The men regarded each other for a long moment before Michael finally put out his hand. “Nice to meet you,” he said.
Ty unwrapped his arm long enough to take Michael’s. “You too.”
“This must be your first time,” Michael said. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen you here before.”
“They say there’s a first time for everything. I guess that includes Robot Fight Club.” Ty slung his arm over her shoulder again. There was something deliberately possessive in the gesture.
Ty wasn’t jealous, was he?
Why would he be? He had no way of knowing the history between Michael and her. And even if he did, why would he care? This wasn’t a real date. No more than their kiss had been a real kiss.
Sure it had looked real. And God knew, it felt real. But…
“I suppose you’re right,” Michael said before turning back to Morgan. “I’m glad you could come tonight.”
“So am I,” she said. “I would have been around more this season but I’ve been busy.”
“The club’s doing well?”
“It is,” she said with a nod. There was a time that she would have told Michael the truth. Heaven knew, she still trusted him. Even with all that they’d been through, Morgan knew that Michael had her back. But she didn’t want to burden him…or pull anyone else into this mess.
“I thought of you the other night when I drove by. The line wrapped around the block. I thought about stopping by, but one look at all those beautiful people and I figured I’d never get past the door man.”
Morgan felt a blush of shame light up her cheeks. Michael was right. She hated the exclusivity of Kincaid’s but Gregg was insistent. He wanted to fill the place with the ‘right kind of people’. Turned out they had very different opinions on who qualified as the right kind.
“Well, you know if you ever want to get in, all you have to do is call me,” Morgan said.
“Are you kidding me?” he said jokingly. “I can’t be seen in a place like that. It would ruin my geek cred.”
“I understand. I’m surprised you let me through the doors tonight.”
“You’ve always been special.” Michael’s face turned suddenly serious, but a heartbeat later the smile was back. “Besides how could I turn away my former lieutenant?”
“Your lieutenant?” Ty asked.
“My second in command,” Michael explained. “Didn’t Morgan tell you she used to be on my RAL team?”
“No, she didn’t.”
“Yep. We won two back-to-back championships together.” Morgan smiled at the memory.
“So what happened?” Ty asked.
Michael’s smile slipped a little. “She decided to help her brother open that cash cow instead.”
“I didn’t have the time for both.” Of course, that wasn’t the only thing that she found she didn’t have the time for when they’d opened Kincaid’s. Not that she wanted to talk about it. She rushed to change the subject. “But how are you doing? That’s a pretty sweet-looking ‘bot you’ve got there.”
Michael’s face lit up at the compliment. “Thanks. She’s undefeated.”
“I don’t doubt it. She looks fierce.”
“You seem to be doing well for yourself.” Michael tilted his head toward Ty. Morgan felt the awkward butterflies in her stomach start to flutter. Subtlety had never been Michael’s greatest strength.
“Yeah.” Morgan didn’t bother to correct him. Any explanation she gave would only create more questions than it answered.
“Well, I guess I should get back to my team. I’ll see you around,” Michael said. He turned toward Ty, giving him one last long, openly assessing look. “I hope you enjoy the show.”
“How could I not?” Ty’s tone was light but his body language was anything but.
“Good luck,” Morgan said, as Michael raced down the bleachers and back to the chain link fence.
“So,” Ty said, pulling her in closer. “You used to build robots.”
“Well, I used to do some of the basic wiring. I was crap with conceptual engineering.”
“That’s a yes, then.”
Morgan nodded. “Yep.”
“Is there anything about you that wouldn’t surprise me?” he asked.
“I don’t know. How do you feel about cosplay?”
***
Ty drew in a deep breath as the cold bay air washed against his face. The warehouse had turned into a hotbox in the three hours they’d been inside. The crowd moved en masse toward the exit, jostling Morgan into his side. She wrapped both of her hands around his bicep to steady herself as they stepped out on to the pier.
“So, what did you think?” she asked.
“About Robot Fight Club? It was exactly what it advertised itself to be.”
“You liar.” She pulled one of her fists back and gave him a playful punch in the arm. “You loved it. I saw your face.”
“I never said I didn’t.”
She was right. He had enjoyed himself. The time had flown by. He would have never expected to have such a good time at a robot cage fight, but that’s exactly what he’d had. He wasn’t sure if it had more to do with the steel carnage or Morgan’s exuberant cheering at his side. It wasn’t a bad way to spend an evening.