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“I grabbed something at the condo.”
His eyes moved to the bar and he lifted his chin and said to the bartender, “Fat Tire.”
Marianne still hadn’t materialized so I decided to broach a new subject.
“We need to talk about Eddie.”
Lee slid into the area between me and Marianne’s barstool. His hip pressing my knees to the side, he rested his forearm on the bar.
“Yeah, we do. From now on, you see Eddie only when I’m with you.”
My teeth clenched. “Okay, first we need to talk about you bossing me around all the time and how I really don’t like it.”
His eyes crinkled and I knew he thought I was being cute.
“I’m being serious.” I went on.
His beer came. He slid a bill across the counter, took a pull and leaned into me. “This is how it works. I tell you how I feel. I’m honest about it. You do the same. A lot of the time we won’t agree, but we’ll deal.”
I blinked at him.
Did he really think that was going to work?
Lee kept talking. “Obviously you heard our conversation. I know where Eddie stands. Eddie knows where I stand. If things are good between you and me, Eddie won’t be a threat. They start to go bad, Eddie’s movin’ in.”
“I got that part,” I said.
“I don’t intend for things to go bad, but that doesn’t mean that Eddie isn’t gonna give you hints at what you might be missin’.”
Holy crap.
Lee continued, “So I want to be there when you’re with him because I’m the jealous-possessive type. That’s just the way it is, and now you know how I feel. If you see him when I’m not there then it’s down to you. Okay?”
“So, you aren’t telling me what to do, you’re telling me what you want.”
“If I wanted a woman who did what she was told, I wouldn’t be with you.”
I didn’t know any women who did what they were told, but I suspected they were out there. I just didn’t hang with them because that definitely wasn’t my scene.
“If it’s just you sharing your feelings, perhaps you can voice it less like an order,” I suggested.
“I’m used to giving orders, and if it sounds like one then there’s always a chance you’ll obey.”
I gave him a look.
He gave me The Smile.
Marianne walked up and our conversation ended. While Marianne and I chatted and finished our drinks, Lee stood close behind me and nursed his Fat Tire. So close, I got comfy and rested my back against his front. Every once in a while Marianne would take us both in and sigh.
When we were done, Lee and I walked Marianne to her car. I hugged her good-bye on the sidewalk and Lee and I watched her drive away. We went back to the front of The Hornet where Lee was parked at the curb almost directly outside the front doors.
“How do you get these parking spots?” I asked when Lee opened the door for me.
“Luck,” he answered.
Bullshit. Luck. It was one of Lee’s “ways.”
We were coming away from the curb when his cell rang. He answered it as he was cutting across the four lanes of Broadway so he could make the turn right to my house.
