Page 20 of This for That (The Edge of Retaliation 1)
My eyes flitter back to Tanner, of course, because man, he does something for me.
Jo’s eyes flitter back to Tatum, and I know if she could pick a man, it would be the gorgeous, rugged one who is staring at her equally as hard as she’s staring at him.
Poor girl.
I wonder if she’s going to break it to him that she’s married. I wonder a lot of things after meeting these men, really.
Mostly, I wonder, how the hell I’m going to keep my panties on for a whole night.
First world problems, if you ask me.
THE PARTY IS FUN, AND I’ve had way too many drinks.
Not too many that I’m concerned I’m going to slur my words and do something stupid, but enough that I’m laughing freely, which I haven’t done for so long, and forgetting that my world ever turned upside down. It feels nice, for just a moment, to not think about how the last six years of my life played out.
“Honey,” Jo says, sitting down beside me on the comfortable chairs we found near the bar. She hands me a drink and continues, “I have to go. Patrick’s car broke down, and he needs a ride.”
I frown. “Oh no! We were having so much fun!”
“Everything okay here, ladies?”
We both look over to see Tanner, Garrett, and Tatum all striding our way. God, my poor body. It feels like every time Tanner is near, it wants to throw itself all over him.
“I have to go. My, ah . . .” She hesitates. For the first time in her life, she hesitates, then she exhales and mutters, “. . . husband’s car broke down.”
Tatum doesn’t seem surprised. Instead, he tips his head to the side and murmurs, “Need a hand with it?”
“Oh, no,” she says quickly, “I mean, thanks, but he’d bust a nut if I showed up with you . . .”
She’s right. He would.
Tatum smiles, just a slight tip of the lips. Man, he’s fine. Poor Jo.
“So, anyway, are you coming now or did you want to catch a cab home?” Jo asks me.
“I, ah . . .”
“I’ll give her a ride,” Tanner says, meeting my eyes.
Oh my.
Jo grins, and then picks up her purse from beside me and says, “Well, that’s that then.” She hugs me, and whispers in my ear, “Make him remember you, honey. Don’t be shy.”
She waves goodbye to the men, holding Tatum’s eyes just a little longer than the rest, and disappears off into the crowd.
I look up at the three men currently watching her go, then they all turn and look down at me. I smile nervously and say, “Well, I guess you’re all stuck with me.”
“Could be a lot worse,” Garrett says, and then grabs Tatum’s shoulder and they turn and walk off.
Tanner sits down beside me, leaning back in the chair, stretching his legs out and crossing his ankles. Oh, my. Why is it that everything he does is so damned attractive? I’m virgin-struck. I just made that up, but it seems like a thing. My body has never experienced a man, but it’s more than ready to, and Tanner sitting there, smelling the way he smells, and looking the way he looks, is making it very hard for me not to imagine all the things he could do to me.
I know he’d be experienced, without a doubt.
“Tell me somethin’ about yourself, Callie.” Tanner’s big hands curl around his beer, and he brings it to his mouth.
“There’s not much to know. I’m just a girl. You know, the same old story.”
He turns and glances at me. “I very much doubt you’re the same old story. There’s somethin’ about you that tells me you’re a whole lot more than that.”
I swallow.
He would love to know more, I’m sure, but I’m certainly not about to tell him just how right he is. I’m not the same old story. I’m a goddamned nightmare, the one nobody wants to hear about. It changes everything about who I am. I tried very hard to leave that Callie in the prison when I stepped out of those doors.
“I think you’d be wrong,” I whisper, and then change the subject. “What about you, Tanner? What’s your story? Family? Friends?”
He shrugs. “You know, the usual. Two sisters, parents still together, got my group of friends to run this place with—I’d say life is pretty good. Life all comes together just how it’s meant to.”
He’d be wrong about that. Life is a big fat asshole.
“Yeah,” I say carefully, then continue, “What kind of cars do you work on in there?” I nod in the direction of his garage.
He stands and extends a hand. “I’ll show you.”
My heart races, and I want to scream and jump and freak out all at the same time. We’re going in there? Will we be alone? God.
