I turned to him. “Luke –” I said softly to try and tame the wild beast before he went gonzo again. Luke’s hard eyes moved from Shirleen to me. He wasn’t happy with her but he also wasn’t going to go gonzo. I let out a breath then started a different (read: safer) subject. “I’m not sure I want Lee to –”
“Decision’s made, babe,” Luke said. “Lee doesn’t often change his mind. The sooner this is over, the sooner we can all focus on other shit.”
“Yeah, like the next one of you white bitches who tears into one of these boys lives. Who’s up next, is it that Hawaiian guy?” Smithie asked.
“Far as I can tell, it’s Ally. She’s due,” Shirleen countered. “That cop boyfriend of hers got himself into the FBI. He’s off to DC. No way in hell Ally Nightingale is gonna leave Denver. Soon, she’ll be a free agent.”
“My money’s on Hector,” Jack threw in. “He’s a wild man. Some woman’s gotta tame him before he gets himself killed.”
“I’ll take that action,” Shirleen said.
“Oh my God. This is cool,” I breathed, excited to be in on the ground floor, finally, of one of these bets, especially when it wasn’t one that involved me.
Luke’s hand came to the back of my neck. “Babe.”
I turned to face him, lost in the excitement. “Who do you think it’s gonna be?”
“I don’t wish this shit on anyone,” was Luke’s answer.
As much as it killed the mood, I had to admit, Luke had a point.
“Lord!” Shirleen shouted, reaching the end of her tether. “Do I have to go out and whack this guy personally?”
Yikes.
Luke sliced a killing glance at Shirleen before he pulled me into him with pressure at my neck and kissed me softly.
“I want you to stay in the offices and I don’t want you to do anything stupid,” he warned when he was done.
The knee weakening I experienced with his kiss vanished and I glared at him. He gave me a half-grin, totally unaffected by the glare.
Then he was gone.
Jack peeled off and disappeared behind a door but Smithie and Shirleen remained.
I looked at them.
“Well?” Shirleen asked, as if she was expecting something.
And I knew what she was expecting. I also knew what I had to do.
I may have realized, finally, that I was Luke’s woman that I belonged to him and that he could be trusted with my heart, my body, my troubles and all my vulnerabilities.
But I still was a Rock Chick.
“I need to talk to the girls,” I told Shirleen.
“Oh shit,” Smithie muttered. “Here we go.”
“Oowee, that’s what I’m talkin’ about,” Shirleen cried in glee.
Uh-oh, Good Ava murmured.
Yippee! Bad Ava hooted.
Chapter Twenty-Four
Vibrator Ceremony
Shirleen walked Smithie and I into what she called the “Down Room”.
It was a big room. It had a couch, a TV, a treadmill, a weight bench and a bunch of weights. It also was filled with Rock Chicks, Tod, Stevie, Tex and Duke.
When we walked in, everyone turned to stare.
“Hey,” I said.
Sissy came forward and gave me a big hug. I hugged her back. She pulled away and looked up at me. I braced in preparation for her to say something that would make me cry.
“I’m thinking you aren’t fuck buddies with Luke anymore,” she said on a grin. Clearly my shouted diatribe in the kitchenette announcing my elevated relationship status with Luke superseded all my other dramas, including being duct taped to a steel support and then fondled by my con man ex-boyfriend.
I looked to the ceiling.
“I’m thinkin’ her vibrators are gonna get lonely,” Daisy noted.
I closed my eyes.
“I’m thinking we should have a vibrator ceremony. Maybe we can all stand around in the dead of night, carrying candles and chanting while she buries them in her backyard,” Ally added.
I made a low, frustrated sound in the back of my throat.
“I’m thinkin’ you bitches best stop talkin’ about vibrators. We got a pack of wild men in the next room plannin’ a human hunt and you women are talkin’ about sex toys,” Smithie threw in, sounding exasperated.
I looked at Smithie and said with feeling, “Thank you.”
“Who brought him?” Tod whispered loudly to Indy.
“I did. I figured we needed all the help we could get,” Jet replied.
“He’s kind of a kill joy,” Tod went on. “I like the idea of a Vibrator Ceremony. After we’re done burying them, we could make canapés and drink champagne. It’s a lot more fun to talk about that than hunting down humans.”
Tod was not wrong.
“Oh for fuck’s sake!” Duke exploded.
“All right!” I shouted before I lost any more control. “Listen up.”
All eyes turned back to me.
I took a deep breath.
Then I realized I didn’t have anything to say.
So, as any good Rock Chick would, I winged it. “Let’s break this down. First, some guy hit Bobby in the head with a baseball bat. Seems everyone has forgotten that but I haven’t. I don’t even know Bobby and I know something’s gotta give with the guy who hit Bobby. You with me?”
There were a couple of nods but mostly the Rock Chicks looked confused.