9. Motivation
9
MOTIVATION
Hugger
Hugger woke feeling more than his usual morning rough.
Diana’s dark-blue couch looked good and was comfortable to sit on, but it wasn’t long enough for him. He couldn’t find a position that worked, which meant he woke up constantly in search of one.
He was also wearing his clothes, something he’d done every night, and that didn’t help with his comfort level.
But he didn’t want Suzette or Diana to run into him wearing his boxer briefs or sleep shorts.
Especially Suzette .
Hugger wanted her at all times to feel an extra layer of protection from him.
This meant he had three nights of shit sleep in a time he needed to keep his shit sharp.
So he’d just woken up, but he needed a nap.
It was still dark, just a little sun in the early dawn leaking through Diana’s many windows, but he knew he wasn’t going to get any more sleep.
He pushed up to sitting on the couch, put his elbows on his knees, drove his fingers through his hair, digging the pads into his scalp, and left them at his neck, his fingers holding his hair back and still digging into the tense muscle there.
Hugger had never been a morning person. He’d always woken tough. Until he was old enough to introduce himself to coffee, that tough lasted awhile.
It did his ma’s head in.
On that thought, he remembered when he was eight, nine years old, slouching and grouching through his morning prep before school, and his mom grousing, “ Should fill a bucket with ice water and douse you with it every morning to snap you out of it.”
From that day on, Hugger had still woken rough, but he’d done everything he could to stop slouching and grouching and get on with it so it didn’t bug his ma.
Feeling uneasy about this memory, mostly that it would unearth itself at all, he shoved it aside, pushed up from the couch and headed down the hall, noting Suzette’s door was firmly closed, but the door at the end, Diana’s , was open a couple of inches.
An indication to him he didn’t need to hold it if he had to use the john.
Damn , but she was a good woman.
Cute . Smart . Funny . Thoughtful . A little loony, but it was the good kind.
Still , when he got to her door, he grabbed the handle so it wouldn’t swing wider when he knocked softly so as not to wake her if she was asleep, or do the same with Suzette .
He heard nothing, so he knocked again, and only when she didn’t call out did he push in.
The early sun dimly lighting the room, he saw her lying with her back to him in the middle of the big bed. The white covers were pulled up to her shoulder. Her dark and golden hair was bunched up in a holder at the top of her head and was stark on the white pillowcase. The big, square, pale-blue velvet pillows he’d seen on her bed when it was made were stacked on the floor, the pale-blue velvet comforter folded along the end of the bed.
The walls were also pale blue, but her bed had a padded headboard and was a linen color.
He’d now spent three nights with visions of banging her in that bed, another reason why sleep didn’t come easy.
The nightstands were white, and they looked classy old-fashioned, like the stuff they had in France way back when. The lamps on them had crystal bases. And there was a big, white, 3D flower mounted above the arch of her headboard and some shelves in an inset on a wall covered in white frames with black and white pictures in them. That was pretty much it for decoration.
He’d been wanting to look at those pictures, look at her life and who mattered to her enough to have displayed in her bedroom.
He hadn’t.
He also didn’t spend a lot of time standing there, staring at her sleeping, because he wasn’t a skeeve.
Though he did note she had a ceiling fan, which was on, the white noise droning, and it reminded him that he slept with a fan at home, so maybe if she had one he could set up in the living room, it might help him find sleep on the couch.
And if she didn’t have one, he’d go out and buy one.
He went to the bathroom, took a piss, washed his hands, brushed his teeth, splashed water on his face and toweled off.
Then he stared at the towel, which was a cool, sky-blue color.
He turned his head and saw the two towels hanging side by side on the back of the door, one white, hers, the other, blue.
His .
We don’t have to paint it, Ma .
My beautiful boy is turning into a man. He needs a man’s room. We’re painting it.
Yet another memory of his mom came unbidden, and with it the reminder that he and his ma painted his bedroom blue when he was fifteen. She didn’t ask the landlord. “ It’s not hurting anything,” she’d said. She just gave him that, even though he knew she probably lost her deposit because of it when they moved out.
It was the nicest space he’d ever had, to this day.
Until now, temporarily moved into Diana’s sweet crib, having a thick blue towel and a sink of his own.
Back in Denver , he had a little house he’d bought because he could, and he needed a place to crash. He’d moved in because it was his. And other than that, he didn’t do dick with it unless something broke that he had to fix.
“ Fuckin ’ shit,” Hugger muttered, not real hip on all this shit crashing into his brain when he had to keep sharp.
