Page 4 of Zero
“Sit.” Justice motioned to me.
“I feel insanely under dressed.”
“Don’t worry. The owner and I are close.”
A woman stepped out the door. She was beautiful—her dark hair was tied up in a sensible ponytail, and the dress she wore…
“Have mercy.” I muttered.
“What’s that?” Justice asked.
“Nothing…”
“Hey, Bailey!” Justice greeted her. “This is Rei Hakama, Rei, my sister, Bailey Smith.”
“The agent from Germany.” It was more of a statement than a question on her part.
“Bailey?” I shifted to look at the woman with the gorgeous curves and the eyes of fire. “Somehow this wasn’t what I expected.”
“Let me guess.” Bailey Smith cocked a hip and rested a hand on it. “You expected one of those girls who can make their ass clap?”
I glanced over at Justice who was palming his face.
“Um—” I returned my gaze to her. “I’m not—is your ass supposed to do that? I mean, that should be a neat trick. You’ll have to show me sometime.”
Justice groaned. “Don’t make her mad.”
“Or what?” I asked, smirking at her.
“She won’t cook for us.”
“I’m not worried.” I chuckled. “My mother taught me how to cook.”
Bailey frowned and stormed off. I laughed softly and fell into the seat across from Justice. “What’s her issue?”
“My sister is a lot more—um—serious, than most.” Justice told me while picking up the menu Bailey had dropped on the table. “She doesn’t take flirting very well.”
“I wasn’t flirting.” My cheeks flushed.
“Sure, you weren’t.”
A waitress arrived to take our order. Since I wasn’t sure what to get, Justice ordered me a Dragon Stout then food. The waitress returned in no time with our drinks and I smiled my thanks to her.
The breeze up from the ocean was amazing. The salted smell, the coolness of it—it was as if it soothed me.
“The guys are excited to meet you.” Justice pointed out. “They’ve always wanted to learn from a CIRO. We heard what your team went through.”
“We’re trying to get over that.” I admitted.
“I can’t even imagine finding out my leader was a Nazi with henchmen trying to kill me and my girl.” Justice shook his head. “It’s like you can’t trust anyone.”
“That’s a sad way to live, my friend.” I told him. “But right now, we’re focusing on the team. The others are building their lives and I’m here to learn a few things.”
“Don’t you mean teach a few things?”
I laughed softly and sipped from my stout. “That too.”
“It’s good to have you here, though.” Justice leaned back in his chair. “I mean, we are soldiers, but we need to upgrade to deal with new issues. When I was a kid dreaming of being on the JDF, I never imagined we’d have terrorists. Times have changed. The bad guys have changed from primitive to state-of-the-art gadgets and tactical abilities. We can’t stick with the same training we’ve always had.”
