Promises Part 3 (Bounty Hunters 3)

He sat at the small dinette table and fingered through the mail while he waited on his dinner. It was too quiet. As he mindlessly flipped through a local grocery paper, his mind went to Dana. The way Dana looked at him made him feel like a king. Made him feel like he looked handsome or something. No one had ever looked at him like they wanted to put him on a serving dish and have him for dessert. He covertly loved it. Too bad he didn’t trust the man. Not with his personal life. He could work with Dana and believe he’d back him up in the field, but the man was too much of a player outside of work and Ford couldn’t respect that. He wouldn’t be another victim Dana captured with his sexiness and charm.

Ford got an ink pen and notepad out of the kitchen drawer and started to make a small grocery list to distract himself. He’d neglected his bare refrigerator the past couple weeks, eating more takeout than usual, which he hated. He wasn’t the greatest cook, having lived on military food all his adult life, but he could work the hell out of his oven and microwave. After tomorrow, he had the entire weekend off since surveillance started first thing Monday. He had court duty tomorrow from eight to two and then a long evening in his truck with Dana… alone. He was going to need two days off to recover from that.

God help him if he smells like that stinking perfume… he’ll do his surveillance from the truck bed.

Dana couldn’t stop the wide grin that split his face when he saw his friend sitting at one of the high-tops around the bar, waving him over. When Dana reached him, Sway rose on his toes and threw his arms around Dana’s neck, holding him close. Dana did the same, with his arms secured around Sway’s back. His friend looked even shorter than he had last month.

“Have you shrunk, Squirt?” Dana pulled back, looking down at his best friend. He loved to tease him.

“Fuck off. You’re just freakishly big.” Sway got back on his stool and took another sip of his water.

“I’m not big. I’ve seen big,” Dana added, waving their waitress over.

“I bet you have.” Sway nodded. “Anyway. You look amazing… worn-out… but amazing.”

“Thanks, man. You know you’re always the cutest in the room.” Dana ordered the seasonal ale on tap for both of them, grateful the waitress didn’t try to make small talk. He propped his elbows on the table and watched as his friend perused the menu that he had to know by heart. Even the promotional items. Sway had on a light brown sweater with the sleeves pulled up and a pair of threadbare jeans. His outfit didn’t look glamorous, only his face did. Soft ivory skin, big doe eyes with long, brown lashes that most women had to pay for, and pouty pink lips. He’d pass for androgynous if he didn’t have a groomed goatee outlining a sharp jaw. His chestnut hair was combed back and held in place with a little product, but a few strands still fell and curled by his ears.

“Don’t try to sweet talk me. What’s up with you looking so bummed? I’m sure it has to do with Jess.”

The waitress brought their beers and they both ordered the burgers with some chips and salsa to snack on while they waited. Dana took a long gulp and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. Jess hated when he did that. He frowned before he asked, “What do you think of Jessica?”

Sway flicked those big browns up to his face, looking slightly uneasy. “Do you really want me to tell you what I think of your girlfriend, D?”

“She won’t be my girl much longer, so yes, let it rip.” He was comfortable saying that, because, like him, Sway respected women a lot. He’d never say anything blatantly disrespectful.

“I think she’s a user… a spoiled user.” Sway wiped his hands on his napkin and thought for a moment. Dana didn’t interrupt. “You seem so much happier when you two aren’t together. You both break up to make up and when the honeymoon period ends quickly, you’re back to being consumed by her neediness.”

Dana sighed when his friend confirmed his own thoughts and probably those of the guys he worked with, too. “I’m gonna break it off.”

“For real this time or for a few months?” Sway chuckled.

“Well, at least I have had a lover in this millennium.” Dana threw a chip at Sway’s lithe chest.

“Hey!”

“You know I’m telling the truth. I think you dumped Jonathan in ninety-nine. Dude, that was—” Dana tried to do the math in his head.

“Seventeen years, jerk. If you’re gonna make fun of someone, at least have your facts in order. Besides, I was turning nineteen. I was heading to college, I had other things to focus on besides getting laid, my horny friend.” Sway drank the last of his beer and motioned for two more since the waitress seemed to be hovering close by. “Wow. It really doesn’t feel like that long. After Stanton died you know how hard it was, dude. I had to help my mom. Priorities, brother.”