More indication he needed some good sleep. A solid three-hour nap. Rest his body and mind, clear his head.
He’d normally go for a workout to do this, but he didn’t want to leave Diana and Suzette , and a workout would only fatigue him more, and that he didn’t need.
He was going to have to find some time to get that nap in, but he didn’t know how.
He headed out, going quiet, closing the door fully when he left Diana’s room, and he went direct to the coffeepot. He made coffee, and while he was waiting for it to brew, he rested his ass against the counter and moved his mind to going over what happened the day before.
When he and Diana got back to her complex after meeting up with Mace , she’d grabbed his hand in the elevator bay before either of them hit the button, and declared, “ Before we go up there, we need to figure this out.”
This time, he did not pull his hand from hers.
No , he curled his fingers around and held on.
He thought about it, he knew he was doing it, he knew he shouldn’t do it because of what it would communicate, and he’d already communicated a lot with his touch that morning.
He held on anyway.
“ Figure what out?” he asked.
“ You can’t tell Muzzle and Big Petey about Suzette when Suzette is around. They’re gonna freak.”
She was right. They were gonna freak.
“ But they need to know,” she continued. “ And Big Petey and I have to come up with a strategy of how to get her to open up, and he and I can’t have a huddle with her around. We’ve already taken off first thing on a Saturday , which she might find weird. I don’t want her to think we’re ganging up on her or something is wrong.”
She was right again.
“ We’ll finesse sharin’ the new intel and doin’ it away from Suzette ,” he assured.
“ I can keep her occupied. Maybe , if you’re ready to take Big Petey and Muzzle away, you can give me a hand gesture, like this one.”
She then, with her free hand, executed a hand gesture that would make any football offensive coach cream his pants it was so intricate and convoluted.
Hugger couldn’t believe it after the news they’d just heard, but it took everything he had not to bust out laughing.
How she managed to con hospital staff and a cop to get to Suzette , he had no clue. It was probably less about the con, and more about her charm.
“ Then I’ll know to get her someplace she doesn’t notice you guys are gone, or something,” she finished.
“ You don’t think she’s gonna notice me doin’ whatever you just did with your hand?” he asked, and he didn’t have enough left after stopping himself from laughing to control his voice vibrating with humor.
She screwed up her face in irritation.
“ Well , do you have a plan?” she snapped.
“ I’m gonna send Muzzle to Eight . Eight can tell him. I’m back, so we don’t need him here right now. And Pete can learn later. Don’t think it’s good we’re off someplace first thing in the morning, and you go barrelin’ in there to get her to share all her secrets and make a decision about something as important as her safety. But you do go in there easing into it. A little more pressure, a little more attention. She’s good where’s she’s at right now, and the FBI can wait until she’s ready. This all doesn’t have to happen today.”
“ Good call,” she muttered.
“ Can we go up now?” he asked.
She shot him a look he was sure she thought could kill, but it didn’t, since it was cute. She then hit the elevator button, so he guessed her answer was an affirmative.
Muzzle practically bowled him over on his way out as they were on their way in, which meant Eight already called him.
Pete gave him a What the fuck is up? look, which Hugger had no choice but to return with a Later one.
Diana got the brilliant idea to keep the day chill by doing normal stuff, and she corralled Suzette into helping her with it.
This included cleaning, doing laundry, sending Pete to the store with another list and starting the white chili (again in the Crock -pot). Hugger lugged out the trash and recycling and commandeered the vacuum after Diana pulled it out. Suzette and Diana made a pie (strawberry, fucking amazing, it was better than her elote ). And they all sat around in the afternoon and watched a hilarious British movie called Death at a Funeral ( Diana’s choice).
The boys showed at six.
They ate at the dining room table. They gabbed. Muzzle pissed him off (even though it was obviously a joke) by asking Diana to marry him after he ate her pie. And Hugger further reconsidered how he felt about Resurrection when Eight showed how pleased he was when Diana approved of the wine he brought (and he brought five bottles, though she only tasted one).
They took off a lot earlier than they did the night before. Pete went with them.
And the improvements kept coming when Suzette didn’t retreat to her room but watched another movie with them even though Hugger was there.
Diana coaxed Suzette to make the choice that time. She chose a Disney movie, Encanto , which Hugger was surprised didn’t suck, and the music was tight.
They all hit the sack after that, with Suzette speaking the first words she’d ever said to him, “’ Night , Hugger .”
