Hello My Angel - Sue Brown Page 0,72
said yes before.”
“I also said I wanted a proper proposal. I don’t want a lame-ass proposal when you’re thousands of miles away. Get your ass back here and put it right. On your knees and with a ring.”
“Then you’ll say yes?”
“Then I’ll think about it.” Josh’s sharp tone softened. “And I’ll say yes, Charlie.”
“That’s all I needed to hear, my angel.”
Chapter 20
“If you don’t sit the fuck down, I’m gonna shoot you,” Gil growled.
Josh paused in his endless pacing across the floor of the conference room to flip him off. “It’s illegal here,” he said snidely.
“If they don’t find your body they won’t know.”
Josh flipped him off and resumed pacing.
Dave grabbed him by the shoulders and forced him down into a chair. “Sit down, Josh. You’re driving us nuts.”
Rick looked up from dealing the cards. “What the hell is bothering you?”
He and Dave had been playing gin rummy at one end of the table. Josh had been too scattered to join in the game.
“Cal is coming home,” Josh said.
“And?” Dave furrowed his thick brows. “Cal comes home all the time.”
“He’s been gone for weeks.”
“And?” Dave looked genuinely puzzled.
Josh threw his hands up in the air. “He’s going to propose to me—again.”
Dave rocked back on his heels as if Josh had punched him.
“Shut the fuck up,” Rick bellowed.
Gil’s jaw dropped. “What do you mean, again. How many times has he proposed?”
Josh scowled at them. “What difference does that make? He proposed to me last night. I said no, of course, but—”
“Wait!” Gil held his hand up. “You said no? To Cal? You’ve said no before?”
“Of course I did.”
“Is this opposite day?” Rick asked to the room at large.
“I think so,” Dave said.
Josh’s glower deepened. “Now what are you talking about?”
“Well,” Dave said, “I’m sure I just heard you say you turned down a marriage proposal from the love of your fucking life, and more than once. Are you fucking mad?”
“No.”
“Then why did you say no, dipshit?”
From the way everyone looked at Josh he guessed they wanted to know the answer too. He slumped down in his seat. “Because I want a proper proposal.”
He glared at them, daring them to snicker. No one cracked a smile. Not even Gil.
“He’ll be back soon,” Dave said soothingly.
Fuck it, they thought he was starting to crack up. Maybe they were right. He needed a coffee, or he’d kill them all.
“I’ll make coffee,” Rick said hastily and vanished out of the conference room toward the kitchen.
Josh furrowed his brow. “Did I talk out loud?”
“You had your ‘give me coffee or die’ look,” Gil said.
The others nodded in agreement. Josh sighed and knuckled his eyes. The day seemed endless and it was only nine in the morning. It would be hours before he’d be in Cal’s arms.
“I just want him to come home,” he whined.
“You should have gone with him,” Dave said.
“We’ve had too much to do here,” Josh said. “Taking over SCDR and the European security work is a big deal.”
“We need more staff,” Gil said. “We’ll never cope with all the extra work.”
Josh nodded in agreement. “I think I’ve found one person. I gave him our card.”
“The bloke who helped you out in the art gallery?” Dave asked.
Josh nodded. “Liam Quick. He’d be ideal as muscle.”
He watched Gil closely, noting the fleeting look of pain as Gil thought of his brother. To his surprise, it was Dave who leaned over to squeeze Gil’s shoulder.
Gil pasted on a smile. “We need more muscle. Gotta train someone else to handle the princess.”
Josh flipped him off. “Fuck you, Grover. Where’s the damn coffee? Is Rick grinding the beans?” He raised his voice as Rick came into the room.
Rick ignored him and handed him the large mug. Josh inhaled the aroma and felt a little of the tension that had been building in his shoulders drain away.
“Quick works for Baxter Securities. Word is the owner wants to sell up,” Rick said.
Josh nodded. He’d made the same check too. “Have you spoken to Baxter?”
“Not yet. They’ve got a good reputation. Low-level jobs but solid and reliable. Quick lives up to his name.”
Josh sipped at the coffee, sighing in contentment as warmth flooded through his body. “I saw that in action. He’s brains and brawn. Like our Gil.”
Gil smirked at him. “Aw, princess, anyone would think you love me.”
“They’d need their eyes tested,” Josh said snidely.
Gil just grinned.
“Is Jesse coming here?” Dave asked.
Cal had offered Jesse a job as soon as he landed back in London, but the man had hesitated,