Why did that make my stomach do a slow roll as he stared down at me with a smirk? I told myself it was because Sentinel wasn’t a very big place. He probably knew where most people lived. Then again, I didn’t know where his house was.
Before I could respond to his statement he reached out and tucked that annoying strand of hair that wouldn’t stay in place behind my ear. “I’ll see you tomorrow, Rae.”
I watched as he walked away, heart hammering against my ribs, skin tingling where he’d brushed it. Was I really so desperate for love that a single touch wound me up like this? Yes. And because it was him. I’d felt nothing but disgust and annoyance when the cowboy had touched me.
Getting into the car, I gripped the steering wheel and sighed. At least I hadn’t had to work up the courage to go find Pyre. Because that would be what my friends suggested next if he hadn’t come to me. The idea of chasing him if he wasn’t interested made me want to throw up. He wouldn’t have asked me out if he wasn’t interested in me. Right?
I really didn’t know. Men were essentially a mystery to me. I’d mostly found out what they didn’t like about women, and had kept to myself after that.
Then again, he’d called me gorgeous and told me he wanted to see my smile again. Already he’d put in more effort to woo me than the jerks who just wanted a quick lay. Smiling as I remembered the compliments, I put the car into gear andheaded home. I’d needed to stop by and pick up more supplies for Penny and now I was glad that I hadn’t waited to run that particular errand.
It was going to be hard to get through work tomorrow when all I wanted to do was go on my date. Turning on the radio, I sang along for the short ride home. I was going to be daydreaming until tomorrow night. Not that I was picturing white gowns and hearing wedding bells—yet anyway—because I’d learned pretty quickly that men didn’t appreciate the direct approach.
In today’s world, meeting men on those awful apps was really the only feasible way. It was terrible. And if you met them and told them the truth when they asked what you wanted out of a relationship, they tended to bolt. Back when I had still been trying to date, one had excused himself from dinner and never came back. That was when I realized when they asked those questions they didn’t want honesty. Or not my brand of honesty anyway. I still hadn’t quite figured outwhatit was they wanted to hear. All I knew was that I could only give honest answers.
“I’m home,” I called out as I carried my box of Penny’s goodies into the house. The sound of tiny little claws on the hardwood floor made me smile. “I got you all the things you like.” I unpacked the box as she danced around at my feet.
Pausing, I rested my elbow on the counter and leaned down to speak to her. “And guess what?” She blinked up at me with her dark eyes. “Pyre asked me out on a date. Can you believe it?”
The tip tap of little feet was my only answer.
“Okay, but just one,” I told her. Opening the lid, I grabbed a pair of tweezers off the counter and plucked a roach out of the plastic cup and squatted down. She rested her front paws on my knee as she took the treat off the tweezers.
I wasn’t the biggest fan of roaches. Any of the other bugs, and even worms, I could handle, but those gave me the shivers, so Inever touched them. “Come on, let’s go put your things away,” I told her, closing up the container.
Humming as I worked, I tried to keep my daydreams from going completely wild. It was one date. The man might not even end up liking me. I could end up not liking him. I’d just have to wait to find out. And if the worst happened, then life would go on. I hoped. Pyre seemed like the kind of man who could alter things without even trying to.
CHAPTER 10
Pyre
“Where are you taking her?”
I glanced up as Torque jumped up on my examination table. I’d have to resanitize it later, but I didn’t say anything. He was a good kid. The only prospect we had in our club at the moment. Torque was twenty-four and curious about everything. I remembered being that damn young.
“How the hell did you even hear about it?” I asked, turning back to the inventory I was doing. I did one at the end of every day. The way my brothers went through life there were always emergencies to address. I wasn’t about to be caught with my dick out and no way to help them. I counted the vials of pain medication. For all I knew Demo would steal one just to go on a bender.
“How do you think?” Cynic said, tone amused as he walked into the room. He was still moving with enough of a limp for meto know the leg was bothering him a week later. It had been a pretty deep laceration, so I wasn’t surprised.
“You assholes gossip like old women. You let it get infected, didn’t you?” I asked, crossing my arms over my chest. “I should just let your leg rot off.”
He rolled his eyes. “It’s not infected. You told me to come get the stitches out. Remember? Or are you too busy thinking of your girlfriend?” he teased.
Torque grinned at me. “I like Rae. She’s really nice.”
“Glad to hear it,” I told him. I couldn’t imagine Rae being mean to anyone. She’d even smiled at the cowboy as she’d nearly broken his wrist. Then again, I also couldn’t imagine anyone being a dick to Torque. He was too damn…smiley. Always in a good mood. Pretty much the opposite of Scythe. No one would guess the little shit was as deadly as they came.
He’d been invited for the assessment and selection and had been set to go to the qualification course to join Delta Force when Cypher had recruited him. Instead of joining, he’d finished out his contract with the Army and then joined us. He worked for Sentry Securities, just like the rest of us, even though he wasn’t a full-fledged member of the MC just yet. It was only a matter of time. He’d distinguished himself on enough Ops that we wanted to keep him.
I motioned for Torque to get off the table. Running a rag with a cleaning solution over the area, I turned to grab the tools I’d need. “Take a seat. Lose the pants.”
“You going to take me to dinner first, too?” Cynic asked with a wide grin as he unbuckled his belt. “Or do I need to put on a goth dress first?”
“You’re not pretty enough,” I told him. “You don’t deserve dinner. Just a paper bag.”
“Paper bag,” Torque snorted.
Cynic rolled his eyes at his friend. They were the closest in age in the club. Cynic was twenty-seven, so they’d bonded pretty fast. They were nearly as inseparable as Warrant and Demo. Or Warrant and Owen. Or Warrant, Demo, and Owen. That was a weird friendship the three of them had. Not touching each other inappropriately weird, just odd that they were best friends with a cop. A cop that knew enough about their antics to lock them away for a long time.
