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I scoffed, “Doubtful. I think he was just checking to make sure I didn’t turn stalker-bitch on him.” Why I lied to Talon, I didn’t know. She was the only person I’d willingly told about my past.
“You mean the night he rocked your world and made you walk funny for a month?” Her lips twitched, and I wanted to reach over and tug on her pigtails. “Honey, I think he’s the one eager for a second night. And a third. A fourth. Fifth.”
“Okay, I get it. Stop.” I had to shake my head at her because now that she was blissfully in love with a baby on the way, she saw stars and romance everywhere. “I’m on a mission. Cash did what I needed him to do and I had a great time, but I can’t get lost in a man right now. Or ever.”
She frowned. “You don’t see me getting lost, do you? There are some women who can have a man beside them while they conquer the world, Minx, and you’re the biggest badass I know, so what’s this really about?”
I sighed knowing I’d have to tell her at least some of the truth. “Maybe that’s true for some women, Talon, but mentally I’m basically a teenage girl in terms of experience. I can’t turn boy crazy while I’m trying to get my life squared away. Seek out a future for myself.”
Like a real friend, she ignored most of what I said and focused on the important things. “Tell me about these goals,” she asked, her silver eyes sparkling with curiosity.
I sucked in a long, fortifying breath and told her about school, preparing for laughter though I knew Talon wouldn’t laugh at me—or my goals. “Shhh. Keep it down,” I told her when she squealed “No one else knows, and I want to keep it that way.” I didn’t know why I was making such a big deal out of it, but it was my secret to keep, and that meant something to me. Little things.
“My lips are sealed.” She promised and pushed off the booth to wrap me in another hug. “Even though you don’t need it, I want you to know I’m proud of you.”
“Thanks, Talon.” She’d become the best friend I’d ever had just like her dad was the best man I’d ever met. She was my first real friend in my new life, my new adult life. Not that I didn’t love Charlie, Magnus’ old lady, but after the truth came out about his death, she didn’t come around as much and I couldn’t say I blamed her. But it served as a reminder that the people I needed always left.
By force or by choice, they ended up gone.
***
Few things in this life felt better than having a day off work. It was the perfect time to run daytime errands, to take my time and just enjoy life. Having an entire week off was troubling to me, though. I knew they needed to do a bunch of super-secret shit with the prospects and they didn’t want me around, but I was also pretty sure that once they had a full roster of guys again, I’d be out of a job. It was probably the push I needed to either make a go of my online clothing store or find something else to do. I definitely didn’t dream of spending my life serving drinks to a crowd of rough bikers, their ol’ ladies, and the pass arounds. No thank you.
They were nice enough guys, but I knew firsthand just how poorly rough dudes and booze mixed. Most of them were pussycats when they didn’t need to be hellions, but there were a few—some gone and some not—I made sure never to be alone with. Though that probably had more to do with my own issues than them as men.
Cash though, I avoided being alone with for tons of other reasons. The man was everywhere—at the diner, the clubhouse. In my dreams. “Damn man,” I grumbled and stepped from my vintage VW van when I arrived at the fabric store a few towns over in Clarity. I’d spotted a few good deals online that made me certain the drive was worth it, especially because one of them would become a maternity dress for Talon. The woman owned at least a hundred sundresses, and now she couldn’t wear them. The indigo and lavender floral pattern would look stunning against her fairy eyes and raven hair. Fabric stores were like a world of beauty to me. I could look at a bolt of fabric and see what I could be, how it could be used to maximized the best things about it from cut to weight to quality.
For years I wore little more than cheap lingerie, but out here I found a love for passion that was possibly the only thing about me that remained from my childhood. What little there was of it. So, I’d spent the past year trying to make a go of it online, which explained why the older woman who owned Fabric City smiled when she rang me up. “Thanks, Mae.”
“No problem, honey. Any chance I could get you to make me something?”
“Name the style and the fabric.”
Mae pointed a finger at me, skin blushing furiously. “I’m not young and sexy like you, Minx, so I’ll find the fabric if you promise to make me look good.”
“You have my word, Mae.”
“Then I’ll see you soon.”
I nodded and walked out to the sounds of my hungry stomach protesting its empty state. In my zeal to get the day started, I got up, got dressed, and headed out to run errands. As I put my purchases in my van, I considered heading to the
taco place that was calling my name from a few doors down.
“Minx?”
I froze at the sound of my name, but my heart raced at the sound of the familiar voice calling it. I knew that voice, but dammit I’d driven two towns and nearly an hour away just to avoid him or anyone else I knew. Double damn. But Cash had seen me, and called out to me, so I couldn’t pretend I didn’t hear him. As much as I wanted to do just that. I turned around and plastered on my best fake smile. “Cash. Fancy seeing you out here. Taking advantage of the sale on fabric?” I motioned toward the fabric shop.
A small smile touched his lips, and instantly I thought about all the wicked things his mouth had done to me. Things no mouth had ever done to me, and I smiled in response. “Not exactly. A friend is fixing the seat of my bike. What are you doing all the way out here?”
“Buying fabric. Having lunch. Enjoying a day off.” Days off actually, but knowing Cash, he might try to do something about it.
“Sure, Minx, I would love to join you for lunch.” He took a step forward so we stood shoulder to shoulder and slung a heavy arm around me. He kept his pace set to my slower one. “Tacos sound good to you, too?”
I bumped his hip and rolled my eyes. “That’s where I was heading, yes.” I should be terrified being so close to him like this, when he topped me by at least six inches and probably close to one hundred pounds, but I wasn’t. Which said a lot about just how much he threw me off my game. “Join me if you must.”
He laughed. “Now how can I possibly turn down an invitation issued with such enthusiasm?”
I shrugged. “I guess you can’t.” His laughter filled the restaurant as he held the door open for me. “Such a gentleman.”
