“But, in order to do that, you need to bring more PJs to the area, right?” And in order to do that, he had to return to duty full-time.
Aaron nodded. “The nanny is with the boys now. She’s agreeable to signing on for an extended time.”
Manny shifted in his chair. “You sound hesitant, Aaron. We understand that you need to put your boys first.”
Aaron shook his head. “It’s not that I don’t think she’s safe or anything. It’s just that she’s drastically younger than other nannies who’ve applied.” He felt himself blush. By the looks of the team’s sharpening gazes as they crowded around, they noticed, too. Aaron wasn’t trying to be sexist and he hoped his hesitation with offering her the job didn’t seem discriminatory. “Truthfully my mind may just be scrambling for excuses because I feel guilty returning to work.”
Not only was he uncomfortably taken aback by her zest and beauty…“My main concern is she’ll want to start a family of her own sooner than she thinks. Then I’d be out of a live-in nanny. And the boys would have to get used to another stranger coming in and caring for them when it should be—”
Their mom. Aaron clamped shut his mouth but the respect and compassion streaming from the eyes of his men let him know their minds also finished out his thought. None of the men had blamed him when he’d pulled out of the dangers of Pararescue to care for his infant twins when their mother had died.
“Anyway, she’s willing to sign a legal document stating she won’t have another commitment during our contract that will interfere with her priority.”
“So it’s all good, right?” Manny asked.
“You’d think.” You’d also think that if he was looking for someone with no other commitments he’d want someone younger, as they’d be less likely to be attached to their own family. “But it perplexes and saddens me that a young, beautiful single woman doesn’t feel she has a future in sight as far as her own family.” Adorna, the agency owner, had mentioned that to Aaron; Sarah had alluded to it in conversation as well.
“Young?” Chance’s head whipped around.
“Beautiful?” Brock sat straighter.
Vince stepped closer. “Single?”
“So,” Brock said, “when can we meet her?”
Aaron pumped the air with his palms. “Whoa. Down, boys. She’s a respectable girl. A devoted Christian. Not your type.”
“What about your type, Petrowski?” Vince folded massive arms across his black T-shirt-covered chest. And smirked.
Aaron shook his head. “As I said, she’s young.”
“You’re not exactly a dinosaur, Chief,” Chance said.
Manny waved a vague hand in the air. “Yeah, age is a matter of the mind. Long as you don’t mind, it doesn’t matter.”
“Long as she’s legal,” Vince said. “She legal?”
Aaron shot him a withering look. “She’s legal. And off-limits. To all of us. Especially you. End of story.”
“So, back to the business at hand.” Joel rested his forearms on the tabletop.
Pivoting, Aaron faced the rest of the guys. “Here’s the plan. I’ll contact the other PJs I command. See who’s willing to transfer to Refuge Air Base. That way we’re not putting the community programs totally on a back burner when conducting regular pararescue trainings and in the event of being away on missions. Once I get all three teams here, we’ll rotate so that one team will always be in Refuge to man the community projects while another team is on training ops, which leaves the third team for emergency missions. My other two teams haven’t been together as long as you guys. Regardless, my bet is they’ll jump at the chance to have a stationary base of operations. You guys are somewhat of an icon to them. Most of them are fresh, just out of Pararescue and don’t yet have families.”
“So no baggage?” Vince said.
Manny jabbed his arm. “Hey. Watch it. I don’t consider my family baggage.”
Joel straightened. “Me neither. And you’d better hope Celia doesn’t get wind of you calling her a bag.” His mouth twitched.
“Yeah, she’ll slug you, then laugh about it,” Nolan said.
Ben snickered.
Aaron eyed his watch and cleared his throat.
The room straightened up and misconduct ceased.
Aaron grinned inside. He still had it.
Though he hadn’t been in the picture much the past few years, they still respected his authority. The teasing and razzing could be relentless, but these guys wore respect for their superiors as proudly as their crisp maroon berets.
Hard-core honor, uncommon valor and selfless bravery defined every one of them. They’d throw themselves in front of a bullet if it raced toward their teammates or their leaders. Aaron knew that was mostly because the guys knew he and Joel would do the same for them.
Aaron pressed his hands on the table. “I’ll contact non-Refuge team members one or a few at a time, have them check out the facility and observe the programs we’re instituting. Decide if they want to transfer. Until then, move forward with objectives we mapped out in the last meeting with city officials.”
“So in short, proceed as planned?” Joel asked.
“Yes.” Aaron eyed his watch. “I have another errand to run. We still on for Saturday evening at your place, Joel?”
“Need you ask?” Chance grinned. “Dude always has us over on weekends.”
Joel rose. “Yep. Same time. Same place. Cookout, my house. Six o’clock.”
“What about when you and Amber go overseas?” Nolan asked. “We’d feel weird meeting and greeting at your place without you there.”
“Not to mention Joel’s having renovations done to add bedrooms for all the kids they want to adopt,” Manny said.
Joel rose. “I’m sure you guys will find an alternate place to meet while we’re gone. Until then, we’re on for every weekend like usual. As always, everyone bring a side dish and a two-liter of soda. We’ll take care of the meat.”
“Okay. See you at six on Saturday,” Aaron said, wishing he hadn’t let his yard go. If he got it cleaned up, he could have the guys over. Plenty of space and stuff for kids to do.
The group started dispersing.
“Yo, Petrowski. You should invite the new nanny.” Brock smirked all the way to the counter, where Vince grabbed his motorcycle helmet.
“She’s not the new nanny yet, Brock.” He turned to go. “But if I do decide to get a wild hair and invite her, mouths shut. Eyes and minds off. Do I make myself clear?”
“What about hands?” Vince asked in baiting undertones.
“You so much as think about touching her, even accidentally, you’ll lose flesh courtesy of my favorite lethal weapon, Reardon. You hear?”
“Yeah. Loud and fifty-caliber clear.” Uncharacteristic humor resided in the tall PJ’s normally brooding eyes.
Brock grinned. “We get it. You just want her for yourself.”
Aaron laughed because a smile danced in Brock’s eyes when he said it. But as Brock’s declaration rang in his head, heat flashed under his skydiving jumpsuit collar.
Teasing subdued, the guys triggered fully-loaded looks at one another in semiautomatic sequence.
Aaron didn’t have to wonder