Free Deadly Honeymoon (Hardy Brothers Security Book 7) by Lily Harper Hart Page A

call.”
    “Get out,” James said, rolling his eyes.
    “I missed him so much,” Grady said, his eyes sparkling as he walked out of the room. “A loving brother is a gift.”

Nine
    “And you’re sure the drive wasn’t corrupted?”
    James was sitting on a couch in the middle of a furniture store, his cellphone pressed to his ear as he talked to Finn.
    “No,” Finn said. “Maverick says they’re just numbers. He checked the whole drive. There’s nothing else there.”
    “Does he know what the numbers mean?”
    “No.”
    “Does he know anyone who might know what they mean?”
    “No.”
    “Does he know anything but how to annoy me?”
    “No.”
    James sighed. “Okay … just, keep me posted.”
    “What are you doing?”
    “Watching Mandy wander around a furniture store and hem and haw over a brown couch as she compares it to another brown couch,” James said.
    “You’re furniture shopping again?”
    “She claims we need a sectional for that little room up the stairs that overlooks the other couch in the living room,” James said. “She wants to make it a reading nook. I pointed out that she could read on the couch downstairs, but she wasn’t impressed.”
    “She’s kind of cute,” Finn said.
    “That’s the only reason I’m sitting here,” James said. “Anyway, I guess I’ll see you at dinner tonight?”
    “Yeah, what’s on the menu?”
    “Mandy actually skewered meet and vegetables on sticks and they’re marinating in the refrigerator,” James said. “Suddenly she thinks she can cook.”
    “I don’t think grilling kabobs is cooking.”
    “I’ve only ever seen her make breakfast,” James said. “It sounds like cooking to me.”
    “Okay, well, do you need anything else?”
    “Just bring some liquor and beer,” James said. “I’m trying to build the bar stash up, and Mandy insists if I buy more than one fifth at a time that people will think I’m a drunk.”
    Finn snorted. “She’s actually really cute.”
    “See you tonight,” James said and then disconnected.
    Mandy was standing between a couch and a coffee table, a fabric board in her hand, and an intense look on her face.
    “What are you doing?” James asked.
    “Do you like this couch?”
    “It looks fine.”
    “Come and sit on it.”
    James sighed, getting to his feet. “Have you ever noticed how bossy you get when furniture is involved?” He sank down on the couch, running his hands over the fabric. He hated to admit it, but it was comfortable. “It’s nice.”
    “You don’t think it’s too big?”
    “I thought you said size doesn’t matter?” James teased.
    “That’s something men tell themselves,” Mandy said, not bothering to glance up from the fabric board. “It’s completely untrue.”
    James frowned. “What?”
    “Don’t worry, you’re in the clear where that’s concerned,” she said.
    James glanced around the store, blushing as the two women studying the couch behind him giggled. “So, you have no problem talking about sex in public,” he said. “You just have a problem doing it in public.”
    “Pretty much.”
    “You’re a mystery wrapped in a very pretty package, baby,” James said.
    Mandy finally shifted her eyes from the fabric board. “I guess that’s why you love me.”
    “It’s just one of the many reasons.”
    James glanced over his shoulder and followed Mandy’s gaze, smiling at the two women again. They’d placed their hands over their hearts as they swooned.
    “Is something wrong, ladies?”
    “Oh, no,” one of the woman said. “You two are just so … adorable.”
    Mandy grinned at the women. “He’s a romantic at heart.”
    “You’re going to have beautiful children.”
    Mandy faltered. “Thank you.”
    James read the change in Mandy’s demeanor, the mention of children obviously throwing her off guard. He patted the open spot on the couch next to him. “Sit, wife.”
    Mandy did as instructed, making a grand show of returning her attention to the