So more improvement.
When the women had gone to bed, he’d gone out on the balcony to call Rush and Big Petey .
Pete was at the crash pad, so by the time Hugger spoke to him, he already knew.
Rush was silent for a solid two minutes after he got the update, before he said tightly, “ Wash has got to know this by now, though I’m not surprised he hasn’t called me. They could be fixing to go rogue. Let me talk with Wash and Buck . Might need to send down Jag and Coe to help keep a lid on things. We’ll see. I’ll get back to you.”
That was it, and now was now.
Another day in a sweet crib with a beautiful woman, a broken girl, and a lot on his mind.
He turned to the coffeepot, made himself a mug, took it to the sofa and cleared away the bedclothes Diana insisted on tucking around the cushions to make a bed for him.
He was stowing them out of sight when his phone—resting by his gun on the coffee table—lit up.
It was a call from Big Petey .
He took it and his mug to the balcony.
When he answered the call, the sky was lighter, some women were in yoga clothes carrying yoga mats and heading to a place on the bottom level, but other than that, there was no one around.
“ Yo . You good?” he greeted.
“ I managed to stop Eight and Muzz from storming Imran Babi?’s house last night, and instead, waiting for Rush , Buck and Wash to decide how they wanted it handled. So that was a win.”
It was, though Hugger reckoned it was a battle and not the war.
“ Good ,” he said.
“ You’re up early,” Big Petey noted. “ I thought I’d be leavin’ a voicemail.”
“ Couch as a bed is shit, man.”
“ I bet,” Pete mumbled. Then , “ Gonna hit the shower, grab some donuts and come over. Workin ’ with these old bones, that’ll probably mean a couple of hours.”
“ Diana wants a huddle with you to try to figure out how to get Suzette talking. But she doesn’t want Suzette seeing the huddle. So if you could figure out how to do that, it’d make her feel better.”
“ We’ll figure it out.”
Something in Pete’s voice was tweaking him.
“ You sure you’re good?” he asked.
It took a minute for the man to answer.
Eventually , he sighed, “ Too old for this shit, Hug .”
Hugger couldn’t disagree, but he didn’t like to hear it come out of Pete’s mouth.
Still , he said, “ You need to head back to Denver ?”
“ You couldn’t pry me away from those two women with a whole case of dynamite until I know down deep in my gut they’re safe,” Pete returned.
Hugger smiled and took a sip of his coffee before he replied, “ Right .”
“ How you doin’ with all of it?”
“ Suzette said goodnight to me last night, so I think she’s getting used to us. Today might be a day to push. Diana will be back at work tomorrow. It’s a lot on her to work to live and then come home and have an even more important job on her hands. Her job seems cush, but it requires a lot of detail and concentration.”
“ Agreed . Though , gotta put out there, Suzette isn’t there with me, son. Hate to say it, but we don’t have the time for me to get there with her. Diana and I will talk, but this is all gonna be on Diana .”
Hugger suspected that, but he still didn’t like it and tipped his head side to side to release the tension in his neck before he took another sip of coffee and replied, “ Yeah .”
“ Looks with the way you two were together yesterday like you made up your mind about her.”
Fuck .
It wasn’t like they were all over each other, but he for certain had broken a seal for Diana . She cuddled up to him on the couch for both movies, he let her, and not only because there wasn’t a lot of room for everyone if she didn’t.
He’d never cuddled in front of a movie with a woman in his life…or ever. Never had the urge. He’d witnessed others cuddling, and he didn’t see the draw of it, having someone up in your space like that.
With Diana , it came natural.
And it felt great.
“ Pete —”
“ Though , talked to Tack and he said he hasn’t heard from you.”
“ I haven’t made up my mind about her.”
“ Okay , so, where you at with that?”
“ Not someplace I’m willing to talk about it.”
“ Hug —”
“ It’s too early for this shit, Petey .”
“ Maybe . But we touched on this the other day, so I’m gonna touch on it again by saying, we got you, and we don’t have you.”
Hugger didn’t understand. “ What ?”
“ You’re Chaos . We can count on you. But I bet I asked, not one brother could say he knows you.”
Hugger felt a tightness hit his chest. “ That’s the way it is. It’s what you give and what I return.”
“ Yeah . That’s the other thing. Not one brother could say you know them.”
Hugger was not liking this.
“ That isn’t true.”
“ Only because they give a shit ton more than you do, and you pay attention.”
“ You sayin’ that’s a problem?”
