Authors: Deanna Chase
“That’s the Ida May I remember,” Fabio interjected.
Diesel growled his displeasure.
I ignored the wolf and beamed at Fabio. “I knew you couldn’t forget me.”
“Christ.” Diesel let out a breath and threw up his hands. “Fine. I’ll drive. Where are we headed?”
“The Pink Toad,” Sassy said. “You two go ahead. Jeeves and I will meet you there.”
“Jeeves?” I asked.
“My boy toy. If we’re going dancing, I need someone to maul during the slow numbers.” She wiggled her fingers, and then bounced out of the house.
“She’s my kind of girl,” I said to no one in particular.
“She’s crazy,” Zelda said, turning to Diesel. “Let me know if I can be of any more help.”
He thanked her, nodded to Mac who was leaning in the kitchen doorway, and then put his hand on the small of my back to nudge me out the door.
I didn’t want to admit I liked the way that felt, so I twisted and blew a kiss to Fabio. “Raincheck?”
He chuckled. “Sure, Ida May. Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do.”
I laughed. “If memory serves, that leaves the door wide open.”
Zelda moaned. “Holy balls. Someone kill me now.”
“
T
his is beyond delicious
.” I sopped the gravy up with a fresh piece of herbed bread.
“Apparently.” Diesel had wolfed down two steaks, a baked potato, a pound of sautéed mushrooms, and a loaf of bread. Now he was sitting back watching me bathe in country gravy and fried chicken.
“You’re missing out,” I said and sucked down my third mug of the house craft beer.
His lips twitched as he eyed me. “I think I got enough, and plenty more to keep me entertained.”
I glanced at his empty mug. “You need a refill.” Without waiting for an answer, I waved to the waitress, indicating we needed yet another round.
He raised an eyebrow, “You drank both of those.”
I glanced at the mugs. “Really?”
“Yep.” And when the waitress dropped the mugs on the table a few minutes later, he pushed them both toward me. “Go on. Indulge. It’s fascinating watching you enjoy this so much. Kind of sexy even.”
“Only a wolf would say something like that,” I said and tore into a chicken leg.
His eyes started to smolder as he watched me, his whiskey gaze turning liquid.
“You’re disturbed.” And he was. In the best possible way. I was five seconds from asking for a doggie bag and begging Diesel to take me back to his place… wherever that was…because my entire body was on fire with that hungry gaze of his. And let’s face it, ninety some-odd years was one hell of a dry spell.
I gulped down another swig of beer and was just about to demand Diesel dance with me, when Sassy appeared with a young man in tow; one who could only be described as “alternative.” With guyliner, purple nail polish, and a head full of braids, he looked ready to join the cast of Pirates of the Caribbean.
“Ida May, Diesel, this is my boyfriend, Kyle. But call him Jeeves, otherwise he likely won’t answer.”
“Hi Jeeves,” I said, holding out a chicken drumstick. “Hungry?”
“Um, thanks, but…” He glanced around, his eyes shifting back and forth in a nervous manner. “I’ll order something.”
Sassy squeezed into my side of the booth and grabbed my beer, already waving the waitress over.
Diesel scooted over, making room for Jeeves. The man sat perched at the very end, as if he were ready to jump up at any moment.
“Are you a witch, too?” I asked him.
“He’s a Shifter,” Diesel said.
“Kangaroo.” Jeeves tapped his fingers nervously on the table.
Sassy giggled.
I turned to look at her. “What?”
“Oh, I was just thinking about this thumping thing he does. You know, when we’re naked and—”
“Okay.” Diesel dropped his fork and pushed his plate away. “That’s all we need to know about that.”
The tips of Jeeves’s ears turned bright red, but he smiled at his date none-the-less.
“I’d give anything for a good thumping,” I said on a sigh.
The waitress appeared, her order pad in hand.
Jeeves ordered them both roast duck.
“Thank you,” Sassy said to him, then whispered to me, “Jeeves knows his food. He always orders the best thing on the menu. My skills lie with the alcohol portion of the evening.” She beamed up at the waitress. “Bring Diesel another beer and a shot of whiskey. He needs something to take the edge off.”
I snorted. Diesel scowled.
“I’ll have a long island iced tea, a cosmo for Jeeves, and…” she waved a hand at me.
“Pink-tini. And keep ’em coming.” I stared at Jeeves. “Cosmo? Really?”
Sassy shrugged. “He loves Sex and the City.”
“Kill me now,” Diesel said.
“Maybe later,” I quipped.
“Excuse me,” he said to Jeeves. “I need to go see a man about a bear.”
“It’s a man about a horse,” I called after him as he headed to the restroom.
“Wolves. So testy.” Sassy finished off Diesel’s beer and nudged my arm. “You gonna hit that later, or what?”
