Gage handed over his hundred and returned his wallet to his back pocket. "I'm stunned."
Rip's brows lowered. "Stop, guys. You're giving me a complex." He laid a hand on his chest. "I can be charming and lovable, when I want to be."
"Apparently," Tanner said. "You got Casey Cramer to say yes on the radio."
Rip tugged at his collar. "I have to say, I was sweating it for a moment there. I thought she might slug me when I let her know I was the owner of the station."
"You mean she wasn't mad at you?"
"Sure she was. After the dust settled, she ripped me a new one." He recalled her anger and the chewing out she gave him in the conference room, right before they made love on the conference room table. And, this time, he'd been smart enough to lock the door to keep Dave from walking in on them.
His groin tightened and his shorts tented at how great it was making crazy love to Casey for the first time. She'd been amazing. Every inch of her starched skirt had come out wrinkled, and it had been everything he could have hoped for.
"Uh, Rip? Are we disturbing you? Would you like us to leave the room while you … uh … take care of business?" Jesse raised his brows and glanced down at the evidence of Rip's daydream.
The others laughed out loud while Rip adjusted his shorts, heat rising up his neck into his cheeks.
"Enough about me," he said, breaking into the laughter. "What about the rest of you?"
"Yeah, Jesse and Gage." Tanner crossed his arms over his chest. "When are you two going to fulfill our pledge? When are you going to get married and settle down?"
Jesse grinned. "I'm working on it."
Gage rummaged in the mini refrigerator in the Jesse's office. "You got someone in mind?"
Jesse's lips twisted. "I'm not tellin' you anything. I don't want any claim jumpers on my gold mine."
Tanner's eyes widened along with his grin. "You have someone in mind?"
With a shrug, Jesse donned his poker face. "Not saying I have, but I'm not saying I haven't."
"He's got a someone in mind," Rip said.
"Question is, does she know it?" Tanner laughed. "I can't wait to find out who she is."
"Well, you're not going to until the deal's done."
"Sure you won't give me a hint?" Gage handed Jesse a longneck bottle of beer.
"Hell, no." Jesse unscrewed the cap from the bottle. "What about you, Gage? Got someone in mind?"
He shook his head. "I haven't had a date in ages. I've been given command of another unit and might be moving into a new house soon."
Rip's gaze narrowed. "You're not leaving Austin, are you?"
Gage shrugged. "No, but my landlord decided he doesn't like dogs after all. I'm moving to a rental house with a yard until contractors finish my new digs."
"Let us know when the construction is complete. We'll help christen your new quarters." Rip grinned. "I know a DJ you can hire for the party."
"About time you built and quit throwing away money on apartments," Tanner shook his head. "You'd think the financial planner of the bunch would invest in his own real estate."
"We don't know what you've been waiting for," Jesse commented.
Gage rubbed a hand across his spikey haircut. "I've been deployed so much lately, I haven't had time to think about setting down roots."
"I thought you'd joined the National Guard, not active duty," Tanner said.
"We're all in this war together-active, guard and reserves." He settled back on one of the conference chairs. "But I should be around at least for the next year or so. And I have a new command. I'm taking the time to get that house y'all think I need. I might even find time to date."
"Good to know." Rip pushed to his feet. "Now, if we're done with our monthly meeting, I think I'll go home to my fiancée and pick out colors for my cummerbund and her bridesmaids. How do y'all feel about wearing Hawaiian-print vests with your tuxedos?"
Jesse frowned. "You wouldn't."
Rip grinned. "I'm hiring a seamstress to make them." He pointed to each of his friends. "I expect you to wear them."
"Fine, but your father better be at the wedding," Tanner said.
"Oh, he will be," Rip said.
Jesse's brows rose. "You mended fences?"
"I did. And my father was proud of what I was doing with K-YAK. He'd been following the show from the beginning."
"Don't you think he'd like to see your groomsmen in normal vests at your wedding." Tanner gave him a hopeful glance. "You know, now that you're back in his good graces?"
