GRIFFIN

  ALPHA COMPANY RENEGADES BOOK 2

  KALI HART

  Griffin is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events, and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.

  Copyright © 2020 by Kali Hart

  ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. This book contains material protected under International and Federal Copyright Laws and Treaties. Any unauthorized reprint or use of this material is prohibited. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval systems, without express written permission from the author/publisher, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  CONTENTS

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Epilogue

  Alpha Company Renegades Series

  Sneak Peek JACE

  1

  MAKAYLA

  “Pass around the penis suckers, ladies! Don’t be shy now.”

  Those aren’t words I ever thought I’d say out loud, but when your best friend since kindergarten—aka the maid of honor—begs you to help pull together a last-minute bachelorette party, you do things you wouldn’t expect to make it happen.

  I wait as the basket filled with colorful suckers makes it around the circle of ladies. It sounds like a simple task, but when you factor in the loud club music that has most of them dancing and the number of fruity drinks that have made their way through the group, it adds a level of complexity.

  “You’re a lifesaver!” Zoey, my bestie, squeezes me so hard I cough. “I’m so bad at planning parties. You really saved my bacon.”

  “Glad I could help, Zoe.”

  I'm an event planner by trade, but for things like corporate dinners and milestone anniversary parties. I’ve never once put together a bachelorette party. I have to admit, it was more fun than I thought it would be.

  Zoey unwraps her blue penis sucker, but her eyes wander. “How did you ever book this room? This place is amazing!”

  Though my boss would probably kill me if she knew I used our company strings to get this room last minute on a Friday night, I’m happy I had the connections. Our company plans formal events—you wouldn’t find a penis pop within a mile of anything we organize.

  “It is pretty cool, huh?”

  We’re in a private room in the most popular night club in town. Cushioned couches with drink holders line the walls and create the circle we’re all in now. Strings of white lights line the ceiling. We even have our own yummy bouncers to keep uninvited guests out. One in particular has me all tingly between my thighs.

  “Remember this for me someday,” Zoey says. “You know, when I land a man and need a bachelorette party.”

  I give Zoey a quick side hug. “You got it.”

  We both let our gazes linger on the bride-to-be, Sara. She looks absolutely radiant, and she can’t seem to stop showing off her flashy ring. She and Beckett are a perfect match, and I’m so happy we’re about to celebrate their wedding in just a week. It all happened so fast—which is why I was asked to throw this together at the very last minute.

  But all the hoops I jumped through were worth it to see my friend so incredibly happy.

  I can’t help but wish for the same. Someday.

  I snap back to reality when one of the sucker’s drops and shatters on the floor. “Grab another,” I say to the blushing girl with eyes larger than saucers. “Don’t worry, there’re plenty.” I wait for her to fish another one out of the basket. “Ladies, are you ready?”

  I cue the DJ to cut the music and briefly explain the rules, which only makes the room of women erupt in squeals and giggles. “Suck on your cocks until you get them to come.” There’s a white candy filling inside, and the objective of the game is to suck until the white stuff comes out. “Ready, begin!”

  The music returns—an appropriate sexually suggestive song—and every woman goes to town on their candy, me included. I’ve always been one to lead by example, after all.

  A couple minutes in, Zoey elbows my arm. “Don’t look now,” she says, the sucker never leaving her mouth, “but that bouncer keeps checking you out.”

  I roll my eyes, certain she’s wrong. I’ve seen the bouncers at this bar—and the ones assigned to our party room tonight. They’re built like Greek god linebackers and hot enough to start panties on fire. In other words, they don’t give curvy girls like me a second glance. Not with all the skinny, scantily clad things roaming every inch of this bar. “Yeah, right.”

  “Look!”

  When I still refuse, Zoey uses both hands to turn my head.

  I choke on my sucker when I see him. I noticed him earlier, but this time is different. It’s like I really see him this time. He’s almost as tall as the doorframe with broad shoulders and a thick, muscular chest. A few tatts cover his arms. But it’s those ice-blue eyes that have me gasping for air.

  “You okay?” Zoey asks.

  Embarrassed that he caught me checking him out, I turn my back to him and reach for my water. I wish it was a cocktail right now, but the event planner can’t afford to get drunk and ruin the party. “Fine.”

  GRIFFIN

  Shit. I’ve been caught staring at the curvy beauty running the show, and now she’s turned her back to me.

  I’m always professional. One-hundred percent. It’s not just the military man in me, but it’s the way I was raised. You don’t fixate on a woman like she’s a dessert you’ve been craving all your life. And as a bouncer for this bar on the weekends, I’m not supposed to interact with any of the people here. Unless it’s to warn them or throw them out on their ass.

  But I’ve had my sights set on her since the moment she arrived. It’s been impossible to pretend like I’m not interested.

  It’s not just her amazing curves and the way they fill out that short red dress, either. It’s the way she’s been commanding the room all night. Trying to get a room full of tipsy and drunk women to follow instructions is right up there with herding cats. But she makes it look easy.

