Page 27 of Nailing Heat
“And that was nothing,” I tell her, rolling my eyes, hoping that they are buying my story. I, however, would have loved to see what would have happened had we not been interrupted.
“Uh-huh,” she says grinning.
“What?” I ask.
“Nothing, I think it’s cute that you are two are getting along so quickly,” Cassie teases me.
“What’s the alternative? Besides, look how well he’s getting along with everyone else.” I point into the living room, where the guys are all laughing at something August is saying. His hands are moving all animated and I can see a genuine smile on Dex’s face. That makes me happy. “He fits right in, which is good for him. He doesn’t know a soul down here in Tampa. Well, other than August.”
“And we know he doesn’t have a soul,” Hendrix says with a shake of her head.
“One of these days you are going to have to let that go,” Mac says. “He’s becoming a regular part of your life.”
“Lucky me,” Hendrix bites out as she moves to grab a beer from the fridge. “Hey, you replaced the light beer.” Hendrix twists the top off and takes a long pull.
“It’s all for you, babe,” I say with a wink.
“Remember, I’m not a pig,” Hendrix reminds me, balking at my term of endearment. I giggle and roll my eyes. Hendrix has some pretty strong feelings about nicknames that men call woman. I don’t disagree with her opinion that being called babe makes her sound like Babe the pig. I’ve never really given as muchthought to it as she has. Makes me wonder if that is what August used to call her, and that’s why she has such strong feelings about it.
“Hey, Hen,” Jase calls from the living room.
“Yeah,” she says, making her way into the room with the rest of the guys.
Jase steps away and to talk to Hendrix as the guys slide back into their conversation.
“So did you ask him if he knew August when he was dating Hendrix?” Mac asks.
I nod, grinning. “I did. We talked about that the other night.”
“Well,” Cassie says, rocking on her heels with excitement.
“And you all like to say that I can’t stand still,” I remark. I’m standing there lightly drumming my fingertips on the island. Cassie and Mac’s eyes lock on my hand. As soon as I notice it, I flip them off. “Hendrix told you the story, remember. I wasn’t there.”
I remind Mac of how they appealed to August’s human side, so they say, when they talked to him about bringing Cassie back to the team. Apparently, Mac got a little tipsy with Cassie one night and spilled the beans. Cassie told me how August dated Hendrix when they were in college. His father, Maxwell Cromwell, got wind of it and came to take August to an Ivy League school at the end of his freshman year, which is where he met Dex. But Hendrix and August were both left devastated by it. Apparently, she was the one woman August truly loved. He wasn’t the whoring-around man we know and mostly love today.
Hell, he’s our owner and he helped to hire us all. How can we not love him?
“Well,” Mac asks, bouncing on her toes a bit.
“Dex knows who she is. But he wasn’t around then. Remember they met at Brown,” I remind her.
“Yeah, but did he spill anything good? Like is August actually a human being or something?” Cassie asks, giggling.
I look over and see him gesturing wildly with his hands, no doubt telling Danny and Dex about his latest conquest, and shake my head. “I wouldn’t go that far.”
“Very true,” Mac says shaking her head at the boys. “I’m going to go over there before he warps Danny even more.” She walks into the living room and places her arm around Danny. He pulls her in and plants a light kiss on her shoulder. I smile watching them.
“You want that too, huh?” Cassie asks me.
“What?” My head swivels in her direction. Her question completely catches me off guard. “Why are you asking me that?”
She grins at me before shrugging her shoulders. “I thought that maybe you would want to find someone the way the women do in all the books you like to read.”
“Is this another one of your cracks about me enjoying reading?” I ask, looking towards my room, where I have a shelf that is practically overflowing with romance novels.
“No, it’s honestly not. But you always turn down the men that ask you if you want to dance when we go out. Or those that try and buy you a drink,” she explains.
“I’m not interested in dating anyone. I’m busy trying to settle into all of this.” I move to the fridge to get the wine. I gesture with the bottle at her, and she nods. Pouring us each a glass, I watch the living room, where Danny is cradling Mac. I want that, just not right now. “I feel like I’m still trying to find my footing here, so no romance for me. I’d rather read it.”
