chapter Twenty
FIND A BEER OR YOUR TRUE LOVE, WHICHEVER COMES FIRST
“YOU did lose Katie, didn’t you?” Drake said after he and Cort entered and exited yet another bar. This one on Conti.
Cort shot Drake an irritated look. Did he have to keep using the word lose? Lose. It made it sound like he’d lost his chance with her. But what if he had?
He didn’t know what had made her leave like that, and it was killing him. He had to find her and talk to her.
“I didn’t lose her,” Cort stated, not for the first time.
“She’s gone. She’s gone,” sang the bird, also not for the first time.
Drake gave the parrot and Cort a pointed look. “I think the bird knows something you don’t.”
Cort glared at his bandmate again. Drake fell silent, at least for a few seconds.
“Seriously,” he said, as they strolled back toward Bourbon, “why are we scouring the Quarter for her?”
“She’s a new vampire. She shouldn’t be wandering around alone. She could get into real trouble, not understanding her powers, her limitations. She needs looking after for a while anyway.”
“I didn’t have anyone to look after me.”
Cort gave his friend an incredulous look. “You were made a vampire by the captain of a ship and then kept on board for weeks, with other vampires. You were pretty much on the School at Sea version of vampirism.”
Drake smiled, clearly remembering those days fondly. “Did I mention the whole crew was women dressed as male pirates?”
“Several times.”
Drake shrugged, but continued to smile. Finally he snapped out of his affectionate memories to say, “It’s true that she probably shouldn’t be on her own, but why do I get the feeling you aren’t just worried about that?”
“No idea.”
Drake raised an eyebrow, but remained silent, but not for long enough. “Let’s try Bourbon Cowboy. We were there last night. Maybe she remembered something and ended up there, too.”
Cort nodded. “Why not?”
At this point it was like looking for a needle in a haystack anyway. And just like any good haystack, the Bourbon Cowboy revealed nothing more than any of the other places had. Just tourists drinking too much and cheering each other on as they fell off the mechanical bull. Maybe Cort was better off just heading home. If Katie didn’t want to be found, he was pretty certain she wouldn’t be. He just hoped she was somewhere safe. Maybe she was at her apartment. He’d tried there first, but she hadn’t answered. Maybe she’d just ignored his repeated knocks. Maybe she was already in bed. He just hoped she realized the sun was no joke. She had to avoid it.
Let Johnny’s death be a lesson on that one, although Katie had no idea that’s how Johnny died.
“You know I like to be a supportive friend and all, but man, I’m getting tired. I need a drink or something.” Drake stopped walking and leaned against the side of the bar as if he were ancient. Which he was, but vampires didn’t get tired. Not physically anyway.
Cort had to admit he felt tired, too, but he was emotionally drained. Man, this had been one stressful night. He would have thought last night was going to be the stressful one, what with dealing with the death of a friend and bandmate, but this night had managed to overshadow that one.
Sorry, Johnny.
“Okay, let’s get a drink.”
Drake levered himself away from the wall, eyebrows raised. “Really?”
“Yeah, it’s going to be impossible to find her. Let’s go to Fahy’s.”
“We already went there and didn’t find out much of anything,” Drake said.
“That’s why I want to go there,” Cort said. “I’m tired of looking for clues.”
“Me, too, brother, me, too.”
It was on the tip of Cort’s tongue to point out the only drama Drake went through during their drunken debacle was losing his tooth. That didn’t quite stack up to crossing someone over and a supposed marriage. But that would probably open up a conversation he didn’t feel like having. Drake already sensed Cort had more than protective feelings for Katie. Not that Cort cared if the guys knew how strongly he felt. Well, as long as Katie returned those same feelings, otherwise Cort planned to play it cool.
They turned down Bourbon and headed the several blocks toward Fahy’s.
“Hey, there’s Raven,” Drake said, pointing to the corner where a tall, bald man dressed in all black stood smoking a cigarette.
