his girlfriend Bridget Kincaid had a night free from taking care of Bridget’s niece and nephew, whom she had custody of, and right now, they were enjoying the dance floor.
That left his teammate Sam Montgomery, who didn’t officially have a girl but who couldn’t seem to stay away from Sydney’s best friend, Chloe Stephens. The two were close friends, and BB figured the only reason they didn’t move into the category of friends with benefits was because of the struggles they’d experienced in their lives.
Chloe was learning to live with a trauma she’d experienced years before, and Sam was barely over the end of his relationship with Monica, who had been his long-time girlfriend and mother of his son, Aidan.
Then there was Gennessey. Though the KSI investigators often hung out with the team, tonight she wasn’t a part of their group as much as she was here on a date with her guy of the moment. What was his name? Jack or Steve? He couldn’t remember, so he just called the guy by the standard moniker he used for all of Gennessey’s dates — asshole.
“Oh, my God. Just go over there and cut in already.”
BB blinked and turned his gaze to stare at Chloe, who occupied the seat beside him. He then looked to see who had overheard her, but his friends were hanging on to every word of a story Wings was sharing. Fortunately, the music had drowned out Chloe’s words to everyone but him.
He kept his expression blank. “What?”
