“Goddess has claimed him as her Viking,” he says the word dreamily, holding his head up a moment to flutter his eyelashes at me, and if I didn’t love the dude as my own brother, I’d punch him in the face. “My sis has quite the obsession with his ‘Thor arms’ as she calls them, which led to him reminding her of a Norse god, which led to him being a big-ass warrior. I get it.” Seth shrugs.
Corbin chuckles, but when I look at him, he’s nodding, his expression good-natured instead of poking fun. “Goddess and Viking. I like it. It’ll be weird hearing someone call you anything other than Doc. It was strange enough hearing her call you by your real first name. But this is perfect. I’m happy for you, boss. Truly.”
“I second that,” Brian says, reaching up and slapping me on the shoulder a couple of times, and then his eyes look past me through the windshield. “There she is.”
My head whips around, my heart suddenly clenching because for a split second I think he means Astrid, but alas. It’s Heather, flapping her hand at us for a moment before closing the door behind her once again, leaving just a crack.
I reach for my handle, but right when I would’ve shoved open my door, Brian’s hand snatches mine out of the air, his arm coming through the space between the headrest and the passenger door as fast as a striking rattlesnake. He lets go and points out the windshield, and it’s then I see a valet is bringing a car down the driveway to park it in the customer lot.
“Fuck, I’m sorry,” I whisper as if the valet would be able to hear me from the other side of the backyard of this huge estate. Maybe it would be wiser for me to stay behind, instead of fucking up my trained soldiers’ mission and risking Astrid’s safe recovery.
But I shake off the thought before it’s even complete in my mind. I may only be the scholarly type, have always used my brain as opposed to brawn when it comes to our team, but I’m a fucking man, and my woman is in danger. Nothing in this world would be able to keep me from saving her my goddamn self. I’m also not stupid. I know I’d never be able to do this on my own, which makes me so grateful for the men in my life who are more family than coworkers.
Soon, we see the valet take another one of the golf carts, and he disappears around the side of the mansion.
“Here,” Seth says, reaching into his backpack and handing each of us an earpiece. We fit them in quickly, and I wait for what’s next, deciding to follow their lead and not jump the gun again. He hits a button. “Hear the tone?” he asks. When we all confirm, he nods. “Good. You’re set. I’ll be at the ready if you need anything from me. I’ll watch y’all on the real surveillance feed, your eye in the sky, while covering it up on their monitors. Bring my wife’s sister home safe, boys, or we’ll all be dead meat.”
With that, Corbin exits the car, closing the door quietly, and Brian and I do the same on the passenger side. I follow Corbin, Brian behind me, as we cross the lawn between the parking lot and the back door.Chapter 23AstridThis is hands down the most fun thousand bucks I’ll ever make in my life. I’ve spent the past thirty minutes dancing my ass off with men more than double my age who have been surprisingly very gentlemanly as they allow me to dance circles around them to the music pumping through the formal dining room turned nightclub. I can’t wipe the smile from my face as my newest partner attempts to do a proper waltz to the beat of Justin Timberlake’s “Sexy Back,” giggling when he steps on my toes and apologizes profusely.
I look up and see Crystal on the edge of the dance floor. She’s pointing to me, leaning close to a relatively good-looking guy dressed in all black, and I wave at her with a wide grin. She crooks a finger at me and I nod, standing on my tiptoes to tell the older man thank you for the dance and then making my way over to her.
“This is awesome!” I tell her once I’m near, and she grins wickedly, her head turning toward the man next to her.
“Randy, meet Astrid, our new makeup artist who has agreed to dance tonight,” she introduces.
I hold out my hand, recognizing the name as the owner of the business I work for. “It’s so nice to meet you finally,” I tell him as he takes my hand between both of his, and my face flames as he raises it to his lips to kiss my knuckles. I tug my hand out of his grip and unconsciously wipe the back on the dress I’m wearing, and his eyes flare as a smirk lifts the corners of his lips.