Butterflies in Honey (Growing Pains #3) (24 page)

“Nothing gets Ron Powers motivated like an
intrigue.” Tory’s eyes sparkled. “On a personal level, how it is
going with Krista?”

Sean’s eyes widened. Then he sighed. “Very
slowly. She is having a really hard time here this weekend. She
isn’t letting me help, but I am hopeful she is slowly coming
around.”

“You two work exceptionally well together. I
was right.”

“You are the second one to point that out.
And yes, we do.”

“I’ve seen your preliminary numbers. They are
impressive.”

Sean puffed up slightly, trying not to smile.
“It’s a work in progress.”

“Once she gets your team working cohesively,
I think you will do great things.”

Sean laughed. “I thought I was a better
motivator. It was a hard pill to swallow realizing I need her as
much as I do.”

Tory chuckled, too. “Follies of the youth. I
had that same realization. My next step was to marry Emily.”

“You probably had an easier time getting her
to say yes.”

Tory’s eyes were twinkling again. “Not at
all. It is a hard thing, eating crow, but women are a forgiving
breed. If you are patient enough, you would be surprised what they
will talk themselves into.”

“Let’s hope.” Sean said, getting up.

“I don’t need hope, I have Emily. Okay, keep
up the good work, but remember what I said about sexual harassment.
We need to update the company view and you and Ron Powers will be
the leaders in that. He is also a powerful motivator, and he would
also benefit from a ‘Krista’ to do all his work.”

“Why does no one think I work?” Sean laughed.
Tory laughed with him.

Sean left shaking his head. He had to get his
sweats on for paintballing.

Chapter Seventeen

“What are you guys doing?” Krista asked
Janice, putting on her running shoes. She was showered, changed and
rested. Her head was buzzing, but no longer whirling. It was at
least a step in the right direction.

“We’re paintballing, too.”

“Oh. That’s good. At least there’ll be more
women.”

“It will be nice with a mix of people. I have
had my fill of gossip.”

“I bet Marcus is having the time of his
life.”

Janice smiled, heading toward the door.
Krista followed. “He was sent here to make friends, and he is doing
just that. By the end of this weekend, Sean will know more about
the other regions than their VPs do.”

“That’s what he was going for. How are you
guys doing in your competitions?”

“Well, Marcus isn’t an admin, of course,
so…”

That was about when Krista stopped listening.
She couldn’t help it—there were more pressing matters in her head
than typing contests and note taking. Like that kiss earlier. Like
how good it felt. Like how her body revved up and remembered how
right
it was once.

The problem was there was still a piece of
her in a dark corner that was broken. She didn’t trust that Sean
wanted her bad enough. What if something else happened and they had
to separate? Would he push her away again?

Krista thought he probably would. He just
never seemed to put himself out there when it really mattered. If
he was going the same way, then she was his gal. If not, well
then…

They went outside and around the hotel to the
tree line. A small huddle of ref’s were there, with yellow shirts,
and the normal huddle of cliques. A couple of the New York guys
already had guns, masks, and other protective gear.

Krista and Janice joined their team, who were
all there. Sean, who was wearing form fitting sweats, looked up as
the two women joined the group. He then couldn’t help but scan her
body. He was still on overdrive. Krista stopped herself from
scanning his.

“Hey guys,” Krista said. Everyone but
Bob-the-Turd gave her a glance and looked back at Sean.

“Geegee, Janice, great,” Sean said. “I was
just going over some strategy. I first need to figure out who is
the team handicap.” Everyone looked at she and Janice.

“Well, if you mean ‘who might not be great at
this?’, I’ll raise my hand.” Janice followed by actually raising
her hand. Sean and Dean nodded like they knew as much. Eyes shifted
to Krista.

“Don’t look at me, fellas. I’ve been shooting
since I was twelve. Plus, I’m in great shape. No dunk tank for me
this time!”

“You’ve been shooting since you were twelve?”
Bob asked in disbelief.

“My mom took my sister and I once a month
from twelve to twenty. She said when we got our own place, we
needed a gun. If someone got in, we’d need to know how to shoot.
Rape and murder proofing, she called it.”

