As Chloe soon discovered, she wasn’t only on Nell’s shit-list. Up the street, she spotted Easton with his brothers and Grayson. While the McBrides were dressed in worn jeans and T-shirts that showed off their broad shoulders and well-developed muscles, Grayson had on his black suit from earlier in the day. And the sigh-inducing foursome were headed for the Penalty Box, too.
Well, Ty was sighing. Chloe was inwardly dying. She hadn’t spoken to Easton since the kissing photo went viral. Hers and Grayson’s.
She drew back, tugging on Ty’s hand. “I don’t know if this is a good idea.”
Ty frowned. “Why not?” He followed her nervous glance. “Right, you haven’t explained what you were up to with James Bond to the White Knight. Seems like they’re getting along okay. But don’t worry, the way you look tonight, the White Knight will forgive you anything. You’re totally rocking that black dress, Diva.”
Her bandage dress was pretty fab, and her Prada sandals with the jeweled straps were totes awesome. She just wished Ty hadn’t thrown away all of her false eyelashes. She still felt naked without them. But he’d made up for the loss by giving her smoky eyes and rock-star hair. Now if only her inner diva hadn’t decided to take a hiatus.
Ty tugged on her hand. “Work it. Chin up, boobs out.”
Maybe she didn’t need her inner diva after all. She had Ty.
“Hello, boys. You’re looking as studly as ever,” he said when they were a couple of yards from the men.
The four of them stopped in front of the Penalty Box and, almost as one, crossed their arms. “Chloe, you are not going into the bar dressed like that,” Gage said.
Chance and Grayson murmured their agreement while Easton’s gaze moved intently, and slowly, from her shoes to her hair before he met her eyes. There was no denying he was as ticked as the other men, but there was also a gratifying glint of heat in his eyes. And the evidence of his desire was enough to give her confidence a boost. She added an extra sway to her hips and tossed her hair, about to say something along the lines of “you’re not the boss of me” only better, when the next words out of Gage’s mouth stopped her cold. “Ty, I thought you were supposed to be at my place helping the girls plan Vivi’s shower.”
Chloe’s attitude shriveled up and died. She looked down at the sidewalk, hoping no one noticed the heat rising to her cheeks. Earlier, she’d called her mother to ask if she could come over and explain what happened with Grayson. But Liz told her she didn’t have time to talk. Now Chloe knew why. Ty squeezed her hand.
Then she heard Gage say, “Why are you all…Oh, I wasn’t thinking.”
“Obviously,” Ty snapped, pulling Chloe past the men. He held open the door to the Penalty Box.
She hung back. “I don’t want to keep you from your plans, Ty. You should probably go—”
He gave her a gentle shove. “Please, why would I want to plan a baby shower when I can be hanging out at the bar with you?”
If Ty wasn’t a hairstylist-slash-makeup artist, he would have been a party planner. She didn’t want him to feel obligated to spend the night with her. “No, I’m serious.”
“So am I.” He pulled her the rest of the way into the rustic-looking sports bar with its exposed log walls covered in hockey memorabilia. The jerseys and hockey sticks belonged to the Penalty Box’s owner, Sawyer Anderson, a former captain of the Colorado Flurries. Tall with a lean, muscular build, his dark blond hair half-hidden beneath a baseball cap, Sawyer manned the bar.
He lifted his chin when Ty and Chloe took their seats on the high-backed black leather barstools. “What can I get you two?”
Before she could respond, her barstool spun around, putting her eyes level with a wide white-T-shirt-covered chest. She looked up and met Easton’s frowning gaze. “I know you’re upset they didn’t invite you to the planning thing, Chloe, but don’t do anything stupid. Okay?”
She crossed her arms and looked away. “I’m not upset.”
He cupped her chin, drawing her gaze back to his. “Yeah, you are. And I don’t blame you. But you gotta know that little lip action you pulled with Grayson didn’t win you any friends.”
Now it may have been perverse, and perhaps not the smartest thing she’d ever done, but it kind of ticked her off that Easton didn’t show any signs of being jealous of said lip action, so she decided to poke the bear. “It wasn’t a little lip action, it was a lot.”
He brought his face closer to hers. Close enough that his warm, minty breath fanned her cheek. “Are you trying to piss me off, Scarlett?”
“Yes, is it working?”
His eyes on her mouth, he nodded. “It is, but I wouldn’t recommend you take it any further. I want to forget about that picture with you and Grayson. Just like I’m sure you want to forget about the one of me and Cat. Am I right?”
