There was the muffled sound of audience members standing up, and Baylee
and Candice turned to look behind them."Holy smokes!" Baylee
breathed."It's like a Navy SEAL convention or something," Candice
added.And it was! Baylee couldn't believe that over twenty-five of the
people in the orientation audience were tall, dark, handsome, buff guys
dressed all in black. Each man stood with his feet apart and hands held
at his back-similar if not exactly like a military "at ease"
stance."They're all packing heat too," Baylee whispered to Candice as
she noted all the holstered sidearms."I guess Mr. O'Sullivan wants to be
prepared," Candice said."I suppose you girls are all wowed now, right?"
Tate said from the front row."Let's see," Candice began, looking to
Tate and feigning an expression of thoughtfulness. "Let's say I'm being
assaulted by some weirdo in the street...and who am I going to look to
for protection? One of these guys?" she said, nodding toward the
security staff. "Or you, Tate? You...who freaked out in June when we
were in New York and you thought some guy was looking at you funny. You
freaked out and slammed Megan's finger in the door and cut it off! Who
do you think I'm going to trust?""It was an accident, and you know it,"
Tate grumbled. Baylee did know it. Still, she found her eyes glancing
down the row of chairs in front of her to Megan-to the missing first
joint and fingertip on her right hand."Yeah, it was," Candice admitted.
"But you still cared more about yourself than Megan. The guy was
stalking Megan...not you. Real heroic, Tate. Way to go to instilling a
sense of confidence in me that you would have my back.""Whatever," Tate
grumbled, turning around in his seat to pout."Thank you," Brian said to
his men. Baylee watched as the security staff sat down in unison. "So
there you have it...our extra security staff for the next two months. As
I said, if you need assistance...just grab a chimney sweep."Baylee
giggled. "Grab a cab, grab a snack...grab a chimney sweep."Candice
giggled too. "And you know what? I just figured out what I want for
Christmas.""Absolutely," Baylee agreed. "I'll never ring 'Chim Chim
Cher-ee' with the same mental pictures again."
This is a quick love story set at Christmas Time ... If you want a quick book to sit down to a one day read.