“Yikes.” Georgie smirked. “Watch out for the
Fields family women.”

He didn’t know she’d changed her name.

Sean looked over Krista’s shoulder and
smirked with that boyish mischievousness that made his face all
kinds of hot. Krista did scan his body then—she couldn’t help
herself. His suit showed off his broad shoulders fantastically. And
his pants were tight enough to see those shapely, defined legs,
which were nothing compared to that rock star quality ass! The guy
needed to wear tighter pants more often, style faux-pas or no!
Krista could just barely make out his pecks, so she focused instead
on his biceps. He could pick her up and throw her on the bed
without breaking a sweat.

Had, in fact.

When she looked up to look at his gorgeous
face, he was looking back. It was her turn to flush. To hide it,
she looked behind her to see what the others were looking at. It
was Marcus. He was dressed all in black. He had a form fitting suit
like Sean—he probably bought two and made Sean where one of
them—with a similar well-defined body. Krista had to remember to
comment on it. Unlike Sean, Marcus liked a little appreciation. To
complete his outfit, he had some green smudges on his face.

He walked over to Krista, all ease and
friendliness. “Howdy boys. Geegee, my goodness, I do believe some
of their testosterone has rubbed off on you.”

Krista smiled and let his relaxation wash
over her. It was so good to see a friendly face—one that didn’t
take everything so dang seriously.

“Marcus, good to see you,” She sighed.

“Okay, focus everyone,” Sean said, clapping
his hands. “Marcus, can you shoot, run, or do anything useful?”

“I can run if a burglar is chasing me. I
can’t shoot all that well. But I am excellent at sitting very
still.” Marcus replied.

Janice laughed and raised her hand again,
indicating that was her speed, too.

“Okay,” Sean said, “We have Annie Oakley and
a bunch of sharp shooters. We’ll have to make due.”

He then went on to explain how big the
perimeter was and how they should form a couple clusters to guard
people’s backs. From the looks in everyone’s eyes, no one had a
clue what they were supposed to do. Finally, Sean sighed and gave
up. “We’ll just have to do our best.”

Sounded good. Everyone got their guns and
protective gear. Goggles were mandatory and everything else was
optional. Krista reached only for the goggles. So did the other
men. Janice took everything she could get, including a helmet.

When they were ready, they were led past the
tree line, given a map, and told they would start in fifteen
minutes.

“Okay, gang. Janice, Bob, Marcus, and Donald,
get to this area,” Sean pointed at the four corners of the
perimeter. “Find a bush or a tree, hide yourself well, and sit
there until you can pick off people that come through.” They all
nodded. “Dean and Georgie, you’ll be a team. Geegee and I will be
another team. Give ‘em hell.”

Krista looked over her paintball gun. It had
the paintballs in the top in a mini bin, leading down into the gun.
It was light weight and had no sights. Point and shoot. All day
long.

Krista followed Sean, who was looking at this
watch. “Okay…”

“GO!” said a voice over a loud speaker.

Sean looked at Krista with a grin. “Like I
was saying, it’s time to go.”

Sean checked his troops, made sure everyone
was off, and they headed out at a fast walk. Being that it was
Colorado, there were lots of trees and foliage to hide behind.
Instead of hiding, though, they crouched behind shrubbery and
looked for fat professionals they could shoot at.

Krista was never any good at the slow
approach to physical things. She was more a run in and shoot ‘em up
type of girl. Like with debating, her brain worked better with the
increased adrenaline of danger.

Come to think of it, it was probably why she
liked dangerous men.

They walked around a while, paused and
looked, then walked around some more. Krista was starting to get
bored. She wanted to shoot at someone already. That was, until the
world exploded into loud popping noises, blasting the foliage
around them.

Sean shoved Krista behind a tree and jumped
the other way. She fell and rolled, her blood starting to pump. Her
excitement starting to bubble. She felt a smile creep up her face.
Show time
.

Sean was up, trying to shield her like a
fool. She crept around the other side of the tree, away from him.
It sounded like three shooters, all in front.

