Page 36 of Glorious Sinner

His mouth tore from mine, hands either side of my face. “You chose that song for me, didn’t you, Angel?”

“Yes.”

His grip tightened on my waist, fingers flexing, and that intensity sharpened, scorching me alive. “Let’s get out of here.”

I nodded and stood on shaky legs. Tomas stood as well, taking my hand.

Willa appeared out of nowhere and pulled me in to a hug. “You were on fire tonight,” she said, smiling up at me.

I stared back at her in shock. I had no idea how I’d missed her. She’d brightened the pink in her hair and it near glowed under the lights. “You’re here?”

She tilted her head toward Tomas. “He thought I might like to come see you.” She smiled wider. “And he was right.”

“Tomas called you?” I was stunned.

“He called Jude and got him to pass it on.”

I glanced around the room, looking for her man.

“Jude’s coming by later. I’m here with the girls.” She pointed to a table in the corner.

Several women I’d met through Willa sat there, and they waved when they saw me looking. All were girlfriends or wives of the guys who worked at The King Agency, like Willa, except Ruby. She and her fiancé were both agents.

I turned back to Willa and she chuckled at the surprise on my face.

“You’ve been through a lot lately,” she said, expression softening. “If anyone knows what that’s like, it’s us, which also means we know that a night with the girls is exactly what you need.”

I opened my mouth…

“And no arguments.”

I’d heard bits and pieces from her over the last few months. All the woman in that booth had been through some seriously scary stuff and had come out the other side. They were good women, all of them. What would it be like to have friends like that? I’d only just let Willa in after years of having no one. Friends were something else Ryan was threatened by. I realized I wanted to find out.

“We thought we’d make a night of it. You in?” Willa said and gave my arm a squeeze.

I glanced at Tomas, and he smiled. I didn’t miss that it was more than a little strained, but he released my hand. “Have a good night, Angel.”

“No, no…noooo,” Sunny said. “I’m not telling you, but okay, I will tell you this.” The beautiful blonde pointed to her husband, Zeke, who was sitting across the room with some of the other guys as well as Tomas, which I had to say was a sight to see. I’d never seen so many muscles and so much beautiful ink in one place. “Our first night together was the first night we met.” She put her finger to her lips. “Shhhh, don’t tell anyone. I don’t want Hope to find out her mom propositioned her dad in a bar the first time they met.”

We all burst out laughing.

Ruby put a tray of shots on the table in front of us, plonked down in the seat beside me, and pushed her black-rimmed glasses higher with a finger. “Well, Neco was the opposite. My man held out for like…ever. Anyway, all I’m gonna say is we’ve more than made up for it.” She snickered and tucked her hair behind her ear. The ever-present dyed stripe of color down the side of her heart-shaped face was a vibrant red today and it matched her lipstick perfectly.

She motioned to the tray and we all grabbed a shot glass and downed them together. I was tipsy—okay, a little more than tipsy. But I was having the best time I’d had in…well, I couldn’t remember having a better time.

Willa leaned in and glanced over her shoulder at the men’s table. “I love how big Jude is. The things that man can do in the bedroom.”

Fay, Willa’s neighbor and Raul’s partner, slapped her hand on the table. “Told you!” she cried. Fay was gorgeous, in her early sixties, and had this whole rocker chick, hippie vibe going on that she wore insanely well. “I told Willa a man that size could put her in some freaky good positions.”

“Fay!” Willa said, cackling.

We all laughed again so hard several tables of people were looking at us. “What about Tomas?” Lulu asked, her head tilted to the side, gray eyes full of interest. “Honestly, no offense, but the guy scared the shit out of me when I first met him.”

Lulu had the most gorgeous auburn hair I’d ever seen, the kind of red I wished I’d had when I was a kid. Her husband, Hunter, had known Tomas since they were kids, I found out tonight. They’d had some ups and downs—more downs by the sounds of it—but Willa told me something had changed, that Jude thought Tomas had changed lately.

I shook my head, I think with a little more vigor than was necessary, but I wanted to get my point across. “He’s the sweetest guy I’ve ever met.”

Several eyes widened in disbelief.