“Yippee,” Cort said.
“I was just thinking,” Drake started, then shook his head. “Never mind.”
“What?”
“I was just thinking that”—he paused again, really not wanting to finish his thought, but took one look at Cort’s impatient expression and continued—“maybe Raven has seen Katie. He always seemed to pay a lot of attention to her. He’d definitely notice her if she was around.”
Cort gritted his teeth. Yeah, that was the last thing he wanted to think about right now. Another man’s interest. Especially given he had no idea where he stood with Katie.
But Drake did have a point.
“It can’t hurt to ask,” Cort said, trying to sound casual. After all, it couldn’t hurt to ask, but it could piss him off. Royally.
They crossed the street, walking over to Raven. As soon as he saw them coming, Raven shook his head, looking decidedly displeased about seeing them. He tossed down his cigarette.
“What do you guys want?”
Drake glanced at Cort, waiting for him to speak, but when he didn’t, he asked, “Have you seen Katie Lambert?”
“Jesus, what is it with you Impalers and women?”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Cort said, frowning.
“Nothing,” Raven said, shaking his head. “No, I have not seen your blushing bride.”
Cort gritted his teeth. From Raven’s sarcastic tone, it seemed he knew they weren’t really married, too. And as much as Cort didn’t want to talk to him, Raven might know some other things about last night as well.
“That’s right,” Cort said, trying to sound conversational, almost friendly, which was no easy feat with this man. “You were at our ‘reception.’ Did you notice anything weird last night?”
“Weirder than the fact that sweet, beautiful Katie Lambert was interested in you?” The bald, tattooed man rubbed his chin, pretending to think. “Nope, I can’t say that I do.”
Cort’s teeth ached and he knew he had to leave before he reacted more, but before he could even turn away from the man, Raven added, “I can tell you this much though, if I’d turned over that sweet thing, I’d be taking a lot better care of her. Not letting her roam the streets without me.”
“Oh, really?” Cort said, that common desire to punch this twit filling him, full force.
“Damned right. If I was going to make the effort to cross her over, I’d also make the effort to keep her close.”
Drake stepped forward, as if he could sense that Cort wanted to throw this poser with his silly tattoos and Goth clothing against the side of the bar.
But Cort managed to keep himself composed, except for his hands, which were painfully balled into fists at his sides.
“Oh, yeah, I wouldn’t think you could make that kind of commitment, Raven.”
“To sweet, lovely Katie?” Raven made a face that could only be described as lascivious. “I’d give it a shot. One thing is for sure, I’d definitely keep her in my bed for a good long time. After all, she is a brand-new vampire, and she has a lot to learn.”
Cort stepped forward, even as he told himself to ignore the asshole’s taunts. Common sense told him that Raven was just trying to get him going, because he’d wanted Katie for himself, but still he wanted to hurt the dickhead for even thinking about taking his Katie to bed. Much less keeping her there.
You hadn’t been able to keep her there.
Even that made him want to hit Raven. But Drake stepped directly between them.
“No point wasting your energy,” Drake said, meeting Cort’s eyes, trying to get him focused elsewhere rather than on Raven’s damned smug face.
Cort glared past Drake anyway, but eventually calmed. “You’re right. Let’s go.”
“Good luck finding her,” Raven called after them. “Here’s hoping someone else doesn’t beat you to her.”
Cort spun back, ready to fight again at the implication of his words.
“Don’t bother, man,” Drake said. “He’s just pissed because Katie never noticed him. He’s playing stupid mind games. It’s all he’s got.”
Cort pulled in a deep breath and nodded. They headed down the street again, and Cort pretended he couldn’t hear Raven’s arrogant laughter as they walked away.
“What do you want to do?” Drake asked when they had a good block between them and Raven.
“Let’s just go to Fahy’s,” Cort said. “I’ll call Wyatt and see what’s going on with them. Maybe they’ve seen Katie.”
“Okay,” Drake said, clearly willing to go anywhere as long as a drink was involved.
