I finish getting ready in record time, sliding out of the door of his bedroom exactly fifteen minutes after my wake-up call in the bathroom. Yeah, baby. I’m so handling this new life of mine like a boss.
CHAPTER FORTY-FIVE
I sidle down the hall, waiting for the attack. When I reach the entrance to the kitchen, I get the lay of the land. I need to find Dev before I reveal myself.
Everyone’s sitting at the table but me, including Mr. Sneak Attack. The omelet’s on a plate by the stove, but I leave it there. No way am I going to sit down and dig into my specially prepared breakfast in front of my coworkers. My not-so-sneaky glances at Ozzie are already suspect enough.
“Morning, Bo Peep,” Lucky says, grinning at me as I walk up to join them at the table. He looks way too fresh and perky this early in the morning. Is he leaving to do a toothpaste commercial after the meeting? Is that a knowing smile on his face? I think it is. I try to act natural.
“Good morning, Lucky. How’s your goldfish?”
“Sunny’s great, thanks for asking.”
I pull out my chair and sit down, pushing the files around in front of me, trying to appear busy. I can’t look at Ozzie. For sure I’ll go all goo-goo eyes on him, and then Toni will want to punch me in the face. I have to figure out what to do about her. I need to find out if she likes him or what her issue was with me staying overnight with him. She didn’t seem to like the idea much yesterday.
“Morning, everyone,” Ozzie says. “Let’s start with the Harley Op. As of last night, we have ears on the target. Backyard for now, but I’d like to get inside.”
“You should give Bo Peep a try at it,” Toni says, sounding a tad bitter. “She handled the Parrot just fine.”
“What do you think, May? Willing to give it a shot? Want to try to fly the bug into the house? We can practice with another one we have.”
I look up at my boss, all business. “Sure, Ozzie. I’d be happy to.” I grin enthusiastically, but realize it’s too much when everyone stares at me. My smile falls away to be replaced by embarrassment. Dammit. Is the fact that Ozzie and I got seriously naked last night written all over my face or what?
“We added another wrinkle to the Op last night,” Ozzie says.
I can’t breathe. Is he about to tell everyone that we had sex? Ack!
“There was an intruder at May’s around nine. Set off the perimeter alarm.”
I let out the big breath of air I’d been holding, really slowly so no one will hear it.
“That’s not good,” Thibault says, looking at me. “Everyone okay?”
I nod. I’m too dizzy from lack of oxygen to trust my voice.
“Yes,” Ozzie answers, “but we relocated over here for the night.”
I really envy his ability to make that sound so casual. If I had said it, I would have giggled and turned red. As it is, I’m having a hard time keeping a straight face. I seriously need to get a grip on myself. I think a phone call to Jenny is definitely in order. Maybe I can manage a quick one in the bathroom before I start work.
“You’d better stay here until we figure out what’s going on,” Dev says. He looks across the room and frowns. “Anyone going to eat that omelet?”
I open my mouth to answer, but Ozzie cuts me off.
“Don’t touch it. It’s not yours.”
Dev frowns. “Okay, geez, just asking.”
Thibault shakes his head. “Bottomless pit, man.”
Dev shoves him with an elbow. “Shut up. I didn’t have time for breakfast this morning.”
“There’s cereal in the pantry,” Ozzie says before opening a folder in front of him. “We’ve gathered about twenty-four hours of data. I’d guess we have about an hour of stuff worth looking at. Any volunteers?”
I raise my hand.
“I don’t mind,” Toni says, shrugging, “since I’ve been banned from the site anyway.”
“Good. Toni and May, you’re on it. Put a report together of anything interesting, and deliver it to me by end of day.”
“Done.” Toni nods at me and I nod back.
“Dev, workout schedule?”
“I got May this morning,” Dev replies. “The rest of you are on the circuit.”
Grumbling comes from around the table.
“No whining. I changed it this morning before the meeting. I think you’ll like what I’ve done. Look at the clipboard before you start. Use the timers. No cheating. If I catch you cheating, you’ll pay for it.”
I have no idea what this circuit is, but it doesn’t look like it’s very popular.
“I’m going to manage May’s workouts for the time being,” Ozzie says. His voice sounds a little gruff to me. I look around the table, but I can’t tell if anyone else noticed it or not.
“Why?” Dev’s clearly not happy. “You think I’m not up to snuff?”
“No, you’re up for it. I just want you to focus on combat training. I’ll get her cardio where it needs to be. After that we’ll work on building muscle.”
I focus on the papers in front of me. My instinct is to stare at Ozzie and share goofy smiles with him, but even I know that’s a bad idea. I don’t want to embarrass him and make him hate me before he even has a chance to like me for more than twenty-four hours. That would be a tragedy, considering the amazing sex we had last night. Twice!
“Okay. We’ll start with the singlestick.”
I’m not going to remind Ozzie that he promised to teach me how to use that weapon. He’s doing my workouts. That’s enough special attention. I don’t want everyone thinking I’m some kind of prima donna.
“What else?” Thibault asks.
“I need someone to chase down the intruder from last night,” Ozzie says. He sounds angry.
“I got that,” Thibault says. “Not sure what I’ll be able to find, but I’ll give it a shot.”
“We might find something on the tapes,” Toni offers.
“Keep your ears open for anything,” Ozzie says. He turns his attention to Lucky. “What’s going on with the Blue Marine Op?”
“I don’t know, actually.” Lucky is frustrated. “I sat down and went through their financials, and they seem fine . . . but something’s up. They were right to call us.”
“What do you mean?” Ozzie stops messing around with folders and stares at Lucky.
“I’m not sure. I need to go on-site and figure some things out.”
“Go ahead. Just don’t talk to any employees without speaking to our contact first. And obviously, don’t identify yourself to anyone there at the site, even our contact.”
“No, of course not. I’m going to shop for some fishing tackle.”
“And what would Sunny think about that, I wonder?” Dev smiles evilly at Lucky.
“What Sunny doesn’t know won’t hurt him.” Lucky throws his folders to the middle of the table. “We done here? I need to get going.”
“Hot date?” Thibault asks, grinning.
“If you must know, I have a doctor’s appointment. But thanks for caring about my personal life.”
Thibault holds up a hand to the table. “Speaking of which, I need everyone’s time sheets by the end of the day. Payroll is Friday, don’t forget. If you want to get paid, get me your time sheets. No excuses.”
Groans come from around the table. I’m a little worried myself, since I don’t know anything about time sheets. Do I need to do one too, or is being on probation somehow exempting me from that?
Thibault rolls his eyes. “I’ll say it again, since we have a new hire at the table . . . fill out your sheets every day, as you book the hours. That way it isn’t a big chore at the end of the week.” He points at me. “I’m doing yours for you for now, but after this week, you’re on your own.”