“Yes,” she said, with a pout in her voice. She was having fun until then. She didn’t appreciate the reminder. It didn’t seem fair that everyone was mad at Chloe when what Cat had done was far worse. She was engaged and had thrown herself at Easton. Yet no one held Cat accountable for her actions. No doubt she was at that very moment planning Vivi’s baby shower with the extended members of their family.
“Good, then we’re on the same page.”
She chewed on her thumbnail. “Are we?”
“I think so, but we can talk about it later.” He pulled her thumb from her mouth. “Right now, I have a few things I need to discuss with Grayson and my brothers. Okay?”
“All right.” She nodded. He swiveled her stool to face the bar. Ty, holding a pink frothy drink, grinned around the straw and waggled his eyebrows at them.
A group of men sauntered by, giving the three of them a once-over. They sat down at the end of the bar. Easton’s eyes narrowed, then he shared a silent exchange with Sawyer, and the bar owner nodded.
“Stay out of trouble. I’ll be keeping an eye on you,” Easton warned, giving Chloe’s shoulders a light squeeze before heading across the planked floor to where his brothers and Grayson sat. Both Ty and Chloe watched him walk away.
Ty grinned at her when Easton took a seat at the table. “Aren’t you glad you listened to Uncle Ty? That man is totally into you.” He nudged a pink frothy cocktail toward her. “Things are looking up. Sawyer even named a drink after us. He called it the Diva.”
Three Divas later, Chloe and Ty were drawing attention with their laughter. They were having a great time reliving memories from their As the Sun Sets days. But while Chloe welcomed the attention from a certain hot man sitting with his brothers and Grayson, she didn’t like the leering glances the five disreputable-looking men at the end of the bar were shooting their way. And a moment ago, she’d caught an off-color remark about Ty. The bar had steadily filled up as the night wore on and Sawyer was busy. Too busy to keep an eye on them as Chloe imagined had been the meaning behind Easton’s earlier silent exchange with the owner.
She set her empty glass on the bar and took Ty by the hand before he could order another. “Let’s dance.”
“I’m so down with that. I thought you’d never ask.” He jumped off the stool. As they wound their way through the tables to the dance floor, Sawyer called, “You two behave out there or I’ll throw you in the box.”
The penalty box, for which the bar was named, sat to the left of the dance floor. A white bench enclosed by white-and-black-painted boards, it had an electronic clock affixed above. “Oh, that sounds like fun. Does Sawyer get in the box with us? Because if he does, we are totally getting thrown in.”
“He doesn’t, “Chloe said, dragging Ty after her. They didn’t need to draw any more attention to themselves. At the thought, Chloe wondered if maybe this wasn’t such a good idea after all. But she forgot all about her misgivings when their jukebox choice blasted from the speakers, and she and Ty started to dance to “Heroes” by Alesso.
They each turned to face in the opposite direction and did some slow, perfectly timed body rolls. Out of the corner of her eye, Chloe caught a glimpse of Easton. His legs were stretched out, and he was watching her with an amused look on his face. Just for him, she added a couple of booty pops. His beer froze halfway to his mouth, and he slowly straightened in his chair.
“You’re a tease, Diva.” Ty laughed, and added a couple of booty pops of his own.
She didn’t entirely forget about Easton’s eyes upon her, but she let the music take over and began dancing for herself and not for him.
Pointing at each other, Chloe and Ty sang the lyrics while bouncing to the techno beat. She was so caught up in the song that it took a moment for her to sense the approach of the men from the bar.
Two of them crowded Ty from behind, pushing at him with their plaid-covered chests. “Your kind’s not welcome here, faggot. Get lost.”
Horrified, Chloe gasped. Ty staggered into her with a humiliated look on his handsome face. Seeing his expression, Chloe acted without thinking and moved protectively in front of him. She pressed a palm on each of the men’s chests and shoved back. “You’re wrong, you no-neck Neanderthals. It’s you who’s not welcome here.”
The taller of the two men leaned in and grabbed her arm. “Why don’t you let a real man show you—”
Chloe put her hands on his shoulders and raised her knee.
“Diva, don’t!” Ty cried from behind her.
She ignored him. There was no way she was letting them get away with hurting Ty. But just as her knee was about to connect with his manhood, Ty’s attacker stumbled backward. Easton had him by the back of the collar. Spinning him around, he punched the man in the face while yelling, “Chance, get Chloe and Ty out of—” The man’s friends jumped Easton before he got out the rest of his command.