“Jack and Coke. Jack and Coke.”
And the parrot felt the same way. For once, everyone was in agreement.
* * *
“CRACKED MY HEAD open?” Katie automatically touched her fingers to her head. She was startled to feel a rather large indentation on the back of her skull. She dropped her hand.
“Yes, you were onstage performing with the band, and you and Cort were singing . . . ‘Don’t Go Breaking My Heart,’ I believe it was.”
“As in Elton John?”
“Yes.”
Katie pondered that. “Don’t Go Breaking My Heart” was hardly the usual Bourbon Street fare. She was surprised the band even knew it. But it did go right along with all the other weirdness.
“Somehow you backed up and got caught on some of the wires on the stage. You fell and hit your noggin just right on the corner of one of the amps. Blood everywhere. It was really quite gruesome.”
Gruesome? To a vampire? That was saying something.
“I died from hitting my head on an amp?” Now talk about a death you didn’t want to brag about at the Pearly Gates.
“Like I said, you most certainly would have died. Or worse, if Cort hadn’t scooped you up and taken care of you.”
“Or worse?”
Nigel smiled indulgently. “Not all vampires are as sensitive as Cort and his gang. There were vamps on that boat that might have seen you as an unexpected smorgasbord.”
Katie grimaced.
“Not all vampires are as decorous as I am.”
It was good to know Nigel hadn’t seen her as a free appetizer either.
“We couldn’t have made it back to the shore and gotten you to a hospital before you’d have passed. You were bleeding too heavily. Cort made a judgment call, because he cares for you. I hope you aren’t angry with him.”
“No,” she said automatically. No, she wasn’t angry with him about the bite, she never had been. She knew some people might be, but she’d known deep down inside that if it had been Cort who’d bitten her, he’d have done it only for a very good reason.
She had trusted that.
But that wasn’t what grabbed Katie’s attention. It was another thing Nigel said.
“What do you mean, he cares about me?”
Nigel gave her another indulgent smile. “Girl, surely you have seen the way Cort has been pining for you. Everyone who works on Bourbon Street knows it.”
Katie shook her head, stunned by his words. She could have understood if he said she’d been the one pining and everyone knew it, because, boy, had she ever pined.
“And you’ve carried a torch for him, too, haven’t you, Katie-Katie?”
She found herself nodding, just because she was stupefied by his insight.
“So you could imagine how pleased many of us were to see him willing to save you. That’s a strong bond, you know.”
Katie continued to gape at him, unable to do anything else.
Nigel stared at her for a moment, then shrugged. “I guess the people involved are sometimes the last to know.”
Could that be true? Could she have misunderstood his reaction to the news of their nonexistent marriage? She certainly had trusted Cort with her life and her undeath. Yet she hadn’t even given him a chance to explain his feelings. Just because he didn’t want to be married, didn’t mean he didn’t have feelings for her. After all, most people did explore their feelings before the bonds of matrimony.
“You know, maybe I should go find Cort,” she said suddenly, feeling like a childish fool for running off like she had.
“That’s probably a good idea,” Nigel said. “I’m sure he’s fretting about you.”
“Maybe,” she said, allowing herself to believe Cort could have feelings, true romantic feelings.
She stood, then suddenly remembered she didn’t have her wallet.
“I’m sorry,” she started, but Nigel cut her off.
“The beer and conversation are on me tonight. I’m just glad you are still with us, girl.”
Katie grinned. “Me, too.”
She headed to the bar door, only to have it open before she could do so herself.
In front of her appeared the Dancing Vagrant, and as usual her natural instinct was to back away. That smell really was too much. Maybe when she returned the man’s parrot, she should also give him a bar of soap. The poor guy probably had no idea how he smelled.
He smiled widely when he saw her, revealing her assessment was very likely correct.
“Here you are,” he said, then looked past her into the bar. “Do you have Winston?”
“No, not yet.”
