Page 33 of Dealing Dirty
Ben’s been gone for four and a half months, and according to Cassidy, Jack’s been taking his absence hard. When they break apart, Derrick and Micah rush Ben, smiling wide as they nearly knock him over.
“You son of a bitch! What the hell are you doing here?” Derrick asks.
Jack’s brother places a hand on Cassidy’s shoulder and her eyes light up. “Well, it didn’t feel right giving my congratulations over the phone.”
The room is shocked into silence when she places a hand over her lower abdomen. “We’re pregnant.”
* * *
Derrick hasn’t stopped grinning since Cassidy broke the news to us earlier this afternoon. I hate to admit it, but it’s endearing watching him dote on her. He acts as though she’s made of glass, and any wrong move might break her.
He’s currently pulling out her chair and dragging another one in front of her feet. Her laughter is light as she swats at him for his fussing, and Jack shoos him away.
Who knew what a little mother hen he was?
Jack already shut the bar down for the night, but the room is filled with their closest friends and some regulars. Someone even brought a couple of pink and blue balloon bouquets and scattered them about.
The walls have a fresh coat of paint, and Jack had some guys install some new lights overhead to brighten the room. The few renovations he’s made have really spruced the place up. I know he was proud before, but there’s a newfound pride in him now that things are starting to come together.
I eyeball Tank’s old stool. If only we could get some decent furnishings around this joint, then it’d really be a looker.
Finding a neighboring chair next to Cassidy, I slide it between my legs. My beer clinks against her can of ginger ale when I place it on the table. “I can’tbelieveyou kept that a secret from me, hooker!”
“I know, I know. I’m sorry! I wanted to tell you, but Jack thought it’d be best to tell you all together.” She shrugs. “Ben was a pleasant surprise.”
I turn to the tall, dark, and handsome man across the room. He’s got a broodiness about him that blankets him in shadows.
Ben looks eerily similar to Jack, except his beard is trimmed a bit shorter and his denim blue eyes are a stark difference to his brother’s bright, icy ones. It’s nice to see him enjoying himself and laughing at something a member of the Wolves says as they set up a vacant pool table.
He’s racking the balls in the triangle when he pauses. Our eyes snag on Hazel at almost the same time, except I’m not looking at her like she’s a snack. She’s wearing her usual black leathers and a simple tank. Golden-brown tresses flutter behind her as she sashays across the room to us.
Hazel spins a chair around beside us, mimicking me by straddling it backward. Cassidy’s wide eyes flick between us.
Extending a gloved hand toward Cassidy, she pauses and then taps her forehead. “Oh, duh! Sorry. Hang on a sec.” She peels it off, biting the leather between her teeth, and shoves her bare hand toward Cassidy again. “Name’s Hazel.”
The smile that spreads over my best friend’s face is a curious one. “Nice to meet you, Hazel. I’m Cassidy. Have you two met?” she glances between us again.
Hazel swats the air as if it’s no big deal. “Yeah. I sort of forced my friendship on her.” Leaning over, she cups a hand beside her mouth and whispers, “She’s scared of me.”
“I am not!”
When she winks, I turn my eyes up at the ceiling. “Okay, I’ll admit that your spooky Halloween getup is a bit atrocious, but underneath it all, I’m sure you’re positivelydelightful.”
Cassidy snorts.
Hazel smacks my thigh hard enough to sting.
“Do you run with the Wolves, Hazel?” Cassidy asks.
I curse in Spanish. “You don’t have to answer that.”
A smirk curls Hazel’s pink lips. “Relax. The Wolves are… mostly domesticated. That’s my dad over there.” She points to the older man with the president patch on his cut. “He’ll never let me join. Thinks swearing me in means I’ll be doing things he doesn’t think I’m capable of.”
I swallow. “Bad things?”
She ignores my question, nodding toward the man lining up a shot on the pool table beside Ben. “That said, he’s got no issue making me Cooper’s ol’ lady.”
“Like an arranged marriage?” Cassidy’s full of questions, but I’m busy eye-balling Ben.
