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I’m considering asking Barrett if he wants to sneak out without making contact, in fact, when a tall guy with tattoos all over his bare arms and a bleached blond faux hawk pushes into the center of the group and grabs Wren around the waist, lifting her off her feet.
She’s clearly startled, but almost immediately begins pushing at the man’s chest and shouting something—presumably to be put down. Tatum starts toward the pair, fire in her eyes, but before she can say anything, the man spins away, carrying Wren with him.
I turn to Barrett to make a plan, but he’s already gone, charging through the crowd like a wrecking ball.
Chapter Seventeen
TATUM
One second Wren is giggling beside me, having the time of her life with our new friends. The next, some jerk with a dozen Marvin the Martian tattoos—love Marvin if you must, but more than one tattoo of the same cartoon character is pathological in my book—has kidnapped her like a marauding Viking.
My jaw drops, but before I can charge after them, a man who could be Drew’s twin pushes past me, headed for the Marvin lover with murder in his eyes.
“Stay back, honey,” Fred, the head of the Rainbow Warrior Biker Collective says, hooking light fingers through my arm. “Looks like Daddy B is going to take care of it.”
“Who?” I ask.
“Daddy B,” Perry, his partner says with a smirk. “Barrett McGuire is as straight as they come, but he was Fred’s first crush back in high school, so…”
“You never forget your first.” Fred grins as he waves at someone over my shoulder and calls out in a louder voice, “Hey there, Drew. Come join us, handsome!”
I spin, my heart doing a ridiculous somersault at the sight of Drew striding my way in a deep blue suit with an intense expression.
“Your brother can take care of that punk on his own,” Fred adds, motioning Drew closer. “Marvin is annoying, but mostly harmless.”
“Marvin? Is that why he has all the Martian tattoos?” I ask, but I’m still looking at Drew, wondering if I conjured him up with my lustful, longing-filled thoughts. I’ve been checking out the local singles all night, but no one can compare to Drew. That’s one reason why Wren and I ended up dancing with the gay bikers instead of the single guys.
The other reason is that the gay bikers are the funniest, best boys in here.
“Yep, he’s that kind of cheesy bastard,” Fred says cheerfully, slapping Drew on the back as he stops in front of me. “How’s it going, Andrew? Glad to see you out having a good time, but we need to talk about your fashion choices. This outfit screams ‘I don’t know how to leave work at the office,’ not ‘I know how to show ladies a good time.’ You feel me?”
“I hear you, Fred. Good to see you,” Drew says, but he barely glances Fred’s way. His sexy brown eyes are all for me, filled with an emotion I can’t place, but that has me fluttering big time. “I hadn’t planned on coming out tonight, but I was worried about my nanny. Not trying to be overprotective or bossy, but I couldn’t get in touch with her on her cell, so…”
I frown. “What?” I slide my tiny backpack off and open it, looking for my phone.
“Nanny? Is that what you straight people are calling your honeys these days?” Perry teases as he loops his arm through Fred’s. “Come on, babe. I need another whiskey sour.” He pats Drew on the shoulder. “We’ll check on your brother on the way. Make sure he isn’t going to commit a felony on Marvin’s dumb ass.”
“Thank you,” Drew murmurs as I continue to paw through my bag.
“I’m so sorry,” I say, shaking my head. “I must have left my phone at my apartment. Wren and I were rushing to get here for the surprise Earth, Wind & Fire cover band that came on earlier. I probably ran out without it.”
“Or a little girl with closely monitored screen time decided to borrow it for the weekend to play math games,” Drew says, making my brows shoot up. “Sarah Beth told my mom you gave her your cell for the weekend, but I figured that probably wasn’t true.”
“Oh, wow,” I say, choosing my words carefully, not wanting to get Sarah Beth in trouble. “Well, no, but I don’t mind if—”
“It’s okay,” Drew says. “I’ll ground her from her tablet for a week, and I’m sure it won’t happen again. You know she hates getting in trouble.”
“She probably didn’t realize how much I needed it,” I say, hating that Sarah Beth’s going to get grounded because of me. Especially after the rough week she had with Martha. “And maybe I did say something about letting her borrow it and just forgot about it?” He arches a dubious brow, and I flash my most winning smile. “How about we talk to her about it together, figure out what she loves about screen time, and try to meet that need in another way before she gets grounded? That’s what my mom always did with us when we broke the rules. She knew we were good kids, just like Sarah Beth, and if we were doing something we weren’t supposed to, there was usually a compelling reason for it.”