His face fell, but almost immediately lifted back into a smile. “I got ahold of Annalese for you.”
“You did?” Katie wasn’t quite sure if she should believe this man. He seemed perfectly harmless, but definitely a little out-there.
“Yes, she’s going to meet us. At Erin Rose.”
Erin Rose, another of the band’s usual hangouts. That made her feel better about leaving with him. He wasn’t taking her somewhere she’d never heard of. Of course she could defend herself anyway.
“But we could stop here for a minute,” he said, cocking his head to the side, listening. His hips began to move a little, along with his feet. “I love this song.”
He started to step into the bar, but Nigel’s voice stopped him.
“We’re not having any dancing in here tonight, buddy. Sorry.”
Katie glanced at Nigel, who gave her a pained shrug. She understood Nigel’s stance. No matter how nice and jovial this guy seemed to be, he was still a dirty, stinky homeless guy and his presence would affect business. A harsh truth, sadly.
“Katie, could you come here for a moment?” Nigel said, waving to her.
Katie raised a finger, then turned to the Dancing Vagrant. “Wait right here.” She started over to the bar, then turned back to him and added for good measure, “I’ll have Cort meet us at Erin Rose with Winston.”
She didn’t want him dancing off again.
He nodded, perking up again at her mention of his best friend.
“I know this guy is harmless, but please be careful,” Nigel said as she approached the bar. He pushed a plastic cup of beer toward her, nodding to the vagrant. “Give that to him.”
Katie took the cup. Nigel was really a nice guy. So much for this whole “vampires being monsters” thing.
“I will be careful,” Katie assured him. “I just need to find out if Cort and I actually got married last night. And this guy says he knew the person who married us.”
Nigel looked surprised, then impressed. “Attending a wake, having a fatal accident, crossing over, discovering you are in love, and a marriage all in one night. And none of you remember it. That has to be a record, even for Bourbon Street.”
Katie laughed. “Definitely not the work of your average girl next door.”
“Ah, Katie-Katie,” Nigel said, patting her hand again. “I definitely don’t think anyone would ever consider you an average girl next door. You’re a stunner.”
Katie beamed. Maybe she really was. Maybe she always had been and just didn’t know it.
“This is good,” the Dancing Vagrant said, grinning down at his beer, any hurt feelings soothed by free alcohol. “That bartender never lets me in the bar, you know, because of Winston. Some bars have really strict policies about animals.”
Katie and Cort certainly hadn’t helped this man’s chances of getting into bars with that bird. Or rather, the bird had hurt his own chances.
But in this case, since Winston wasn’t even with him, she didn’t think the bird was Nigel’s issue. But since the man was happy with his beer and his rationalization, Katie wasn’t about to ruin that for him by pointing out the truth.
“So how do you know Annalese Bonvieux?”
“Everyone knows Annalese.” He frowned as if she was mad. Maybe she was, and he was the sane one. Who knows.
“I’m sorry, I don’t.”
“She married you and your man last night. Of course you know her.”
He had a point there. She should know her.
“Well, I was so excited, I guess everything is a bit of a blur,” she told him.
He nodded. “Life is exciting.”
Katie had to give this guy credit, he did put a good spin on everything. Then again, he was the Dancing Vagrant.
They reached Erin Rose, pushing aside the plastic strips that covered the doorway to keep the air-conditioning in and the humid, Louisiana air out of the bar.
“Hey,” the bartender at the front bar called immediately as soon as he saw them enter. The burly man with a goatee and tattooed sleeves covering his bulky muscles pointed at the vagrant. “You can’t come in here.”
Dancing Vagrant gave Katie an “I told you so” look. “See, Winston again.”
And again, Katie accepted his rationalization with a smile and a nod.
“Annalese is probably in the back bar. If not, I’ll send her back there when I see her.”
Katie nodded again. The Dancing Vagrant waved quite merrily to the grouchy-looking bartender and slipped back out of the bar.
