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“Thank God.” She laughed. “I’m so damn full.”
She leaned back too, running a hand over her front and I couldn’t help but grin at her. “Kept up with me, though.”
“Damn straight, and always have. I have a reputation to maintain.”
A searing-hot vision of her matching me in the bedroom almost folded me in half and she noticed, because immediately she was looking at me funny. “You ok, Beckman? Steak hit you all wrong?” A small grin.
“Nope, good.” I turned to the waitress, who was waiting with little patience. “Think I’ll take the check if you don’t mind.”
She scribbled a few things on a notepad and nodded, and as she disappeared into the crowded restaurant there was something I had to admit to Madelyn: “I’m not ready for tonight to be over yet.” It was almost painful to admit, something brutally honest, because it hinted at more than friendship.
“Sammy’s still has a couple pool tables,” she led and my stomach flipped in a way that threatened to make me sick.She’s not ready for the evening to be over either.“Bet I can still kick your ass.”
“Bet I’ll still let you.” I grinned at her as I said it and watched her jaw drop.
“You didn’t.”
“Sure did, cupcake.” Because the little victory dance she did when she won was so damn cute. I wondered if she still did it.
The waitress meandered back over with a slip in her hand and I snatched it before she could put it on the table. Madelyn gave me a murderous glare when I did, and I smirked at her as the woman said, “Pay up front.”
“What do you think you’re doing, Beckman?” she asked through gritted teeth as she stood and wiggled back into her coat.
“You can get the next one,” I said, hoping the words sounded smooth and easy, because my throat was tight. I wanted it to come out teasing, smooth, because I wanted her to agree to a next time.
“The tab at Sammy’s is mine,” she said as she cinched the belt of her coat. It was the closest thing to a concession I was going to get from her and I bit my lip to keep from smiling.
Sammy’s was little more than a biker bar on the outskirts of town, only about five minutes away, and I eyed the lineup of eighteen Harleys with a little trepidation as I steered Madelyn toward the steps.
It was the same as it had always been: low lights, the smell of beer and a thick haze of cigarette smoke, classic rock blasting loud enough to make intimate conversation difficult.
“Maria!” Madelyn leaned down quickly to hug a short woman wearing all black, her tight, low-cut t-shirt accentuating what there was of her cleavage and the little apron she wore told me she was on duty.
“Look at you.” The tiny woman looked up at Madelyn with admiration. “You’re still a freaking goddess. It’s not fair. Do you ever have a fat, short and ugly day?”
Madelyn grinned at her. “Tomorrow.”
“Ah.” Maria nodded her head at us. “Tequila it is, then.”
Wait…what? Oh hell, no.
I had never seen Madelyn properly drunk before, but something told me I might see it if I let her get too far into the tequila.
“I call the next game,” she shouted over the noise, pointing at one of the tables occupied by six huge bikers. They had the sense to look impressed and the biggest one, wearing a leather vest over a bare chest and arms, surveyed her appreciatively before nodding.
I didn’t like the way he looked at her. The way his eyes followed her when she shrugged out of her coat and hung it over the back of a chair tucked under a hightop. I slipped a hand around her waist, my fingers tingling as they brushed the sharp ridge of her hip bone, and I lowered my head to glare at Bandana Boy. This didn’t have to get ugly unless he wanted something that wasn’t his.
Maria showed up with two flights of shot glasses, something I hadn’t known existed. “Weak to strong.” She ran her finger up the board and produced a small bowl of limes from somewhere.
I was pretty sure there was no such thing as weak tequila.
Immediately Madelyn downed the first shot, challenging me with her eyes. “Keep up, big boy.”
“Oh, it’s like that?” I grabbed the matching glass and slammed it back, annoyed when I couldn’t keep myself from wincing. I grabbed a lime and shoved it in my mouth and she grinned at me.
“Wuss.”
“Oh yeah?” I said it right around the peel before pulling it out of my mouth. “We’ll see about that.”