“ No , son, I’m sayin’, for me, that’s a worry.”
“ For fuck’s sake, why?”
“ Because you got a lot to give.”
“ Like what?”
“ Maybe ask Diana .”
Hugger shut his mouth.
Big Petey did not.
“ She gets to that point in healing, ask Suzette . Ask any of our brothers, you pitch up at the store and do your thing there, no complaint, when most the men hate workin’ the store. Ask any brother of Resurrection , when you take their backs. Ask Tab , when Playboy got to pukin’ his guts out and Shy and Rush were up in Fort Collins , Tack and Tyra were in St . Lucia , you went to the hospital to hang with her until her man and her brother could get to her.”
“ It’s what we do.”
“ You’re Suzette , Hug , in a different way. Just livin’ until you die.”
That hit so close to the bone, he could feel the blade scraping.
“ We gotta talk about it,” Big Petey announced.
He found his breath on that because he knew what Pete wanted to talk about.
And that wasn’t going to happen.
“ No , we don’t.”
“ I’ve left it too long. I’m too old. Slowin ’ down. I need to sort this for Jackie before I kick it.”
He didn’t like Pete talking about kicking it either.
“ Pete —”
“ Not now. Too much happening now. Later ,” Pete said as Hugger heard the sliding glass door open behind him.
He twisted to see Diana back in her loose shorts and Diamondbacks tee. The mess of hair on her head was listing off to one side. Her eyes were sleepy. Her gait was shuffling as she made her way to him.
And she was the prettiest thing he’d ever seen.
He froze solid as she came right in, fit herself to his back, and he felt her press her cheek there as she wound her arms around his middle.
It was the sweetest touch he’d ever had.
Good Christ .
“ Hug ?” Big Petey called.
“ Diana’s up,” he grunted.
“ Right . We’ll leave it there. Though , warning, we’re picking it up later. See you in a few.”
“ See you,” he pushed out, and the call ended.
He put his mug on the railing and carefully turned in Diana’s arms.
She allowed this, then pressed to his front.
“ It’s super early and you’ve obviously been up awhile,” she mumbled, even her voice sweet and sleepy. “ We need to go out and get an air mattress for you.”
He shoved his phone in his back pocket, then he took her by her upper arms and gently but firmly set her away from him.
She blinked up at him, her face fell, and his gut lurched at seeing it.
“ I’m sorry,” she whispered, the sleepy gone, horrified in its place. “ So sorry. I thought yesterday…you touching my face, holding my hand, watching the movies… I thought… I …” She shook her head hard, making that clutch of thick hair bounce. “ I thought wrong and I’m so sorry. That had to be weird for you.”
Hugger found his mouth saying, “ I don’t like to be touched and I’m not affectionate.”
“ Okay . Yeah .” She nodded her head fast and repeatedly. “ Again , I’m sorry.” She was looking anywhere but at him. “ I’m just gonna go?—”
“ Diana .”
Her eyes skated across his face and fastened on his ear.
“ Babe , look at me,” he said softly.
It took visible effort for her to meet his gaze.
She looked uncomfortable, mortified, like she wanted to be a million miles away from him.
And he couldn’t stand it.
Any of it, but especially the last part.
He bent to her, caught her chin between his thumb and finger, and whispered, “ I’m a problem you don’t need.”
“ What ?” she whispered back.
“ I got shit no good woman needs laid on her.”
“ What shit?”
“ Shit I was born with.” Fuck him, he was giving it to her. “ Shit that made me.”
“ Harlan —”
“ You got enough to deal with, you can’t be taking on my shit.”
“ Can you give me a hint what your shit is?”
“ I already did.”
“ I don’t—” The haze of sleep and mortification cleared, and her brows snapped together. “ You mean your mom?”
He had to stop touching her, but he couldn’t do it without running his thumb along the line of her jaw.
So he didn’t.
Then he said, “ Fuck no, Di . But think on that.”
“ Think on what?”
“ Who’s my daddy?”
Her head jerked and she asked, “ Do you know?”
“ Met him once, once was enough, but I know who he was. All of who he was.”
“ Then does it matter?”
Her words felt like a lance went clean through him, so he couldn’t reply.
She threw up both hands. “ Who’s my daddy?”
“ Di ,” he choked out.
