"Does she do it to you too?" I asked as I looked over at him.
"What do you think?" he asked as he looked over at her. "Think what I really should do is find her someone to take up her own time with. Ruby, you need a hobby or a man." He grinned that sly, sexy grin of his and winked at me.
"I have a hobby. Willow is my hobby. I don't need a man." He'd ruffled some feathers. I was really enjoying watching her squirm.
"So you are saying you are a big girl and you can make your own choices?" he asked as he looked at her. She sat there, glaring at him, then she nodded.
Zach must've heard more than he let on.
"I'm sorry I've been an ass. Let me get another round of pie, on me. What kind do you want, Zach?"
"I'm thinking cherry," he said as he looked at me then reached over and used his thumb to wipe a little bit off my lips. He licked it then said, "Definitely cherry."
Zach
I was surprised when I walked into the diner after work and saw her, but dammit when I saw what I wanted I went after at.
I gripped the steering wheel a little harder as I tried to concentrate on the damn road, but my eyes kept drifting over to Willow sitting next to me. It didn't take much to convince her to let me give her a ride home. She'd walked to the diner. I didn't want her walking home at night. Lawrenceville wasn't a bad town, but it was in the metro area and anything could happen to her.
Like it did to Hope.
"Awkward, much?" she said after a moment. She wasn't looking at me, though. She was looking out the window staring out across the town.
"Ruby sticks her nose into people's business. It's what she does."
"Sometimes it saves lives, but that doesn't make it any less uncomfortable." She chuckled.
"Look-" my phone buzzed. "Hold on, I have to get this. Work."
When wasn't it work?
"What do you need?" I asked Leo. My voice came out in a growl and I immediately cleared my throat. "I'm in the middle of something."
He always found the least convenient time.
"Tomorrow night I need you to come with me to a charity ball. Not the team. Just you and a date," he said.
"Oh, so I'm not your date?" I joked. I was not gay in the slightest and I had a feeling he wasn't either, but I wanted to lighten the mood. There was too much damn tension in this car already to have it continue over to my boss.
"Just get a date." Leo said, but then he chuckled. "You are an asshole. This is important, Zach."
"This have to do with your poker buddies?" I asked.
"Something like that," he admitted.
"I think I know the perfect lady to bring," I conceded. She was sitting there next to me and all I wanted to do was take her clothing off a piece at a time in this car. It had been a long ass day.
"Good. I'll text you the address." He hung up.
Now all I had to do was ask the girl.
"Do you have to go?" she asked as she looked over at me. "If so, you can just drop me at my place."
"What? No. I need you to come with me to a function tomorrow night. Charity dinner thing. You'd need to look really nice. Formal." It wasn't a question. I needed her to come with me, and I wouldn't take anyone else, so I didn't formulate it that way.
"Is that an invitation?" she asked as she looked at me, her eyebrow raised.
I sighed. "I would like you to come to the ball with me. Please." It was the best she was going to get tonight and we both knew it.
I was fucking trying.
"See, that wasn't so hard now, was it? I'll go. I've been to a few of these. I think I have just the dress for it, too." She smiled at me.
"No," I interrupted. I didn't want her in some dress that she wore with her ex. "I'll have something sent over. I know what you would look good in."
What was the point of my high pay if I didn't get a chance to spend some of it?
Zach
I followed Leo through a crowd of people until we were back through a hallway and down a corridor to another room.
"Where are we going?"
"Brandy room for VIPs," he said as he opened the door. All of the men from the poker game plus a few more from the Black Cat were in that room. I shouldn't have been surprised-that was the reason we were here, but I didn't expect the most elite to have a private area. I should've known better. "It's important, Zachary, or I wouldn't have invited you. I've finally been invited into the group."
"The poker guys?" I asked.
"Among others."
Cigar smoke filled the room as I stepped into it, the wafting clouds invading my lungs.
"Zachary Murdock."
I turned to the voice. I adjusted quickly and walked towards the man who was standing in the center of the room. He was the one from the Black Cat. He extended a hand to me as Leo grabbed a decanter and poured two glasses.
"Good to see you again," he said. I nodded. I was surprised they acknowledged me at all. "Leo says that you are a veteran? Thank you for your service."
I nodded. "Thank you."
"So, gentlemen, now that everyone is here, I think we can get started." I found a place in the back of the room to stand so that I wasn't the focus on this meeting. I was the hired help, just like all the other bodyguards in the shadows. I wondered if they spoke to each of them in the same way. I was sure that some of them had to be veterans as well. Instead of questioning it, or anything else, I just focused my eyes on what mattered. The conversation at hand.
"Leo Chance, you've stated intent to join the Marauding Elite. Are you sure that is what you want?" Tommy Carrington asked.
Leo nodded. "I am sure. I've been trying to join for two years."
They all nodded. "And you have worked hard to ensure that your goals line up with ours. Business deals, partnerships, those are the things we like to see from our prospects." He was sizing him up. This was so much more important than I realized when he invited me. I had no idea this was what was going to go down. A freaking deal to enter into their sick little cohort?
"I've made a promise to aid the cause in any way I can. I understand that it is all of our goals to gather as much wealth and prosperity as possible and to try to make each of us as rich as possible." He sounded somber as he took a sip from his brandy.
"Then you have my support." Each of them said it, one after the other.
It was like some kind of old school ritual, something I never would've guessed men like that would do.
A bang on the door interrupted whatever ceremony they had planned as a man said, "A women has collapsed. Said her date was back here? A Mr. Zachary Murdock?"
"Is she conscious?" I asked as I took off towards the door.
I was halfway down the corridor and entering into the foyer.
"Enough to give your name. She looks awfully pale, but she's awake," he answered.
I saw her there, a small group of people crowded around her as I pushed my way through. The first thing I saw was a very angry looking woman, her dress ripped and a sour expression on her face. She was lying there, her eyes bleary as she looked up at me.
"Are you okay?" I asked, bending down to her.
"I'm okay. Just a little dizzy. I passed out for, like, a second, seriously. It's not that big of a deal-" Willow started to stand up, but as she pulled herself up, she collapsed back down.
"You are more than just a little dizzy. I'm taking you to the hospital." I scooped her up and started towards the door.
"I don't need that. I've been fighting off the flu, that's all. I must've been too dehydrated. I should've told you, but I wanted to tough it out. Just take me home." She gripped her hands around me and sighed. "Please. I don't have health insurance yet; it doesn't kick in until the first of the month."
"Fine, but you're coming home with me. I'm not going to leave you on your own." I kissed the top of her head and tucked a strand of hair behind it.
"I'm a horrible date," she admitted. "We didn't even get to meet Sloane."
"I'm sure Leo can arrange it another time." I'd have told her anything to get her out of there.
"I hope so."
Willow
"Are we home?" I asked, bleary eyed as he turned the car off.
"I was going to take you to my place, but then I figured you might want the comfort of yours." He opened the car door and got out, walking around to my side.
Once he opened the door, he reached in to pull me out, but I stopped him. "I can do it myself." I didn't mean to snap, but dammit, he was treating me like a child. I wasn't a child. I could do this.
"Can you now?" he asked.