  And now she’s got them sucking on candy cocks like their life depends on it.

  She turns her head over her shoulder, and our gaze locks again. I should look away, but I can’t. The way her lips surround that red sucker makes me jealous. I don’t know this woman, so the thought should be ludicrous. But the only thing I want those lips to touch is me.

  A wicked smile crosses those lips before she looks me up and down and turns away.

  My dick presses against my jeans, forcing me to adjust my pants. I close my eyes, trying to force images of anything and everything that’ll calm it down. But all I can see is that look she just gave me. Except in my imagination, she’s naked. Fuck me. I’m screwed.

  “My penis is coming!” One of the drunkest girls in the room squeals.

  I’ll never understand bachelorette parties and their obsession with cocks, but this one seems harmless enough. My buddy Beckett asked me to keep an eye on his fiancé. Not because he doesn’t trust her, but because he would be devasted if anything happened to her. In a place like this, there are plenty of drunk assholes that would try things. I’m here to make sure they leave every girl in this room alone unless the attention is invited.

  I just wish the brunette in charge would invite my attention.

  “What do I win?”

  Sucker abandoned, the curvy brunette searches all around her. “I left the prizes in the car. I’ll be right back.” She hops from her seat and scurries toward the door, right in my direction.

  “Hey,” I say when she’s standing in front of me. It’s the only word I seem to remember.

  “Can I get through?” she asks, nodding to the door behind me that I am very much blocking.

  “Need a hand with anything?”

  “Nope, I got it.”

  It goes against every fiber inside me screaming to protect her, allowing her into the main bar area alone at this time of night. The place is packed now. But because I can’t exactly tell her that and she doesn’t want my help, I step aside and let her pass.

  A minute passes, then two. There’s a churning feeling in my gut telling me that right here is not where I’m supposed to be. I nod to the other bouncer to get his attention and let him know that I’m stepping out for a few minutes.

  The bachelorette party is on the second floor of the bar, tucked away in a corner. I follow the path she would have taken to the long, winding staircase. It’s the only way downstairs to the front door. I scan the crowded rooms and pathways, but I don’t see her.

  I shuffle through the mob of drunks to the top of the staircase and look down. The rational part of me knows she needs a few minutes to retrieve whatever prizes she has in her car. But the impatient side of me hates every second I can’t see her. I post myself against the railing right next to the stairs with a perfect sightline of the entrance and wait.

  I’m just about to fly down to the main level to check on her when I see that red dress reappear. She’s carrying a giftbox that the bouncer at the door has to check. I decide to wait until she’s made it back upstairs, then I’ll disappear into the crowd. I hate to seem like a stalker, but my gut is telling me to stay put right now. That gut feeling has saved my life more than once

.

  She holds the railing with one hand, and the giftbox with the other. But that damn curly pink bow impedes her vision. She’s at the top stair when it happens. A drunk guy bounces off three people like a ping-pong ball. His last collision sends him on a course for my girl.

  Instinct takes over, and I leap to catch her before the idiot sends her down a very long flight of stairs, hoping I’m not too late.

  2

  MAKAYLA

  I hear a mob of people shouting to look out as I reach the top of the staircase. But I don’t realize they’re screaming at me until someone knocks into me. My shoes rock on wobbly heels, the giftbox goes flying, and I fall backwards.

  I don’t even have time to scream it happens so fast.

  My hands scramble for the railing, but they can’t find a grip.

  My shoulders hit first, and then I stop falling. It takes me a minute to register that I did not land on concrete stairs. No bones are broken. I’m not dead. But I did land against something just as tough.

  “I got you.”

  The sexy voice against my ear makes me forget for a second that I almost died. Keep talking. Dozens of eyes are on me. As one face comes into focus, then another, and another, I see all of them wearing shocked expressions. If this sexy as hell man hadn’t caught me, I might very well be dead. This staircase is no joke.

  “Are you okay?”

  “Yeah.” I let my head lean back until our eyes lock. There’s lust in those eyes—for me. I’d bet my next paycheck on it. “I’m Makayla.”

  “Griffin.”

  I think he might kiss me, here in front of all these people. I stare at those lips, willing them to drop onto mine. He starts to lean down, and his tongue slips out to wet his lips.

  Then his glance moves down to the hand bracing my opposite shoulder—my left hand.

  Son of a bitch.

  I’m wearing my fake engagement ring. I didn’t want any unwanted attention tonight and thought it would help solve that issue. Now I’m wishing I could throw it into a river. Dammit! I try to tell him it’s not real, but the syllables lodge in my throat and come out as indistinguishable words. Ice freezes over in those sexy blue eyes. “Let’s go back to the party. We’re blocking traffic.”

  He helps me to the top of the staircase, guiding me with a hand on my elbow. Just great. My rescuer think that I’m engaged. I keep trying to tell him it’s to someone who doesn’t exist, but it’s too loud out here. Add to that my high level of distraction caused by the heat of him following so closely behind, and it’s a lost cause. I’ll sort this out later.

