She’s the granddaughter of Chris Decker—the musical legend. She’s the granddaughter of Gabe Colt—producer, screenwriter, and award-winning actor. Her uncles are the famous Decker twins. Those might be important reasons. The most important one is that Mason, the owner of one of the best high intelligence secret agencies, has made a few enemies worldwide.
She’s not in danger, but we are cautious.
When he was going to assign the duty to one of his men, I volunteered. Who better to watch over her than me?
I wouldn’t trust her safety to anyone. Plus, I’m her friend. She’s never felt like someone is watching her every step. It’s always just me—fun, reliable, and silly Beacon Aldridge. If I’m not with her, I assign the people who watch over her during concerts.
He never felt the need to disclose my duty to Grace, nor the fact that she has a bodyguard. I don’t know what she’s going to do when she learns about it.
Good luck, Mason Bradley.
She’s going to be pissed at me. I’m going to have to grovel and persuade her to forgive me.
This dating thing has a big obstacle. I could be worried if it wasn’t for the fact that I’m counting on it to swoon the fuck out of her, so she’ll forgive me. Chicks dig that groveling thing pretty well. I’ve seen it with my sisters-in-law.
My relationship with Mason and my job with The Organization might be in jeopardy. He’s going to try to kick my ass—which isn’t skinny anymore. I can take him. We’ll just have to deal with it later. As always, my priority is Grace.
Before I warn him, because he is pissing me off, the guys arrive to pick up Grace’s car.
I respect him. He’s done a lot for me, but I’m tired of doing everything he says to avoid losing my primary duty.
Grace gives San her car keys and we wave goodbye.
“What was that?” Grace asks as we pull out of the driveway.
“I’m not trying to be dense, but what exactly are you talking about?” I ask, glancing at her briefly and then returning my attention back to the road.
It could be one of two things—the throwdown with her father or the fact that I picked her up without warning her. Either way, I’m going to play dumb until we get home. I’m not thrilled that she rented her own place. If she had agreed to live in the house the guys leased, I could switch places with one of them and stay overnight with her.
She huffs. “Never mind.”
“No, really. Tell me,” I insist.
“For starters, you never told me you had a primary duty.”
Because why would she start with something as light as, “Why were you taunting my father?” Nope, she wants to know what will make her say, “Drive me back home. We’re over.”
“It’s classified,” I remind her.
There’s sensitive information within The Organization that we can’t share. Not even with our team. In our case, she’s the only one in the team who doesn’t know about it. Fuck, she’s going to kill me.
“Oh God, don’t give me that crap, Beacon Aldridge,” she warns me. “I know about all your missions—even the ones where you go alone.”
“Missions, yes,” I clarify. “Not duties.”
“Now you’re obtuse,” she complains. “What are you hiding?”
This is the part where I tell her the truth. She’ll kick my ass and refuse to see me again. I will have to grovel and probably stay with her until she forgives me. Which will affect the entire town of Baker’s Creek.
“Can we discuss it tonight?” I ask, requesting some time because I definitely need to warn Mason.
I might not be able to leave town, but his daughter can, and she’s not going to be happy after she’s done with me.
“Why wait?”
“Because the last thing I want to do is talk about work,” I answer, and it’s the truth.
“So, if I ask about the sabbatical?”
“It has to do with my primary duty,” I respond. “Again, something we can discuss later when we arrive home.”
I feel her glare. It’s that intense. She’s either upset or trying to figure out a way to just quit the operation and head back home. I wait for her next question. “Did the lawyer agree to let me babysit Arden and Carter?”
“Yeah,” I answer, knowing that Leyla already told her it was cleared. “It wasn’t even an issue. Apparently, reaching out to our community is allowed.”
“What does that mean?”
“It means that we can ask for help from the town, as long as there’s no