Katie sighed, wishing she had her purse. She’d buy the poor guy another beer and bring it out to him, so he at least had something to do while he waited around outside. She supposed that he might wander off to enjoy more music and dance, but she also knew he did love his bird, and he was waiting for Winston as much as she was waiting for this Annalese Bonvieux.
And maybe this lady was already there. She glanced back once more to see the Vagrant Dancer just outside the window. He’d bummed a cigarette, or at least she assumed he’d bummed a cigarette off someone, and he was jigging slightly to some of the music that wafted outside from Erin Rose’s loud jukebox.
She shook her head, again amazed at what a truly happy guy he was, and she headed into the back room.
The back bar of Erin Rose was a small square room, two of the walls lined with a nicked, worn bar and equally worn wooden stools. A few tables littered the limited floor space, but for some reason, Katie had always found the place more homey than cramped and shabby.
Maybe because it was one of the favorite spots of the locals, and whenever she walked back there, she knew she was going to know someone.
And sure enough, she recognized one of the patrons seated at the bar immediately.
“Raven,” she said, greeting the bald guitarist with a cool familiarity.
Raven either didn’t notice, or didn’t care, because he smiled broadly.
“Katie Lambert. How are you feeling tonight?”
Katie knew that he had to know she was now one of them, since he’d been at the wake and in the pictures she’d seen.
“I feel fine,” she said, looking toward the other patron, a woman who looked a little mussed and frazzled. If the way she was knocking back her drink was any indication, she was.
Could this be Annalese Bonvieux? And if it was, did she want to have the conversation she was about to have in front of Raven? Not really.
But Katie approached her, a little timidly, partly because she felt nervous and because the woman really did look more than a little stressed.
“Pardon me,” Katie said softly, but the woman whipped around like Katie had shouted at her. The woman eyed Katie up and down.
“I’m sorry to bother you, but are you Annalese?”
The woman studied her a moment longer, then shook her head no, and Katie quickly realized she wasn’t going to volunteer anything more. Katie thanked her, wondering what the heck happened to her tonight to make her so tense.
Katie frowned. It couldn’t be anything weirder than what had happened to her.
Katie turned around, surveying the room again. Of course Raven watched her, and she felt obligated to wander back toward him. Why couldn’t that woman have been Annalese? Or at least friendly so Katie would have felt comfortable sitting down with her. Instead she took a seat a couple down from Raven.
He immediately got up and sat down beside her. Of course. She should have told him she wanted to just sit here by herself, surely being a vampire should give her the ability to be a little bitchy, but still she couldn’t be overtly rude. Those darn ingrained manners.
“You look lovely. Your new state suits you.”
“Thank you.” She really wished someone else was back here with them. As if in answer to her wish, Peter, the back-room bartender, appeared. Peter was in exact opposition to the front-room bartender. He was average height, with somewhat broad shoulders, but overall an average build. His ever-present cowboy hat was perched on his shaggy hair that was a color somewhere between light brown and gray.
He nodded at Katie and asked her what she’d like to drink. Katie hesitated, not certain that Peter would extend her a brief line of credit like she knew Nigel would have.
“Let me buy you a drink,” Raven said.
Katie hesitated again, then nodded. “I’ll have a vodka and tonic with extra lime.”
Peter moved over to the other bar to fix her drink.
“So I guess I should tell you that your man Cort is looking for you.”
Katie turned slightly on her barstool. “He is?”
Raven nodded, taking a sip of his own drink. Red wine.
“And I also have to admit, I couldn’t resist ribbing him.”
“How and why?”
“I gotta tell you, Katie, I’m pretty damned sick of losing all the good ladies to the damned Impalers.”
She frowned, not totally following him.
“Stella Malone to Wyatt Axelrod.”
Really? Katie supposed that made sense. Stella and Wyatt would make a great and truly stunning couple. In fact, now that she thought about it, she had sensed something between them on occasion, but she’d always been so focused on Cort that she hadn’t given it much thought. But apparently they were together now? Good for them.