  Because I want him to do very bad things to me.

  The lust-filled cloud I’m walking through has me forgetting all kinds of things—including the prizes until I overhear someone say something about broken glass. “My prizes!”

  “I say you’re out of luck.” He nods over the railing, and I look down to see the box on its side, and the candles shattered. Dammit, I was proud of those. They all had sexy scents and sexually suggestive names. They were perfect for tonight. But as I watch someone approach the pile of shattered glass with a broom and dustpan, I have to accept that they’re gone.

  “At least no one got hurt,” Griffin says.

  “There is that.” I’m disappointed that I’ll have to break the news to the winner that she doesn’t get a prize. Maybe she’ll be happy with a free drink? I can order her a Sex on the Beach and it’ll probably send her into a fit of giggles.

  Griffin’s large hand settles on the small of my back, ushering me toward the party room through the thickening crowd. So many people! I’ve been thinking dirty thoughts about him since I first noticed him in the doorway, but the heat of his touch has me wishing I could act on them. Wishing he didn’t think I was engaged to another man.

  At the door to the party room, I stop and turn. “Griffin, look—”

  “You better get back inside to your party.”

  “It’s not my party.” I hope he knows that I’m not the bride-to-be. I try to tell him when the door bursts open and Zoey is standing right there.

  “We’ve been waiting on you.” She yanks at my arm, a naughty grin on her face. She probably thinks I was making out with Griffin. I wish.

  “Go,” Griffin says, enough coldness in his tone to freeze over the Sahara Desert.

  GRIFFIN

  How did I not see the fucking diamond ring? That damn rock is large enough to blind a man. I’ve been watching her all night, and not once did I notice it. I’ve had more training than the average soldier to pay attention to the tiniest details. That training has saved not just my soldiers, but my ass as well more times than I can count.

  Yet, I see a beautiful woman, and apparently, I forget it all.

  It wouldn’t be so bad if I didn’t have to see her with her fiancé at the wedding next week. That’s going to be hell.

  The night goes on, the games continue—no one seems to care that there are no prizes outside of free drinks—and the gaggle of women get drunker. It’ll be my job to see that they get Ubers tonight and don’t try to drive. The only sober one in the whole room is Makayla.

  Fuck, her name even sounds sexy in my mind. I want to feel it on my lips.

  I shake the forbidden thoughts away. She belongs to someone else. No matter what I’m feeling inside, telling me that she’s supposed to be with me, I don’t steal another’s man fiancé. I have more integrity and honor than that.

  I just wish I could tear my eyes away from that red dress.

  “It’s time to go, ladies,” Makayla announces to the crowd. Most of them are linked by arms in a semi-circle, swaying to a slow song. Many of them are singing off key. Yet, Makayla manages to move them toward the door. She’d make one helluva platoon sergeant. The thought makes me imagine her in my uniform jacket—and nothing else. Fuck.

  “Can you help make sure they get downstairs okay?” Makayla asks me. There’s a pleading in her eyes that twists my heart. I half expected her to try to flirt with me tonight, but she’s pretty much ignored me until this point. I’m glad she’s not the kind of woman who runs around behind her fiancé’s back.

  “Yes, I’ll make sure they’re safe.”

  “Griffin, I—”

  “Who is this hunk?” one of the girls coos, pulling two friends linked by arms with her, shoving Makayla back a few steps. “Hi hot stuff.”

  “Let’s go, ladies.” My gaze lingers only a second on Makayla, wishing like hell I could ease whatever pain seems to settle in her eyes. No matter how much I try to convince myself it’s not my place, my gut says differently. But the drunk trio has burst through the door, and the last girl shackles my bicep with both hands, yanking me along for the ride.

  It’s better this way, leaving without saying goodbye. I can’t have Makayla, no matter how much I want her. The wedding next week will be hell, but I’ll manage.

  3

  MAKAYLA

  “I told you that ring was a bad idea,” Zoey says to me on our drive to the rehearsal dinner the following week.

  “I know,” I groan. The stupid, cheap cubic zirconium has brought me nothing but bad luck since the day I bought it. Whenever I want it to work, it seems to attract the creepiest men. The one time I don’t want it to work, it scares off the single man I can’t get out of my head. “It’s gone now.”

  “Gone—gone?”

  “I threw it into the creek behind the ballroom.” I had an event earlier this week—an awards ceremony for a fortune five-hundred company. Outside on a break to catch a quick breeze, I saw the running water as a sign. I dug the stupid thing out of my purse and chucked it.

  “Good.”

  “That still doesn’t solve my current problem.”

  “We just have to keep going back to that bar.” Zoey, ever the optimistic, gives me her best, reassuring smile. We’ve returned on three separate occasions this week, but each time I ask if Griffin is working, the answer is always a flat no.

 

1 2 3 4