Seductive Reasoning (TASK FORCE HAWAII Book 1) by Melissa Schroeder Page B

it, I have a date tonight.”
    “Jeanine, the coffee girl?”
    He nodded. “So go check on Beautiful Mind.”
    Damn, he forgot about that nickname the team had given her. All of them were very careful not to use it around her, but it didn’t mean one of them wouldn’t slip up. They didn’t mean anything by it and, in fact, it made her part of the team. Del was just worried she wouldn’t understand it because things like that often didn’t make sense to her.
    “Hell, you could walk over there, Boss.”
    Del knew too well where she lived. He had avoided it as if the plague had been detected there. It was almost too much temptation, but he went out of his way to go down a couple blocks so he didn’t stop by. It would be too damned easy to come up with a work excuse to stop by there and say hi.
    “I always thought it an odd choice,” Adam said.
    “What? Where she lives?”
    He nodded. “She survived a tsunami. Why would she live right there in Ala Moana, with the ocean just out her window?”
    “I don’t know.”
    But now, he wanted to know. He wanted to know why she would choose a condo right next to the ocean. Was she crazy, or did she have the need to prove something?
    Dammit. His infatuation with her was getting stupid. It was definitely making him stupid. When he got stupid, people got hurt. Del had promised Sean he would do everything in his power to keep her safe. Obsessing about her, or just how she would sound when she moaned his name…
    Fuck .
    “You just need to go by and check on her. She’s bound to have found something by now.”
    He hesitated, not wanting Adam to think he was going because he told him to go. But Adam smiled.
    “If anything, just get out of here for awhile. You need a break.”
    “That’s definitely true. I can’t think in here.”
    Adam remained silent as Del picked up his gun and shoulder holster. After slipping it on, he grabbed his cell.
    “Call if anything breaks.”
    “Always, Boss.”
    He didn’t pay attention to the looks he got as he strode to the back of the building. He would walk it out, get his mind back into the game and return.
    He was not going to show up at Emma’s condo.
----
    “ W here’s he going ?” Marcus asked as they watched Del walk down the hall to the back door.
    Adam smiled. “Beautiful Mind.”
    “Okay, who has today’s date?” Cat asked as she and McGregor joined them. “I know I have Tuesday next week.”
    Adam knew that if Del had any idea they were all betting on when he and Emma would end up in bed, there was a good chance they would all get written up, or shot. Probably shot. But it was their way, and there had been running bets since she had first joined the team. Hell, what could he say? They were detectives, and it didn’t take much to detect the heat between those two. Emma and Del both were attracted, and they were completely oblivious about it. That made it even more fun for the team.
    “Not sure, and we agreed we needed verification,” Floyd said.
    “How the bloody hell are we going to get that?” McGregor bellowed. The damned Scot was loud, and that was saying a lot considering Adam’s family. All the women in his family were damned loud. But the man always seemed to shout every comment or question.
    “I don’t know, but we all agreed to it,” Adam said just as Elle joined them.
    “What’s up?” she asked.
    “Beautiful Mind,” Cat said as she wiggled her eyebrows.
    “Oh.” She said nothing for the moment. “I have today.”
    McGregor looked at her. “You bet on it?”
    She shrugged, but said nothing as her cheeks burned. Adam blinked. It was hard to remember that Elle was often times shy around all of them if she wasn’t talking a case.
    “There is no verification. Who has the sheet?” Cat asked.
    “I think Drew is keeping it,” Elle said. She pulled out her phone to text him.
    “And I didn’t say it was going to happen, but he’s on his way over there now,” Adam said.
    As usual, they ignored him.