Page 60 of Tango

“It was nothing, Ty. You already know.” I rolled my eyes, happy that Ty already knew and didn’t find out this way. “Remember Olivia’s friend introduced me to her father?” He nodded darkly. “Mark and I were there,” I pointed to Mark then back at me, “when they were leaving on their Girl Scout trip, and that’s when he gave me his number.”

“And she took it,” Mark added.

“What’s the big deal? She’s hot.” Lee came up behind me and snagged some rubber bullets from the counter. They all looked at him while my cheeks heated. “What? She’s not my doctor.”

“No, but she is your team leader’s girlfriend,” Mark pointed out.

“Oh, dude,” Gear laughed, “it sucks to be you right now.”

“You got a hot girlfriend, Beckett.” Lee shrugged.

“Thanks, man.” Ty chuckled and returned his attention to me. “Hey, guys, could you give us a minute?”

“And that’s our cue.” Mark didn’t waste any time. He hustled them toward the door.

“Hey, Mark,” I called as they left, “payback will be a bitch.”

“Bring it, Doc.” He winked as he closed the door. I moved closer to the heater in the corner for warmth.

“So, this guy gave you his number?”

“Yes, which you knew about.”

“Did you keep it or call him?”

“Yeah, actually we have a date tonight.” I smiled a seductive smile. “No, of course not,” I laughed, “but in fairness, we weren’t officially dating at the time.”

“And then you met my family?”

Okay, so we were clearing the air right now.

“Yes, I did, and they were lovely.”

“Anything else I need to know?”

“Need to know?” I pretended to think, and he put his weapon down on the table next to him. “Your sister wants to meet up with us at Zack’s for dinner.” I saw his reaction and held up my hand. “Before you say anything, all the guys are going tonight. Maybe not for dinner, but they’ll be there for drinks right after.”

“Is that so?”

“I’d really like us to go, Ty.”

“Why?”

“Because you met my mother. It’s only fair I get to meet your family, too.”

“But you’ve already met them,” he tossed back at me. It wasn’t really a jab, but there was a clip in his tone. “Why do I feel it’s a setup?”

“Ty,” I took a deep breath, “I’m not blind to why they’re going through me to get to you, but it would mean a lot to me if we could see them tonight, together.” I put the emphasis on the last word. “If that’s me crossing a line, I’m sorry.”

The bottom of his shoe tapped on the floor as he studied me, his lips pressed into a straight line.

Shit, I pushed too far.

“Make it for eighteen hundred.” He gave me a tight nod.

“Six?”

“Yeah.” He picked up his weapon and started to clean it again.

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