Page 18

Tate opened the door, and it took her a moment for her eyes to adjust to the brighter lights inside.

It wasn’t totally lit up, but still much brighter than the outside had been.

And to Laryn’s surprise, it was much busier than she might’ve expected for an hour before closing time on a weekday.

She followed Tate without complaint as he wove through customers standing around drinking, toward a table in the back of the room.

Half expecting to overhear questions about why Tate had invited her, Laryn was pleasantly surprised to hear nothing but happy greetings as they made their way toward the other Night Stalkers .

“Casper!”

“’Bout time!”

“Holy shit, Laryn—is that you?”

She couldn’t help but sigh at the disbelief in Pyro’s voice. “It’s me,” she said dryly.

Edge abruptly stood and held the back of his chair as he gestured toward it. “Here, take my seat,” he told her.

Laryn could feel the blush on her cheeks, but she smiled at him and said, “Thanks,” before she sat.

She felt Tate at her back, and his fingers brushed against her bare shoulder for a split second, sending shivers all the way through her once more.

“Damn, girl. You are smokin’!” Buck said.

“Buck,” Tate warned from above her.

“What? I’m just sayin’.”

“You’re embarrassing her. Chill,” Tate admonished in a stern tone.

“Didn’t mean to. Sorry, Laryn. But seriously—you’re hot.”

“Buck!” This time, his tone was almost angry.

Not wanting to be the cause of a fight between friends, and feeling warm and fuzzy inside from the compliment—had anyone called her hot before? She didn’t think so—Laryn looked up at Tate and asked, “Will you get me a beer?”

“Anything in particular?”

“Whatever’s on tap.”

He stared at her for so long, she got a little self-conscious again. She felt better now that she was sitting and not feeling quite so on display, but she still squirmed a little uncomfortably in her seat.

“You don’t want a mixed drink? Maybe a frozen margarita? Or a glass of wine?” Obi-Wan asked from across the table.

She glanced over at him. “I like all those things. And I don’t mind the occasional shot, but tonight feels like a beer night. Besides, I’m driving, and beer doesn’t affect me as much as hard liquor.”

“Marry me,” Chaos said dramatically as he pushed out of his chair next to her and dropped to his knees.

“Get up, asshole,” Tate said, smacking his friend on the back of the head.

Everyone chuckled as Chaos got back into his seat. Even Laryn laughed at his antics.

“I’ll be right back.” Tate had leaned over and said the four words right into her ear, making goose bumps rise on her arms once more as his warm breath wafted over the sensitive skin of her neck.

She wasn’t sure what she’d expected, but talk at the table turned to the trials and more technical aspects of the flight and how the MH-60 had performed.

This was a conversation Laryn was comfortable with. So when Tate returned and put a beer in front of her, and dragged a chair over from a table nearby that had recently been vacated, she didn’t even blink as she listened and occasionally joined in the shop talk.

But she wasn’t so into the conversation that she didn’t feel Tate’s leg against her own. They were all pretty crowded around the table, and even though the pilots weren’t gigantic, they weren’t small men by any stretch.

At some point, Tate got up to get a refill of the pitcher of beer they were all sharing, and it took Laryn a few minutes to realize he didn’t return right away.

Turning, she saw him standing at the bar talking to one of the waitresses…

who was wearing a barely there push-up sports bra and a pair of boy shorts that were pulled up into her ass crack, showing off her butt cheeks.

She had long blonde hair and flat abs. She also wore a pair of heels that had to be hurting her feet after being on them all night, but she didn’t seem fazed in the least.

“That’s Barb,” Chaos whispered close to her ear, when he saw where her gaze had gone. “She’s wanted Casper since the moment she saw him. He’s not interested. Not in the least. But he’s also way more polite than the rest of us. Trust me, though, there’s nothing there.”

Laryn forced herself to turn away. “That’s fine. It doesn’t matter.”

“Doesn’t it?” he asked quietly, studying her as he leaned back to sit properly in his seat.

Feeling as if some of the shine had been taken off the evening, Laryn paid more attention to the talk around her and less to what Tate was doing.

When he returned to the table, Barb was at his heels with a tray of shot glasses in her hand.

“On the house!” she exclaimed dramatically, rudely leaning between Tate and Laryn, despite the fact they were practically shoulder to shoulder.

She made a point of putting a shot glass in front of each of the men first—all while bending low and flashing her tits, which were barely encased in the flimsy sports bra—before plunking the last glass in front of Laryn.

