“Holy shit, no wonder you said yes.”
Emily laughed again. “He did well. Now, let’s talk about the schedule. Tomorrow you’re free, but don’t plan anything for Friday. I have us booked for manis and pedis before the rehearsal and dinner.”
A girly date with my soon-to-be sister-in-law, and I was actually looking forward to it. “I can’t even remember the last time I was pampered. My fingers and toes are excited. It’s official, you’re my favorite soon-to-be-sister-in-law ever.”
She laughed again, and I reveled in how comfortable I felt with her after such a short time. For the rest of the car ride, we chatted about the club and the wedding, and I had such a good time with Emily, that I barely even thought about Eagle.
Eagle
NAOMI WAS BACK. I knew she was coming. She was scheduled to be in the wedding, after all. But hearing her name whispered around the Copper Penny still caught me off guard. I perched on my barstool and tuned in to the conversations around me, trying to hear why everyone was talking about her. Whatever it was sounded like a mix of pride and fear. I could have come out and asked any of my brothers, but I was still trying to convince myself I didn’t care, so I kept my mouth shut.
“Naomi’s in town,” Wasp said, taking the barstool beside me as he sized me up, watching for a reaction.
The shit-stirring motherfucker could keep watching because I was determined not to give him the satisfaction. “I’m aware.” I nursed my glass of whiskey, keeping my gaze straight ahead.
“You gonna stop being such a pussy and go talk to her?”
I about choked. A pussy? I had half a mind to knock him off his barstool. “What the fuck is wrong with you?” I asked. “It’s like you want me to beat your ass.”
“Just pointing out the obvious, like how you’ve been avoiding the fire station since she got here.”
“I don’t even know when that was, genius. I’ve been working, as if it’s any of your goddamn business.” But if I had known Naomi was there, I sure would have avoided the station. I hadn’t stopped thinking about her since the night we’d spent together. I could no longer recall Genie’s face, but I couldn’t seem to forget Naomi’s. There was something majorly fucked up about that. “I’m not avoiding shit.”
He chuckled. “Sure, you’re not. She looks better than ever, Eagle. And she’s one tough broad. You hear what she did to Zombie today?”
I shook my head.
“She was helping out at Formation,” Wasp replied. Formation Auto Repair was owned by the club. Lots of brothers put in time at the shop, and I’d heard rumors that Naomi did her fair share of auto tune-ups and repairs before leaving to join the Air Force. Knowing she was a bit of a grease monkey just made her sexier and filled my mind with images, so I tried not to think too much about that. “She was replacing the breaks on a truck when Zombie made the mistake of coming on to her.”
“He did what?” I asked, feeling my blood pressure rise as I turned to give Wasp my undivided attention.
“Ah, youareawake. Good. Zombie used some line about how a beautiful woman like her should be laid out on top of the hood, not under it.”
I’d kill the dumbass. I’d rip his goddamn tongue out and strangle him with it. Standing, I scanned the bar, ready to take him out back and teach him a little lesson about respecting Naomi.
“Whoa,” Wasp said. “Damn, brother, you got it bad. Take a beat and breathe. Zombie’s not here. He’s not about to show his face after what Naomi did to him. I’d imagine he’s somewhere nursing his pride and cursing his stupidity tonight.” His attention shifted to someone across the room. “Oh, hey. There’s Rabbit. I gotta catch up with him about an order at the shop.”
No way in hell was he leaving halfway through the story. I stepped in front of him, blocking his path. “What did Naomi do to Zombie?”
Wasp smirked. The motherfucker had finally drawn out my interest and he was clearly tickled about it. He really did need his ass beat.
“What happened between you and Naomi last time she was in town?” he fired back.
I wanted to wipe that smirk off his face so badly I had to grit my teeth and look away to restrain myself. “I don’t know what the fuck you’re talking about, Wasp, but it doesn’t sound like any of your goddamn business.”
He chuckled, shaking his head. “I’ll find out someday.”
“Not likely. Talk.”
“Naomi was already in a foul mood, and when Zombie grabbed her by the ankles and rolled her out from under the truck, she came up swinging. Clocked him across the shoulder with a wrench so hard I heard it in the bike department. When I came around the corner, Rabbit was lighting into him. He sent Zombie to have a little sit-down with Link. I don’t expect to see Zombie until the wedding.IfLink lets him live that long. The Prez doesn’t play when it comes to his sister, but if you ask me… that girl can more than take care of herself.” He chuckled. “And I bet Zombie would agree.”
Didn’t matter that Naomi could take care of herself. Hell, it took all my willpower not to go beat down the bastard’s door. And what had he done, really? Hit on her? Who could blame him? Still, I wanted to rip him in half for it.
“Zombie’s a good man,” Wasp reminded me. “He saw a good lookin’ woman and made a play for her, like we’ve all done. Nobody told him she was Link’s sister.”
“He knew she was coming.” And Link had warned us all to stay the fuck away from her. Again.
“Yeah, but I’m sure Zombie didn’t expect to find her working in the garage.”
