I sincerely hoped everyone was just being overly cautious. If not, this was about to get interesting.
FIVE
TAMMY
“Tammy!” a female voice shouted from the doorway.
I looked up to see Ruthie, Cat, and Axel walk in the front door to the pub. We technically weren’t open for another ten minutes, but with these three, I would make an exception.
Ruthie and Cat came over a lot on their lunch break, as did Axel. Despite both women being more than a decade younger than me, we’d become good friends, and I enjoyed having them come over to chat while I worked.
“Kitchen doesn’t open for another ten minutes, but I can get you a drink for now,” I told them as I continued to stack glasses behind the bar.
“We’re not here for food. We have news to share!” Ruthie said excitedly, clapping her hands. “Okay, remember how you told us if the guys ever hired someone older, closer to your age, and super-hot to let you know?”
My brows lifted. “I’m listening.”
“I took some handsome man in to meet the guys for a super-secret meeting,” Ruthie stage-whispered as she explained. “He’s a friend of Vince’s dad and is here to help figure out who is behind the theft.”
“Ladies, maybe we should…” Axel started to say but was cut off.
Ruthie’s hand shot out in front of his face. “Zip it, Axel. It’smystory to tell.”
“Well, don’t stop there! Give me the good stuff!” I demanded. “Age? Height? What does he look like? When you say hot, do you mean like he’s cute, or his body was made for giving me orgasms?”
Cat giggled, and Axel just wiped his hand over his face. He was clearly not happy to be a part of this conversation, but he also knew these women well enough to know this was normal.
Ruthie’s words tumbled out swiftly and energetically. “I don’t know exactly how old, but he looked like he was maybe late forties or early fifties. He had a little bit of salt and pepper hair, but his face didn’t have too many wrinkles, so maybe he just got gray hair early…I don’t know,” Ruthie said, not taking the time to breathe between sentences. “He’s muscular and toned from top to bottom. He’s got a beard—not like a mountain man, but more like a short, clean-cut beard. Tall, about the same height as Vince, so just above six feet. He looks a little scary, but more like the broody kind, not like the serial killer kind.”
I laughed. “Girl, your descriptions are crazy.”
The description—as wild and multifaceted as it was—reminded me a little bit of Ray. He also had a beard just like that. A beard that had done wonderful things as it scraped over my body last night. The salt and pepper hair sounded the same as the strands of hair I had sifted my fingers through as Ray sucked on my nipples and made me feverish with need.
Damn, was it getting hot in here?
I knew it had been a while since I’d had sex, but I was no spring chicken, and I knew that man was very talented in bed. Probably other places too, but we hadn’t gotten around to those.I found myself a little sad that I may not get to see him again, because I really wouldn’t mind having another go with him.
“You get to go meet him!” Cat said, bringing me out of my daze.
“What?” I asked, feeling like I’d missed something.
“Axel is here to take over the bar for a bit so you can go meet him,” Ruthie said.
I chuckled a little but then realized she was serious. I also noticed Axel had moved behind the bar.
“They want you to meet him since he is going to help out with finding the person who stole the money from this place,” Cat explained.
Oh, so they didn’t want me to go over and meet him because he was sexy.
They needed me to meet him to probably go over the burglary details again. That made more sense.
“Tammy, when you meet him, please don’t get too upset.” Axel’s words were cautious, and his tone definitely gave off a placating vibe.
“Why would I get upset?” I asked, not understanding.
“Yeah, why would she get upset?” Cat echoed.
Ruthie gasped. “Oh my God! Is he married, Axel? I didn’t think to check for a ring. Is that why?”
