Chapter 8 #2
Gabi said, “Cat’s gone for the week. Jake and Rainie are buried in puppy and kitten season. Raoul is out of town, but Kim is coming. Marcus and Cullen will be here soon. Olivia was going to arrive this afternoon, too.”
“My Galen is on the way. Vance is in Atlanta for another day,” Sally said. She listened for a second. “Actually, it sounds as if Galen and Marcus are already here.”
Anne glanced at the time on her phone. “My God, it’s after lunch.”
“Time flies when you’re having fun.” Sally grinned. “I’m really glad you came. At Uzuri’s old place, there we were, and no one was sure what to do. We were all getting in each other’s way. You cut through the chaos like a hot knife through butter.”
“Not surprising.” Dan walked into the kitchen, followed by Ben. “Anne leads a team of the toughest sons-of-bitches you’ve ever seen. Directing a moving crew—even one with Sam and Nolan on it—is nothing.”
“Well, no wonder then.” Sally pushed the empty box to one side. “I didn’t realize bounty hunters had teams.”
“If the skip has a history of violence, it’s safer for everyone—including him—if we use a team,” Anne said.
“Sounds smart.” Ben’s gaze was speculative, as if he were putting pieces of her life together like a jigsaw puzzle.
“Hey, Ben,” Gabi said as she closed a cupboard door. “You did a great job of rounding everyone up. I’m glad you realized Uzuri needed help, even if she didn’t want to admit it.”
“You arranged all this?” Anne asked him.
He shrugged. “I was the one who found out she had a problem, so I checked with Z and kicked it off. Mostly, I assigned people to notify other people.” He stepped close enough that her shoulder brushed his chest.
Her skin tingled at just the slight contact with his body, and her quick breath brought her his clean, tangy scent. Stop it. She took a step back.
“I saved your call for myself though,” he added.
No wonder no one else had called. But… “Why? Were you afraid I’d be rude if someone asked me for help?” She didn’t have that bad of a reputation, did she?
“No, Ma’am.” When he moved closer again, she frowned him into stopping.
Because touching him was just too tempting.
His gaze was steady on hers, and then he smiled. “I made the call because I get off on listening to your voice. Even when you’re pissed off, you sound like Lauren Bacall.”
“Excuse me?” She couldn’t keep the frost from entering her voice.
“Yeah, like that.” He grinned. “If you ever get tired of bounty hunting, you could have a great career in phone sex.”
Gasps sounded in the kitchen. Ben got worried looks from her friends, who knew what she did to disrespectful males.
Anne set her hand on Ben’s chest. His muscles were pumped up and rock hard, creating a deep valley between his pecs. A wave of heat consumed her.
Annoyed, she pushed lightly.
He instantly took a step back. His hand covered hers, holding it to his chest.
“You’re deliberately being provoking, Benjamin. Do you want me to beat on you?” she asked, only half joking.
“Any day. Any time.” The desire in his gaze couldn’t be misinterpreted. “Please.”
“Jesus, Ben, are you insane?” Cullen asked from behind Anne. “She’ll turn your frank ’n’ beans into ground-up sandwich spread.”
Anne stiffened.
“Enough with the bullshit, O’Keefe,” Ben growled.
The chill in Anne’s heart melted like butter in the Florida sun.
And Cullen stepped back as if he’d been punched. “I—”
“Anne. Benjamin. It’s good to see you both.” As Z strolled in, the power in his smooth voice silenced everyone in the kitchen. He ran his hand down her bare arm in a deliberately affectionate greeting that finished her off.
She struggled to keep her voice level. “Z. Is Jessica here? And the baby?”
“Jessica wanted to come, but she’s fighting off a cold. Kari’s staying with her and Sophia, but she sent along a platter of her brownies. I also brought a cooler of beer and soft drinks.”
“Brownies?” asked one of Andrea’s high schoolers. When everyone looked at him, he flushed so deeply his ears turned red.
“Indeed. In the living room.” Z chuckled when the boy disappeared. “I believe your pizza has arrived as well. I saw the delivery van looking for a parking spot.”
“That’s perfect timing. Excuse me.” Anne hurried out—a complete retreat—to deal with the delivery.
A few minutes later, most of the helpers were sitting on the couch, chairs, and the floor, gobbling down pizza. After handing out napkins and drinks, then finding food for herself, Anne regarded the room with pleasure. They’d done well.
A car door slammed outside, and a minute later, Uzuri appeared in the doorway. She stared at the spotless room and the people filling it. “What are you…” She put her hands over her mouth. Tears filled her eyes and ran down her cheeks. She looked at Anne. “I didn’t… Everyone is here.”
