And occasionally talks to them.That was usually a deal breaker.
“Eh, who cares about that?” she asked. “Besides, that crazy bastard has body parts in jars down in the basement. You two should get along just fine.”
I froze in the act of getting into the passenger seat. We stared at each other over the top of the car. “He does?”
“According to Warrant,” she said with a shrug.
“Why?” I asked.
“I haven’t seen them with my own eyes, so who knows? Could be Warrant just giving Pyre shit. He was a Navy Hospital Corpsman and is the team’s medic. He could just be yanking his chain.” She shrugged again and got into the car. The fact that she was so nonchalant about it though…
I had no idea that was what Pyre had done in the military. That would mean he wasn’t squeamish about blood and gore. He could even likely be a gifted surgeon, though not all Hospital Corpsmen went the surgeon route for their specialties. One of my brothers had joined the Navy and had thought about becoming one. He’d ultimately chosen something else, but I knew enough about it to know it was impressive.
Ainsley started up another topic of conversation as we drove to our usual café for lunch. I kept up with her, answering when appropriate, but in the back of my mind I couldn’t help wondering if Pyre had been about to kiss me like she thought. Had I been reading him wrong all these years? Was it possible that he might be interested in me?
Shaking away the questions, I followed her into the café and waved at our friends. She’d called them all to meet us for an impromptu lunch. I hoped Ains didn’t mention anything to the others. They’d never let me live it down and I wasn’t even sure anything had been about to happen. Either way, I was glad for the distraction. This group of women would help me think of something other than the sexy biker.
CHAPTER 6
Pyre
“Asshole,” I muttered, not bothering to look up from Cynic’s thigh as I shoved my needle through it again.
“I was just helping you out,” Warrant said, leaning against the doorframe as he watched me stitch up Cynic. “Did you pause that to come up and hang out with Rae?” There was amusement in his tone.
“I didn’t fucking know that was what you wanted, did I?” I replied, scowling at him.
Cynic sat up on his elbows, looking back and forth between us. “Wait, that’s why you left me here fucking bleeding? To talk to some chick?”
“Not just some chick,” Warrant told him. “Death chick.”
“Oh,” Cynic said, then sighed. “Fine. Can you hurry that up? I swear my shit’s going to fall off before you get it done.”
It was a deep laceration, but nowhere deep enough for anything to fall off. Cynic was always dramatic when hegot injured. Laceration, puncture wounds, bullets, he was the whiniest of all the men in the club. “Do you want to do it?” I asked, glaring at him. “And stop calling her that,” I told Warrant.
He shook his head and laid back on the bed I kept in here for these kinds of things. They’d just gotten back from a mission. Seemed someone was always in need of attention after one of our jobs. I didn’t mind. Kept my skills sharp.
“That’s how we all know her,” Warrant said with a shrug. “You don’t like it, give her a new nickname.” A smile spread over his face.
“You’re acting like an old woman who’s trying to set her grandson up,” I said, going back to Cynic’s thigh. He knew that if I gave her a nickname that would be the first step in me claiming her. Or one of the steps anyway.
Warrant scoffed. “Like I’d waste my time on you.”
I gave him an exasperated look. “Didn’t you just fucking bring Rae here to-”
“No. Ains invited her for lunch,” he said, cutting me off. “Not my fault she was here.”
Narrowing my eyes, I studied him. I had a feeling itwashis fault, but had no conclusive proof.
“Warrant,” Cynic said, “go away. I want him to get this over with before the damn anesthetic he gave me wears off. If it does, I’m going to have this asshole take your temperature rectally.”
Warrant barked out a laugh. “Like I’d let either of you anywhere near my ass.”
I went back to focusing on sewing Cynic up while he came further into the room and started asking about the assignment they just finished up. It was keeping Cynic distracted, so I let him stay. My mind kept drifting to Rae.
I’d damn near kissed her. If I had, I may not have stopped with just a kiss. Once I got my hands on her, I wasn’t sure where we’d end up. I didn’t know if I was pissed off that Ainsley hadinterrupted us, or grateful. That would depend on whether I was ready to break down and do something about my interest in her. My brothers sure wanted me to. Which meant that I hadn’t done a good job of hiding that interest over the years. I thought I had. Apparently staring at the woman’s ass every time she was around tended to get noticed.
“There,” I said, cleaning off the area and putting a bandage over it. “Don’t get it wet for forty-eight hours. Shouldn’t be a problem for you since you only bathe once a week.”
