I threw some fresh underwear in my purse, my deodorant, put the guard on my toothbrush and tossed that in as well as a ponytail holder, slung my purse over my shoulder and left my room.

I waved to Ned, he waved back, I got in my car since I was driving to Wood’s later (and Ned would know the sign, he had to be getting used to it by now) and headed to Bubba’s.

Chapter Seven

All the Rest

“Jack and Coke, three Coors bottles and a Tanqueray and tonic,” I ordered from Bubba, looking down at my pad but, even with head bowed and not looking at him, I still teased (as I usually did with Bubba). “And get the lead out, big man. The last order you filled my grandma could fill faster and she’s in a wheelchair.”

“Fuck,” Bubba muttered, my head came up because this wasn’t his usual witty reply to my teasing and I saw he was pale and looking over my shoulder.

I started to turn to see what he was staring at that made him look like he’d seen a ghost but I didn’t get to do so because suddenly my hair was swept from my neck, a pair of abrasive lips were there and an arm had snaked around my belly, pulling me back into a tall, hard body.

“What –?” I started to say as my body went solid but a hand came up and yanked the pad out of mine and tossed it on the bar.

I felt the pencil yanked out of my other hand when I twisted my neck to see Tate had hold of me. Tate with a beard, a full beard. It looked a little straggly but it also looked hot.

His eyes were aimed at Bubba. “Get Wendy to serve her drinks, Bub, Laurie’s on break,” he ordered then he had my hand and he was dragging me down the hall.

“Hey!” I snapped, trying to tug at my hand but he held true and kept dragging me. “Tate!” I cried but he kept going, right by the office, right by the storeroom to the dark, poorly lit, very back of the hall.

Then his hands were at my h*ps and he was pushing me against the wall.

“Tate,” I snapped but he was concentrating on studying my body, his eyes at my chest as his hands slid up my sides to stop with his thumbs right below my br**sts, his fingers splayed at my sides.

“Jesus,” his eyes came to mine and then scanned my hair, “what’d you do to yourself, baby?”

“Tate,” I repeated but said no more because his head bent and he kissed me.

His lips and tongue worked wonders against my mind, as in clearing it of all thoughts of him being a cheater and not calling for a month and me being with Wood and filling it with only thoughts of kissing him back as hard as I could. The beard helped, I’d never been kissed by a man with a beard – it was scratchy but in a very sexy way.

When his lips broke from mine, they didn’t actually break, they just stopped kissing me but stayed where they were so our breath mixed.

“Sweet as I remembered,” he muttered against my lips.

“Tate,” I whispered.

His hand left my side and came to the side of my neck and his head lifted two inches.

“I couldn’t find him, babe,” he said as his thumb trailed my jaw.

“Sorry?”

“That f**ker who killed Tonia. Been everywhere. Asshole left nothin’. He’s a ghost.”

“Oh no,” I breathed.

“Cops, Feds, everyone’s f**kin’ baffled. Includin’ me.”

“I’m sorry,” I whispered.

“Now I gotta tell her folks that I got nothin’,” he went on.

“Tate.”

“That’s gonna suck,” he finished.

I pulled in breath and in pulling it in, life as I’d come to know it re-established its place in my brain.

“Tate –” I began and his thumb slid across my lips.

“Sucks, but f**k Laurie, it’s good to be home,” he whispered, his thumb disappeared and his head started to come down.

“Tate!” I cried and pulled back against the wall.

His head went up.

“What?” he asked.

“Can you please step back?” I requested.

His eyes scanned my face in the dim light.

Then he answered, “No.”

“We need to talk,” I stated. During his kiss my hands had slid around his neck. Now they were pressing lightly against his shoulders.

“All right,” he replied.

“Later. I’m working. Tomorrow, we’ll, um… go to the um –”

He cut me off. “You’re right here,” his hand beside my breast slid around my back, “I’m right here,” his hand at my neck slid up into my hair, “talk.”

“I need you to step back,” I said to him.

“And I been gone a long time, Ace, I need you where you are.”

My head tilted to the side. “You mean you didn’t swing by Neeta’s any time this past month?”

It was more than a little scary feeling his body go rock solid against mine.

“What the f**k?” he asked in an even scarier voice.

“You might want to let me go,” I suggested.

“And I might not,” he shot back.

“I know about Neeta,” I told him, trying not to make it sound like an accusation but pretty certain it did.

“Yeah? What do you know?”

“I know enough that that’s the last kiss you’ll get from me.”

“Maybe you’ll explain,” he bit off, his voice even scarier.

“Okay, I’ll explain this.” I pressed on his shoulders but nothing came of it so I gave up. “My husband left me for my best friend and he’d been f**king her for five years.”

“I already knew that, Ace.”

“So let’s just say that I’m not fired up to get involved with a man who doesn’t care that he’s carrying on a long term affair with a married woman.”

He let me go then, faster than I’d ever seen anyone move. So fast I wasn’t ready for it and both my hands had to slam back in the wall to hold myself upright so I wouldn’t tumble over.

He’d taken a step back but other than that he didn’t move and he didn’t speak.

So I did. “I see I’ve made my point.”

“And I see we’re back at square f**kin’ one,” he returned.

“What?”

He leaned in, his face all I could see and I realized the aggressive way he did it that I’d vastly misjudged the situation and the atmosphere. I’d seen him very angry, scary angry.

Now, I realized he was enraged.

“Did you think,” he growled, “for one f**kin’ second, Ace, to maybe ask me about Neeta?”