Page 29 of Living Without

“Be better to meet under different circumstances,” he said, his voice deep.

I heard Melissa sigh next to me. “Hi, I’m Melissa.”

Gypsy let go of my hand and smirked down at Melissa. “Mason’s Iss, right?”

Before Melissa could say anything, Dallas clipped, “Dallas.” Then he reached around Melissa, who looked up at him and glared, to shake Gypsy’s hand.

“Right, got some news from Mason when I was stopped over in LA. Need to have church.”

“Got any more bags?” I asked.

“Nah, man. This is all I need.” His fingers tapped the green duffle bag on his shoulder.

“Let’s jet,” Dallas bit out.

At the car, there was an argument about who was sitting up front. It was Dallas’s four-wheel drive and on the way, I had sat up the front, so Melissa was finding it strange Dallas was set she would be up the front with him.

“Why?” she cried, her arms raised in the air in frustration. “You make no sense. You said men sit up front and now you want me up there?”

“Darlin’.” Gypsy caught her attention. “He wants you up there so you don’t sit next to me.”

Dallas coughed on his own breath and snarled, “That’s bullshit. Fine, you sit up the front.”

Gypsy shrugged and climbed in the passenger side while Dallas stalked around to the driver side grumbling. Melissa was still standing dumbfounded at the side of the car.

“Melissa?” I called roughly. All I wanted was to get this guy back to the compound to see what his president knew. “Get in.”

She shook her head, and after she got in the back, she said, “You guys can call me, Lissa.” I offered her a chin lift. Dallas grunted and Gypsy nodded.

“Can you tell us what your prez said?” I asked as Dallas drove off.

Gypsy turned in his seat to look back at me. He quickly scanned and asked, “You close to the woman taken?”

“She’s mine.”

His eyes lowered and when they came back to me, they were heavy with sorrow. “Sorry, brother.”

“Nothin’ to be sorry for. You’re here to help get her back. That’s all that matters.”

“Hearin’ you. But I’d prefer to tell everyone together, saves repeating myself. How far away is the compound?”

“In this traffic, ’bout twenty,” Dallas said.

“Not long, yeah?” he said straight to me. Meanin’ I didn’t have to wait long, didn’t mean I didn’t still want to hear it. I gave him a chin lift and looked out the window.

The car filled with silence, until Melissa sucked in a breath, and I knew she was about to give Dallas more shit before she said, “So you like me, Viking man?”

“Fuck,” Dallas said with a groan. “No, tiny woman, I don’t.”

“I call bullshit,” she sang. “You like me, you want to bump and grind me.”

Dallas sighed. “No wonder you and Julian are friends. You’re both annoying as fuck. Now shut the hell up.”

My eyes moved to Gypsy as he turned again in the seat. He raised a brow to me. I nodded and said, “Always like this. Though, Melissa is new.”

Dallas guffawed. “Wait till you meet Julian. Thank fuck Wildcat and her pussy posse didn’t come our way.”

Gypsy snorted. “Interestin’.”

---