“Sassy.” Jeeves frowned at her. “That’s none of our business.”
She tsked. “Please. If two people ever needed to get it on, it’s them.”
I had to agree. And if I had my way, then we’d for sure be getting down to business in zero minus sixty and counting. But right then, Diesel was leaning against the wall, his feet crossed at the ankle while he smiled down at some barely dressed teenager. Her skirt was so short that if she bent over, more than just the moon was going to come into play. Not that I minded. On principle, nudity wasn’t an issue for me. But when the girl’s assets were catching the eye of the man I had my sights on, then I started to get a little irritated. Okay, a lot irritated.
Our drinks arrived. I grabbed mine and elbowed Sassy. “Let me out. It’s party time.”
She glanced around the room. “What? Are you going to join Diesel in the john?”
I tilted my head as if I were contemplating that. Then I shot another look at him. He was laughing, those whiskey eyes crinkled at the edges as he stared at the infant.
“No. I’m going to dance.” I pointed across the room at a ruggedly handsome man wearing clean jeans and a black T-shirt. His matching black hat was pulled down far enough I couldn’t see his eyes, but he had a strong chin and enough five o’clock shadow to tickle all the right places.
“Oh, nice choice.” Sassy’s eyes flashed with interest, but she shook herself and smiled at Jeeves. “But I bet he has nothing on you in the bedroom.”
Jeeves pumped his eyebrows at her, but said nothing.
“See you two later.” With pink-tini in hand, I sauntered over to my mysterious cowboy. Without saying a word, I slipped my hand into his and led him out onto the dance floor.
He glanced down at my ample cleavage and smiled. “Hello there, darlin’.”
“Hello yourself.” I raised my drink in salute, and then downed it. After discarding the glass, I tilted my head up, licked the sugar off my lips, and asked, “Well, are we going to tango or what?”
He let out a low rumbling chuckle. Then he swept me up into his arms and proceeded to lead me around the room in some sort of country and western two-step one might expect to see in the movie Urban Cowboy. My movements were rusty, but I’d danced enough in my day that it wasn’t a problem to follow along. By the time the number ended, I was almost an old pro.
“I’m guessing you’re not from around these parts,” he said, brushing a fallen tendril of hair off my neck.
His touch sent a small thrill through my body. “What was the giveaway? My accent?” I knew my soft southern lilt had a touch of French. Nothing like the folks from the mountains of West Virginia.
“That and I would’ve noticed a fine looking beauty like yourself.”
Only he wasn’t looking at my face. The man’s eyes hadn’t left my chest once since we’d stopped dancing.
“I need a drink,” I said, fanning myself.
“Yes, you do.” He grabbed my hand and tugged me across the battered wood floors over to the equally battered bar. “Four whiskey shots. And one of those fru-fru pink drinks with the sugar on the rim.”
“Pink-tini” I said, resting on one of the barstools. Being a flesh and blood human was taking a toll on my poor feet. But damn, the boots were cute, so I’d grin and bear it.
The gruff bartender pulled out four shot glasses and expertly filled them with the amber liquid. My dance partner handed me one. “To a night of indulgence.”
“Ha! I’ll drink to that.” I clinked my glass to his and then knocked it back. The pleasant burn of the liquor stung my throat and made my eyes water, but I immediately picked up another shot glass. “Ready for round two?”
The handsome stranger tipped his hat, and together we made short work of the whiskey.
“What’s your name, darlin’” he asked, handing me my pink-tini.
“Ida May. Yours?”
His hand slipped from the small of my back to my hip as he pulled me to his side. “Willard Buckeye Pierce. You can call me Will.”
“I’ll call you Bucky,” I said, slurring just a little. Then I giggled and took a gulp of the sweet liquid.
“You can call me whatever you want, sweetheart, just as long as you don’t stop looking at me like that.”
I grinned up at him. “And how is that?”
His brilliant blue eyes glinted as he adjusted his hat to meet my gaze. “Like you’ve already decided to take me home tonight.”
“Smooth talker, aren’tcha?” I lowered my eyelashes, playing coy, and barely noticed when he pulled me off the stool, tugging me back onto the dance floor. My head was sort of fuzzy and when I stumbled, he caught me and pulled me in close, wrapping his arms around me.
“Careful, Maybelle,” he murmured into my hair as his hands slid lower, inching toward my butt.
“Ida May,” I said automatically, wondering what had happened to my pink-tini. Damn, those things were delicious.
“Sure, sweetheart.” He removed his hat, revealing thick, wavy brown hair. The kind a girl could really sink her fingers into. Then he dipped his head and brushed his lips over my pulse.
“Well, that’s nice.” I was somewhat surprised that my pulse wasn’t racing, but his attention was welcome all the same.
