Rock Chick Reborn (Rock Chick #9)(21)

I was closing the door as he was driving away.

Once I got the door closed, I locked it.

Then I put my forehead to it.

I closed my eyes.

After that kiss, you bein’ so cute, you . . . are . . . perfect.

I opened my eyes.

And like I was addled . . .

I smiled—huge—at my own damned door.





Blessings

Shirleen

THE NEXT MORNING, I walked into the offices.

I didn’t miss a step as I marched to my desk, regardless of the fact that Luke Stark had his thigh leaned against the extension where my computer was, Vance Crowe had his ass up on the corner, Kai “Mace” Mason was leaning against the opposite end, Hector Chavez was lounged on the couch across from it, boots on the coffee table . . .

And Lee Nightingale was sitting in my damned desk chair, leaned back, elbows to the chair arms, his hands linked on his abs.

“Well?” Luke asked.

“Sss!” I hissed, moving directly to my occupied chair.

“Give it up, Shirleen,” Vance ordered.

I lifted my hand, slapped my fingers against my thumb at him and snapped, “Zzzp!”

I stopped. Dumped my Prada on the desk. And put my hands to my hips to glare down at Lee.

He didn’t move.

Though his mouth did.

“Indy called you seven times last night.”

“Ava called five,” Luke put in.

“Jules called three,” Vance added.

“Sadie called Indy, Ava, Daisy and Jules repeatedly,” Hector stated from the couch.

“Stella and me were out to dinner with Roxie and Hank, and those two were manning their texts like they were planning the Normandy invasion through them,” Mace shared.

I swung an arm out to indicate all five men.

“I’m not talkin’ to all you all,” I declared.

“Indy only let up when Roam and Sniff got home and checked in on you after I told them to do that,” Lee announced.

My eyes got huge and I forgot I wasn’t talking to him.

“You told my boys to check in on me?”

“They said you were in bed, reading,” Lee replied. “And I took that as I didn’t have to go out and murder someone for bein’ a dick to my girl.”

So that was why they knocked on the door and stuck their heads in.

Both of them.

Usually it was just a shouted, “We’re home, Shirleen!”

“What excuse did you use to tell them they had to check in on me?” I asked.

“As far as they knew, you were out with the Rock Chicks. They always check in on you after you’re out with the Rock Chicks. They didn’t think anything of it since my wife is a Rock Chick, you were supposed to be out with her, and who knows what you all get up to.”

“What, with stun gunning and car chases not out of the ordinary,” Luke filled in.

This made sense.

And this was true. Whenever I was in after being out with the Rock Chicks, one or the other of my boys checked in physically.

Just not both of them.

“You’re in my chair,” I pointed out to Lee.

“Technically, it’s my chair,” he returned.

This was true too.

Fine.

He wanted to play it that way?

I picked up my bag, mumbling, “I’ve been meaning to take some time off.”

“Shirleen, you can have your chair back when you tell us how it went last night,” Lee stalled me.

“Who says I want my chair back?” I asked. “Maybe I want to call Daisy and have some brunch before we go shopping.”

“Daisy’s at work at Ally’s office, and anyway, I know you’re not talkin’ to her since she called you last night, ten times, and you didn’t answer her either,” Lee retorted.

“The girls bought themselves Shirleen’s Patented Silent Treatment for a whole week for their shenanigans,” I shot back.

Suddenly, Lee’s expression shifted.

And I’d become accustomed to a lot from these men. Their hotness. Their sweetness with their women. Their occasional scariness when they got pissed or on edge.

Even so, I took a mini step back at the look that hit his face.

And the tone of his voice I’d never heard in my life and I’d known Lee since he was a teenager.

“You didn’t have a good time?”

“We’re going to a movie tomorrow night.”

Lee relaxed.

“So you had a good time,” Mace growled.

I drew in a big breath and let it out on a sigh.

“Yeah,” I told Mace. “He’s nice. He’s handsome. He didn’t blink at me ordering a four-course meal at an expensive restaurant and he was right there with me. So we’re gonna take in a movie tomorrow.” I then glared at Mace. “Happy?”

Broody Mace left the building and he smiled at me. “Yeah.”

I turned back to Lee. “Now will you get outta my chair? I got invoices to send.”

Or not.

I was feeling the need to have a new outfit for movie night. An outfit I could order online and pick up at Nordstrom on the way home.

“So it’s all good,” Lee noted, straightening his long body out of my chair.

“The date was all good,” I corrected. “You men and your women interfering with my life and setting me up like that was all bad.”