from the military, mostly Special Forces, which meant they’d spent a lot of time in the military. She did the quick math. He could be early forties maybe, but probably with a wife and a couple of kids.
“Hutch, the horndog?” Her father’s eyes had widened as he stared at Remy. “That’s who Big Tag put on my baby girl’s case?”
Remy gave him a seemingly apologetic wince. “He’s the computer expert, man. Her problem is based around computers. Hutch is their go-to guy for tech stuff.”
Her oldest brother was suddenly at their dad’s side, pulling on his T-shirt. “What’s a horndog?”
Noelle felt her face flush because unfortunately she understood her dad’s completely outdated lingo.
“It’s a particular type of dog who likes to sniff around women,” her dad said. “I’m worried about him sniffing around your sister.”
Her brother looked up, showing a heartbreakingly adorable grin. He’d recently lost his two front teeth. “Don’t worry about it. Noelle always smells good. She always smells like cookies.”
Only because she baked a lot. The only guys she attracted by smelling like cinnamon and sugar were kids who begged for sweets. She certainly wasn’t going to have some beefy security guy panting after her. He would probably be some muscley dude who spent all his time in the gym and had completely cut out carbs.
“That does not help my case, Jason,” Remy said under his breath.
That was the moment her dad took a Frisbee to the side of his head.
“Sorry, Dad. Kevin’s got bad aim.” Jason picked up the Frisbee and ran off again.
Her dad rubbed the side of his head. “Fatherhood wasn’t this physically painful with you, Noelle. Though now I’m worried about Big Tag’s choices.”
“Armie, Hutch is the guy for the job,” Remy explained. “He’s been doing all the cyber work for McKay-Taggart since Adam Miles left to form his own company, and before you ask me about hiring them, I do not work for Miles-Dean, Weston, and Murdoch and you cannot afford them. Trust me. If Big Tag needs something from them, he’ll call them in.”
“Can’t we get one of the married guys on this?” her dad asked. “You know how these things go. I swear the MT guys view their clients the way most people use dating apps. How many of those guys end up slipping into bed with clients?”
“Dad!” Her father still had the power to completely embarrass her.
Lisa shook her head and patted her round belly. “Nah, honey, he’s right. How do you think I found Remy? And my sister Laurel ended up with Big Tag’s lawyer when she worked for him, so it’s not just the security guys. It’s pretty much anyone in Big Tag’s orbit. They get pulled into the whole love and marriage thing.”
Her dad pointed Lisa’s way. “Uh, uh. That’s only some of the guys. What about all the women they went through first? Did Remy come into your marriage pure?”
Lisa snorted.
“I did not sleep with a bunch of clients,” Remy argued.
“Just every Hooter’s girl in Dallas,” Lisa said under her breath.
Her stepmom frowned her dad’s way. “Are you trying to say Noelle would be nothing more than a notch on this guy’s bedpost?”
Noelle held up a hand. “I was planning on not sleeping with the guy who checks my computer for viruses and spies.”
She would maybe though sleep with someone from her training class. Lisa had told her sex was common and that she’d had an amazing time with her training Dom. If they set out firm boundaries and she liked the man, it would be a safe way to indulge since the guy would be highly vetted by a bunch of paranoid security experts.
But she wasn’t mentioning that to her dad because…he was her dad.
“I bet Lisa wasn’t planning on sleeping with Remy when he was her bodyguard,” her dad said with an extra frowny frown.
“Oh, I planned to sleep with him. He played hard to get for years and all because he thought I looked too sweet for a guy like him,” Lisa added. “So you’re safe. If Hutch is anything like Remy, he’ll stay far away because he’ll think he’s not good enough for her. Noelle, if he gives you trouble, show him your boobs. It worked for me.”
Her stepmom choked on her iced tea, but her dad went pale.
“I’m not showing anyone my boobs.” Well, not anyone she worked with. And certainly not some guy named Hutch. Who was named Hutch? He sounded like a refugee from a bad old TV