Rory smiled, despite Jessie’s obvious hostility. He glanced Uma’s way, caught her looking, and gave a friendly wave. She waved back.
She was acutely aware of Ivan as he gathered chairs for the group. When had she grown this extra set of antennae developed for the sole purpose of detecting his whereabouts?
She knew he was there, of course, before he squatted beside her.
“Tried to visit you yesterday,” he whispered.
“Yeah. I was out.” Uma ignored the question in his eyes.
He touched her, just on the shoulder, but she had to pull away. If she didn’t, she’d end up in his lap, and that wasn’t allowed to happen.
“You need a drink?”
“Jessie’s got it. Thanks.”
With a nod, he stood and walked to the bar, his back tall and a little stiff.
“So, you live next to the big guy, right?” Binx moved down into the next chair, and Uma stiffened. Not only had she placed that stupid ad, but she was also Uma’s personal nightmare: petite, blond, pert, pretty, clearly into Ivan, and her eyes were bright and inquisitive on Uma’s.
“Ivan?”
“Uh,Ive. Yeah,” she said in aduhtone of voice. “Looks like you guys know each other.”
“Sure. He’s a nice guy.”
“Really? Hmm. Never thought of him that way before.” Her eyes slid from Ivan’s ass to Uma, a feline grin on her face. “You know he’s abeastin bed.” She made a half-moan, half-roar, sex-kitten sound, and Uma couldn’t help but hate her, just a little bit.
Did she know that firsthand? Uma had a sharp pang of jealousy.
Binx seemed to expect a response. The best Uma could come up with was “Have you known him long?”
“Since elementary school. We graduated high school together.”
Oh?“What was he like?”
She looked at him, considering. “Different. Not quite as big. Angry streak a mile wide. Always gettin’ into fights. Kickin’ ass and takin’ names. Fuckin’ and fightin’. Pissed off at the world.” She leaned in, warming to her subject. “You hear about Gabe’s dad? You know, Jessie’s boy?”
Uma shook her head as casually as she could.
Binx leaned in farther, obviously enjoying the honor of divulging the gruesome details. “Ive bit the guy’s ear off.”
“What?” Uma was horrified and…something else. Scared? Titillated? Maybe somewhere in between. It wasdisgusting, but she could see it in her mind’s eye, in perfect, lurid detail.
Savage.
“Huge fight. Few years after high school. I was in college, so I only heard about it through my sister, but…” The woman lowered her voice and continued. “He went to prison for it. Almost killed the guy.” She whispered the last bit, full of drama, clearly enjoying herself. Uma was slightly queasy.
“Why?”
“They say Frank was beatin’ Jessie, and— How long you plannin’ on stayin’ with us, Uma?”
“Oh, um. I’m just here to… I mean, not long.” Uma looked up to see Jessie lower herself into the chair beside her.
“This is for you, fromRory.” Jessie set a ridiculously froufrou pink cocktail on the table, so crowded with umbrellas and fruit that it took Uma a minute to find the straw.
“What is it?”
“Singapore Sling. He says you’ll like it, even though it’s notstrictlyBritish.”
