“Can you come and hang out tomorrow?” Shayla asks, brown eyes pleading with me. “We can watch Supernatural and binge eat.” She looks at me stuffing my face. “Again.”
“If you bring Jordan with, then it’s a date,” I say, referring to her and Vinnie’s young daughter. I’m not much of a baby person, but Jordan is adorable. She’s a part of Shayla, and Shayla is Talon’s cousin, so she’s like family to me.
“Deal,” she says, smiling widely.
“Speaking of,” I say, glancing around. “Where are all the kids?”
“They’re with a sitter tonight,” Faye explains. “We haven’t really had a night with all of us together in so long, we thought we’d try to organize one.”
I still. “And now I have to leave. Fuck, I’m sorry. Should I call her and tell her to expect me later?”
“And leave a scared woman waiting while we’re sitting here stuffing our faces and having a few drinks?” She shakes her head. “Definitely not. You go, don’t worry about it. We’re just happy to see you and feed you.” She stands and adds, “I’ll pack up the food for all of you.”
“Thanks, Faye,” I say, genuinely meaning it. She cares about everyone so much, and it’s plain to see.
“Do you want us to come with you?” I’m surprised when Anna offers. “I mean, maybe we can distract her or something. She might enjoy some female company.”
“Her sister is there,” I explain, pushing the plate away, now full. “I think she just wants to feel a little safe, you know? I told her I’d be there for her, so I’m going to be. I’ll let her see that it’s over now, and those men can’t hurt her.”
Faye places two giant trays on the table, filled with food for half-a-dozen people. “There you go.”
“Thank you,” I say, looking around the room. “To all of you.”
“We take care of our own,” Anna says, flashing me a little grin. “Plus, apparently you’re some kind of hero.”
“Apparently?”
She shrugs. “To me you’ll always be the man who knocked me out and kidnapped me. Sounds more like the bad guy than anything else, but to each his own.”
I throw my head back and laugh. That does sound more like me.
TWENTY-THREE
“WHAT are you doing here?” she asks as she opens the door, sounding surprised but pleasantly so.
I step inside and close the door behind me. “I brought you some food so you don’t have to cook, and I was also hoping to get you to come along with me to Elizabeth’s.”
She’s wearing tight-fitting black sweatpants and a tank top and I momentarily get distracted, before offering her one of the trays. “The women cooked up a storm, and I wasn’t sure if you had anything planned for dinner.”
She takes the tray and wrinkles her nose. “Which women made this for you, exactly?”
Does she think we have club whores cooking for us? The Wild Men always did, but there are none that I’ve seen at the WDMC because everyone has an old lady except for me. And if club whores could cook this, well, they’d probably become old ladies. I don’t say that out loud though.
“Faye and the other old ladies cooked. A welcome-home thing for me. You can meet them all if you like,” I say, following her as she heads into the kitchen.
“Tell them I said thank you, please,” she says, placing the tray down on the table. “That’s very nice of them, and of you for bringing it to me. Are you always this thoughtful?”
I don’t think I’ve ever even been called thoughtful before, but I’ll take it. “I could be.”
“I appreciate the food, but if Elizabeth wanted me there, Ranger, she would have asked me. She didn’t, so I’m assuming she doesn’t. Trust me, I wish you were staying here tonight, but we can just wait until tomorrow night.”
“Okay, that sounds reasonable,” I grumble, coming up behind her and wrapping my arms around her. I nuzzle her neck and say, “I’m going to be thinking about you the whole time.”
“How do you know that?” she asks, letting her head stretch to the side to give me more access to her slender neck.
“Because it’s all I seem to be doing lately,” I admit with full honesty. No games, just the truth. I kiss her cheek, then bring my hands to rest on her hips. “Can I come over in the morning?”
“I’ll be leaving for work pretty early,” she says, but smiles at me.
“I guess I’ll have to get here pretty fuckin’ early, then,” I reply, not fazed. My phone starts vibrating in my pocket and I can only guess who it is. “I better get going, babe. Text me or call me anytime if you need anything, or if you just want to chat, yeah?”
She nods. “Will do. Thanks again for the food.”
She walks me to the front door, and I kiss her before I leave, a lingering, hungry, passionate kiss. I let the kiss tell her that I’d rather be here with her than doing anything else right now, and it’s important to me that she knows it.
“Lock the door,” I say, ignoring her eye roll. I grin as I walk to the car, forgetting that she can damn well protect herself, but still. I wish I could have ridden my bike, but bringing her food meant that I had to sacrifice that. It’s okay though, because I’ll get to ride tomorrow, my bike and Jo. With a smirk playing on my lips I drive to Elizabeth’s house.
? ? ?
I really wish Jo was here, I think to myself as I watch Elizabeth stroll around the kitchen in nothing but a silk robe. Has she always been like this? I don’t remember it. I remember her laugh, her good humor. The way she’d tease me about everything and anything. She was always so bubbly. It’s almost like I have to get to know her all over again. But this new woman—I don’t know if it’s because of the abduction or because time has passed—is not the Elizabeth I knew. It’s actually kind of weird.
“What movie do you want to watch?” she asks, sitting down, the silk split, exposing her thigh.
“Whatever you want,” I tell her, glancing around her house. “I’m actually going to do a security check of all the doors and windows, maybe install some new locks if you need them.”
“Okay,” she says, nodding. “Now? I’ll choose something and wait for you.”
“Okay,” I say, standing up. “Where’s Helen?”
“She’s staying at her friend’s house,” she says, shrugging. “They have some assignment to do.”
I nod and walk up the stairs of the house, wondering what the hell I’m getting into. Did she ask Helen to go? Or is it me being paranoid right now because I don’t want to fuck shit up with Jo? When did my life turn into a fuckin’ soap opera?
I do a check of the house, testing the locks, and then walk around the perimeter. Honestly everything looks pretty good, with the exception of two windows I want to put new locks on just to be safe. Maybe a dog will make her feel safer? Like the ones the Wind Dragons have. I particularly like Tracker and Lana’s German shepherd. By the time I make it back to the couch, she’s sitting there with a bowl of popcorn and the remote in her hand, waiting for me.
“Everything looks good,” I tell her, sitting down. “Just two windows that I’ll fix up tomorrow.”