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During break time at Port Loaders, Chuck tossed a wrapped sandwich to Thad. He looked at the offered lunch. "What's this for?"
"It's from Gracie." Chuck peeled back the Saran wrap and bit into the sandwich. "I escorted her to the bar before work, and she made me lunch and gave me an extra and told me to give it to you. So, I gave it to you."
"What the hell was she doing there at five o'clock in the morning?" Wayne pulled out his phone. "Clara never mentioned her sister going to the bar by herself."
"She wasn't by herself. I took her." Chuck chewed and swallowed. "She didn't want to call your house and wake up Clara or you."
Wayne frowned at the screen of his phone. "Apparently, Gracie wanted to work on the books at the bar instead of at home. Clara's with her now. She's fine."
"Talk about overbearing. I don't know how Clara or Gracie stand you." Chucked grinned and quickly sobered. "Give Gracie some space. She's a smart woman."
"That's an improvement from how she's been holding herself back. I didn't think she would go there when the bar was closed unless someone was with her." Glen lifted a can of pop to his lips and tipped back his head.
"Jesus Christ, do none of you listen? I said I was with her." Chuck wiped the mayo on his finger off on his jeans. "What's the confusion? Every single one of us has wanted Gracie to gain back her independence and feel safe after she was kidnapped. She took a step forward, and all of you want to swoop in and save her. She needs to do shit by herself."
Wayne lifted his brows and looked at Thad. He shrugged and said, "Chuck has a point."
After Gracie was kidnapped and abused, she'd become someone different. No one could blame her. They'd all feared the worst and were lucky to find her in time to save her life. Maybe they catered to her need to hide away from the world for too long, but they could've lost her. Going somewhere, especially by herself, was a huge step in the right direction.
"Wait a fucking second," muttered Wayne. "What were you doing with Gracie so early in the morning?"
Chuck ran his hand over his shaved head. "She watched the news last night about the shooting in Portland."
"The Tigre gang one?" asked Wayne.
Chuck nodded. "She couldn't go to sleep, and when I checked in on her before I headed home, she seemed to be having a hard time. So, I slept on her couch."
Glen cleared his throat, distracting the attention off Chuck and his questionable relationship with Gracie before Wayne lost his temper and opened a bag full of peanut butter cookies. "How's the search to find more information on our drifter, Chuck?"
"Dead end." Chuck held out his hand for a cookie.
"There's never a dead end unless we find the person." Thad finished the last bite of the turkey sandwich. "Let's start fresh. Go back to where she was last seen by the brother who hired us, and we'll follow the trail."
"It was a long time ago." Wayne texted on his phone. "I should never have agreed to take the case. It's a waste of time."
"We've got nothing better to do." Thad walked over, threw the wrapper in the garbage can, and stood at the railing of the ship. "There's no loss if we don't find her. It's a drifter case. She left under her own power."
"Hey, how did your date go? Since you're going out with a regular lady..." Chuck laughed. "Did you remember flowers?"
Thad shot a glare at Chuck. "Who did you hear that from?"
He hadn't told them where he was going or who he was with yesterday. After dropping off Lena, he'd gone straight home and hit the sack.
"Ingrid mentioned she seen you heading over the bridge with a woman on the back of your bike when she was coming home from the grocery store yesterday." Glen took a toothpick out of his pocket and put it in his mouth.
Wayne said, "Clara also told me you had a nice woman with you at the bar. Nice, meaning, she ain't one of Chuck's bitches."
"Who is she?" said Chuck. "I want to check her out."
"Doesn't matter. She's out of the picture." He looked down on the dock from the bridge of the ship as the others talked about work.
Usually, his days putting the new dealer vehicles on cargo ships went by fast. Today seemed to drag. First, there was a problem with a load of cars coming in and cries were going out at a crawl. Then, he had to listen to every fucking party recap his coworkers went to over the weekend, or they were all bitching about their wife. All he wanted to do was keep his mind off Lena and her ridiculous rules for dating her, and it seemed like everyone around him was throwing a woman in his face, reminding him of the shit Lena threw at him. He blew out his breath. And, he was finding himself unable to let a woman go who wanted nothing more from him than sex.
The more he thought about her, the angrier he became. He pulled out his phone, scrolled through his contacts, and shut the damn thing down. He'd forgotten to get her phone number. His dick had led the way to her. He'd mowed her lawn, taken her on a day ride, and left her safely in her house.
"Bro?" Wayne stepped up beside him and leaned against the railing. "Are you up for a ride down to Eugene on Saturday?"
"Yeah." Thad straightened. "Sounds good."
Anything to keep busy.
The air horn blasted. Wayne slapped his hand down on Thad's shoulder. "Half the day is done."
"Thank fuck for that." Thad stepped away.
"Hey." Wayne frowned. "What's going on with you."
"Women. Or, a woman." He exhaled harshly. "Have you ever met one who told you straight up she wasn't looking to get married or have kids and only wanted sex?"
Wayne laughed. "That's the only type of women that you and Chuck see. What are you complaining about?"
Irritated, because if Lena would've had sex with him the first night they were together, he wouldn't have thought twice about her rules. But, she'd played him along and had him thinking about dating her. The more time he'd spent with her, he was more than willing to put his boots beside her bed.
"It's messed up, man." Thad walked off in the opposite direction.
Lena had started him believing she was different. The women he slept with came to him for sex. But, he wasn't stupid. They all secretly wanted marriage, kids, and to wear his colors. It wasn't his fucking ego talking. It was the natural desires all females wanted. It was what all of them wanted, especially if they were over the age of thirty.
He always made sure they couldn’t trap and tie him down.
Until Lena, not one of the women had ever grabbed him by the vest and made it worth the climb to keep her. Lena provided him with enough temptations to have him seeking her out again. Even after how they ended it last night, he still fucking wanted her. He wanted to know more about her. He wanted to know why she cock blocked him. He wanted to change her damn mind.