Several patrons were scatteredaround One Night Stan’s when I strode inside later that week. The custom refrigerator I’d ordered had been delivered earlier, and I wanted to make sure everything was good.
Lincoln stood behind the bar, filling a mug from the tap, and lifted his chin in greeting. “Was wondering how long you could stay away.”
I grunted in response and walked around the bar, checking out the appliance that had cost a small fortune. “Fridge working okay?”
He slid the mug of beer down to a patron before facing me. “Well, it hasn’t pissed all over the floor like the last one, so I’d say that’s a win.”
“Good. And it doesn’t look like there’s any damage to the floors from that mess. Next time things go tits up in here, I don’t want to find out the next day.”
“Yes, sir,” Lincoln said, saluting like a jackass. “I’ll call you right away, boss.”
“Don’t be a dick.”
He just raised his brows at me, silently asking,you thinkI’mthe one being a dick?“You’ve been more of an asshole lately than usual. What’s up?”
I pressed my lips in a thin line, refusing to give him even an inch, because the little shit would take that and run for miles. But it turned out I didn’t have to say a goddamn word.
He studied me for a minute before his brows flew up, and pure fucking glee swept across his features. “Oh, I don’t believe this. It’s the hot girl from the other night, isn’t it?Sutton. She got under your skin.”
“She’s not the ‘hot girl from the other night,’” I said through clenched teeth. “She’s my tenant.”
“Oh shit, sheliveswith you?”
“She doesn’tlive with me.” I crossed my arms and glared at him. I didn’t need the fucking thought of her in my bed permeating my brain during waking hours. Because god knew it was there enough while I slept. “She’s renting the guest cottage.”
“Still, she’s on your property, which means you can’t escape her. Goddamn, I fuckinglovethis. Wait till Dec hears about it.”
“Wait till Dec hears about what?” our brother asked, setting his motorcycle helmet on the bar top before settling on a stool.
Of course. The fucker was never around when we needed him, but the second I didn’t want him to show, there he was.
The smile on Lincoln’s face was evil. “Atlas has himself a little complication in the form of his hot new tenant.”
Declan turned to me, his brow furrowed. “Since when do you have a hot tenant? How the hell did you get talked into that?”
“Mabel,” was all I said. All Ineededto say.
Declan hummed, tapping his fingers on the bar top. “So, you’ve got a hot tenant living in your backyard?”
“Stop calling her hot,” I snapped, unable to keep the growl from my voice. “And it’s not just her. She has a daughter too.”
“Shit, you’ve got a little kid staying with you?”
“For the last fucking time, they’re not staying with me. They’re renting the guest cottage. Secondly, her daughter’s not little. She’s—I don’t know—maybe sixteen.”
Lincoln’s brows flew up. “No shit? Damn. Sutton doesn’t look old enough to have a teenager. How old is she?”
I threw up my hands. “I don’t fucking know. I don’t know anything about her.”
Except all the things that had been thrust upon me without my permission since she’d upended my life. Like how she had a dance party with her daughter every night when she got home, which I only knew because she blasted the music loud enough to rattle my windows. Or how she apparently treated the kids at school like adults rather than children, which I was made aware of because my players couldn’t stop going on and fucking on about how great she was. Or how she’d taken it upon herself to be my kitten’s guardian angel, which became apparent when I’d tripped over yetanotherpackage for the furball this morning.
I shouldn’t know anything at all about her. But I couldn’t avoid it.
“Enough bullshit. Let’s get back to the promise that you two shitheads are going to fill me in if things go sideways in here.”
“Don’t drag me into that,” Declan said. “I wasn’t even around when the fridge shit the bed.”
“Ididfill you in.” Lincoln crossed his arms over his chest and raised a brow. “If I hadn’t, you wouldn’t have anything to bitch about right now.”
