“Hawk’s coming. He already texted me that he’s on his way. We have room. I can give rides too,” Gwen offered as I messed up and accidentally called my friend Susie in Tennessee so I had to disconnect and start over.
“Mitch is on his way too so we can take a few people,” Mara stated and, at her words, I got distracted and looked at her because I suddenly forgot what I was doing seeing as I wanted to meet Big Hearted Detective Mitch Lawson.
“I took a taxi here and Tack told me this would go long so he decided he’s at his place tonight. I’ll take a ride with you and Mitch,” I told her.
“Cool,” she said softly and smiled at me.
I went back to my phone and successfully hit Tack’s contact so I put it to my ear and listened to it ring.
It rang once then his gravelly voice came at me with, “Everything good?”
Damn, I liked his voice. Even on the phone.
“We need to talk,” I declared.
Silence then, “Say again?”
“Where are you?” I asked.
“The Compound havin’ drinks with the boys,” he answered.
“We need to talk. Now or close to now. My place when, of course, I get there and, uh, you do too. Mitch and Mara are taking me home.”
“We need to talk?”
“Yep.”
“About what?”
I brought the mouthpiece of my phone closer to my lips and whispered with heavy meaning, “Everything.”
“Oh shit,” Elvira muttered.
“Jesus,” Camille murmured.
“Oh man,” Gwen whispered.
“Everything?” Tack asked.
“Absolutely everything.”
“That’s gonna take a long time, Red,” Tack observed.
“No. The everything we need to talk about requires yes or no answers from you.”
“It’s nearly two in the morning,” Tack noted.
“Are you too busy to talk about everything which means everything important… in life?” I asked with grave, but drunken, seriousness and the drunken part was communicated by me slurring my words more than a little bit.
Silence then, “Are you smashed?”
“Completely and totally.”
“What are you wearing?”
“Who cares?”
“I do.”
“Why?”
“’Cause you’re smashed, you been with your girls, you somehow got riled up about somethin’ and once I settle you down about whatever’s aggravating you, I’m gonna rile you up a different way.”
My toes curled. Promptly after that, I got annoyed.
“Stop turning me on when I have the weight of my future happiness on my mind!” I snapped.
“Oh lordy,” Elvira muttered.
“Right on,” Gwen whispered.
“Why do I suddenly want a scary biker dude?” LaTanya asked.
From Tack with a smile in his voice, I heard, “I’ll be there in ten.”
“No, I’m getting a ride with Big Hearted Mitch.”
“Big Hearted Mitch?” Tack asked.
“Big Hearted Detective Mitch Lawson,” I clarified.
“Seems she knows your story,” LaTanya muttered to who I guessed was Mara though I wouldn’t know since I was staring at the table.
“I like that title for Mitch,” Mara muttered back, confirming my guess. “It fits.”
“I’ll be there in ten, Red,” Tack repeated.
“No, really, I want to ride with Mitch and Mara. I’ll meet you at my place.”
“Baby,” his voice gentled, “this is me seein’ to that soft spot when I say quiet-like that I… will… be… there… in ten. And what I mean is, when I get there in ten, your ass better be there.”
Oh boy.
“Are you coming on your bike?”
“Yeah.”
“I’m in a tight, short, little, aquamarine dress with high heels. I can’t get on a bike.”
“You’re in a tight, short dress and high heels?” Tack asked.
“Yes.”
“I’ll be there in five.”
“Tack!” I exclaimed but he’d disconnected.
I did too and looked at Mara. “Tack’s ruining my ride home experience with Big Hearted Mitch. He’s going to be here in five.”
Mara smiled and offered, “We’ll have you over for dinner. That way you can meet Bud and Billie.”
Bud and Billie were Mara’s second cousins. Bud and Billie were also the kids Mitch and Mara were raising because their Dad was a criminal ass**le.
“Awesome,” I breathed, grabbed my glass and sucked back the last of my cosmo.
“We shoulda confiscated that while she was distracted by her scary biker dude,” LaTanya noted, eyeing the empty glass I put back on the table.
“Too late now,” Elvira replied.
Sadie whispered, “Excuse me,” slipped off her stool and disappeared.
I stared after her thinking she totally looked like a real-life fairy princess. And I kept thinking this, my gaze growing hazy and unfocused, until she slipped back on her stool two minutes later. This woke me up, my body gave a slight jerk and my head filled with the possibility that Tack wouldn’t want to have more kids when I did, badly, which would mean bad things for us. I was doing this, my heart beginning to hurt, as my head did a distracted scan of the still heaving restaurant/bar but my eyes caught on something. Then my head snapped back and I felt my eyes grow round. When the fullness of all that was meeting my vision penetrated, my hand shot out to curve around the edge of the table and my breath left me.
“Holy crap,” I whispered as I stared at the men sauntering to our table.
One was Hawk.
Suffice it to say, considering I’d been in the throes of a kidnap rescue, I hadn’t taken him in fully when I first met him. He was not wearing a tee and cargo pants. He was wearing a dark gray, slim-fit shirt and jeans. They looked good on him. Way good. Otherworldly good. And he wasn’t hot. He was smoking hot.
With him were three other men. Two were tall, dark and gorgeous and both gorgeous in a way that was also otherworldly. One was older and had unusual but unbelievably beautiful silver eyes, these soft and aimed at Tess. One was younger and had soulful, dark brown eyes, these gentle and they were on Mara.
And last, there was a Hispanic man who was rough around the edges and needed a haircut about three weeks ago but he worked it almost as good as Tack. His eyes were black, they were intense but sweet and they were on Sadie.