“ So , okay, he’s making an effort now. But I’m twenty-nine years old, Harlan . I’m grateful for that effort, and I’ve decided to explore it, but that’s a long time to have a dad who expected me to be his brand of perfection from top to toe, to intellect, to personality, and live with falling short and disappointing him time after time. A dad who cheated on my mom, broke her heart, and I had to watch. But even if he cheated on her, he acted like she had some horrific defect and was beneath him, and me, and everybody. A dad who didn’t have a lot growing up, and wasn’t a big fan of that, so he pulled out all the stops to give himself, and yeah, me, more. But that meant I was raised by nannies and babysitters and?—”
She was winding herself up way too tight with this shit.
So he ordered, “ Stop it, honey.”
“ Do you want to know why I went balls to the wall to get Suzette in my house?”
Unh -unh.
Hell no.
They couldn’t go there.
“ Don’t give me that,” he growled.
“ So you guessed already that I was trigged and why.”
Hugger said nothing.
“ When that happened, Dad? —”
Oh no.
They definitely couldn’t go there .
“ Don’t give me that, Di .”
“ He made it so that guy?—”
“ I’m tellin’ you, babe, don’t fuckin’ give me that.”
“ That guy?—”
Fuck it.
To shut her up, he hooked her around the back of the neck, yanked her to his body, bent his head and took her mouth.
For a beat, she stilled.
Then she melted into him and her hands slid up his chest.
Given the invitation, he tipped his head to the side and touched his tongue to her lips.
She opened, Hugger slid his tongue inside and tasted toothpaste and warmth and woman and mysteries and truths and the fullness of life.
All of it crashed into him all at once.
It was crushing.
And it was fucking fantastic .
He angled his head even more, clamped his arm around her, leaned into her, arching her over his arm, and took the kiss deeper.
Diana mewed in his mouth and slid her fingers into his hair, her other arm tight around his neck.
She pressed close, and she gave.
And gave.
And more.
Then she took, tangling her tongue with his, darting it in to get her taste of him.
Feeling her invade, his cock jumped and a growl rolled up his throat.
Her mew came back and she pushed harder into his frame.
They held on and took from each other and gave to each other and nothing else mattered.
Nothing .
The world wasn’t totally fucked. Heinous shit didn’t happen to good people. You didn’t have to sweat and bleed and beg for any scrap you got.
No .
The world was Diana’s balcony, her soft body against his, her hand in his hair, the open promise of who she was and what she could offer more than enough to give a man motivation to climb mountains.
As that thought bolted through him, Hugger broke the kiss, but not his hold, tucking her cheek against his chest.
It was then, in his mind’s eye, he saw his Chaos brother, Joker’s head come out from behind the hood of a car and the look on his face when he saw his old lady Carissa walking into a bay at Ride .
He saw Shy’s expression when his gaze landed on Tab when he walked in that hospital room where their kid was in a bed with a really bad flu.
He saw Georgie giving Dutch shit, and Dutch’s eyes lighting up, because he loved it.
He saw Tack where he’d seen Tack maybe hundreds of times, ass resting on the edge of Tyra’s desk in her office at Ride . He didn’t need to be there for work. He was just there because his woman was.
A kaleidoscope of the same from Lanie and Hop , Millie and High , Hound and Keely , Jag and Archie , Rosalie and Snap , Rush and Rebel churned through his brain, and fuck, he’d been slow on the uptake.
It had been there all along.
Right in front of his face, all around him.
All along.
What his ma wanted for him.
What Big Petey and Rush had been offering him.
Even if it was all over that FFO barbeque that introduced him to the life he could have, it was what he’d never grasped, intellectually or emotionally.
“ Um …” Diana hummed against his chest.
He let her head go but wrapped that arm around her to join his other.
She tipped her head back.
Her lips were bruised, there was pink in her cheeks…
Christ .
Amazing .
“ So that was a really, kinda…uh, important kiss. Yeah ?” she asked.
“ Yeah ,” he agreed.
He felt her body sag against his with relief.
Yeah , she was as into him as he was her.
“ So maybe we should get some things clear,” she suggested.
“ Di —”
“ I’m into you.”
There it was.
She went on, “ I like you. I really liked that kiss. And , well, none of this is optimal with all that’s going on and the fact we live in two different cities in two different states.”
“ Yeah ,” he agreed again.
“ But I …well…” She faltered.
“ I like you,” he said quietly. “ I’m into you. This is shit timing, not only for the reasons you stated, but I’ve got things I gotta figure out before I’m good to get deep with a fucking fantastic woman I wanna get to know better.”
He didn’t think she could melt any more, but she practically fused with him then, a happy light sparking in her pretty green eyes.
