a grin. The rest of the men smiled back at him.
“I’m just glad it’s not me,” Smoke said. “It never will be.”
“I’ll take that bet,” Brackish said. “The bigger they are, the harder they fall.”
“I can’t believe you’re proposing,” Green said. “Are you sure?”
“I’ve never been more sure of anything in my life,” Sleep said. “And I truly appreciate you guys helping me with this.”
“Hell yeah, we’re helping you,” Brackish said. “Not because we like you or anything, but because we want to see the moment when she turns you down.”
“Not going to happen boys. She thinks I’m amazing.”
Green suddenly frowned. “Hold up. What in the hell am I shooting?”
Eyes and Sleep laughed hard at that. Eyes had purposely left Green’s targets off the paper . . . just for a bit more fun.
“You’re going to drop rose petals over them as Sleep falls on his knee and pulls out the ring. And then after she says yes, if she says yes, you’re going to be hitting targets setting off fireworks over the ocean.”
“Damn, you put some real time and effort into this,” Green said with awe. “This is pretty bad ass.”
“Yeah, I love this woman big, and anything less than a spectacular proposal wouldn’t be acceptable.”
“So this is music I’m blasting out over the ocean,” Brackish said as he opened the drive on his computer. “Can you get any lamer with your choice of songs?”
“Yep, I’m sure I could,” Sleep said with a cheesy grin. “And I don’t even care. I love this woman, and there’s nothing you can say to embarrass me. I want her to know I’d do anything to make her feel special.”
“Damn. I hope I don’t ever fall like you,” Brackish said with a bit of horror.
“You might be next,” Eyes said. “With the way you’ve been carrying on about the waitress and all.”
“I just think she’s hot. But it isn’t as if I’ve had any time to pursue her lately. For all I know she’s been swept up in the past month while you’ve kept me on missions.”
“Ha. You’ve been spying on the diner so we all know she’s still very available,” Smoke said with a laugh.
Brackish didn’t respond. Eyes had a feeling the team was right. Brackish seemed mesmerized already, and he’d only interacted with the woman one time so far. He had a feeling that was changing real soon.
“Okay, Brackish is playing the music, Eyes and Smoke are bringing in the blanket, picnic basket, wine, flowers, and umbrella, and Smoke is lighting the fire. Then Green is dropping the rose petals, and waiting to spark the fireworks. We all have our mission. Let’s get down there and go over it until we know we’re a well-oiled machine. I don’t want a single thing to go wrong,” Sleep said.
“I still think she’ll say no,” Smoke said as he stood.
“Want to take bets?” Green asked.
“Nah, I’d feel bad when Sleep is heartbroken,” Smoke said.
“True,” Brackish said.
The men continued ribbing each other as they walked out of their top-secret quarters. This was one mission they were not only eager to begin, but excited to execute. They might be losing their brother, but it was in the best way possible. They were losing him to a woman who loved him. They still had him as their brother-in-arms.
“Let the mission begin,” Eyes said.
They jumped into their vehicles, and they were off . . . This was definitely the best mission any of them had ever had.
Chapter One
Steve Bregon had been called Brackish for so long that sometimes it was odd for him to be called by his actual name. He could switch back and forth, but once in a while it took him a few seconds. He even thought of himself as Brackish when he was stuck in his own mind.
He’d been involved with the military, or military type operations since he was barely out of high school, and in that time he’d worked with some of the most intelligent individuals on earth. No one could call him a humble man, but there was a reason for that. He was a tech god, and he’d created and written more backend network code over the past week than most men in the field did in a lifetime.
Brackish knew who he was and how good he was at his job, and because of that he was so confident he’d often post on forums, anonymously of course, and offer ridiculous sums of money for anyone who could break one of