Page 74 of Bourbon and Lies

“A badass.”

“In that movie, not as much as Kathleen Turner,” she corrects, and I have to agree. “She was the hero.” She smiles at her toes as I finish the last one. “You did a helluva job, cowboy.”

I close the bottle and toss it aside. Lying next to her, I prop my arm under me. I try to commit this moment to memory. I move a piece of her hair away from her mouth. “Tell me you’re not in any more danger.”

She tilts her head, a little furrow between her eyebrows as her eyes lock onto mine. Maybe she hadn’t been expecting the shift in conversation. I wasn’t planning on it either, but I wasn’t going to censor things with her. Not now. I need to make sure we can have more days like today. With the question hanging in theair unanswered, she leans forward and brushes her lips against mine. “We said no more lies, remember?”

Chapter 32

Grant

“You realizeyou’re old now, right?” Lincoln says, swatting Ace.

“You’ve been calling me old for a decade, Linc. I’m not the one who wanted a birthday party. This is all you,” he spits back. Ace sends me a look as we walk down the sidewalk. “I would have been fine with a good bottle and some cigars on the back patio.”

Lincoln barks out, “Bullshit, Ace. You love this shit.”

“Hey, Grant.”

I wave at the owner of Crescent de Lune as we make our way through the bakery and down the back staircase to the speakeasy.

“You seem to have a lot of new friends lately.” Lincoln jabs as he fixes his rolled sleeves.

“She’s one of the sisters who owns the bakery. She’s been making Laney’s coffees for me in the mornings.” And it’s as soon as I say it that I realize what I’ve done.

“You’re getting her coffees in the mornings?”

I shift my glance at him, and his eyes widen a fraction with amusement. “I take care of what’s mine, brother.”

“’Bout time you said it. You were so obvious when I was making her laugh that day at the river. And I was hoping that dance didn’t go to waste.”

Ace chimes in from behind us. I hadn’t realized he was right there. “She’s good for you.” He smacks Linc in the back of the head. “You were flirting with her while your daughters were watching?”

“Ace, leave my little princesses out of it when I’m talking about women. And since when is flirting a bad look?” He points at him. “When’s the big, bad Atticus Foxx going to go after who he wants?”

“Lincoln, who is it you think I want?”

A silent exchange goes on between the two of them, one I recognize well. They get along, but there's been an unspoken rivalry ever since we were kids. “I wake up alone by choice.” He shoves his hands in his suit pants pockets and keeps his attention ahead of us, unfazed. “Sleepovers are too messy.”

Lincoln chuckles, and I follow. “Ace, being messy is half the fun.”

“Says the hot mess,” Ace mumbles back.

I just smirk, shaking my head. They’re my best friends. You don’t go through as much as we have as a family and come out of it any other way. That was never an option for us. I hate how I’ve kept things from them, my feelings for Laney, the bourbon I’ve been making. “Mind if I talk to you guys about something later?”

“You having big feelings today, Grant?” Linc teases, clapping my shoulder.

I swat his arm away. “Get off.”

Ace looks back before we push through the doors. “Whenever you’re ready, Grant.”

The dimly lit main room of Midnight Proof greets us, along with the smooth jazz filtering through the crowd. Servers hustle around with full trays of drinks and the main bar is stacked at least three people deep all the way around. The couches are filled with tourists, likely making their way down from the horse races or ready to finish their bourbon trail with the kind of vibe only a speakeasy can offer. We have a bit of an audience as we head up the flight of stairs and toward the private space on the second floor. The three of us together always garner some attention, but Ace has a few famous friends who I’m sure have already made themselves comfortable in the VIP space.

Lincoln throws open the double doors and the private party is in full swing with nearly twenty guys packed around a poker table in the middle of the room. I couldn’t care less about the starting pitcher for Chicago about to lose a hand to the MVP of the National League. My body buzzes, eager to see Laney. I know there’s a room full of men that are going to want what’s mine.

I see her the second my brother shifts out of my line of sight. Her strawberry blonde hair is pinned to one side, showing off her neck and bare shoulder.So fucking beautiful.She moves around the bar, pouring out liquors into her mixer while she laughs at what one of the guys is saying to her. Her lips are painted in that red that instantly reminds my dick how much we love that mouth, but it's what she’s wearing that has the rest of my attention. The peachy-pink color of her sheer top is just a few shades off her skin tone and draped in crystals that catch the light from the chandeliers hanging low in the room. Her black bra peeking through the sheerness accentuates how fucking exquisite her tits really are. My mouth waters just looking at her.

“Daddy’s here!” Hadley croons out as she comes around from the bar. “Happy birthday!”

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