Chapter 6
Chapter Six
HAYES
My partner, Patrick Wanderly, and I had been at Alpha Omega Investigations, going over everything we had on the Henderson murder with Lincoln.
He wasn’t part of the police force, but being that he ran his own security and private investigations firm he was a well-trained, extremely talented fresh pair of eyes, and I trusted him to keep his help on our case under wraps.
When it came to Lincoln Sheppard, I trusted the man with my life.
Serving in the Marines together created a bond stronger than most blood.
We’d been hitting one dead end after another when his cell phone rang with a call from Eden, asking for a pickup from the local bar.
Trick and I decided to tag along, both of us in serious need of a drink after a day full of frustration. We’d been working nonstop the past couple months on this case and getting absolutely nowhere, and the frustration was doing both our heads in.
My need to relax with a beer or two was completely forgotten the second I walked through the door of The Tap Room and spotted Tempie out there on that goddamn dance floor.
I’d seen her twice since her return to Hope Valley, but both those times she was locked up and tense. It was nothing like this. I hadn’t seen her this loose and relaxed in two decades, and it stole my goddamn breath.
She still danced with complete abandon, eyes closed, arms up, hips swaying tantalizingly.
She’d always loved to dance. Anytime there was music, no matter what the song was or where it was coming from, if she could hear it, she’d start dancing without even realizing.
She danced while she washed the dishes after one of her mother’s homecooked meals.
She bopped around in her chair or tapped her foot while doing homework or studying.
She moved around the kitchen like it was a dance floor while making a sandwich.
Hell, sometimes there didn’t even need to be music.
A tune would pop into her head, and that was enough to get her moving.
Tempie had been a social butterfly back in the day.
She was nice to everyone, which made her one of the most popular girls in our school.
Because of that, our weekends were spent bouncing from one party to another.
It never failed that she’d find herself an empty spot in whatever room we were in, close her eyes, and dance like she was the only one in there.
When I wasn’t giving all the other assholes threatening looks for gawking at what was mine, I was watching her, completely entranced in everything about her.
And as I watched her now, it felt the exact same.
The men all around the floor stared at her and Gypsy like the show the two women were putting on was just for them, and I was just as captivated as they were.
I managed to mumble my hellos to Rory, Eden and Nona before Tempie’s allure drew me in completely and I leaned onto the bar to focus more intently.
One minute ticked into the next before she finally opened her eyes.
Grabbing Gypsy, she said something to her, and the two of them turned to head back to the bar.
She came to a halt the moment her gaze locked with mine, and even from that distance I could see her chest rise with a sharp, surprised inhale.
She started moving again a few seconds later, but when Gypsy leaned in and spoke, Tempie’s foot caught and she started going down.
Moving faster than I had in a long time, I cleared the last few feet between us and grabbed her before she could hit the floor.
The second my arms closed around her, I knew I’d screwed up. But when Tempie’s head tilted back and those wide, crystal-clear blues landed on me, I realized I hadn’t just screwed up, I’d made a huge fucking mistake.
The way my body reacted to her being in my arms was the exact way it had back when she’d been mine. My muscles tightened, my chest squeezed, and my dick started to swell.
“You okay, angel?” The old endearment rolled off my tongue with an ease I never would have expected, and I knew the effect of that one word hit her just as hard as it had me when her body melted deeper into me, her eyelids fluttered before that blue went warm, and her lips parted on an inhale.
Fuck me. That look was still goddamn tempting as hell. I needed to break the spell before I did something really fucking stupid.
Placing my hands on her hips, I made sure she was stable on her feet before setting her back a few inches.
“I, uh….” The tip of her tongue poked out and swiped along her full, pink bottom lip. “Yeah. Sorry. I’m good.” Her words were slightly slurred, and I could smell the whiskey mingled with sweet mint on her breath. “Just lost my footing there for a sec.”
Lost her footing, my ass. The corner of my mouth hooked up in a smirk, and my fingers on her rounded hips clenched of their own regard. “You’re plastered, aren’t you?”
She pulled her lips between her teeth and bit down before casting her gaze to the side and replying ominously, “It’s kinda been a crappy day.”
