George Thorogood was on the jukebox when Asa and I walked into the Bar. It was early enough that the doors weren’t open for customers yet but Cora was sitting at the bar talking to a guy standing behind it that I didn’t recognize. Asa deposited me next to her and introduced the new bartender as Danny before disappearing off toward the back office. I told Cora good morning and then spent five minutes staring at her trying to figure out why I thought she looked different from the last time I saw her.
Her blond hair was still short and styled in an artful disarray and her two-toned eyes were still bright and glittery with mischief. She was swinging her short legs back and forth watching me scope her out with obvious amusement. She had on tight black pants and a flowy top that had a bunch of flowers on it. She was colorful and fun just like every time I saw her, but as she turned to fully face me, I felt my eyes widen when I noticed a certain part of her that seemingly had grown out of proportion to the rest of her tiny frame.
“Did you get a boob job?” I realized how rude that sounded and went to apologize when she started laughing so hard her eyes began to water.
“No, I didn’t, but I think half the reason Rome likes to knock me up is because of this particular side effect.”
I gaped at her for a second. “You’re pregnant? Wow, congratulations.” I let my gaze slide up and down her still-petite figure. Aside from the craziness happening in her bra, she still looked like a little pixie. “I had no idea.”
She nodded. “We’ve been keeping it pretty quiet. I wanted Shaw and her new baby to get all the same love and attention we got when Remy came into the world, but we’re going for the ultrasound today to see if we’re bringing RJ home a brother or sister, so it won’t stay secret much longer.”
I reached out to give her a one-armed hug. “Ugh, I can’t believe I missed it. I’m going to make a terrible detective.”
She laughed again and patted me on the knee. “You don’t spend enough time around me to pick up on all the subtle little clues—something you should change, by the way.” She gave me a look and cocked her head to the side. “You know Ayden and Jet are coming back to town for spring break in a few weeks. We should all get together for a girls’ night like we used to. I bet Shaw could use a night away from the baby … and Rule.”
She grinned at me as I involuntarily flinched at the idea of hanging out with Asa’s sister. I had been to their girls’ nights before, but ever since Ayden moved and the babies started coming around, they had been few and far between. Now I usually just had coffee with Saint in the morning or grabbed a drink with Salem if she asked. We hadn’t all gotten together in longer than I could remember and it for sure had been before I locked Asa up.
“Uhhh …”
She rolled her eyes at me. “If you and Asa are going to be a thing, then you understand Ayden is part of that package, right?”
“I really wish someone else had answered that call. I hated having to take him in when he was hurt and obviously innocent. If I was his sister, I wouldn’t be happy with me either.”
She didn’t get a chance to say anything else because both the guys came out of the back room looking grim and unhappy. Rome was scowling pretty hard and Asa’s mouth was pulling tight in a straight line.
Cora swung around on the bar stool and went to her hulking man. She wrapped her arms around his waist and he automatically returned the embrace and bent to drop a kiss on the top of her head. It was so easy, so effortless, how they leaned on each other that I felt a sudden ball of emotion lodge in my throat as I watched them.
“Not good?” She asked the question softly and Asa was the one who answered. He leaned on the end of the bar and shook his head.
“Not good.” He sounded frustrated and disappointed. All I wanted to do was hug him and make it better like Cora was doing for Rome, only we were nowhere near there yet. His eyes shifted from me to Rome and then back. “The big guy doesn’t want to press charges, but we’re going to have to fire her and we need to talk to Brite and Darcy.”
Cora made a sympathetic noise. “It’s gonna break Brite’s heart.”
Asa pushed off the bar and walked over to where I was sitting. I hopped off the stool and he wrapped an arm around my shoulders and tugged me to his side. A full-body shiver worked its way from the top of my scalp to the tips of my toes as I responded by putting an arm around his lean waist. I wanted to be able to hold him up. I just wasn’t sure I was strong enough.
“He’s not going to give up on her. He loves her too much.” Asa’s voice had hints of guilt laced with penitence in it and I wondered if he was talking about the employee or something far closer to home.
Rome grunted and squeezed Cora hard enough that she squeaked. “We have to go. I wanna see my new baby.”
We followed them out of the bar and Cora looked at me over her shoulder before Rome hefted her up into his big truck and told me, “No escaping girls’ night, Royal. I’m making it happen.”
I groaned and agreed with a shrug. Asa gave me a questioning look as we headed the couple blocks from the Bar over to where the diner was located. After we were seated and had steaming cups of coffee sitting in front of us, I wanted to ask him exactly what was going on with the employee, but he beat me to it and questioned why I seemed less than thrilled to hang out with the girls.
I stirred copious amounts of sugar into my coffee and stared down at the table while I thought about how to answer that.
“I’ve never had a lot of friends. It’s always just been me and Dom. I like all those girls and I love Saint to death, but hanging out like that isn’t something I’m used to, and frankly I’m still slightly terrified your sister wants to kick my ass.”