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Calvin groaned. “You’re fucking kidding me. I’m not eating like a gentleman just so you can get laid, man.”
“Eat however you want. Maybe it’ll give her friend some ideas about you.”
Calvin rolled his eyes and shook his head. “I don’t need your help picking up women, Virgil.”
“Yeah, I know, women dig that whole fake lumberjack look these days. But imagine if you actually chopped wood or somethin’.”
“Dick,” he mumbled under his breath and stood up taller as we approached Maisie and her friend.
“This is quite a surprise. Good afternoon ladies.” My gaze bounced from Maisie to her friend and back, and yeah, she was even more gorgeous in the light of day. “Maisie.”
I heard the tiny gasp she tried to hide as her blue gaze slid up my body to my face. “Virgil, this is a surprise.”
“How are you feeling today?”
“Better, thanks to you.” She beamed a smile up at me that was genuine, and I couldn’t help but smile back. “Let me buy you guys a meal to say thanks for your help.”
I couldn’t believe my luck, turning to Cal with a satisfied grin. “Normally, I don’t like the idea of a woman paying for my food, but food’s on me. We own this place.”
Maisie’s face softened as she looked at me, and I knew that even though she had been through a lot, she was going to be just fine. “That’s really sweet of you, Virgil. Thanks.”
“Anytime.”
I flashed a broad smile and leaned in close, catching a whiff of surprisingly flowery perfume. Not too sweet and with just enough musk to know it belonged to a grown woman. I leaned in a little closer.
“Thank you,” she said with a flirtatious smile. “Virgil, Calvin, this is my friend Bonnie. Bonnie, say hey to Virgil and Calvin.”
Bonnie, a redhead with creamy skin and bright green eyes, held out her hand to us. “It’s very nice to meet you both. Maisie has told me so much about you.”
Calvin shook her hand first before turning to me with a grin. “What she failed to mention is that we’re the heroes of her story.”
I shook Bonnie’s hand with a chuckle. “What he failed to mention is that I'm the one who saved her, not him. He showed up after the fact.”
Maisie elbowed me in the ribs and I winced. “Stop it, you two. You’re both my heroes. Now, let’s go get something to eat. I’m starving.”
Her friend Bonnie looked at me and then my brother with a flare of unavoidable but fleeting attraction. Her primary expression was one of disgust with a hint of discomfort thrown in for good measure.
“It’s nice to meet the guys who made sure my best friend got home safely.”
“Bonnie,” Maisie said in an admonishing tone, her eyes big as they held some sort of silent conversation. Maisie ended it by sliding over and tugging me down into the seat beside her.
I was more than happy to oblige, sitting next to Maisie and enjoying the warmth of her body against mine.
“Don’t mind Bonnie, guys. She’s suspicious of everyone.” I sent a quick look to Calvin to look into Bonnie. If she was a local, she probably thought she knew some things and who knew what gossip she’d shared with Maisie.
“Nice to meet you, Bonnie.”
“So, what brings you two out this afternoon?” Bonnie asked, her tone slightly less hostile than before.
“We were just in the neighborhood and thought we’d stop in for a bite to eat,” Calvin lied easily.
Cal mumbled something incoherent and buried his face in the menu as if we didn’t eat here all the time. Midnight Mass Pub was another Ashby holding. Even though it was just a little Irish pub by all appearances, this was the true heart and soul of our operations.
Jasper had an official office at the Emerald Isle. However, he did most of his business out of his office at Midnight Mass. Calvin also had an office as the Chief Technology Officer right down the hall from Kat’s corner office. Midnight Mass was where the big deals went down. Where our real money was made. And this was where Ma had consolidated her power. So it was the lesser known Ashby Headquarters.
“Charming,” Bonnie mumbled to herself and snatched Maisie’s menu from the table with a grunt.
If Maisie was bothered by her friend’s attitude, she didn’t let it show, giving off a casual shrug before she turned to me with a flirtatious smile. “So Virgil, you said your family owns the casino?”
“Yeah.”
“Well, what do you do? Is it something terminally cool like planning parties for the famous and infamous? Do you get to listen to all the hottest DJ’s before hiring them?”
Her eyes sparkled with the glee of the celebrity gossip lover, which I much preferred over the glassy-eyed focus of the gold-digger.
Her question surprised a laugh out of me and I enjoyed it even more when she didn’t follow it up with a question about my celebrity friends.
