Rising Storm (Westin Force #2) - Julie Trettel Page 0,50
sighed happily.
“I love coffee. Why don’t we have any here?”
I shrugged. “Just not a fan of the stuff. There’s always coffee down in the lobby or the break room downstairs, though I guess we need to stop terrorizing Archie and get you a guest access at least.”
“Done.” She surprised me by saying. When I gave her a confused look, she clarified further. “Patrick and Silas took care of it while you were recovering. They also got me a license, passport, and whatever paperwork I might need to verify my identity. I am now Emma Reed.”
I shook my head. “Let me guess, Silas gave you that name?”
She nodded. “Do you like it?”
My heart softened and I nodded. Silas was the only person left on the planet who knew my real name. I was born Ernest Reed. My mother had nicknamed me Painter as a young child because I liked to decorate the trees with the juice of the local berries. It wouldn’t just stain the bark and mark our home, it also stained me, and she would lovingly call me her little painter. The name had stuck, and it brought back all the good memories I had of my family, so as I got older, I’d adopted it legally. Painter Granger was actually what my license and passport said, at least the one I currently used. I’d taken Granger because everyone had assumed Silas and I were brothers. We weren’t, at least not by blood, only by spilt blood.
“I like it a lot,” I finally told her. “He gave you my real name.”
Her eyes were full of questions, but for once, she didn’t ask.
I sighed. “Ernest Reed is my given name. Only Silas knows that. Legally, I go by Painter Granger now. I have extra identity packs for Painter Reed and even one containing my real passport, birth certificate, and credentials under Ernest, but I’ve never used it. Even my parents didn’t call me that. I’ve been Painter for as long as I can remember.”
“Ernest suits you, but I like Painter better,” she admitted making me smile.
Saying it aloud, I liked the sound of Painter Reed better. I could talk to Silas about officially changing it. I also really liked that Emma carried my last name. It felt right.
There was a knock at the door and I begrudgingly answered. I hated to admit it, but I’d loved having Emma all to myself every day. I knew once I opened that door, everything was going to change again.
“Grab a shirt,” I told her as I got up to answer it.
“You ready for this?” Grant asked.
“No.”
“Told you. Still haven’t sealed it?” Micah asked.
I shook my head. It was starting to get harder not to bond myself to her. We hadn’t discussed it and I knew she had questions she needed answering first. Last night had been hard not to mark her as mine forever. The only thing that stopped me was the fact that she was drunk.
“Let’s see how good our girl made you behave this time,” Grant teased.
I snorted. “You both knew, didn’t you?”
“Knew what?” Micah asked.
“That Emma is a rules girl. She followed everything we said exactly as we instructed. Am I right?”
I groaned.
“I knew it! You’re just like that too, well for everything and everyone that isn’t you. You always skirt the rules and find the loopholes for yourself, or just blatantly ignore it, but not when it comes to anyone else you care about. Annoying, isn’t it?”
I laughed. “You’re an asshole. Get this over with quickly.”
“Take a seat and show Micah my awesome stitching.”
“Barely even a scar,” Micah noted proudly after I sat and hiked up my shorts.
They took turns poking and prodding at it. I didn’t even flinch. It was one hundred percent healed this time and they were just being obnoxious and making a big deal out of it for nothing.
“Yeah, yeah, yeah. I listened. I behaved. I’m healed. Just admit it and clear me for duty already.”
“I don’t know. I think you probably need a few more days alone with your mate just to be sure,” Micah said.
“Are you kidding me right now?” I cursed under my breath.
Emma jumped up, closing her eyes against the pain from her headache and came over to join us. “Is something wrong?” She sounded so worried that even Grant couldn’t keep up the act.
“I’m afraid, you did such a good job with him, that you may put me out of a job, Emma.”