Chloe launched herself onto the back of the man about to take a swing at Easton, and covered his eyes with her hands. “You leave him—”
Chance grabbed Chloe around the waist and dragged her off the man, then threw her over his shoulder. She lifted her head to see Gage and Grayson trying to reach Easton, but they were waylaid by several other men getting in on the action. “Put me down! Your brother needs you.”
“After the little stunt you just pulled, I don’t trust you not to take swing at someone else,” Chance muttered as he reached for Ty.
“Are you crazy? I’m not going to swing at anyone. I already broke two nails!”
Chance snorted and plowed through the people converging on the dance floor. Once he lifted Chloe onto the bar, he put Ty up there, too. “Don’t move,” he ordered, then waded back through the crowd. Half the bar had joined in the fight, including Sawyer.
Chloe turned to Ty, searching his face. She took his hand. “You know they’re just idiots, right?”
He nodded, then bumped her shoulder with his. “I’ve never had anyone stand up for me like you did, Diva. That was pretty awesome, you know. And speaking of awesome,” Ty said, turning his attention to the McBrides and Grayson slugging it out on the dance floor. A moment later, he said to Chloe with a grin, “Now that’s what I call heroes.”
Watching Easton battle it out on the dance floor, she released a heartfelt sigh. “He always was.”
Ty laughed. “I meant all of them.”
She grinned. “Me too.” Then let out a small shriek when a man lurched toward Ty and tried to drag him off the bar. Chloe grabbed a bottle off the bar and broke it over the man’s bald head.
Ty stared at his assailant lying on the floor at his feet, then lifted his wide eyes to Chloe. He hugged her. “You’re my hero.”
* * *
As the deputies led the last of the men away, Grayson and Easton righted the overturned tables and chairs. “So what was it you said about Chloe this afternoon? At the first sign of trouble she’d be screaming her head off or hiding under a bed? Called that one wrong, didn’t you, mate?”
The agent’s memory could be annoying at times. But he was right, Chloe had shocked the hell out of Easton by standing up to the men on Ty’s behalf.
He glanced to where she sat on the bar, her body-hugging black dress riding up on her thighs as she crossed her long, shapely legs, dangling her right shoe from her toes. She and Ty had their arms around each other’s shoulders, singing “Heroes” into a wine bottle. Grayson followed his gaze and laughed, then winced and touched his fat lip.
Gage walked up to them and glanced over his shoulder. He grimaced and brought the tips of his fingers to the edge of his black eye. “In less than a week, she’s caused more trouble than my wife ever did. Saturday can’t come soon enough.”
At the reminder she’d be leaving town, Easton made a noncommittal sound in his throat. He’d spent half the night watching Chloe, and the other half listening to his brothers warn him against dating her. Other than Grayson, Easton was the only one who seemed to think it was a good idea. But now, at the reminder she’d be heading back to LA in a few days, even he wondered what he’d been thinking. That wasn’t true—he knew exactly what he’d been thinking watching her gorgeous face light up with laughter and her sexy moves on the dance floor. But now that his brain wasn’t totally fogged by lust, he had to think realistically.
The long-distance thing hadn’t worked for him and Kelly, the orthopedic surgeon in Virginia, so no doubt it wouldn’t work for him and Chloe. And his family hadn’t had a vested interest in his previous relationships, but they would in this one. The last thing he wanted was to cause problems between his dad and Liz.
“If you don’t need me, I’ll be heading out. Thanks for the entertaining night, boys.” Grayson lifted his chin at Gage, who’d answered his cell. “I’ll touch base with you in the morning, Easton.”
For all his talk that he’d come up with a lead on his own, Easton was no further ahead on the Martinez case. Maybe because he’d gone by the book. He didn’t think Grayson would appreciate, or condone, him hacking into the Bureau’s computers. “We should know how we’re moving forward by ten tomorrow.” Even if he had to work all night to catch the break he needed. “Are you headed to the ranch to see Cat?”
Grayson raised an eyebrow. “Your interest in my love life is bordering on obsessive.”
Possibly, but only because he wanted the heat off Chloe. And if he was honest, he felt guilty for his role in their breakup, too. But that wasn’t something he planned on sharing. Grayson had already figured out it was Cat who’d initiated the kiss. Something Easton would rather not get into now. So far tonight he’d done a good job not talking about it. “What can I say? I inherited my great-aunt’s genes.”
“Guess we all did,” Gage said as he shoved his cell in his back pocket. “That was Madison. She thought you’d like to know Cat is on her way home.”
“Okay, you win. I’ll head to the ranch. Happy now?”