Retriever at his feet, Ben was frozen in place, holding a framed picture.
Anne looked at him, expecting him to explain.
Instead, he looked appalled. And silent. Tough guys and tears. So not a good mix.
“Come here, baby.” Anne set her food down and pulled Uzuri close as the meltdown started. “The minute Ben said you had a problem, everyone wanted to help.”
Uzuri pressed her face into Anne’s shoulder…and cried.
Anne simply held her and stroked her shoulders comfortingly. Nothing else to be done—sometimes a girl just had to cry.
Sam and Holt came out of the bedroom. Sam saw Uzuri and gave Anne an approving nod. There was one man who wasn’t worried about tears.
Holt took a step toward them, concern in his eyes. After a second, he shook his head and glanced at Anne. “Bed is put together and ready to be made.”
“Thank you.” She surveyed the room for new additions to the crew. “Kim, when you’re done, can you and Linda unpack the bedroom wardrobe and make the bed.”
“Of course.” Kim had tears in her eyes when she looked at Uzuri.
On the other side of the living room, Nolan strolled through the front door and nodded to Anne. “Truck’s empty.”
“Here, Sir.” Beth rose from her chair and handed her Master pizza on a paper plate.
He took her place, opened his legs, and she settled between them on the floor. After leaning forward and taking a quick kiss, he accepted the bottle of Corona from her.
They really did look perfect together. Anne smiled slightly. Almost three years ago, she’d told Nolan that having a more permanent submissive was worth it. Since then, he’d found Beth—and she’d lost Joey. Now she was the lonely one. And wasn’t that just pitiful?
In Anne’s arms, Uzuri lifted her head.
“All right now?” Anne asked.
Uzuri nodded and whispered, “Thank you. I’m sorry.”
“Not a problem.”
“Come with me, girlfriend. There’s still more work to be done and food to eat.” Gabi tucked a handful of tissues into Uzuri’s hand.
Sally slung an arm around her waist. “Come and see your kitchen. You won’t recognize it.”
The two dragged Uzuri away, setting her to laughing—and giving her time to recover her composure away from everyone else.
Nicely done.
After picking up her abandoned food, Anne settled into the chair Gabi had vacated.
To her surprise, Bronx dropped down at her feet. At the entreating look in his eyes, she plucked a piece of pepperoni off her pizza. His tail thumped the floor as he delicately accepted her gift.
At the sound of a familiar, hearty laugh, Anne looked up.
Laughing at a comment one of the boys made, Ben was choosing slices of the meatlover’s pizza. His face fell at the sight of the empty brownie platter.
After looking around, he walked over and joined Bronx at her feet.
“Ben.” Her voice held a warning he completely ignored.
He set his plate and Coke on the floor, turned sideways, and positioned her left foot on his thigh so he could edge between her legs. His left shoulder leaned on the couch cushion—almost on her pussy; her right leg was behind his back.
With a contented sigh, he picked up his drink.
Around the room were snorts of amusement and giggles.
Pushy submissive. Anne set her pizza down, put a hand on his shoulder, and fisted his hair, tilting his head back.
Heat flared in his eyes, and like a wolf facing its alpha, he exposed his neck even further.
She loved the way he responded to her. Nonetheless…
“Benjamin, did I ask you to sit at my feet.” Her voice carried to his ears and none other.
“Ma’am, no.” He gave her an easy smile and moved his plate before Bronx could get to it. He didn’t lower his voice. “After that bullshit of Cullen’s, I wanted to make a point.” His brows drew together. “If you really don’t want me here, I’ll move.”
Across the room, Cullen frowned. “Ben…”
“You know, Anne, he deserves to lose those balls,” Dan called.
“What’s going on?” one of the youngsters whispered to another.
“Estúpidos babosos.” Andrea slapped her Dom’s arm before glaring at Dan. “My workers are here.”
Cullen winced at the reminder.
Dan gave her a repentant chin lift.
“What’s going on is that Cullen thinks I’m too pushy with this woman.” Even as he offered Bronx a sausage tidbit, Ben grinned over at the boys, not uncomfortable at all. “You ever get that from your friends?”
Two of them turned to the third and started teasing him.
A perfect diversion. Anne gave Ben’s hair a tiny tug of approval.
His shoulders loosened under her hand.
The young lads were nudging each other and trading insults, and she could see where boys that age could certainly turn a person’s life upside-down. Yet, even in all their teenaged idiocy, they really were cute.
As the conversations floated around her, she finished her pizza and wiped her fingers on the napkin. Ben had already cleaned his plate.
“Good pizza, Ma’am,” he said. “Thank you for feeding all of us.”