“Happy Birthday, Lucky,” Walter Smith called from the couch. The mountain of a man pushing seventy probably saw thirty-nine as young.
Someone grabbing his bag and others shoving him farther into the house meant he didn’t have to speak yet. They herded him toward the reclining chair and handed him a paper-wrapped box.
“That’s from me and Rone.” Lucky’s work partner beamed, nails bright purple when they’d been pink that morning. Yup. She’d found a way to kill time while waiting to play drug dealer for the rookies.
Two big eyes peered out from behind her. Another five years and her son might stop hiding from him. Then again, Lucky wasn’t known to be kid-friendly, or anyone-else-friendly, for that matter.
A sea of smiling faces crowded around him: Bo, Charlotte, Rett, Walter, Receptionist Lisa from work, his nephew Ty, along with his pretty young girlfriend who couldn’t possibly be the office asshole’s biological daughter.
He ripped open the paper. Lucky smiled. Bo’s smile fell and he arched a brow at Rett. She shrugged, palms out. “Hey, Rone picked it out.”
On Lucky’s lap lay the biggest pack of Oreo cookies he’d ever seen. “Costco,” she stage-whispered behind her hand.
More gifts like hers might have Lucky rethinking the whole birthday thing. Hmm… He’d have to find a place to hide them. Health-freak Bo had already ferreted out Lucky’s other stashes.
“Open mine next!” Charlotte shoved a card under his nose. Every year she’d always timed a card to arrive on his birthday, or close to it in the case of his birthday falling on Sunday. He opened the card. A gift certificate fell out. Couples massage?
Oh, man. She shouldn’t have given her gift this early in the party. How was he going to get through the next few hours with images of a naked Bo stretched out on a massage table filling his mind?
She bent down and whispered, “I’m sorry I couldn’t give you what I really wanted to this year.”
Bo wrapped her in a one-armed hug and squeezed. Bo and Charlotte, the only two people besides Lucky who understood her dejected tone.
The object of Lucky’s fantasy had one free arm left to elbow Lucky. Oh. Yeah. “Thanks, Charlotte. Thanks, Rett and Rone.” Rone stuck a hand out from behind his mother and waved. Ah, the kid was finally warming up to him.
“Mrs. Griggs couldn’t make it, but she sent a gift.”
Lucky opened the box Charlotte handed him. Homemade cupcakes and a cookbook. Just because he’d enlisted her help to cook Bo a traditional Christmas dinner didn’t mean he planned to run Charlotte and Bo out of their shared domain permanently. Somebody had to sit on the couch and keep Ty company while they fixed supper, right?
Ty’s gift turned out to be a new Bob Seger T-shirt, since Lucky had recently lost his original one. “Thanks, Ty.” His nephew had gone from hating Lucky to buying him nice gifts. Lucky’s eyes stung and he gave a sniff. “Allergies,” he said as explanation.
“You don’t have allergies.” Trust Bo to remind him.
“I was going to get you a shirt that said, “I’m a bad-assed mother—” Charlotte’s glare cut Ty off.
“Hey, Uncle R… Lucky!” Todd emerged from behind the crowd.
“Todd! What are you doing here?” Since leaving for college, Todd hardly ever visited.
The kid grinned. “What’s a few cut classes when I get to see my favorite uncle? Check your email. I got you some music credits.” Todd narrowed his eyes. “But don’t download Achy Breaky Heart or Uncle Bo will kill me.”
Lisa gave him a leather-bound organizer, like he’d be organized enough to keep one. “Look inside,” she said. “Your sister helped me.”
Page after page contained work meetings, family and friend’s birthdays, and things like “National Potato Day” and “Chicken Dance Day”. The moment Lisa turned her head he handed the thing to Bo. Who needed a leather organizer? His came in human form.
A mighty fine human form too.
The next package contained books on training techniques. Lucky shifted his gaze to the boss.
“Look inside,” Walter mouthed.
Uh-oh, this could be bad. He opened the top book to find a sheet of paper, and he scanned the print. Oh. Wow. His throat clogged. Might be from his swelling heart. Damned non-existent allergies! He turned the paper to show Bo.
“Thanks, Walter,” Bo murmured, since words stuck in Lucky’s throat.
The boss’s gift consisted of vouchers for two weeks at the river cabin where Bo had lived during their assignment in Athens, Georgia. One of Lucky’s favorite places, away from traffic, away from people, just him and Bo and the great outdoors.
Bo loved outdoor sex. Such a win.
