She squared her shoulders and stepped into Jack, smiling. “Hi, I’m Tia. How are you doing tonight?”
Jack frowned at her but didn’t respond.
King sighed. “Jack, man, just play along for chrissakes.”
Jack lowered his arms to his side. “I’m fine.”
Tia kept smiling, wide and friendly. “Glad to hear it. I noticed you were upset. Is there something I can help you with?”
“No,” he growled.
“Sir, I’m sorry, but I’m going to have to ask you to step outside.”
“Make me,” Jack grumbled, frowning at her.
I ducked my head and bit my lip to keep from laughing out loud. My cousin was a tough chick. She could take care of herself. I didn’t know if she’d be a good bouncer, but I was looking forward to seeing what she did when faced with Jack.
“I’d prefer you let me escort you, sir,” she replied.
“Oh, fuck this,” Jack stated, reaching out to grab Tia’s wrist. “You weigh, what, one forty or one fifty? There’s no way you could take me-”
He didn’t finish his sentence. I watched as Tia did some complicated maneuver, placing a hand over his and swinging her arm down and around. I had no clue what she did next because she did it so fast, but she had Jack’s hand in a position that looked very unnatural. He flinched.
I glanced over at King and saw that he was watching the scene with a lot more interest.
“Jack, you know what to do,” he murmured.
“Boss.” He seemed reluctant.
“Do it.”
Without warning, Jack’s free arm swung out. Gracefully, Tia evaded the punch and, while he was off balance, managed to turn Jack around and stand at his side, facing the door.
She readjusted her grip on his hand, but I knew it had to hurt because he grunted. “Let me just show you the way out,” she murmured, taking a step forward.
Jack resisted for a split second before grunting again when she tugged at his hand and following her lead.
“Okay, I’ve seen enough,” King called out.
Tia immediately released Jack and stepped away. Jack watched her, a new respect in his eyes as he shook his hand out.
“Where’d you learn how to do that?” he asked.
Tia shrugged. “I picked up a few things here and there.”
I looked at King, who was staring at my cousin with an unreadable expression on his face.
“So, still don’t think you could use me?” she asked.
King leaned back in his chair, considering her. “You’re quick,” he observed.
Tia shrugged. “Have to be.”
“You’re hired, but only for the short term,” he stated firmly. “Know how to tend bar?”
She nodded.
“Here’s what we’re gonna do. You’re going to work for Jack. He’s in charge unless I tell you something different. You do what he says, no more, no less. Once I find another bouncer, you’ll tend bar here and act as back up. We rarely have major trouble here, but it would be good to have a bartender who knew how to handle herself.”
Tia smiled. “I can do that.”
With a nod, King got to his feet. “You start tonight. Jack will show you around. I don’t think we have shirts in your size, so we’ll order you a couple. Until then, you wear black like the rest of the guys.”
She nodded. Jack motioned for her to follow him as he headed down the hall.
I heard him rumble, “You gotta show me that thumb lock. It would be so much easier than dragging guys outta here in a fuckin’ full nelson.”
I heard Tia laugh as they walked out of earshot.
King looked over at me. “Did you know she could do that?”
“Uh, well-”
“Never mind,” King interrupted. “Even if you did, you wouldn’t have told me, would you?”
I grinned at him, completely unrepentant. “Nope. It was more fun this way.”
King grabbed my hand and started pulling me toward the exit. “I can see things won’t be boring with you around.”
He had no idea just how un-boring things were about to become.
Chapter Twenty-Three
‡
I woke up early the next morning. Unlike King and Tia, I’d gone to bed before midnight, so my eyes popped open around seven-thirty. King was lying on his stomach, his head turned away from me, and I was sprawled across his back, my head on his shoulder.
Wanting to let him sleep, I carefully slipped out of bed, pulling the blankets up to cover his bare back. Grabbing my cell phone, I left the bedroom, shutting the door silently behind me. Moving down the hall, I saw that Tia’s door was closed and I knew she would probably sleep until a little before noon.
As I walked through King’s living room, I shook my head. Like most other things with Alaric Sloan, I was shocked by his house the first time I saw it. He lived in a subdivision that consisted of spacious homes on large lots. His lot was populated with quite a few established trees, creating a pocket of privacy for King’s house. The back yard was beautiful and well-kept and there was a fire pit about forty feet from the back deck with a circle of Adirondack chairs around it.
The interior was even more surprising to me. While it wasn’t straight out of a home decor magazine, the furniture went well together and the suede couches were high quality and extremely comfortable.
I brewed a pot of coffee and made some toast. When everything was ready, I carried it out onto the back deck and settled on a chaise lounge. After I ate my toast, I was enjoying my coffee when the back door slid open.
Tia walked out wearing a pair of boxer shorts and a t-shirt, carrying a cup of coffee. Her eyes were so heavy I was surprised she could see.
She flopped down on the chair next to mine.
“Morning,” I greeted her.
She grunted in response and sipped her coffee, letting her head fall back on the lounge with her eyes closed.
I smiled because, as a teenager, Tia had never been much of a morning person and it appeared nothing had changed.
We drank our coffee in silence, both of us soaking up the early sunshine.
“King seems like a really cool guy,” Tia commented after a few minutes.
I nodded. “He is.”
I glanced over to find her looking at me.
“You’re crazy about him, aren’t you?”
Nodding, I turned away from her and drained the last few sips from my cup.
“I’m pretty sure he feels the same way,” she murmured.
“I think so too.”
“Okay, well, just remember to pick a fucking dress I can wear again when you ask me to be your maid of honor, okay?”
I was grateful I didn’t have any coffee left, because if I had, I would have choked on it. “Maid of honor?” I squeaked.
Tia grinned at me. “Girl, King is not some kind of boy-man who’s terrified of settling down. Hell, he’s already settled down, even without a wife.”
“Yeah but King doesn’t strike me as the traditional type. He’s more of the live-in-sin type.”
My cousin nodded. “I can see that, but my Jena is the marrying kind, so he’ll do it for her.”
Throat tight, I smiled at her. “I hope you’re right.” Because I was suddenly feeling sad, I stood. “I’m going to get more coffee. You want some?”
She handed me her cup without a word.
I wasn’t gone more than a few minutes, but when I returned to the back porch, Tia had my phone to her ear.
“Oh, here she is.” She held the phone out to me. “It’s someone named Katie.”
I froze, staring at my phone as though it were a poisonous snake.
“What’s wrong, Jena?”
I shook myself out of my daze. Dealing with Katie wasn’t exactly how I wanted to start my day, but putting it off was no longer an option. If she was willing to risk whatever King threatened her with to call me, then she must have been freaked the hell out.
I took the phone and lifted it to my ear. “Hello, Katie.”
“Jena, I need your help.”