Chapter 22
Chapter Twenty-Two
NONA
The boys of Makin Hardware were killing it on stage tonight. The Tap Room was hopping, and it looked like at least half the town had crammed inside to check out the show.
We managed to get here early enough to score a couple tables right at the edge of the dance floor, so we had easy access when the girls and I were in the mood to dance, which just so happened to be about every other song.
It wasn’t easy, all of us finding a night to get together, but at least once a month, Tempie, Eden, Gypsy, and I came to The Tap Room.
Not only because it was the best bar in three counties, but because Rory’s folks owned the place, so she was usually behind the bar.
It was a win-win. She got to hang with us when she wasn’t busy, and we got to enjoy good music and freaking great beer.
In the two weeks that had passed since our grill-out at Trick’s, this was the first night we’d had a chance to go out. Hannah and Blythe were at a sleepover for a friend’s birthday, and Shawn and Tris had a lock-in with their soccer team, so Trick and I were enjoying a night out with our crew.
Spinning around, I moved my hips and threw my hands in the air as the band played Grand Funk Railroad’s “We’re an American Band.
” When I opened my eyes, I caught Trick watching me from his place at our clump of tables.
He’d hung back with Hayes, Lincoln, and a few of the other guys from the police department.
A smirk was pulling at his lips, and I could see the way his gray eyes were darkening with lust as he watched me dance.
Gypsy leaned over and spoke in my ear as we moved to the beat. “Your man’s looking at you like you’re a cool, sweet ice cream cone on a hot summer day.”
I looked at my friend with a wicked smile. “As talented as he is with his tongue, he can lick me up any time.”
Her face twisted up. “I love you, hon, and I’m over the moon happy for you, but that was way too much information!” I burst out laughing. “Now every time I look at him, I’m gonna picture that shit. Thanks a lot.”
The song came to an end, and I hooked an arm around her waist. “Then I guess your next drink’s on me to make up for it.”
We headed to the bar, and as we started past our tables, Trick reached out and grabbed hold of me, stopping in the middle of his conversation to say, “You need a drink, I’ll get it for you, beautiful.”
I felt my face soften as I reached up to brush my fingers along his jaw. “That’s okay, handsome. I owe Gypsy anyway.” He gave me a curious look and cocked his head, so I finished, “Let’s just say, when she looks at you from now on, I’ve put an image in her head that can never be erased.”
“No offense. You’re hot and all, but I don’t need to know those kinds of things about the man givin’ it to my girl,” she grumbled with a dramatic frown.
Trick and Hayes both busted out laughing, and I leaned down to press a kiss to my man’s lips. “Be right back.”
“All right, darlin’.”
Gypsy and I managed to work our way through the thick mass of people to the bar, sidling up and leaning against the top while we waited for Rory or the other bartender to free up.
She caught sight of us a few seconds later and came over. “Hey, babes.” She propped her hands on the bar top and used them to heft herself up enough to lean in and give us cheek kisses.
“Hey, doll. Can I get an IPA and whatever Gypsy girl here wants?”
“Margarita on the rocks. No salt,” Gypsy ordered.
“You got it,” Rory said. “Be back in two shakes.”
She got busy making Gypsy’s drink, and I used that as an opportunity to people-watch. I was halfway through my scan when I felt someone push up to the bar on my other side.
As I turned to look up, a chill broke out along my skin. A man I’d never seen before was leering down at me, standing way to close for comfort. “Nona?” At the sound of my name coming from him, my muscles locked tight. “Nona Fanning?”
There was something sinister in his muddy brown eyes when I looked into them. “Sorry?”
“You’re Nona Fanning, right?”
That chill on my skin grew almost painfully frigid. “Do I know you?”
“No,” he replied with an eerie smile on his face. “But I know you.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
The man didn’t answer, just continued to look at me in a way that made my skin crawl. Fight or flight was kicking in, and I was just about to grab Gypsy’s arm and bail when she spoke.
“What’s going on?” Gypsy’s voice pulled me from the man’s snare, and as I turned to her, I caught him moving away from the corner of my eye. Gypsy’s crumpled into a frown as she stared at the space he’d just disappeared from. “Who was that guy?”
“I—” I looked back over my shoulder, but he was nowhere to be seen. “I don’t have a clue. I’ve never seen him before, but he seemed to know who I was. He knew my first and last name.”
“He gave me the creeps,” Gypsy said with a shiver as Rory came back and placed our drinks on the bar in front of us.
