Page 35 of Tied Over

Bodhi cleared his throat. “I don’t, no.”

He glanced at me, then back to Bodhi. “But I’ve been ordering you so many drinks with—and you went to that tasting with me in Louisville.”

“You like it,” Bodhi replied simply. “It wasn’t important enough to make a big deal out of, but Jed’s right. Wasting your good bourbon is doing you a disservice.”

“Yeah, not like ordering a Scotch and water with your fancy Macallan Lalique,” I said, indicating Davis with a tip of my head.

Hayden jabbed Davis in his side with his elbow. “You shit.”

“Way to violate the bro code, man,” Davis apprised me with a shake of his head.

I laughed, and he smiled back, and I heard Bodhi sigh beside me like everything was going to be okay.

When Bridget returned, she waited while Bodhi took a sip. His eyes widened, which made her smile.

“This is awesome,” he told her.

She gave him a waggle of her eyebrows, passed Hayden his drink, and then passed me a small quiche that smelled amazing.

“It’s just cheese and spinach. I didn’t know if you were a bacon man or not.”

“I am, but this is perfect,” I assured her, and noted that her smile lingered on me before she left to take other orders.

“She is smitten as usual,” Bodhi said with a grunt.

“The hell is that supposed to mean?”

“As always, you’re effortlessly charming.”

“Me?”

“Yes,” Davis said, and when I looked at him, he was grinning. “I had no idea. Bodhi never said this about you.”

“No? He didn’t tell you how awesome I was?”

Davis chuckled. “He didn’t, but he did say other things.”

“Oh yeah? Like what?”

“Just how long you’ve been partners, and that for his entire career, there’s been you.”

“That’s true,” I agreed, digging into the quiche.

“You could share,” Bodhi goaded me.

“It’s tiny,” I griped at him.

“Remember to chew.”

“I always chew, unlike Dorsey.”

“All those brothers of his, remember?”

I grinned at him, and he shook his head, taking from my lap the cloth napkin Bridget had brought me and wiping my face.

When Bridget passed us with a tray full of drinks, Hayden asked her if they might all have quiche.

“We’re about to take off,” she informed him, her tone icy. “And I brought that from home, Mr. Burdine.”