“Nice?” He pulled back and fixed me with a stare that had challenge written all over it.
I shrugged. “You wouldn’t want me to lie would you?”
His arm tightened around my waist, pulling me in so that my body was molded to his.
That was nice, too. He was tall, with muscles in all the right places. Smelled of fresh air and hay, exactly what one would expect from a cowboy.
“Look at me, Maybelle.”
“Ida—”
His lips came down on mine, silencing me. He tasted of whiskey and cigarettes, and I immediately started to push him away. But his grip tightened and his kiss became more insistent, more demanding, his tongue thrusting and teeth biting.
I finally tore my mouth free and was just about to read him the riot act, when Diesel came out of nowhere.
“Back off, buddy.” My ex pulled me away from Bucky and stepped in front of me, blocking me from the cowboy.
“Who the hell are you?” Bucky reached for me, but Diesel moved to the side, cutting him off.
“Her date. Now go bother someone else.” Diesel turned, already shuffling me back toward the table.
“Hey.” I stopped and planted my feet.
Too bad my borrowed shoes had no traction, and with one tug on my arm Diesel was able to literally drag me back to where Sassy and Jeeves were making out. She’d moved to the other side of the table and was sitting with her legs wrapped around him, attacking his mouth like it was made of cheesecake.
“Let go!” I yanked my arm out of Diesel’s grip and glared up at him. “Who do you think you are?”
“I’m the guy who’s going to keep you from being assaulted.”
“I—”
“You’re drunk and have no idea who that guy is.” He crossed his arms over his chest and stared me down.
“That’s none of your business,” I said haughtily.
“The hell it isn’t.” Diesel took a step toward me, trapping me between him and the table.
“Whoa,” Sassy said, finally coming up for air. “You two need a little privacy?”
We both glared at her.
“Hey, I was just asking. Because the electricity rippling between you two, it’s enough to blow a transformer, if you know what I mean.”
“Go home, Sassy,” Diesel said. “Take Jeeves back to Zelda’s or out to lookout point. We’ve got it under control here.”
I pointed to her and then my lips, making a circular motion. The red lipstick she’d applied earlier was now smeared practically all over her face. “You might want to do something about that.”
“You’re one to talk,” Diesel said, turning his glare on me.
“Hey! Mine can’t be that bad. I barely even exchanged spit with that guy.”
“That’s not what it looked like from here.”
“How would you know?” I eased away from him, waiting for Sassy to untangle herself from Jeeves. “Last I checked you were too busy flirting with a teenager.”
His whiskey eyes flashed with irritation. “What are you talking about?”
“Nothing.” I waved an impatient hand. “Just seems every time you’re supposed to be with me you’re off with someone else. Younger and prettier.”
“Ida—”
“I don’t want to hear it.” I tucked my arm through Sassy’s, who was standing next to the booth adjusting her rumpled top. “Ready to freshen up?”
“Yep.” She blew a kiss to Jeeves. “I’ll be back in a second. Then we can decide where we want to finish this.”
Her boyfriend nodded and took a sip of his cosmo.
On the way to the restroom, my anger started to fade and along with it any hope of sobriety. The last of the whiskey had finally hit my blood stream, and if I wasn’t mistaken, my tongue was starting to go numb.
That would really suck for later in the evening. I’d had big plans of tasting every inch of Diesel. Or was it Bucky? Damn, was he still around? Or had Diesel run him off?
“Looks like you have the makings for a little ménage à trois,” Sassy said as she held the ladies’ room door open for me.
“Huh?” I glanced in the mirror and blinked twice trying to clear my vision. It didn’t work. There were three of me, each of us with bright red lipstick smeared on my left cheek and mascara smudged under one eye. “Damn, who did this to my face?”
“Hot cowboy. I thought he was going to do you right there on the dance floor.” Sassy passed me a paper towel, and went to work on cleaning up her own appearance.
“Bucky,” I said, hating the way his name sounded. “Bucky,” I tried again. “What kind of crappy name is that?”
“So no ménage à trois?” Sassy asked, patting her blond hair into place.
I shook my head, hating that idea. Even though dancing with the cowboy had been fun, the mauling I’d endured without the benefit of an invitation wasn’t exactly what I’d call a good time. As much as I hated to admit it, I was glad Diesel had stepped in. And he was going to be rewarded for it. Big time. “Diesel isn’t into sharing.”
She nodded. “I can see that.”
I headed into one of the stalls, and when I returned to wash my hands, the bathroom was empty. No Sassy anywhere. “So much for no girl left behind,” I muttered.
“Did your friend ditch you?” a woman said, coming out of another stall. She had long auburn hair and was dressed in a short black dress with black leggings. But it was her shoes that caught my attention. They were black with red laces.