“Over the moon.” Easton grinned as the three of them walked toward the bar. Chance, who was helping Sawyer sweep up the broken bottles, leaned on his broom to look them over. “How is it that you’re the only one of us not bruised and battered?” he asked Easton.
“What can I say? I’m just that good.” He turned to Chloe and went to help her off the bar. “Okay, Scarlett, time to get you home.” She gave him a sweet smile that hit him almost as hard as she did when she launched herself into his arms.
She wrapped her legs around his waist and looped her hands around his neck. “You were amazing,” she said with a look in her beautiful green eyes that he was oh-so-familiar with. And knowing what he had to tell her, one that punched him in the gut.
“Geezus, Chloe, what are you thinking? Get off him before you hurt his leg.” Gage reached for her.
His brother’s attitude toward Chloe was starting to piss him off. He got that she reminded Gage of his first wife, Sheena. She’d left her family for fame and fortune, but Chloe was nothing like her.
She slid off him, her cheeks flushed with embarrassment. “I’m sorry. That was stupid of me. Did I hurt you?”
He shot Gage a back-the-hell-off look before responding. “No, you didn’t. I’m good.” And he was, he just wished he could pound that into his overprotective brothers’ thick skulls. “Ty, you need a hand down?”
“Maybe two?” He gave them a loopy smile. “And I should warn you, I’m going to hug you all. So be prepared.”
Grayson and Chance helped him down, and Ty made good on his promise. “You all get free haircuts for life.”
“Ty, you don’t owe us anything. We were happy to clean up the floor with those clowns. You’re one of us now. We look after our own,” Gage said.
Easton was glad his brother tried to make Ty feel better, and he knew all of them felt the same. Intolerant bullshit wasn’t tolerated in town. He just wished Gage was as quick to defend Chloe. “But I’m not sure you really needed us, Ty. You had Chloe looking out for you.”
“I don’t know about that.” Chance laughed, and told them what she said about her nails.
Easton couldn’t help it; he laughed along with everyone else. Everyone except Chloe, who scowled at his brother.
Ty put his arms around her, rocking her back and forth. “I don’t care what you say, she’s the best friend I’ve ever had.”
“Well your best friend owes me for a two-hundred-dollar bottle of Scotch. If you had to hit the guy over the head, why didn’t you grab the twenty-dollar bottle of wine?” Sawyer asked Chloe.
“We don’t like Scotch,” Ty informed him with a straight face.
Sawyer sighed. “Yeah, and that makes perfect sense.”
“I’ll take care of any damages, Sawyer.” Chloe glanced around the bar. “You know, if you’re looking for bouncers, I have a couple of friends who could use a job.”
“I’ll give it some thought,” Sawyer said.
Chance looked at Easton, and he knew his brother was thinking the same thing. That was sweet…and thoughtful. The girl he remembered. Only lately, more often than not, that’s the girl he saw all the time. And right now, he kind of wished he didn’t. It made it more difficult to do what he had to do.
“We better clear out and let Sawyer lock up,” Gage said, ushering them toward the door.
“I’ll walk you two home,” Easton said, following Ty and Chloe onto the sidewalk. It was a nice night. The air was warm and sweet with the smell of spring, or maybe that was Chloe’s perfume. She was walking by his side, glancing up at him every so often as though trying to get a read on him. Ty kept up a running commentary of the night. It made it easier for Easton not to talk, but that was about to end as they reached the bakery.
Ty, as though sensing the tension, looked from Chloe to Easton. “I’ll go up now. Thanks again, Easton.”
He shoved his hands in the front pockets of his jeans. “Don’t mention it, Ty.”
As the door closed, Chloe looked up at him. “Do you want to come in? You could put your leg up, and we can talk…”
He’d been hoping she’d forgotten what he’d said earlier. “Chloe, I don’t…” He couldn’t do it. She’d had a rough few days, and he didn’t want to hurt her. “I can’t come up. I have a crapload of work to do on a case, and I have to get it done before the morning.” He didn’t know why he kept talking—maybe it was the disbelieving look in her eyes—but he told her why the case was so important that he had to pull an all-nighter and filled her in on what he had so far.
“Well that’s easy. It’s the wife.”
“What do you mean it’s the…Jesus, you might be right.” He lifted her off her feet and kissed her. And as soon as his lips touched her soft, pliant mouth, he knew he’d made a mistake. Letting Chloe O’Connor go would be one of the hardest things he’d ever done. But for everyone’s sake, he had to. He slowly lowered her to the sidewalk and stepped away, forcing a smile. “If you ever want to give up acting, you could get a job as a PI.”