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It took a few heartbeats, but she finally recovered and snatched the flowers from Easy’s hand. Her chin inched up. “Fine,” she snapped, taking the arm he offered.
For all his big talk, Easy slumped a little in relief.
“But,” Rayleen added, “let’s not pretend a man your age can even hold a conversation all night long, much less take on a woman like me in bed.”
Easy rolled his eyes and walked her to the door. “We’ll see who cries uncle first.”
“If you think I’ll be talking about my uncle, you’ve been dating some nasty freaks, you old coot.”
And with that, they were out the door, their bickering echoing off the entryway ceiling.
“Holy shit,” Charlie breathed.
Jenny stood in the open door and waved. “Bye, kids! Have fun!”
Merry shook her head. “That. Was. Awesome.”
“And way overdue,” Grace muttered. She and Merry grinned at each other and then clinked glasses.
“What’s the story?” Charlie asked in awe.
Grace shrugged and refilled her margarita from the pitcher. “The story is exactly what you saw. They’ve been acting like that for years, playing gin rummy together, snapping at each other like irritated dogs. I think Rayleen is embarrassed that she actually likes him, and Easy isn’t sure he wants to take on a crazy woman. But they can’t stay away from each other.”
“Aw!” Charlie actually felt tears prick her eyes. “That’s so cute.”
“Ha. It’s also annoying if you have to be around it for any length of time. You just want to yell, ‘Take your clothes off and work out this damn tension already!’”
Merry snorted. “Didn’t you actually yell that a few months ago?”
“Maybe,” Grace said with an insolent smile. “She’s my aunt. I figured I owed it to the rest of you to step in.”
“Hey!” Jenny called from the doorway. “Eve is here! And there’s Walker!”
“Oh, God,” Charlie said. “Invite him in. He’ll be the perfect addition to girls’ night.”
Eve, who was introduced as Grace’s boss, came in carrying a bottle of wine and a cake. Charlie liked her immediately.
Walker got as far as the doorway, then stopped, looking over at them with a wary eye. “What’s going on here, ladies?”
“If you’re going to start with that line,” Merry drawled into her drink, “you’d better be wearing your tear-away police uniform, stud.” Then she looked at him over her shoulder and gasped. “Oh, my God, Walker, what happened to your face?”
He shook his head. “Just a little barnyard fight. It happens.” His eyes caught Charlie’s for a moment and he looked away.
“I hope the other guy looks worse than you do,” Jenny said, patting his cheek.
“He does.”
“Good. Then come in. You look like a man who needs a margarita.” She dragged him in, but he still looked doubtful.
“This looks like girls’ night.”
“It is,” Merry said. “You can be the entertainment. Are you going to dance for us, Walker?”
He waggled his eyebrows. “Come on, girls. You know you’re not ready for this jelly.”
They collapsed in snorting laughter while Walker did a pretty good imitation of resisting Jenny’s pull, but eventually he collapsed onto the couch next to Charlie. “Seriously, ladies. I need a shower. I probably smell like I’ve been pushing cattle onto a truck all day.”
Charlie nudged him with her hip. “Yeah, if there’s one thing we women hate, it’s a big dirty cowboy in our midst. Just awful.”
