“Well, I think I should probably help Lash deal with my replacement but then I’m moving to Mustang,” I replied instantly and Gray’s arms got tight a second as he blinked slow.
Then he asked, “What?”
“First, I love you. Second, she’s bossy but I love Mrs. Cody. Third, Mustang was the only home I ever really had until Lash gave me one. But Lash is a good man and he has a lot of love to give. He will eventually find a partner; I know this, always have and always dreaded it. And it’s probably time he pulls his finger out, quits spending his time looking out for me and starts thinking about his own happiness. And last, something is happening in Mustang that something involves Buddy Sharp that something is not good and the target is you. Yesterday, I foiled his plans but if he’s still aiming punches at you after seven years then me doing what I did yesterday is not going to stop him. And Mrs. Cody is in a nursing home in a wheelchair, someone has to have your back and that someone is me. So, Gray, you get Ivey but I’ve been around the block. I’m an ex-Vegas showgirl. You might not see hard but no one f**ks with someone I care about and I might be a pushover for you but Buddy Sharp better watch his shit because if he tries to f**k with you again, I’m gonna bring him down.”
Gray stared at me and he did it so long I wondered if I went a little overboard.
Then he grinned and murmured, “Fuck, darlin’, you’re cute when you’re tryin’ to be a badass.”
Trying to be?
“I’m being very serious,” I informed him.
“I see that, baby, you’re still cute.”
“Seriously, Gray, I was the headliner at a burlesque show with twenty other girls who hated me and spent their time trying to stab me in the back. Now, I run the floor of that burlesque show and I’ve got a bunch of waitresses and bartenders who keep bringing their personal lives into Lash’s club so I have to deal with their crap. No joke, when I get going, I can be hell on wheels.”
Still grinning, Gray shifted, rolling us so I was on my back and he was on top of me, doing this muttering, “Gonna look forward to that.”
“You might find it unattractive,” I told him honestly and I hid it but to me, fearfully.
He stopped grinning and locked his eyes with mine.
Then he said, “Dollface, you in your fancy-ass red getup with your smooth operator that no one in a million years would believe is g*y, your humongous bodyguard and your shiny Lincoln, rollin’ through Mustang, kickin’ ass and takin’ names in a classy way happened yesterday and it’s already lore. I had so many f**kin’ phone calls, from Janie, Shim, Stacy, Sonny, Ang, describin’ that shit in detail I had to turn off my phone. Yesterday, you were hell on wheels for me. This is not news. And I do not find it unattractive. And if shit goes down I’m gonna look forward to you rollin’ that out to have my back.”
Oh. Well then.
That was good.
“Okay,” I whispered then smiled at Gray.
Gray didn’t smile back.
Instead he asked, “You really movin’ to Mustang?”
“Yes,” I answered immediately.
“You’re movin’ to Mustang.”
“Yes, Gray.”
He stared at me.
Then he whispered, “My girl’s movin’ back to Mustang.”
Damn it all to hell!
My eyes again got wet and I whispered back, “Yes, Gray.”
He held my eyes and murmured, “Don’t cry, Ivey.”
I took in a trembling breath and murmured back, “Okay, Gray.”
He drew in a breath too. Then his eyes dropped to my mouth.
I knew what that meant.
And Gray gave me what it meant.
Five minutes later, arms locked around each other, lips locked together, tongues dancing, heart rates escalating, a knock came at the door.
Gray’s mouth broke from mine and his eyes went to the door.
“Lash,” I whispered and his eyes came back to me.
Then he touched his lips to mine, rolled off me and the bed, grabbed his tee from the floor and strode to the door pulling it on.
I watched uncertain if I should aim my eyes at his shoulders, his back or his ass.
I picked his ass.
He opened the door and I heard Lash say quietly, “I got a room, my man, but I need my shit. Gave you time. Hope it was enough.”
“It was enough,” Gray replied, opening the door and stepping aside.
Lash stepped in as I moved off the bed, my eyes on him.
His eyes came to me and he stopped. Gray closed the door and I moved but Lash didn’t.
He was worried I’d be pissed.
I smiled at him so he’d know I wasn’t. Over the years he gave me a lot and a couple of hours ago he set about giving me everything. How could I be pissed about that?
Lash smiled back, relief in his.
Seeing that, I stopped walking and ran.
He caught me in his arms and mine closed around him tight.
Face in his neck, I held him tighter then I moved my mouth to his ear and whispered, “Thank you, honey.”
His arms gave me a squeeze and he replied in a whisper, “Anything for you, babe. Anything.”
“I love you, Lash.”
“I know, babe.”
That was when I burst into tears.
Yes, again.
Two seconds later, Lash transferred me into Gray’s arms and Gray held me close as Lash wandered around the room packing.
“She do this a lot?” Gray asked, one arm tight around me, one hand sifting through my hair.
“Oh yeah, usually about you, though, never about me,” Lash answered, sounding amused.
“Told me she’s hard as nails,” Gray shared, still holding me close, hand sifting through my hair.
At that, it was Lash who burst out laughing.
Jeez.
I pulled my face out of Gray’s chest, dashed a hand across my wet cheeks and snapped, “I am!”
It was then, both of them burst out laughing.
Now I was getting mad.
“I’m a hard as nails, badass Vegas showgirl who’s been around the block,” I declared.
“Okay, babe, keep tellin’ yourself that,” Lash muttered, shoving underwear in his bag, grinning.
Right.
Whatever.
I pulled out of Gray’s arms and looked up at him.
“Have you had dinner?”
He looked down at me, dimple out which made my irritation vanish but I didn’t let on.
“No,” he answered.
“Do you want room service?”
“Yeah.”
I looked to Lash. “Do you want to join us?”