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dutifully handed his mother his squirt gun.
    Ashley sloshed over to the edge, plucked Aaron’s gun from his hands, and tossed it up to Lauren. “I’m on your team!” she yelled.
    “Hey!” Aaron, complained, shooting his big sister an evil glare.
    “Me too,” Beth chorused, scurrying to put herself as far away from Devlyn as possible.
     
    Aaron pulled his chubby body out of the pool and ran over to the bucket containing their arsenal to hunt for another weapon. “I’m with Mom!” The boy pulled out an enormous squirt gun with an empty tank nearly the size of his head.   He fumbled with the big gun, his wet hands slipping on the plastic handle. “Will you help me fill it, Lauren?”
    Lauren looked at Dev and smiled lovingly, her eyes glittering with happiness. Then she turned her attention back to Aaron. “Sure, honey.” She called time, took off her glasses and set them on a stack of fluffy, turquoise beach towels, then scooted over to fill her and Aaron’s guns, while those who weren’t packing heat scrambled to the bucket to remedy that problem. Even Emma joined in. She knew better than to be caught empty-handed when battle lust took over the Marlowes and company.
    In the age of biological, chemical, and nuclear weapons, a war to the death raged inside the White House. Only this one was filled with laughter, the occasional sloppy kiss when someone was captured by the opposing team, and chlorinated water.

CHAPTER TWO

FEBRUARY

 
     
Friday, February 11, 2022
     
    B ETH MCMILLIAN SHIFTED FROM one foot to the other as she peered around Lauren to see what she was looking at. “Dev would go bananas if she knew we were doing this,” she murmured as she waved away a sales clerk.
    Lauren nodded absently as she lifted a silk robe from the rack and examined it with a discerning eye. She was ignoring the cloying, nearly overpowering scent of perfume from the counter nearby, determined not to let the budding headache she was developing from the combinations of odors ruin her time.
    She and ex-husband Judd had stopped exchanging Valentine’s Day gifts after they’d married. Judd had informed her seriously that he didn’t need a made-up holiday to tell her he loved her or to buy her a gift. He wouldn’t have married her if he didn’t love her. So why should Hallmark put him on a schedule? And she’d readily agreed, mostly because she found herself with little interest in picking anything out for him.
    The mixture of butterflies and anticipation that was brewing in Lauren’s belly for Valentine’s Day made it crystal clear to her that she and Judd had been full of shit.
    What color? The holiday calls for red, I think. But…
    “Ooo… Nice.” Lauren spied another robe pulled it off the hanger, fingering the cool silk with her fingers. With those gorgeous eyes, how can I pass up blue?
    “Lauren?”
    “Hmm…” Black is nice too. This robe will be short on her and that color against her skin would look so… She swallowed. Oh, my.
      Beth put her hands on her ample hips. “Are you even listening to me?”
    “Yes.” Lauren nodded, but her attention remained on the rack. “You’re getting ready to moan and complain about the lack of agents following my every move as I try to shop in peace.”
    “Well, you have to admit you are—”
    Lauren draped the blue robe over her arm and tossed the black one over the rack as she turned to face her friend. The look on her face caused Beth to blink and shuffle her and Lauren’s jackets, which she had obligingly held so Lauren could dig through the lacy unmentionables in the store. The movement caused her brown curls to bob wildly.
    “Just what exactly do I have to admit?”
    Beth’s brown eyes widened a touch. Uh oh. “Umm… well—”
    “That I’m here without security?” A pale brow arched.
    “Now, Lauren—”
    “Don’t you ‘now Lauren’ me.” Her voice was low and edged with irritation. “Just what am I to believe he is? Hmm?” Lauren shot her