I didn’t want to care about that statement. I wanted to be able to brush it off like it was nothing. I didn’t want to be concerned. But Christ, I couldn’t seem to stop myself.
I felt the pinch of the frown between my eyebrows, and before I could think better of it, I found myself asking, “Everything all right?”
A shadow passed over her face so fast that I’d have missed it if I wasn’t studying her so closely. “Yeah, no. It’s fine.” she answered way too quickly. “Everything’s fine. Just one of those days, you know?”
I read the lie clear as day, but I fought against my instincts as a cop—and, more to the point, a man—to dig further.
“We showed a little after Tempie and forced her to hang with us,” Eden stated before letting out a drunken hiccup. “We had all the shots!”
Oh, for Christ’s sake.
Lincoln’s head shot around. His eyes pinned me in place the second he heard Eden say Tempie’s name, and I just knew in my gut that I was going to get a ration of shit from him. Fortunately, the women were here as a buffer for the time being.
It wasn’t until Lincoln’s eyes traveled down to where my hands rested that I realized I was still holding Temperance. I let her go and dropped my arms to the side just as his attention returned to my face, and the fucker gave me a shit-eating grin.
“Now she’s officially part of our group!” At her declaration, Eden threw her arms up in the air and lost her balance, teetering on her stool before Lincoln grabbed hold and righted her.
“Easy there, drunky.” Linc smiled—something he hadn’t done a whole lot of until he met her—and used her wobbling as an excuse to pull his girl even closer and not let go.
Not that he needed much of an excuse. The man who’d once snubbed his nose at just the thought of commitment was completely sprung for the sweet, adorable woman a few doors down.
It was a relief to see my brother had found his happy.
Eden tipped her head far back to look up at him, her expression loopy and full of drunken adoration as she reached up and dragged her fingertips along his jawline. “You’re so handsome. My handsome, handsome man.”
Lincoln’s smile grew even wider. “Think it’s time to get you home, buttercup, yeah?”
She let out a low hum and leaned deeper into him, her face going soft as she rubbed her palms up his chest. “Drunk sex,” she slurred. “Yay!”
Biting back my laugh, I lowered my head and studied my boots to hide my grin.
“Yeah. Definitely time to get you home,” Linc said on a chuckle.
“I should be goin’ to. Got a long day ahead of us tomorrow,” Trick stated, looking less than happy at the prospect of going back to the motel he’d been crashing in the past couple of weeks.
To add to the stresses of work life, my partner was also struggling with his personal life as well.
After years of what seemed like a happy, healthy marriage, Trick’s wife just up and decided that she didn’t like being married to a cop anymore.
My brother in arms was fighting a serious battle, trying to turn the love of his life back around to his side, but with every day that passed, and every night spent sleeping at the Valley Inn, room sixteen, his hope seemed to dwindle a little more.
He downed the last of his beer and stood, pulling his wallet from his back pocket and tossing a couple bills on the bar before tilting his head toward the drunken entourage. “I can drop them at home on my way.”
“I got Tempie.” The words flew out of my mouth without a moment’s thought.
Her head swung around, sending her ponytail whipping around into her face as her expression portrayed the same shock I felt at my proclamation.
“You get Gypsy and Nona home.”
“You sure?”
“Yeah,” I answered even as my brain screamed that this was exactly the kind of stupid decision I’d been trying to avoid.
Temperance
Shit.
Shit, damn, hell, shit.
I wasn’t sure I could handle a car ride with Hayes, especially after the heartfelt confession I’d just shared with my new friends earlier. I felt raw after that conversation, like I’d reopened a wound that hadn’t healed properly in twenty-one years.
After entering into a brief argument about who would pay our exorbitant tab, the three men ended up splitting it, each tipping Rory very, very well.
The girls gave me long, exuberant hugs goodbye after we exchanged numbers with promise to get together again soon. And in the midst of my freak-out about Hayes taking me home, I couldn’t help but feel excited at the prospect of seeing them all again.
“Love you, Ror!” Eden called, looking over her shoulder and waving enthusiastically as Lincoln all but dragged her from the bar. “And you’re awesome, Tempie! So happy to have met you!”
“You too, honey,” I returned with a small wave of my own. “Call me soon.”