“Well, I like you, Violet Anderson.”
She huffed. “You don’t even know me.”
“If I stay for a bit, I’ll have the opportunity.”
Her smile was slow and devious. “It’s cute that you think so.”
She stepped back, spinning around, leaving him to stare after her as she made a beeline for the door. His gaze locked on the perfection of her heart-shaped ass, darting upward only when she paused near the door.
“Goodnight, Simon. I look forward to your next episode.” She glanced at him over her shoulder. “Which you can do from Dallas.”
He exhaled heavily, not sure why he couldn’t wipe the smile off his face. It had been a long damn time since any woman had gotten under his skin the way Violet did. There was something there. Something between them. He just wasn’t sure whether he should do anything about it.
Twenty minutes later, Simon was standing near the bar at Moonshiners. Holt was helping the few customers at the tables while Rafe was taking care of those sitting at the bar.
“What can I getcha?” Rafe asked.
Simon waved him off. “I’m actually just here to talk to Holt.”
“Holt!” Rafe shouted over the din of conversation.
“Well, that’s one way to get his attention.”
Rafe flashed a grin, and Simon suspected the man hadn’t done much smiling until Bailey and Holt took over his life.
Holt came over, pausing to relay a drink request to Rafe before giving Simon his full attention. Mindful of the locals sitting nearby, Simon suggested they talk somewhere private.
Turned outprivatewas outside because that was where Holt led him.
“Do you work here full time or what?”
Holt grinned. “Let’s just say I work as much as Rafe lets me. And I don’t get paid.”
“Now that sounds like real love right there.”
“Oh, yeah.”
Simon pulled the apartment key out of his pocket and held it up to Holt. As soon as he tried to pass it over, he saw the disappointment on his friend’s face.
“Not interested, huh?”
“I didn’t say that.”
There was a glimmer of hope. “Whatareyou saying?”
“I need to look into it a bit more. And that means bringin’ Archer and Paige in on it. I’ve gotta get their buy-in before I can move forward, no matter what.”
“You think they’ll be interested?”
“It has to do with the mob. What do you think?”
“Archer’s gonna jump all over that shit.”
Yes. And that was what Simon was worried about. Which led him to his next request.
“I’ve gotta sit down with Travis. Before I can even whisper this to Archer, I need to know Travis Walker’s not gonna castrate me in the middle of town.”
“I’m probably not the best person to make that request,” Holt told him. “Not after our sit-down the other day. I’m not his biggest fan.”