“And of course, I’ve lost you to Berto Cortez.”
Peter appeared, placing her drink on the bar in front of her. Katie thanked him and took a long sip before responding to Raven.
“I don’t think you can really say you lost me to Cort. You never had me and he always did.”
His eyeliner-darkened eyes widened, and he actually looked stunned, but then he chuckled, shaking his head. “Damn, you know what, you have a good point.”
Katie smiled, too.
Raven laughed again. “You have a very good point.”
And he took a sip of his wine.
* * *
“SHE JUST LEFT.”
Cort stared at his friend.
Nigel stopped wiping the bar and repeated himself, this time slower.
Since Cort had pretty much made up his mind that finding Katie wasn’t going to happen tonight, Nigel’s words didn’t make sense right away.
“Do you know where she was headed?”
It was actually Drake who asked.
Cort just felt too relieved that maybe they were close to finding her. Maybe he could talk to her and tell her exactly how he felt.
“She’s headed to Erin Rose to meet with a woman who apparently married you last night.”
Cort looked at Drake. “But I thought you said that Katie and I didn’t really get married.”
Drake gave him a puzzled look. “All I know is you weren’t married by the priest from the bathtub. He’s a stripper who works at Bounce.”
It was Nigel’s turn to look baffled as he looked from Cort to Drake and back to Cort again.
“Alrighty, I’m not even going to try to follow that, but apparently Katie got some information that maybe you really did get married. Granted, she got this information from a local homeless man, but who knows.”
“A local homeless man?” Cort said.
“Yes, the Dancing Vagrant. He tends to hang around Frenchmen Street more than Bourbon, but he does come down this way occasionally.”
The Dancing Vagrant? Cort racked his brain. He remembered hearing that name before. Wait, that’s right. That couple from earlier, Betty and Ed, they’d had pictures of a man they’d called that name. But he didn’t recall them saying this guy had also been a part of their wedding party. Damn, more confusion.
Whatever. He knew where Katie was.
“Thanks,” Cort said, smacking Drake on the shoulder just as he was about to settle on a barstool.
“What?” Drake said, giving him an innocently confused look.
“We’re going to another bar—get a drink there.”
“Jack and Coke. Jack and Coke.”
“You, too,” Cort muttered to the bird.
“Oh, and by the way, that parrot belongs to the homeless man with Katie.”
Damn, that was almost as good news as the fact they were going to find Katie. Almost.
Cort waved to Nigel. “Hallelujah. Thanks, man.”
“You bet. Go get your lady.”
Cort planned on it.
* * *
“SO IF YOU don’t like The Impalers, why did you go to Johnny’s wake?” Katie asked.
Raven didn’t answer for a moment. “I never said I didn’t like The Impalers. In fact, I really admire them. Just somehow since the moment I came to Bourbon and started with my band at Famous Door, we’ve had this rivalry.”
Katie pondered that, knowing that a few of the bands had rivalries, but for the most part they were friendly rivalries.
“Yet, last night you were hanging out with all of them, bonding, having a great time,” Katie pointed out. “I mean I saw a picture of you and Cort giving each other bunny ears for heaven’s sake. If that isn’t bonding, I don’t know what is.”
Raven nodded, but his expression grew sober, even almost disappointed. “The problem is, none of the guys remember that.”
Katie stared at him, realizing that all of Raven’s persona—his angst and arrogance and Goth look—was just that, a persona. A front. He wanted to be accepted just as much as anyone.
Wow. Suddenly Katie felt rather sorry for him. He just wanted to be liked, just like everyone else.
She found herself reaching out to rub his back, wanting to offer him comfort.
“They did forget last night,” she agreed. “I did, too, but I think if you tried a little harder to show the guys your softer, gentler side, they’d react well to it. They really are nice.”
The woman at the other bar snorted, although Katie decided it couldn’t be a reaction to what she’d said.