Hugger instantly fell in love with that light. He wanted to keep it lit until he took his last breath.
But she had to know.
“ Baby , the shit I gotta wade through is pretty deep and not the kind of thing you lay on a woman you just met and wanna get to know,” he warned.
“ Um , were you there at Sack’s when I had a breakdown because my dad had demonstrated for the first time in twenty-nine years he gives a shit?”
Hugger couldn’t believe it, but he grinned.
She watched him grin, then looked up in his eyes. “ Yes , you were. We learn something new every day, if we pay attention. And the last few days, I learned you don’t get to the pick the time you meet a guy who you want to jump his bones.”
His brows shot up. “ You want to jump my bones?”
“ Um … again , were you just there for that kiss?’
He stroked her back and muttered, “ Totally there, baby.”
“ So …what? Are we gonna kinda date while we deal with all this other stuff?”
“ No , but we got no choice but to get to know each other, and I’m seriously down with doin’ that.”
Her eyes narrowed on him, and what she said next demonstrated she’d already started getting to know him.
“ You look like you haven’t slept in a week.”
“ Di , it isn’t a big deal.”
“ It is. I don’t like it. Can you nap during the day?”
“ Who can’t?”
“ I can’t. If the sun is up, it’s impossible.”
Holy shit.
“ Really ?” he asked.
She nodded.
“ Sucks for you, babe,” he mumbled.
“ It does. But whatever. When Big Petey gets here, you’re behind closed doors in my room, catching up on sleep.”
He wanted to refuse, but he shouldn’t, so he didn’t.
“ Pete’s bringing donuts,” he told her.
Her eyes lit up again, and Jesus .
Fuck .
Oh yeah.
Motivation to scale mountains.
“ Awesome ,” she replied. “ So , we’re just gonna ride this however it plays out while everything else plays out, is that our plan?”
“ I’m down with it if you are.”
More bright in her eyes and more body contact with her pressing close. “ Totally .”
He cupped her jaw and stroked her cheek with his thumb, and… damn .
Holding her, touching her, free to do that after wanting it since he laid eyes on her, it felt fucking great.
“ I’m going to text Dad and say yes to dinner,” she informed him. “ And if he asks you to join us, you probably should know?—”
He stiffened and cut her off. “ Baby , like I said, don’t .”
Her expression grew confused. “ It’s not good, but you should know.”
“ I know it’s not good. I know it’s not about me. And now I know he didn’t take care of you through it, which is why you two had your thing.”
She bit her lip.
Mm -hmm.
“ So I can’t know how he didn’t do that, because it’s gonna piss me off to extremes. I don’t wanna be sharing a phenomenal kiss with you one second, and losing my shit about your dad the next, and maybe freaking you. I gotta be in the right place. More importantly, you gotta be in the right place. And you gotta agree that is not here and now.”
She scrunched her nose and muttered, “ You’re right.”
“ We just jumped our first hurdle and landed on our feet. I don’t need your dad throwing a leg out and tripping me up.”
“ I don’t want that either.”
“ So later on that, yeah?”
She nodded.
“ Wanna take a shower before Big Petey shows with donuts, I scarf a few down and then get some decent shut-eye?”
Her eyes grew round. “ Shower together?”
He felt his face get soft. “ No , baby. Later on that. When we get there and you’re ready. Yeah ?”
She nodded again, but he liked it a fuckuva lot she looked disappointed.
He bent and touched his mouth to hers.
Those green eyes were fucking sparkling when he lifted away.
“ I like this new us,” she decreed.
Fucking hell, he hoped he knew what he was doing.
“ I do too. Now , scoot. Pete said he won’t be here for a coupla hours, but Suzette might be up any time. She’s seeming more comfortable with me and being out in the common space, and we don’t need to be making out on the balcony when she comes out.”
Diana frowned.
Hugger smiled.
Then he turned her, put a hand in the small of her back and shoved her toward the door.
He watched her walk in, so he caught her looking back at him like she wanted to make sure he was still there and he didn’t leap over the railing to escape.
He lifted his chin to her.
She grinned and disappeared.
He turned and looked down at the courtyard.
A couple more women with workout bags on their shoulders and skintight clothes were heading to another door on the first floor.
It wasn’t even seven o’clock on a Sunday .
Lunacy .
He nabbed his mug and took a sip.
It had to be ninety degrees out at least, and the coffee had gone cold.
So he walked into a great kitchen in a sweet crib to warm it up.