Page 11 of Too Old for Love

“Uh, well, I’d like to not think of that but yes, I suppose so,” he smirked.

“Sorry,” she laughed. “They were very handsome. I mean, not as handsome as you but still handsome.”

“Ego bruised but getting better,” he nodded. “I’d like to call them and see if they can take a look at this.”

“I don’t understand,” she frowned. “Why?”

“It’s just a feeling.” He stepped away from the table and called Gator and Rush. Both men, and several others were nearby at another restaurant having a team dinner. When he returned, he put fifty-dollars on the table for the two glasses of water they’d consumed and took her hand.

“Where are we going?” she asked.

“We’ve been invited to join them for dinner a few blocks over.”

He held tightly to her hand, pulling her to his opposite side, away from the road. She smiled to herself realizing that her ex-husband had never, not in thirty years, ever done anything so protective.

“Mike, this still feels really weird to me,” she said slowing their pace. He turned to stare down at her, others on the sidewalk looking at the handsome couple. His face had a smile at first, then a dark expression.

“Get over it,” he practically growled. “If you think you’re going to chase me away because of some digits on a birth certificate or driver’s license, you’ve lost your mind. I’ve waited my whole life to find a woman like you. I damn sure don’t fucking care that you’re a few years older.”

Before she could respond, he slammed his mouth over hers, one big hand gripping her waist and pulling her body tight against his own. At first she tried to push back but then realized it was futile. It was also stupid. He was a very good kisser and fires were igniting in her body that hadn’t seen a spark in two decades.

When he finally pulled back, he tucked her hair behind her ear, kissing the tip of her nose. He flashed that brilliant, panty-melting smile at her and she just shook her head.

“Done with the protests?” he grinned.

“For now,” she laughed.

When they walked into the room, they were both surprised to see nearly thirty men seated around the table.

“Oh, this seems very private,” she said taking a step back.

“Don’t worry about it, Everest,” grinned Gator. “We’re all friendly. Take a seat right here.”

She sat down and noticed a man to her left and then one to his left. Her brows lifted and then she nodded.

“Twins?” she smirked.

“Yes, ma’am,” laughed Eagle. “My brother and I married a mother-daughter duo.” Her eyes went wide and for a moment she thought this was Mike’s idea of a convincing trap.

“Really?” said Mike with a genuine expression. “I don’t think I knew that. Tinley and Keegan look like sisters.”

“Everyone says that,” laughed Eagle. “She’s almost fourteen years older than I am. We have triplet sons and now grandchildren.”

“Wow,” whispered Everest. She felt herself blush and turned to her right, staring at Mike.

“I didn’t know this,” he said quietly.

“I know but, but Mike, I can’t have children.” Her expression wasn’t of sadness. She’d lived with the knowledge of being barren her entire life. She’d more than accepted it.

“Good. I’m too old,” he smirked. “Thank you guys for seeing us. We were right down the road. Everest was released from her company under some strange circumstances. This morning, someone from the company brought a folder to her. Most of it was just her retirement benefit information, a Q&A sheet, that sort of thing. But tucked between it all was this.” He slid the sheet to the center of the table and six men rose, staring down at it.

“Cruz? Doc? What do you make of this?” asked Rush.

“It’s a list of unnamed drugs from a shipping container that was purposely being rerouted to another shipping container,” frowned Doc. “This drug, PXR645, what is it?”

“Let me see,” she frowned. “Our software tracks patient records, even the drugs they receive. Sometimes I have to create online learning materials for those drugs, with the help of the drug company.

“That’s an experimental drug. It’s not even in phase three trials yet. It’s for arthritis but they’re trying to show that it regrows bone naturally. The hope of the company was that it would replace the leading drug on the market. If a doctor were giving that to a patient, it would show as a red flag in our software system.”