Free The Officer and the Secret by Jeanette Murray

God,” Dwayne muttered under his breath. “You gotta be shittin’ me.”
    “Madison’s gonna kill you,” Tim sang softly.
    “What?” Jeremy gave him a confused look.
    The girls practically kicked each other trying to get to Jeremy first, but the taller blonde won. She cooed over how cute he looked in his suit, hands busy with his tie, brushing against his chest. Fawning. Straight up fawning. No other word for it.
    “Need some help?” The smaller blonde’s hands brushed against the side of Dwayne’s neck in the pretense of fixing his tie.
    He took a half-step back, hoping she’d take the subtle hint. “No, I think I’m good.”
    “Oh my God, your arms are huge!” the taller one squealed at Jeremy.
    “Christ,” Tim muttered. “This has death written all over it.”
    “Well, isn’t this just cozy.”
    All five turned to see Madison standing at the entrance of the men’s side of the store. Arms crossed over her chest, she tapped one high heel in rapid time. Her face was pinched. And if eyes were laser beams, Jeremy would be smoking. The woman next to him would have been ash.
    Death just came knockin’.
    “Hey, shouldn’t you be over on the girly side with Skye?” Tim hopped off the riser and came to give her a once-over. “You look pretty good though.”
    Madison smacked his chest. “She sent me over here on a little recon mission. Making sure you guys look good in your suits so we don’t have to change up the order. Everything fitting?”
    “We’re just double-checking,” Tall Blonde told her. The tone, however, said, Get lost; you’re not invited to the party.
    “Hey, Mad.” Jeremy took a step away from the saleswoman and shot her a smile. “You look cute.”
    “I look sick,” she corrected, brushing a hand down the skirt. “This is so not my color. But you seem to be having… fun.”
    Five minutes too late, Jeremy must have registered the picture he was presenting. But rather than a look of guilt, he shot her a grin. “Hey, just getting a little help.”
    Madison just rolled her eyes, but she smiled a little. These two might kid, but Dwayne knew there was no real heat in their argument. “Dwayne, how about you? Everything fit okay? Need any help?”
    “Fits just fine, sweetness.” He took the opportunity to disengage fully from Shorter Blonde and walked over to give her a kiss of gratitude. Not that she knew she’d just saved him. “How are things on the shiny side?”
    “Shiny side? Oh, right.” She fingered the wide sash of the mint green dress. “Skye’s dress is perfect. And Veronica is adorable.”
    More than adorable. But he wasn’t exactly supposed to know that. So he kept his mouth shut. “Sounds like you ladies are all set.”
    “So we can get out of here?” Jeremy materialized by his side, looking anxious to get the hell out of the room suddenly. Whether he wanted to escape the overeager saleswoman or Madison’s narrowed gaze, Dwayne wasn’t sure.

Chapter 6
    The guys headed back to the dressing area. As he shrugged out of his jacket, he heard Veronica call out.
    “Tim, are you in here?”
    “Yeah,” he answered from the next stall over.
    “Skye’s coming back in, so you can’t come out until she’s secure.”
    “What is this—a military operation? Christ, why did I allow my mother to suggest all this?”
    Veronica huffed. “Is that a yes?”
    Tim sighed. “Yeah. I’ll stay in here ’til someone gives the okay.”
    Dwayne poked his head through the curtain. Veronica scowled at him and shooed at him with her hand.
    “Go away. You’re not supposed to look.”
    “Hey, I’m not the groom. Maybe I just want a little sneak peek of my own.” The peek he wanted was of Veronica.
    She was too cute. Her braid was more out than in, her cheeks were flushed with happiness, and despite her stern look, her lips curved into a telltale smile that said she was in too good a mood to bother bickering with him any. The dress, which had gaped earlier, was now tight