“Hey,” Mitch started and then kind of sighed and sat back down. “Fine. I can’t help it. And I vote we keep Remy. He did do a good job. He protected Laurel even from me, but this is going to be a different kind of job. He can’t watch her from afar twenty-four seven. He needs to be close.”

“I would agree that this needs to be a close-cover assignment,” Big Tag replied. “Hence the rather large amount the Daleys are willing to pay.”

“But if she thinks you’re there to protect her, she’ll balk at the idea.” Lila pulled her sweater around her like a shield, and Remy wondered what Lisa’s stubbornness was costing her family. Not a one of them looked like they’d had a decent sleep recently.

He added selfishness to his long list of reasons to avoid Lisa.

Except it looked like he wouldn’t be able to avoid her for much longer. Not if he wanted to save his hometown and solidify his future.

Besides, the fact that she was selfish enough to cause this much turmoil meant maybe he’d been wrong about her. Maybe she wasn’t as sweet as she seemed and maybe that hurt he’d seen on her face that day had been shock at not getting her way. If she was some spoiled princess, then as long as he played it right, she would be fair game.

Close cover. Yeah, he might be able to handle that just fine. The woman had plagued his dreams at times. It might be good to get her out of his system before he walked off into the sunset.

“Can we find a female operative? One who could move into her apartment building and become her friend? What about that Kayla person?” Bridget asked. “She’s cool and she’s not an asshole. Didn’t she watch over Mia Taggart while Case was being a massive ass? I don’t know that I want to give this guy my hard-earned cash.”

“You earned that cash by writing about triple penetration,” Tag shot back.

“Do you know how hard it is to make that shit romantic?” Bridget turned on the boss. “Do you have any idea how difficult it is to make the act of lubricating various body parts sexy? I am a motherfucking genius.”

“Yes, you do it so well,” Charlotte soothed. “Bridget, Remy is our best bet and I happen to know that the apartment across from Lisa’s opened up last week. I’ve already rented it. It will keep him close to her and her building has security cameras. He can cut into the feed and follow her when she goes out. We also installed her security system, so he would have easy access to that. It’s a perfect setup. He can track her twenty-four seven.”