“Sorry?”
He didn’t answer me, instead he stated, “I give a shit about Krys and I give a shit about you. I don’t want outta that bar. It’s turnin’ a damn good profit now with you and a stable of decent waitresses who sell booze instead of socialize. Boys’ll be puttin’ their bikes away for the winter soon but the mountains come alive when the snow falls. We got three slopes within an hour’s drive. Be stupid to get bought out now that we got decent help.”
“So, what –?”
His arms gave me a squeeze before he whispered, “She needed motivation.”
His intent dawned on me and I relaxed against his body.
“You wanted her to get rid of Bubba,” I whispered back.
“She’s a good woman, deserves more than that,” he muttered. “Can’t find it, then she still deserves a life without that.”
God, but I loved this man.
I lifted a hand and laid it on his bearded jaw.
“Tate.”
“And you like it there but you also like it here. I knew you wouldn’t ask for special treatment and you wouldn’t put Krys out. So, I made it so you could keep workin’ there, share the load with Krystal and feel good about that but be home for me and Jonas.”
I relaxed more against him and my face came closer to his.
“Tate,” I repeated softly.
“And I wasn’t lyin’. The office is a fuckin’ mess. I know you got the skills to sort that out, I don’t have the patience, the time or the inclination for that shit so I could use your help too.”
He could use my help. I liked that.
My face got closer.
“Captain,” I whispered.
“To fix what Neet broke in Jonas, I need to build a family. I’m guessin’ you wanna be a part of that.”
“I do,” I replied quietly.
“Then I gotta do what I gotta do to build that for Jonas. I played Krys, for her, for you, for Jonas and, yeah, for me.”
“Okay,” I agreed.
“You still pissed?”
“No,” I answered, though he had to know I wasn’t considering I’d all but melted into him, but I went on. “Though, you could have spoken to me first.”
“Didn’t know I was gonna do it until Bub walked in.”
My head tipped to the side, I decided our current conversation was over since I liked his responses so much and therefore I changed the subject. “Why do you call Jonas ‘Bub’? Is it because of Bubba?”
One of his hands slid up my back into my hair, the other one slid down then up, into my camisole.
“Yeah, Bubba’s real name is Jonas. I talked Neeta into namin’ him after Bubba and then I gave him Bubba’s nickname. When he was younger, called him Bubba. Shortened it to Bub later.”
This surprised me. “Bubba’s that good of a friend?”
“We played ball together in high school. Him, Wood and me were tight.” His hand slid through my hair and the fingers of his other hand drew patterns on the skin of my back as he finished quietly, “He was a great friend, Ace, just a shit business partner. Shoulda known but I got a habit of thinkin’ the best’ll come outta people when it won’t.”
“Sometimes it does,” I replied.
His hands stopped moving when he muttered, “Right.”
I pressed into him by giving him all my weight. “It does.”
His eyes locked on mine. “You know, part of me was hopin’, faced with the prospect of losin’ her son, Neeta’d get her head outta her ass.”
“Tate –”
“She didn’t and in the end it was worse than I thought.”
“She isn’t a good example,” I told him.
“Bubba is?” he asked.
“I am,” I answered.
His brows drew together. “What?”
“You bring the best out of me.”
He stared at me a second then both his arms wrapped tight around me and he gave me a hug as he chuckled.
“What’s funny?” I asked.
“Babe,” he replied and said no more.
“Babe what?” I pushed.
His hand slid back into my hair, he cupped the back of my head and brought my lips to his for a light kiss.
Letting me pull slightly away, he murmured, “I was thinkin’ it was the other way around.”
My heart turned over, I liked that he thought that so I stroked my thumb along his bristly beard and smiled but said, “No.”
He grinned back and replied, “Ace.”
“The way I see it,” I told him. “You haven’t changed at all, just your focus has. For me, I’m completely different.”
“No, Lauren, you aren’t.”
“Yes, I am.”
“How you figure that?”
“Never,” I said then dipped my head so my lips were at his ear. “Never has sex been so good for me.”
His fingers fisted in my hair, his head turned and his lips slid along my neck until his mouth was at my ear. “All right, Ace, I’ll give you that.”
Arrogant, but… whatever.
I lifted my head and looked down at him. “And never, never, not even with my boyfriends who were nice to me, did I feel safe enough with them, safe enough with how they felt about me, to throw attitude.”