Raven sighed and took a drink. “Well, I was pretty rude to Cort earlier, trying to get his goat. But like I said, it is pretty damned irritating that The Impalers get all the good girls.”
“I’m not a good girl,” Katie said, again annoyed that everyone saw her as sweet. And as a girl.
“Oh yes, you are. You are a good girl and that’s what makes you so appealing. You’re sweet, kind, and beautiful. You have no idea how special that makes you. Cort is a very lucky man. And I’ll tell you right now, that dude is crazy about you.”
Tears welled in Katie’s eyes, but she hid them by taking a sip of her drink.
It was funny, it took a night she couldn’t remember to finally see the truth. And to see what others saw. It also took starting a new life to see that her past life had been exactly what it should have been. She was the person she was supposed to be. The person she would be for an eternity. And that was a good thing.
But most importantly, she was going to be with the man she was supposed to be with. And she was going to make sure that was for an eternity, too.
“Thank you, Raven,” she said, leaning forward to hug the man who she would have never considered hugging even fifteen minutes ago.
He shifted on his barstool and hugged her back.
“Thank you for the talk, and for the advice. I’m going to take you up on it.”
Katie smiled at him, pleased with their talk, too.
But the moment was interrupted by a shout.
“You fuckin’ asshole! Get your hands off her.”
Katie moved away from Raven instantly, shocked to see Cort come barging into the back room. Before Katie even realized what he intended to do, he grabbed the back of Raven’s black coat and was lifting the man to his feet.
From the other side of the bar she vaguely heard Peter mutter, “Jesus Christ, what the hell is going on with everyone tonight?”
Raven jerked away and spun toward Cort, the movement blindingly fast, but Cort was just as fast, popping Raven in the face before the other man could even get his hands fisted. Raven’s head jerked to the side, the sound of Cort’s fist against his jaw, loud and sickening. And Cort was ready to hit again, drawing back.
But Raven didn’t allow the second punch to make contact, landing a brutal hit himself. Cort’s head snapped back, blood instantly gushing from his nose.
Katie screamed, finally snapping out of her shock to stand, to speak.
“Stop,” she cried. “Stop it!”
But Cort wasn’t listening. He grabbed Raven’s lapels and shoved the man hard into the tables. Raven nearly fell, but caught himself, glaring at Cort.
At that point, Katie stepped between them. She faced Cort, trying to get his attention focused on her.
“Cort, Raven wasn’t doing anything wrong.”
Cort didn’t respond to her. In fact, he seemed to stare right through her.
“Listen to your woman, man. We were just talking,” Raven said.
“I didn’t see any talking. I saw your hands on her. And that’s not going to happen again.”
“Cort.” Katie moved closer to him, rising up on her tiptoes to block his view of Raven. When he still didn’t meet her gaze, she grabbed his jaw, forcing him to look at her. “Cort. Raven and I were talking, nothing more.”
Cort’s eyes calmed slightly, some of the flashing anger fading. His gaze searched her face. “Why was he touching you?”
“I gave him a hug because he said kind and supportive things to me. Things that made me realize I need to believe in myself and go after what I want. Which is you.”
Cort frowned, clearly not expecting to hear that.
“Yeah, man, I was telling her that you were damned lucky to have her.” Raven rubbed his swollen jaw. “But I was acknowledging that you do have her.”
Cort’s expression grew even more perplexed, then a little suspicious.
Raven lifted his hands. “Listen, I’m telling you the truth. You are wasting your time attacking me, you already won the girl.”
Cort stared at him a moment longer, then looked back to Katie.
“You have already won me—if you want me.”
Cort didn’t hesitate. His mouth captured hers, his kiss hungry, possessive, filled with pure desire.
She groaned, her chest swelling with joy, longing, and love.
“This is all fabulously romantic,” a voice said from beside them, and they parted to see Peter standing next to them. “But I’ve already had a shitty night, and you two guys need to leave.”