Page 26 of Rattler
“Nope.Just slimy little headless fish on my dinner.”He took another bite of the slice of pizza.
Ace and Emma wandered over arm in arm.I was proud of myself for remembering almost everyone’s name.Ace grabbed two bottles of beer out of the bucket beside us.Twisting the top off one, he handed it to Emma before opening his own.The pair sat down on the bench opposite us, and Ace nodded a greeting at Rattler.“I managed to get a restoration company booked for the morning.The prospects are cleaning all the broken stuff up right now.Once that’s out of the way it’ll be easier to see what needs to be fixed or replaced.”
Rattler nodded.“We should probably get a licensed electrician to check out the wiring before we put up another fan.”
“Already booked.Piper’s dad has connections and they’re sending their guy over.He can check the wiring out and make sure the new fan is installed correctly.”A wry smile crossed his face.“Nice as it is to have a friend do it for free, we don’t need a repeat of today.”
Rattler saw my puzzled look.“In one of those weird twists, Piper’s dad is our FBI contact.We do some contract work for them from time to time, and he’s got a fuck-ton of connections.Anything from landscapers to bankers.Piper grew up with no idea who her dad was, so she tracked him down with one of those DNA search things when she reached legal age.He had no idea he had a daughter until then.Her mother is what you might call a free spirit, so there were a lot of candidates to choose from.”
“Oh.”I wasn’t sure what else to say.“Nice that they get to know each other now.”
“Turned out good from a lot of angles, but that’s another long story,” Emma added.“You can ask Piper about it some time.”She grinned.“Karma has a way of making sure we’re all in the right place at the right time.”
Ace pulled her in close and placed a kiss on her lips.“Sure does.So glad I was home the night you showed up wounded, instead of spending it at the clubhouse here.”
I looked from one to the other, but Emma just laughed.“Another long story.We need to set up a girls’ night sometime soon and get you caught up on all the drama.”
“Sounds like a plan.”I took a sip of my beer just as Willow came rocketing over and stuck her nose in my lap.
Scrapper hissed, and his claws came out.The fur on his back stood straight up as he arched his back like a cat in a Halloween cartoon.If he’d been bigger, it might have been scary.Instead, he looked insanely cute.Willow certainly didn’t look intimidated and stayed right where she was with her head in my lap.
I glanced up at Rattler, unsure about what to do.The last thing I wanted was a dog and cat fight in my lap.He just shrugged.“They’ll work it out.Willow’s never shown any aggressive tendencies, so I’m betting on Scrapper if it comes to blows.”
I rolled my eyes.“Great.That makes me feel so much better.”
The two animals stared at each other for an endless moment.Willow’s head didn’t move, but she let out a little whine and her tail was whipping back and forth a mile a minute.
“I think she wants to be friends.”Rattler looked amused.
“Maybe, but I’m not sure Scrapper is into it.”
Just then, Scrapper took a step forward.His little head inches from the dog’s mouth, he stuck his tongue out and took an experimental lick of Willow’s nose.The dog reacted by returning the favor, but her tongue was much larger and then Scrapper was wet from his neck to the tip of his head.
In retaliation, Scrapper swatted Willow across the snout.Luckily, he’d sheathed his claws so he didn’t draw blood.Willow stood and executed a perfect play bow which seemed to be Scrapper’s cue to hop off my lap and race across the lawn.Willow followed enthusiastically, and we were soon treated to the sight of the two unlikely new friends playing what appeared to be a game of tag as they alternated between chaser and escapee.
It wasn’t long before they wore each other out.It was Scrapper’s turn to chase Willow but instead of fleeing, the little dog lay down on the grass and rolled onto her side.Scrapper stalked up to her and after circling a few times to make sure she didn’t plan to escape, he curled up against her belly and closed his eyes.
Rattler draped his arm around my shoulder.“I think they’re going to be friends.”
I blinked away the moisture in my eyes.“Yeah.Looks like it.”
“Fuck, you’re crying!”Rattler turned to face me.“Why?”
I shook my head, not trusting my voice.It was just so nice.Sitting here as if I didn’t have a care in the world.Not worrying about what I said or how I said it.It suddenly reminded me of being a kid, when my dad was still alive and life had been normal.“I’m just happy.”
I saw Ace give him a quick shake of the head.“Women.Cry when they’re happy.Cry when they’re sad.Don’t try to figure it out.”
Rattler rested his chin on the top of my head, speaking softly.“You’re safe now.You and Scrapper.I’ll make sure the asshole never gets near you again.”
Ace cleared his throat.“Hate to break in here, but just a reminder -- church in the morning.Got a mission going out.You’re on the roster, unless you need to stay here with Lily.Let me know if I need to replace you.”
Rattler glanced down at me, and I shook my head.“I’ll be fine.I can stay here with Mom and Jake and whoever’s not going out.”It wasn’t fair for him to put his life on hold just because I’d suddenly shown up.
“You sure?”
I tried to look like I didn’t care.“Yeah.I’m sure.You do what you gotta do.”
The truth was, the thought of being without him was scary.And I needed to get over that.Hell, I’d only known him for a short time.Sure, we’d had sex, but there was no commitment involved.He’d let me stay in his room because I’d asked.We’d had sex because I’d initiated it.He didn’t owe me anything.
