Page 136 of Dirty Discipline, Vol. 2

“Right, so the important thing to remember is that we lock this door when no one is inside. The girls are supposed to lock it when staying in here alone, but they rarely do it. They say it’s too much hassle to get up and unlock the door when people want in.”

“You good with that?” asked Jacob.

“No, but you can only spank a woman so much for the same issue before it isn’t worth the argument. I taught Avery how to shoot a gun and put trackers on their phones and security cameras outside. I compromised.”

“Keys?”

“We all have them. Declan frequently forgets his, and Callen forgets which is the right key because he has so many on his ring.” Stryker shrugged. “We do okay.”

“I love this setup; are you sure it’s okay that I take that office? It’s not being used?”

“Nope, Até used it initially but said after working from the home office, he just couldn’t go somewhere else to do paperwork. He doesn’t do nearly as much now, even when he is home.” Stryker slapped Jacob on the back and said, “Avery has your key and knows everything, so ask her first when you have questions.”

“If you don’t mind, I have some other work to get done this morning,” Jacob said.

“I’ve got a phone call as well, but if you want to settle in, I told the others you have some of your own business you need to keep up with. Please use this office for all your other consulting business, to make things easier. We appreciate you coming and adding your expertise to the ranch. We’ve kept our cook on, as we are all here and tired of scrounging food for the winter months. So we’ll see you at the house at lunch.”

“Cost-effective?”

“Honestly? I don’t know yet, but it appears to be. We’ve committed for this winter, and then we can look at the overall savings, monetarily and personally, at the end. We’ll talk later.”

Stryker’s long stride took him to his office quickly. He stopped to say something to Avery, who handed him some papers and smiled at him before he left. Hmm, no PDA in the office. Good choice. So Stryker was with Avery, Declan was with Teagan, and Seamus was with his Hawaiian sweetie Kailani, moving her things to the ranch. Carter, Renee, and Callen were not attached. He wondered how long Carter would wait for Renee. He let it all go because he had his own woman to rope in and corral.

The morning was a little disjointed because of his late start and the time difference. Jacob mostly worked with clients who liked to get their work done early and have the rest of the day to bask in their good business sense or his. He had one very hands-on client he enjoyed working with, but the man saw only the dollars and didn’t focus on the pennies.

Hanging up the phone and stretching, he walked into the central area and looked around. “Mind if I get some coffee?”

Avery grinned. “You mean you intend on getting your own?” She waved down the hall. “You can have whatever you want. Snacks are in the break room. The more you eat, the less I eat,” she winked at him.

“Translated, eat whatever, but leave me the chocolate,” said Jacob.

“You’re smarter than the average man. I’m going to like having you around.”

“That’s what I like to hear because there is no telling how long it will take to get Stryker back on track.” That last comment was for his cousin’s benefit as the door to his office opened.

“Hey, don’t forget, I’m the one who got you out of trouble with Mam when you ate a whole plate of cookies before dinner.”

“If I remember right, I had help.”

Stryker nodded. “Possibly, but all I remember is you were the one who got sick.”

Jacob looked over at Avery. “It was the milk, not the cookies. I forgot that cow’s milk caused problems, combustible problems.”

“Yeah, he dunked his cookies, but I told Mam he drank the milk, and she thought we all ate them. I had one. I think Até had a couple. The rest was Jacob.”

“Well, it doesn’t buy you more than this one cup of coffee. Where’s your cup?”

“Be prepared,” said Avery as she continued to work.

Stryker handed over a filthy cup. “Hell, what happened to your cup?”

“Nothing happened to it.”

“You drink from this?” asked a concerned Jacob.

“Yeah, and don’t you start. It adds character and flavor.”

“And giardia. This is a real sickness, man.”

---