Page 61 of Junkyard Dog

Bo lifted one brow and sneered at her hand before he held both beers up. “Hands are full. Twins.”

Becky smiled at him, turning sideways and bringing her knee up onto the bench, eliminating most of Charlotte’s seat. “Are you the good twin or the bad one?”

He leaned forward, his eyes traveling down to her legs. “I’m the one who isn’t drunk enough for that yet.”

Charlotte’s eyes widened and she locked her attention on Max, willing him to take his attention off the Montana mumbler’s cleavage and intervene. Bo sat back in his seat and got comfortable, wedging his leg tight against her. When Becky dropped her knee in a huff and latched her focus back on to Jonas, Bo used his thigh to push Charlotte back into her spot.

“Drop-shots on the house,” Alex announced from behind her, reaching between them to set a full tray on the table. He placed one shooter in front of her first, its slightly lighter color indistinguishable once it was separated from the other. “Gladiators for the gladiators,” he stated, his eyes hard despite the upturn of his lips.

The group dove in, prepping their drinks as he walked back to the bar to grab another tray of their orders. Toasts were shouted out as Max attempted unsuccessfully to quiet the group long enough for a countdown.

Bo tapped her shoulder and lifted his shot to her. “To ticking clocks.” He dropped the small glass into the larger one and tossed it back, downing it in one gulp and shaking his head as he swallowed. “Better drink up while you can.”

*

Nineteen.

Charlotte mentally added the double-rye in Bo’s hand to the total he’d had since she’d arrived at the bar.

He’d barely spoken in two hours, his blue and green eyes periodically scanning the patrons with disinterest before they’d stare blankly at the strobe lights on the ceiling. Becky had made several drunken attempts to gain his attention, going so far as to climb over Charlotte in her “rush” to the dance floor and falling into Bo’s lap.

It had been mildly amusing when he merely lifted his drinks into the air wordlessly until she righted herself in a huff and walked off.

She leaned into Alex’s hand as he brushed it across her cheek on his way by, arching her neck to watch him sweet-talk a table of tittering older women.

“Why didn’t you push back?”

She looked over at Bo. “Excuse me?”

He hefted his chair forward. “With the knock-off ranger Barbie over there,” he said, pointing his glass toward the dance floor. “Why didn’t you push back? Reclaim your spot?”

She shrugged and took a sip of her coffee. “Not worth the fight.” She leaned back and assessed him. “Speaking of fights, what happened to your face?”

“Your ugly-ass lay got in a cheap shot before I snapped a couple of his ribs.” When her mouth dropped open, Bo smiled at her, his uncanny resemblance to Alex unnerving. “So do you have your break-up date circled on the calendar? Or are you two going to pick something stupid to argue over and make that the explosive end?”

Craning her neck to catch a glimpse of Alex as he knelt down slower than usual in front of the beer fridges, she pursed her lips. “Not that it’s any of your business, but there’s nothing to break up.”

“I’d say anything that compromises my brother’s concentration on the job is definitely my business,” he countered, lifting his empty glass in Alex’s direction until Alex saw it from across the room and nodded. “This little relationship experiment is a distraction for him. And distractions are dangerous.”

She sat back and stared absently at the dance floor, giving Max a tight-lipped smile when he waved over at her. “And that,” she said, rapping her finger on Bo’s empty drink, “isn’t a distraction?”

Bo chuckled and stretched his arms behind his chair. “No escaping it when Dionysus favors you.” With an impatient glance in Alex’s direction, he stared her down, smirking when she looked away.

Alex approached the pair, eying her warily. “Double rye, last call,” he said, setting Bo’s drink down. “Everything good?”

She nodded tersely as Bo swirled the ice in his drink and looked up at his twin. “Two more doubles, two shots of tequila. Don’t forget the salt and lemon.”

*

Alex dropped offthe last of his tabs and doubled back to Charlotte’s table. The two tequila shots remained untouched as she and Bo sat in a silent standoff, Charlotte refusing to take the lemon from Bo’s teeth and Bo refusing to back down.

Max waved his credit card in the air, his other hand inching toward Charlotte’s tequila. “If no one wants that…”

“It’s yours,” Charlotte replied, pushing the salt at Max, a smile on her lips when Bo spat the lemon from his mouth and slammed back his own shot.

Alex pocketed Max’s card and knelt beside Charlotte. “Dance?”

Her eyes lit up for a moment before they flicked to Thomas standing at the till. “You’re still working.”

---