Without hesitation, she took off running.
Popping filled the air. She dove into a bush, waiting. Breathing
heavily. The popping stopped. She could hear shifting. They were
probably looking for Sean.

Up she bounded, bush-hopping faster than they
could turn. Always too fast for their body shifts. She worked her
away around, Sean still quiet and in front. The world stilling
somewhat, everyone waiting.

POP, POP, POP!

Sean was active. So was the return fire.

Krista launched her body forward, gun
pointed, trigger finger squeezing. A guy from Chicago, seeing
nothing but a black hole at the end of a barrel in the hands of a
madwoman, started screaming. Yellow spattered across his chest.

Krista ducked back down and held her position
just in case someone else heard the fire. Sean did likewise from
wherever he was. They’d taken out the cluster of men in no time
flat. Time to move on and get their next “kill.”

The three guys—two from Chicago and one from
Utah—were laughing and clapping each other on the backs. They
packed it in and slowly headed back to base. Krista had no doubt
they would head to the bar immediately. This was the last thing for
the day.

Light footsteps approached her hiding bush as
Sean made his way over, cautiously. His eyes were shining and his
face was flushed in excitement. His gun was low and his head high
as he saw her. A radiant smile lit up his face before his eyes
started scanning again.

She crawled over to him.

“Best to constantly stay on the move,” she
said quietly. “These guys are chubby and slow. Those that know guns
are probably hunters, right? They are used to things running away.
I think if we keep moving toward them, fast, they might get
confused. Or something.”

Sean looked at her, crouching next to her.
“You are the most beautiful woman I have ever seen. I’ve thought
that since I first saw you walk into that copy room three years
ago. I’m not sure if I ever told you that.”

Krista’s mind stuttered as her body flushed.
“Huh? Sean, we aren’t really going to die out here, you know. These
aren’t real bullets.”

He smiled jubilantly, and then grabbed her
around the waist and kissed her. Before she could react, she was
released again. “I know, but this is fun. Let’s go!”

“Uh…” Krista staggered a couple steps after
Sean before her mind shifted from his kiss to his running away. She
blinked a couple times hoping that would help restart her brain. It
didn’t. But the next batch of pop-pop-pops did!

Sean dove to the side a second before she
did, narrowly missed. His eyes peering at her out of the green
foliage, the colors nearly matching, the light standing out like
gold dust in his eyes. He gave a quick head nod, and then started
moving. Krista figured he wanted to run around the shooters this
time. Only fair—it was the fun part.

She inched up and immediately heard the
blasts. Her drop back down to the ground was as fast as a boulder
through water. With any luck, they hadn’t seen her.

She waited quietly, giving Sean time. When he
was in position, and drawing their attention, she could surprise
them with paintball death.

She waited until she heard Sean shoot, then
answering shots in his direction. She took that as “
Go.
”

She was up in a flash. She started sprinting
at the huddled managers as fast as she could, staying to the bushes
and behind trees whenever possible. When she was close enough to
see the guys sitting together, focused on Sean, she placed her shot
clusters of three and slid behind a tree. She did an army roll
behind a bush as Sean’s, or someone else’s, shots rang out behind
the group of guys. Krista was up again, sprinting, bursting through
the bushes like a nightmare with her gun pointed at their wide eyes
and hasty shield of white flags.

“Oh, hey, Perry,” Krista said, relaxing.
Looked like Sean finished ‘em off.

Perry just stared with his mouth open and
sweat blossoming on his brow.

Sean showed up a second later. The guys
thought Sean came to talk to them, or save them, and looked at him
expectantly.

Perry was just about to say something when
she whispered, “No, no. Don’t talk to me. Do your thing.”

She got an askew look.

Sean flashed the other guys a smile before he
turned to Krista. “I say we go East at a fast jog. I think I saw
another group that way. By the time they know we’re there, they’ll
be toast.”

“Okay, but they’ll be hiding. It’ll be like a
rattlesnake—we won’t know until they start shooting, and there are
bound to be some damn good shots with these guys.”

“They are generally too fat to move fast. No
offense Perry.”