“What’s wrong? You two look like you just saw a ghost.”
“Not a ghost,” Gypsy said to Rory. “A skeevy dude who knew Nona’s name and gave us both a bad feeling.”
Rory’s face went cautiously watchful as she looked around the bar. “Really? You see where he went?”
I did another scan. “I think he left. It’s okay,” I told her, a sense of relief that he was gone washing over me. “He’s probably seen me around town or something. I’m sure it was just his lame attempt at a pickup.”
Gypsy’s face pinched up in a way that made Rory and me laugh. “Gross.”
“Good thing you have a super-sexy cop in your bed now,” Rory teased.
“Speaking of super-sexy….”
At Gypsy’s words, we turned to look in the direction her eyes were pointed and saw Cord heading over to our tables.
He gave the standard alpha greeting to the rest of the guys by way of chin lifts and fist bumps.
I didn’t know him personally, but I knew he worked for Alpha Omega, and that he’d taken three bullets trying to protect Eden when her wayward brother got her in some serious trouble a while back.
He was finally on the mend, but everyone was still shaken up over it.
For as long as I could remember, nothing ever happened in Hope Valley, then suddenly people were being shot and killed, and my friends were targeted by some really nasty characters.
It was all so bizarre, like something out of a cop show or movie.
But the one thing that interested me the most about Cord was that something had gone down between him and Rory that none of us knew about.
Rory had been beside herself when he was shot and had spent days camped out at the hospital, waiting for him to recover.
Then, all of a sudden, a switch was flipped.
The few times he’d come into the bar to make an approach, she’d brushed him off in a way that made it obvious that whatever had gone down between them caused her immense pain.
No matter how many times we poked and prodded, Rory had remained tight-lipped.
No one knew what had happened, or where it might lead, but we were all watching with a hawk eye to see how things played out. Because it most certainly would play out. That was just the way in Hope Valley.
“I need to see to my other customers, but you guys make sure to swing by again to chat.”
Gypsy’s eyes went wide. “That’s it? That fine hunk of man walks into your bar, and that’s all you have to say?”
“That’s it,” Rory answered flatly.
Gypsy narrowed her eyes and grabbed her margarita off the bar. “If you didn’t mix such a killer drink, I wouldn’t like you.”
“Yeah you would.” Rory winked and blew us a kiss. “Now go, have fun. The more you ladies drink, the crazier you get. Makes for some great entertainment.”
We headed back to our group with our drinks in hand. Gypsy broke off to go gab with Eden at the other end of the tables while I plopped down in the chair beside Trick, scanning the crowd once more for that creepy guy.
“Who are you lookin’ for?” he asked, hooking an arm around my shoulder as I took a sip of my beer.
Redirecting my focus to him, I shook off the feeling that guy left behind and leaned into Trick’s embrace. “No one, just some creepster who tried hitting on me at the bar. Or, at least that’s what I think he was doing.”
Trick grew stiff and alert, his head moving as he looked over the thick crush of people. “You see him?”
“No. He left.” I placed my palm on his thigh and gave it a squeeze, drawing his attention back to me. “Seriously, it’s fine.”
His brow furrowed in concern. “You sure?”
“Absolutely.” I shot him a wink. “Not like he had a chance anyway. I mean, have you looked in a mirror lately? Trust me. I know what I have.”
He laughed and went in for another kiss, and just like that, the weird guy was forgotten.
Tempie and I started chatting while Trick talked with Hayes and another detective named Leo, and as the night wore on, I loosened up and let myself enjoy everything around me. The beer, the music, my friends, and most especially, my guy.
“Check it out,” Tempie whispered a while later, lifting her chin.
I looked down the table to where Cord was sitting with Lincoln and another one of his guys, Bryce.
Cord wasn’t paying attention to a single thing the other guys were saying.
He was too busy staring at the bar—more specifically at Rory—to notice anything else.
“Something is happening there, and I’m dying to know what. ”
I turned to the bar to see Rory looking anywhere but in our direction. It was so obvious she was intentionally ignoring Cord’s existence, and I was starting to grow as antsy as my girls, wanting answers.
I turned my eyes to Gypsy and Eden to see they had noticed too. “You aren’t the only one, doll.” I tipped my head toward down the table, and Tempie laughed.
“Guess we’ll just have to give it time. This town’s like a real-life soap opera.”
“Amen to that.” We clinked our glasses together, and I downed the last of my beer.