"He told me to keep doing what I'm doing. He figures I must be doing something right. Hawaiian vest, it is." Rip saluted the best friends a guy could have. "And thanks."
"For what?" Gage said. "Agreeing to look like idiots at your wedding?"
"No, for giving me the nudge I needed to make Casey mine. I owe you."
Gage frowned. "You have a funny way of repaying us."
"You won't regret it." Rip grinned. "In fact, I'm almost certain I'll convert all three of you to wearing Hawaiian shirts, before you know it." He paused at the door. "I expect Jesse and Gage to have good news at our next meeting. Don't let us down. And for now, I have a fiancée waiting for me." And two more days off to spend with her in bed. Sometime, in between the lovemaking, he'd tell her exactly how rich he was. He grinned, thinking about how mad she'd be that he'd kept one last little secret...
Enjoy other books by Elle James & Delilah Devlin
Texas Billionaires Club
Tarzan & Janine (#1)
Something to Talk About (#2)
Who's Your Daddy (#3) TBD
Love & War (#4) TBD
Who's Your Daddy
Texas Billionaires Club Book #3
COMING SOON
ELLE JAMES
&
Delilah Devlin
New York Times & USA Today
Bestselling Authors
Chapter 1
Number fifteen couldn't be any worse than the first fourteen men she'd tried.
Rachel Taylor pressed the fast-forward button on the screen, skimming past the dating service's introductions before pausing the video at the end of the blur of pink and purple advertisement. A heavily featured, but handsome man, stared back at her from the screen. Maybe things were looking up.
"Yo, babes. I'm Vinnie Fetachelli."
Rachel groaned then glanced to her friend to see whether her reaction to the exuberant greeting was equally disbelieving. Genie's hand had stopped in mid-air, popcorn forgotten. When her gaze met Rachel's, Rachel couldn't help but grin. "Told ya, this would be better than watching The Bachelorette."
The dark-haired, brown-eyed man on the video from the Date-Your-Mate online dating service, continued introducing himself in an abrupt, staccato voice betraying his Bronx-Italian origins.
"Yooze...," he said, aiming his forefingers at his audience, "...should go wit me..." now pointing his thumbs at his chest, "... 'cause I know how to treat a babe right."
"Is this guy for real?" Rachel watched dumbfounded.
"Shhh, shhh, listen," Genie said, shoulders shaking. She wiped tears from the corners of her eyes.
On the screen, Vinnie Fetachelli was looking down at a paper. "Occ-u-pa-tion..." Frowning, he glanced back up and shifted to the side in his seat. He appeared to be looking at something behind the camera. "Yo, lady. What's that mean?"
From out of view of the camera, came a faint female voice. "Job-Mr. Fetachelli-job."
"Oh, yeah, right, I knew dat."
He straightened, and stared directly at them once more.
"Me and my family own a deli, called Fetachelli Deli. Family business, if ya know what I mean." He gave them a sly smile and a wink.
Rachel snorted then surrendered to a fit of the giggles. It was nervous laughter, but it was better to laugh than to cry.
"Oh, my God. Fetachelli Deli, what a hoot." Genie gasped, holding her sides as Vinnie looked once more at the paper.
"Hobby? I like to watch wrestling, boxing and the races. I'm not picky on da type of races. I like horse, car and dog races – -anyt'ing I can place a bet on. But don't worry-I rarely lose. And if I did, my family'd take care of me, if ya know what I mean."
"Oh, my God, he's with the Mafia," Genie exclaimed dramatically. "Rachel, what on earth did you tell them you wanted when you filled out their online quiz?"
Rachel frowned, and tapped the pause button. "I simply told them I wanted someone who was healthy and...um, well...healthy."
"That's it?" Genie's voice rose. "You didn't ask the agency to match you with a compatible personality? Or to have them screened for a minimal intelligence level? Rache, you should at least have asked them to check for rap sheets. Besides, don't they automatically do background checks?"
Sniffing, Rachel raised her chin a notch. "I didn't think it was important for my purpose, and frankly I didn't think about rap sheets."