The look Ashley gives me has me shaking my head and thinking twice about what to say. “Um, that you would agree that only a few days off for a babymoon isn’t long enough.”
Her eyes reach mine quickly, and she gives me a small smile that evaporates as I see her husband squeeze her arm. A squeeze that doesn’t ease up.
“Yeah, we had a great time. Only a few issues, right, Ashley?”
“Riiight,” she says with a small quiver in her voice. I would have overlooked it if I hadn’t worked with her for so long.
“Issues?” I say out loud before I think better of it.
“Oh, it was nothing,” Ashley replies too quickly, then raises a hand to shake it off as if the word would go away with that wave.
“Nothing?” Barry looks down at her, and while there’s a smile on his face, there’s something in his eyes that doesn’t seem right. “Hope that doesn’t mean we didn’t learn from our mistakes, dear. I would hate to have to explain it to you again.”
“Oh no, I remember. I just meant it was nothing forDianato concern herself with. Just something for me to work on and do better. That’s all,” Ashley insists.
He seems satisfied with her words, but all it does is leave a bad feeling in my stomach. I might not be close with Ashley outside the hospital, but that’s just because it’s hard to make friends with anyone outside of working hours due to our sleep schedules. But if I can make it work with Karter, then I need to make more of an effort with others, Ashley included. Especially her. I want us to be close. Well, close enough that she’ll tell me if there’s something I need to be concerned about.
“Babygirl, you about ready?”
I turn at Karter’s words and smile as I see him coming up behind me. He kisses my cheek and wraps his arms around my waist. I sink back into him. Him being here, arms around me, just makes everything infinitely better. Even if it wasn’t bad, I still feel better than I did for no other reason than he’s here.
“Just about. Karter, this is Ashley, my coworker, and Barry, her husband. Barry works out of Station Twelve.”
My guy holds out a hand to Barry,and they shake while the other still holds me close to his front.
“Hey, thanks for all that you do, man.” Then Karter holds his hand out to Ashley. She looks at Barry first, then reaches out and shakes his hand. “And thanks for keeping my girl company.” He releases her hand and wraps it back around me. “She gets bored when I’m not around.”
“Hey! I did just fine before you showed up,” I huff, but there’s a smile on my face.
“But you’re doingamazingnow, aren’t you, Babygirl?” He nuzzles into my neck, and I can’t help but giggle at the feel of his beard on my skin as it gets warm from the blush he brought out of me.
“You with that motorcycle gang? The one that blew up last year?”
I feel Karter go stiff against me, and he’s slow to raise his head off my neck to look at Barry. It’s not in fear; my guy is afraid of nothing. If I had to guess, he’s taking his time to pull in his instant anger at the way Barry spoke about the Hounds. The disrespect is clear in the snarl on Barry’s lips.
“It’s a club. And yeah, we had a small gas leak a while back. You the boys who helped put out some of the fires?”
“Yeah, sure. And usboysweren’t allowed in. You all took care of it on your own.”
Was Barry pouting that he didn’t get to help, or that he wasn’t allowed entrance into the Hounds’ territory? I might not know everything about the club, but it’s clear that only a few can get in.
I’ve read some things since spending time with Karter. Not everything can be believed, of course, but I know that being part of a motorcycle club is only for a select few. Only a handful get into a club despite the numbers that mightapply. Or prospect, as I learned the term is. And the Hounds? They’re known throughout the world. At least Google was able to find a lot on them. And by a lot, it just mentioned them, but real details are unknown on the web. They have a few other chapters spread throughout the country and even internationally. There’s even one in Ireland, if I recall correctly.
Karter doesn’t take the bait and just nods. “Sounds about right.”
“Might be better to have the professionals work on your shit next time. Might save a few lives if you get someone who knows what they’re doing.” Barry’s smugness only makes him sound like a cad rather than the hero I’m sure he’s trying to portray.
“I wouldn’t lose sleep on it if I were you. The boys got enough experience from the military and special ops that we can manage just fine.”
If there was a threat in that, Barry doesn’t take any notice of it. He just continues to glare, and Ashley’s squeak has me guessing that his hand on her shoulder is taking out his frustration on her for whatever he has against Karter.
“Ash, we’re leaving.”
“Um, I have a few more rounds to do.” She speaks softly to him but looks at me with a bit of panic in her eyes.
“I can take care of it,” I offer. “You should get off your feet anyway.”
“Yeah, you hear that?Someoneknows when to let a professional do their job.”
