Page 42 of Protecting Bree
His hand came up and clamped around the back of her neck when she went to stand up. “This isn’t a hardship,” he told her sternly. “Seeing you laughing and happy…it’s my pleasure, Bree.”
He was killing her.
“I’ll show you tonight how much I appreciate you,” she told him.
“Tonight? I’m thinking maybe we can get started as soon as we’re home…”
She chuckled. “You’re such a guy,” she told him.
“Yeah, I am. A guy who appreciates a good thing when he has it. In case you’re confused,you’rethat good thing.”
“You’re so getting some,” she whispered, before leaning down once again. This time the kiss wasn’t shortorsweet.
“You two can make out later, we have bags to sort through!” Fiona called out, the amusement easy to hear in her tone.
Bree stood, Smiley caressing her hip as she did. She had a feeling she was blushing, but for the first time in a long time, she felt utterly carefree.
Today felt like the first day of the rest of her life, andshe was going to make the most of it. Go after what she wanted. And what she wanted most was Smiley.
“Go on. If you need anything, let me know,” he said, shifting in the seat.
Bree’s gaze went between his legs, and she saw his erection. She wrinkled her nose; that couldn’t be comfortable. But Smiley physically turned her and gave her a little push toward the other two women before she could comment.
“Go. Do your thing.”
“Yes, sir,” she sassed.
The second she crossed the threshold between the outer store and the backroom, Fiona and Julie began to giggle.
“Girl, you two are hot together!” Fiona exclaimed.
Julie waved a hand in front of her face like a fan. “Scorching.”
“Whatever,” Bree said with a roll of her eyes, even though deep down, she agreed with both women. “Where are we starting?”
“Right. The new stuff is over there,” Julie said, pointing at four large trash bags along one of the walls.
The back room was full of several racks of clothes, mostly dresses. Some had dry-cleaning tags on them and others were wrinkled, as if waiting to be brought to the cleaners. There were other boxes of supplies stacked up in the space as well. It was a crowded room, but organized and clean. There was a door that probably led to the alley that ran behind the row of stores along Main Street, and what Bree could see was a small bathroom as well.
“The first step is to take everything out of the bags and hang it up. Once it’s all out, I usually look at each piece, try to validate the authenticity of the brand, you know, seeif it’s a knockoff or real, and then separate out what I think will sell and what I’ll bring over to one of the general goodwill stores,” Julie explained, as she headed toward the bags.
Bree followed, strangely excited to see what had been donated. It was like Christmas and her birthday rolled into one.
Forgetting about the arrest of Mateo Castillo for the moment, she lost herself in the pleasure of working alongside new friends.
Smiley watched the women with a small smile as they worked in the back room. If any of his teammates could see him now, they’d probably think he was sick and needed to consult a doctor. He didn’t usually sit around and do nothing…much less sit around and watch a woman shop.
But listening to Bree and the others giggle and gasp in surprise and delight when they uncovered something special was an experience he’d never had, and never expected to actually enjoy.
Bree might think this was a waste of his time, but the more he was around her, the more he discovered the joys of simple pleasures.
The ringing of his cell made Smiley jerk in surprise, and he chuckled under his breath. Some badass SEALhewas, scared by his own damn phone.
Looking down, he saw it was Cookie—and he tensed.
This couldn’t be good.
Tex’s call with Wolf’s team about Castillo had been postponed. Smiley didn’t know why and he hadn’t asked—but it was taking place today. There could only be one reason why Cookie was calling him now, and it wasn’t to say hi.
