“I’m not going to like it, am I?” Deck said.
“No.” Deck hated my choice in clothes, hair, and the way I flirted. He was really going to hate me doing a sexy dance for the camera knowing Tyler had watched it. “You’re leaving again? You just got back.” I asked, but I already knew he was going to New York.
“Just a couple days.”
“You mean you can track down, torture and kill a guy in a couple days? Impressive.” Whenever he came back from something bad, he had a dark, cold look in his eyes, which took a few days to get back to normal. I knew this trip to New York wasn’t like that.
“No. Just business. I need Tyler with me and the others are still overseas, but they’re meeting us there. So that leaves you alone.”
My brows rose. “Seriously, Deck. I’m not a kid anymore.”
“Then act it.”
Jesus, sometimes I just want to… Before I could react, he reached for me and cupped the back of my neck, drawing me in close. My breath hitched and I knew he heard it because his dark walnut eyes blackened.
“The drinking, partying … you’re right, you’re not a kid. That shit has to stop and …” He sighed and his hand on my neck tightened. “Georgie, things might be changing. I need you to be ready.”
Fuck. Did he know? I didn’t think he did. He couldn’t. I was careful. “What’s that supposed to mean?” I shivered as his fingers slid into my hair and for a second, I was thinking he was going to drag me up against him and kiss me. Stupid thinking. I should be thinking of what the hell he meant by things changing.
He suddenly let me go and stepped back. “It means I need all my men with me, and we can’t be around if you get into trouble. So get your shit together.” He paused and I was still reeling from his words. I hate my life. “And I find out you dated Tristan, things will change more than you may want them to. The fuckin’ guy has a revolving door of women coming from his place. Stay away from him.”
“Tristan? Who’s that again?” I asked innocently.
He half-smiled then shook his head and turned, striding toward the door back into the coffee shop.
“I can date whoever I want, Deck.” I liked Deck’s protective side. Sure, it made my life difficult and sometimes pissed me off, but it made me feel as if he cared about me and I was holding onto that with both hands.
“Try me,” he shot back.
I grabbed the closest thing to me, a can of coffee grinds, and threw it at him. It hit the doorframe beside his head and he didn’t even flinch as he walked through the swinging door.
I heard a loud bang and the bell of the front door rang. A second later, Rylie came running into the stock room. “Shit, what the hell was that? Oh, my God, Deck’s face. Georgie, he was pissed. I’ve never seen him hit anything before. He’s always so … together.”
I plopped down onto my ass on the floor then lay back, putting my arm over my eyes. “I’m friggin’ exhausted.” I’d had it. I couldn’t do this anymore. I had to get Deck out of my head.
“Umm, Georgie? You okay?”
“We still on for tomorrow night?” I asked. It was Wednesday night, and I had to go to Avalanche where I knew there was a good chance someone was there I wanted to meet. Well, wanted was the wrong word. I had to meet.
“Ah, about that.”
I sat up. “Jesus. He talked to you?”
Rylie nodded. “I wouldn’t use the word ‘talk’. After he punched the side of the espresso machine, he told me to lay off the bars with you.”
“Bullshit. What did he really say?”
She held out her hand; I took it then she pulled me to my feet. “‘The fuckin’ bars are off-limits for Georgie’.”
“Him and his off-limits.”
Rylie put her arm around my shoulders and I knew she was bailing on me for tomorrow night. Deck really did scare her and I guess if you didn’t know him like I did, then she had the right to be scared.
Rylie was the same height as me, five-foot-five, and she was conservative as much as I wasn’t. Her hair was always perfectly pulled back tight in a ponytail while mine was all over the place, hadn’t seen scissors in years and had been every color of the rainbow. I wore skimpy clothes I found in Kensington market downtown, which never matched and she bought smart sets from the mall.
But we got along with one another. We’d connected instantly when I hired her a few months ago, I think partly because I used to be a lot like her. With my best friends busy, Emily horse-whispering and Kat painting, both with their men who were in the hit band Tear Asunder, I needed another cohort to party with. Rylie may be straight-laced, but she liked to dance, drink and party, which was exactly what I needed.