Page 68 of Finding Elodie
Slate reached out and smacked him on the back of the head. “We aren’t going to make her cook for all of us the first time we meet her. Jeez, you’re an idiot.”
“It was just a suggestion!” Pid said. “No need to get violent.”
“I’ll figure something out,” Mustang told his friends.
The door to the conference room opened and their commander stuck his head in. “You guys ready for a debrief on the situation in Benin?”
The men all got serious and nodded. Benin was a country in Africa, near the equator, that shared a border with Nigeria. They’d been watching internal factions fighting for a while now and it looked like the country was on the verge of a coup. If they were sent in, their job would be to rescue US and other foreign nationals who were caught in the fray. Everyone had been advised to vacate the country, but there were always a few people who denied what was happening right in front of them or who thought they’d be safe if they stayed.
The topic of Elodie was dropped, but Mustang felt better knowing his team was now aware of her situation. He was satisfied, for the moment, that she wasn’t in imminent danger, but he was grateful that Pid would be looking into the Columbus family. He’d be thrilled to find out Elodie had misread the situation and the family wasn’t actually part of the mob. But he didn’t doubt her fear was real. No one gave up their life like she had if there wasn’t some truth to what was happening.
No, he was sure Elodie felt as if her life was in danger. The question was…how deep was the threat? He’d find out, and then he and his team would take care of it so Elodie could live the life she wanted…hopefully with Mustang by her side.
* * *
Scott was waiting for Elodie when the Fish Tales pulled into dock that afternoon. She’d been distracted most of the day, fluctuating between insanely happy and wondering what the hell she was doing. She wasn’t the kind of person to dwell on the negative, but it seemed so much shit had piled on top of her over the last year, it was hard to see anything positive. Meeting Scott had been a light in her otherwise dark life.
The weekend had been amazing. She’d been afraid to tell Scott about Paul and what had happened in New York, but he hadn’t freaked out. Hadn’t told her to get the hell out or yelled at her for possibly bringing the mob straight to his doorstep. Not that she’d thought he’d do either of those things, but there was always the possibility.
Even better, he hadn’t immediately tried to take over her life. He hadn’t ordered her to quit her job and go into hiding. He hadn’t insisted she go to the cops and tell them what happened. He’d listened and made suggestions—things she’d readily agreed to. She didn’t think she’d ever met someone so tuned in to what she was feeling and thinking as Scott.
And then there was the sex. She couldn’t deny she’d thought about how things would be between them, but the reality had been so much better than her fantasies. Scott was rough and a little aggressive, and she loved it. She felt like a completely different person when she was with him. Oh, there was more to a relationship than sex, but they were definitely starting out on the right foot as far as she was concerned.
“See you tomorrow, Melody!” Kai called out as she stepped off the boat and headed for Scott, who was standing at the end of the dock waiting for her. It was crazy how even a few days of her real name coming from Scott’s lips made hearing Kai call her by a different name feel so wrong.
She waved at him and called out, “Aloha!” and continued toward Scott.
He was smiling by the time she got to him. “Hey, babe.”
“Hey,” she said, stepping into his personal space and tipping her head back. He obliged by bending and kissing her hard and deep, right there in front of all the tourists and locals milling about.
When he lifted his head after several moments, Elodie knew she had a ridiculous smile on her face.
“How was your day?” he asked, putting his arm around her shoulders and steering her toward his truck.
“Good. The clients each caught a marlin. They were thrilled.”
“Glad to hear it.”
“How’s your day been?” she asked.
“About like normal,” he said.
“Did you…did you talk to your team?”
He knew what she was referring to. “I did. And it’s all good. I’ll tell you about it tonight. You want me to take you to my place or yours?”
Elodie thought about it for a second, then said, “Mine, please.”
She liked that he didn’t complain or try to talk her into going to his place. He merely stood by as she climbed into his truck and shut the door behind her when she was settled. The drive to the house where she was renting a room was done in silence, but Elodie felt a little better when Scott reached over and took her hand in his as he drove.
When he pulled up in front of the house, he cut off the engine and turned to her. She held her breath, because the serious look on his face made her extremely nervous.
“The guys wanted to know when they were going to get a chance to meet you. They had all sorts of ideas…like working out with us, or having a cookout—for which they volunteered you to cook all the food.” He rolled his eyes and smirked. “I said no to both, by the way. I have no problem with them meeting you, but I’m not ready to share you yet. I hope that’s okay. It’s not that I’m trying to hide you or anything, I just…I’m feeling selfish and want to spend every second of my time off getting to know you, not playing host with my team.”
Elodie’s nervousness evaporated. “Okay.”
“I know that’s crazy, and I do want you to meet them. I think you’ll get along great. It’s not that I’m afraid you won’t like them or vice versa.”
