Brazen and Breathless (Untouchable #6) - Heather Long Page 0,134

my phone for my coffee and stared as they tabbed through.

“Holy shit,” Coop said and jerked his gaze up to me.

Archie’s mouth formed a wide smile. “I like the red…”

“When did you do this?” Ian asked, his eyes hot as he glanced at me.

“Who the fuck took these pictures?” Jake demanded, the growl in his voice sending all kinds of delicious shivers through me. The look he pinned on me should not have turned me on. While overprotective Jake used to annoy me, possessive Jake just turned me into mush.

“You don’t like them?” I played innocent, and Coop turned away smothering a snicker, while Archie just lifted a brow.

“Oh, we just want to know who has been looking at you wearing next to nothing, babe. Because Jake’s going to have some feelings on that subject.”

“Like you fucking don’t,” Jake snapped.

It was Ian biting back a smile this time, though he did give me a bit of side-eye. “They look professionally done.”

“Just give me a name, Baby Girl. I love them. I’ll have to thank them, in person.”

“You do not fool me, Jacob Benton,” I teased, and I could kiss Rachel. She was right, this really was the perfect gift for them. Something they could all enjoy, and I’d had a blast doing it. I’d done pictures in their boxers and in their T-shirts, as well as a few in a corset and lace panties. I’d even dug out a couple of the sets they’d given me for Christmas that I hadn’t had occasion to wear.

The pictures were fun and playful, and she’d kept the cosmetics to a minimum. She’d also started telling me a little about the guy she’d been experimenting with, but stressed it was only an experiment and she wouldn’t call it dating.

She wouldn’t even call it benefits, yet.

To say she’d been close-mouthed and sparse would be an understatement.

“I’m not trying to fool you,” Jake murmured. “I really do want to have a chat with whomever this was…”

“Well, I think she can handle you, but you have to promise to be nice.”

“She,” Jake repeated, his frown easing.

Coop let out a laugh. “Rachel took these?”

“I don’t know that that’s much better,” Archie said. “Some of these are hella sexy. Though I gotta say, babe, you wear my boxers better than I do.”

“Rachel’s got a good eye,” Ian told me, and then gave me a kiss. “Thanks for these, Angel. You didn’t have to.”

“I know but it was fun, and I wanted to give you guys something special.”

As much fun as it was, the morning wasn’t waiting for any of us. They had to get to school, and I had to get to my internship. The bubble of happiness floated with me on the drive in. Jake took me since the guys decided to trade out to minimize how often anyone of them were late, and even when I said I could drive myself, they insisted.

When I’d tried to argue that I would be fine, the strain around Archie’s eyes had squeezed my heart, so I left it alone. “We’ll all be here to get you,” Jake promised as he gave me a kiss.

“You guys never told me where we were going…”

“Karaoke,” Jake warned with a grin. “Dinner and karaoke. Then all of us back to the apartment, and everyone is crashing out in the living room. I’d say sex was on the table, but since Archie and Bubba haven’t mastered the open sharing, we’ll have to settle for cuddling. And maybe some sneaking off for seven minutes in heaven.”

I burst out laughing at that mental image. He meant it, too.

Valentine’s Day at Standish, even in the R&D areas, proved to be a lot of fun. Flowers were delivered all day long. There were small boxes of chocolates on everyone’s desks. There was even a heart-shaped box on mine, and Bryan handed his over.

The heathen didn’t like chocolate that much. Oh well, more for me. We grabbed lunch at the deli down the street, and the place was hosed down in Valentine’s hearts. It made me laugh, particularly when all the cold cuts were heart shaped, so I took pictures to send to the guys.

Bryan did not believe in Valentine’s Day. He waxed poetic about how Valentine was Santa Claus and the whole greeting card company nature of it. I kind of tuned him out when he really warmed to the topic. Back at the office, we split up to work with different R&D staff. I got to hang out