Picking up the drink, Laryn smelled it and wrinkled her nose. The drink might’ve been on the house, but it was definitely cheap vodka, not the top-shelf variety she preferred.

Glancing at the glamorous waitress, Laryn saw she’d stepped to the other side of Tate…

and was staring intently at the shot glass in his hand.

She had a weird look in her eye that made Laryn uneasy.

Remembering the lessons her dad had hammered into her about taking drinks from strangers—and about reading body language—she opened her mouth to tell Tate not to drink it, but she was too late.

Even as she had the thought, he tipped the glass to his mouth and downed the shot in one swallow.

The satisfaction in Barb’s eyes was enough to make Laryn abruptly put her own shot back on the table with a thunk.

“Oh, you can’t hang? It’s okay, sweetie, not everyone can. Unlike me. I can handle anything these pilots want to dish out. ”

She didn’t wait for a response, simply winked at Tate, then gathered the now-empty glasses, leaving Laryn’s still full one on the table before leaving as abruptly as she’d arrived.

“What the fuck was that about?” Buck asked.

“She cornered me at the bar. Wouldn’t stop going on and on about how proud of us she was, how she’d heard we had a top-secret thing today and she wanted to gift us with free shots. I tried to turn her down, but she just got more insistent. Figured it was easier to just go with it.”

Obi-Wan shook his head. “She’s gross. And no, Laryn, in case you’re wondering about that inuendo she lobbed at you before she left, none of us have tapped that. Disgusting. No way.”

Laryn couldn’t help but smile at that, but she was still worried about the gleam in the waitress’s eye when she’d looked at Tate. “You feel okay?” she asked.

“Yeah, why?”

She was probably being paranoid. There was no way Barb would be so blatant as to drug Tate when he was with his friends, right?

She was obviously upset that he’d arrived with Laryn, but that didn’t mean she was stupid enough to put something in his shot.

It wouldn’t make sense. How would she take advantage of him when he was with someone?

The more she thought about it, the more Laryn convinced herself that she’d imagined the look she’d seen on the woman’s face.

“On that note, since Casper didn’t bring that refill he went to the bar to get, and because they’re gonna do last call before too long, I think I’m gonna head home,” Chaos said.

“Me too.”

“Same.”

And just like that, the group collectively decided they were done celebrating.

Laryn was all right with that. The small amount of alcohol she’d consumed was making her tired.

It had been a long day full of stress and adrenaline rushes.

She was thrilled to have gotten to know the pilots she worked for better, but she was more than ready to go home to her quiet apartment and crash.

“I’ll take care of the tab,” Buck offered as he stood.

“Already did,” Edge said, satisfaction easy to hear in his tone.

“Fuck, man, it was my turn,” Buck told him, frowning.

“Gotta be faster than that, boy,” Edge said with a chuckle. “I paid it when I went to the head earlier.”

“Sneaky son-of-a-bitch,” Pyro grumbled.

It wasn’t long before they were all heading for the door.

Laryn looked around for Barb but didn’t see her anywhere, which she thought was odd, but she was relieved not to have to see the beautiful younger woman again.

Everyone went their separate ways in the parking lot, and Laryn walked with Tate toward his car on the street. His hand was on the small of her back once again, and it was almost scary how used to that she was getting already.

As they reached the car, Barb suddenly appeared out of nowhere, scaring the shit out of Laryn and making her jump. She was kind of surprised Tate hadn’t been startled as well.

“You headed home?” she asked him, not looking at Laryn.

“Yeah.”

“You don’t look good. You okay?”

Laryn glanced at Tate, and she realized Barb was right. His eyes looked a little glazed and he was weaving slightly on his feet.

That fucking bitch! She knew it! Barb had slipped something into the shot she’d given Tate.

“I’m taking him home,” Laryn said firmly, moving closer to his side and putting her arm around his waist. She was relieved when he wrapped his own around her shoulders.

“No. I will. I just got off work,” Barb insisted, putting a hand on Tate’s other arm.

Laryn didn’t want to get into a tug of war with Tate between them, but there was no way in hell she was letting this bitch go anywhere with him.

It wasn’t common for women to drug men and assault them, but it wasn’t unheard of either.

She supposed Barb would have some story ready for when Tate woke up in her bed.

The little schemer might even be pregnant, and of course she would claim it was Tate’s.

Which was stupid, because he would definitely insist on a paternity test.