Page 129 of Crushing Clover

“She got married less than a year after she left us.”

“That doesn’t mean anything.”

Saint shrugged. “I know it’s the truth.”

I rolled my eyes. “Have any of you tried to talk to her about it?”

“I did,” Lucky admitted. “I tracked her down and tried.”

“You brought her flowers and groveled. Played loud music outside her window until she called the cops.”

“So, you threw a tantrum.”

Saint laughed, surprising the hell out of me. “He made an ass of himself.”

“I wasn’t thinking straight. At least I didn’t slash her tires or key her new boyfriend’s car.”

“Classic,” Rush said, smirking. He fist-bumped Saint, and I rolled my eyes again.

“The three of you acted like completely unhinged children.”

Saint put a finger on my lips. “That’s enough personal shit for now. We’re here in a professional capacity.”

That was it? He wasn’t going to threaten to murder me or something?

“Don’t worry, girl,” he said even more quietly than we’d been talking. “We’ll punish you later for that little comment.”

“What? It was a casual observation.” I smoothed the skirt of my dress.

Saint glanced at my lips, then met my gaze. “No, it was a cry for negative attention. When you don’t get punished in a while, you start acting up until you get in trouble. Did you think we wouldn’t notice?”

I snorted. No, I didn’t…did I? “You’re delusional.”

“You’re the brattiest girl I’ve ever met.” He hooked a finger under the lace collar Rush had put on me in place of the leather or metal ones I usually wore. Gently, he pulled me closer, putting his mouth to my ear. “And don’t even think of trying to ask anyone for help while we’re here.”

“Help?” I asked. “I’m not going anywhere until you get rid of me.”

He pulled back and stared into my eyes, as though he were trying to gauge whether I was lying.

The server came with our appetizers, and he let me go with a reluctance that made me warm all over. It probably looked very intimate. Hell, it had felt intimate to me even though he’d been issuing a vague threat.

As she served, I didn’t miss the way her pretty brown eyes lingered on the guys. She was beautiful, good at her job, and subtly trying to figure out which of them were single. I wanted to shoo her away from them, but they weren’t mine to be jealous about.

The appetizers were good, even if I couldn’t identify them all. Lucky had an opinion about their use of tarragon in something, but I could barely follow what they were saying. The entrees arrived not long after, and soon we were up to our elbows in plates, since they’d each ordered two. They shared everything, passing dishes back and forth, and I watched the effortless dance of it with enjoyment.

“Their salmon is better than ours,” Rush said, holding the plate out to Saint as Lucky nodded in agreement.

Saint took a bite of it and grunted. I’d expected him to be annoyed, but he looked pleased. He took another bite before Rush put the plate down. “We can do better.”

I worked on eating my very good not-called-chicken-fingers, and even tried the asparagus, even though I usually hated it.

“Does the girl like their food better than ours?” Saint asked Rush, offended, as though I couldn’t answer for myself.

“She ordered what she wanted,” Lucky pointed out. “At home, she doesn’t get a choice.”

“How did I not notice what she ordered?” Saint asked. “Who orders chicken nuggets at a restaurant of this caliber?”

“They’re not nuggets, and apparently enough people order them that they’ve kept them on the menu,” I pointed out. “They’re delicious. Not every meal needs to be fancy.” I nudged my plate toward him. “Try one.”

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