Page 18 of Late to Love

A few minutes later, exactly as I was anticipating, Darcy saunters in. She’s freshly showered, her dark hair bound up in one of her signature bandanas, with yet another button-down that she’s tied up over her navel, a pair of pants riding high and tight over her waist and hips. Guaranteed that when she turns around, her ass will be perfectly framed by the fabric, presenting it as though she gift-wrapped it especially for me. And I know she didn’t dress for me, but tell that to my dick. Her siren-red lips part as she smiles.

“Mr. Hall. Fancy seeing you here.”

I simply nod, not bothering to correct her anymore.

I take her in as she scans the bottles behind me. I know this game—the one where she absolutely knows what she wants to drink but makes me wait—and I love it. She gets to think she’s annoying me, and I get to stare at her. Win-win. Before she can choose, though, Harrison appears, sliding his forearms onto the bar in front of her, smooth as fucking butter.

“Hey there, Darcy. Bowling league tonight?”

She nods, turning her gaze to him and smiling.

“Let me guess,” he continues. “You want a Paloma. Nice and refreshing but still packs a punch. Just like you.”

Darcy giggles. She fuckinggiggles, the sound sweet and bright, and now I’m going to have to kill Harrison. Or at least fire him. Because never in my entire time of knowing Darcy have I heard her giggle, and I hate Harrison down to his soul right now for being able to make her do it.

Asshole.

“That sounds great, Harrison. Thank you.” Her eyes flit to me for the briefest of moments, and I’m certain she notes the fury in my expression. To her credit, she doesn’t so much as flinch. But she doesn’t keep her attention on me, either, turning to Amanda as she and Agatha appear, followed closely by Devon. I pull their drinks together, my attention utterly caught by the way Harrison keeps flirting with Darcy. And by the way she keeps letting him.

When he leans across the bar, stretching his hand to brush an escaped curl away from her face, I nearly lose my shit.

“Harrison,” I bark.

With a shit-eating grin, he turns to me. “Yeah, boss?”

“Don’t you need to get back to the front?”

He shoves his hands in his back pockets. “Sure do. Darcy, let me show you something really quick that I think you’ll like.” He rounds the bar and heads toward the front, where all the prizes and rental shoes are kept for the guests. And fuck me if Darcy doesn’t follow him.

The other three women don’t bother with any conversation with me, thank God. They make their way to the bowling lane closest to the bar, like always, and ready themselves for the practice session.

My blood is boiling.

Before I can do or say anything about it, Ox and Reid show up in street clothes.

“Hey, big bro!” Ox grins broadly. “Miss me?”

I grunt. Not even a little. But no way do I tell him that and hurt his feelings. Better to do what I always do and let him fill in the blanks.

Reid assesses me too quickly, as usual. “No. He didn’t miss you at all.”

Ox’s face falls. “Why do you have to hurt me like that, Reid? Let a man have his dreams, will you?”

Naturally,thatgets a smile out of me. “’Course I missed you, Ox.” It’s not the whole truth, but I’m unable to resist throwing Reid off the scent for once.

Ox grabs his chest and pouts. “You wound me, Anthony. Your lies are really something, you know that?”

Rolling my eyes, I pour the draft beer that Reid wants and look questioningly at Ox. He nods back, and I pour the same for him. Like Darcy, I never know what Ox will be in the mood for, so I can’t ever just fill it without some kind of interaction. I’m sure it’s how Ox wants it, the warm-hearted asshole.

“What are you up to?” I ask, sliding the beers across the bar.

“Figured we’d get a game of pool in, maybe check things out as civilians for once,” Ox jokes. They tip their beers at me and head to the pool area. Of course, they know the locals, and within moments, they’re racking up the balls with some of them.

Darcy comes back into my field of vision, my blood fizzing as I see Harrison trailing behind her with a pair of bowling shoes. Bowling shoes that I happen to know she doesnotneed.

“Harrison!”

He startles, nearly dropping the shoes. “Boss?”

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