King turned and kissed Dallas on the lips in a loud smooch. “Nothing that’s going to stop me from doing this family night. I’m trying not to drink—not a goddamned thing is going to stop me from fucking gambling instead. You’re going to get the together-time you wanted, sweetness.”
Dallas sent him a long-suffering look that had Grant cackling. “You’re not supposed to be engaged in any addictive behaviors when you’re trying not to drink. It said so in the book we—”
“S’pose that means I shouldn’t be drilling your ass twice a day, every day? The book say anything about that?” King guffawed, and Dallas’s lips twitched down and to the side.
My face superheated, though I was already panicking about Jamie, which meant I didn’t feel too much about them fucking one way or the other, and Grant sputtered into his drink, slopping some down his chin while he coughed. Reaper chuckled and helped mop Grant up with a dish towel he snagged off the oven door handle.
Dallas sighed, shuffling his cards in his hand. “Gamble away, babe,” he murmured. He was able to keep all of his thoughts hidden and his face smooth.
“That’s what I thought.” King wrapped his arm around Dallas and took the opportunity to try to peek at his cards, which got him an elbow to the side.
A knock on the front door startled everyone—except me. I fought not to do anything to give myself away. King stared hard at me. My heart jerked and I almost crawled under the table.
Jamie’s here, he’s here, oh God, he’s here.I clutched at the edge of the table, trying to decide what I should do.
King scowled in my direction.
“I’ll get it,” I said and lurched to my feet, knocking the table back a few inches. Grant yelped and kept what was left of his drink from toppling over.
“No. Sit. We weren’t expecting anyone. Were we?” King stood, and I hated how he was so much taller than me that I had to crane my neck this close to him.
“Um….”
Grant leaned forward and caught my eye, and I kept right on freaking out, not sure what to say to anyone. My heart hammered so fast I felt slightly high. I stared longingly at the back door, which was at the other end of the kitchen. I both wanted to go and stay. If it was Jamie at the door, I needed to talk to him.
King stalked through the living room, stopped at an end table to take something out of a drawer, and then moved on to the front door. He didn’t have a long way to go because the cabin was small even with the expansions he’d made, and he was already opening the door before I convinced my feet to move after him. Leaning his shoulder against the doorjamb, I caught the gleam of metal in his hand, hidden down along his leg. He’d pulled a fucking gun out of that drawer.Fucking fuck.
“James. Your boss in a bind? I told you we could meet tomorrow. I do all of my business at the clubhouse.” King raised the gun and swung the door wider. “How did you know where I live? I don’t tell anyone about this place.”
“That so?” Jamie’s amused Irish lilt sank into me and all the horrible anxiety that had been tangled up in me melted away. I loved the way he talked. He was here, and I wanted to see him more than I wanted to hide, and that decided things for me. I walked toward the door, but King was in the way. I tapped his shoulder. He didn’t step aside, only shrugged me off.
I worried about the gun, but snagged King’s elbow and tugged on him until he spun around to glare at me. I slithered my way through the small space between King and the doorway. The sight of Jamie slammed me in the gut. I felt floaty and nothing seemed real for a second. The late-afternoon sunlight glinted in his coppery brown curls and his smirk had me wanting to drag him in for a kiss. But on his left cheek was a purplish smudge, barely visible. I froze inside. I’d forgotten that I’d punched him when we were fighting. The fucking last thing on earth I would ever want to do to someone I cared about—hurt them—and I’d done it, like it was nothing. How could I have forgotten that?
“Fuck, I’m sorry,” I murmured and brushed my fingers over my own cheek.
“What?” He frowned at me. “Oh yeah. It’s fine.” He shrugged and didn’t sound mad.
“I’m still sorry.”
King came out onto the porch. “What the fuck is going on here? How do you know Shannon?” he asked me, and I couldn’t think fast enough to say anything to smooth this over.
King raised his eyebrows at Jamie, who asked, “Can we have a moment?”
He pointed an accusing finger at Jamie. “No. You can’t. You don’t have anything to say to my son, as far as I know.”
“Think I need to apologize, actually.”
“No, I do,” I said.
Jamie chuckled. “I’m bollocksing everything up here. I’ve heard apologies don’t need to be limited to one person.”
King put his hands on my shoulders and walked me a few steps away from Jamie. I pushed back against him, but he shook me until I looked at him. “How do you two know each other.” He sounded… scared, maybe? His eyes were wider than usual.
“No one told you about—”
“No, they didn’t,” Grant said from just inside. King glanced through the open door and then spun me around.
“Wait,” I gasped out, but I’d seen the fury that moved behind his eyes. I already regretted keeping this to myself, and he hadn’t even done anything yet.
