Vengeance Aside (Wanted Men 0.5)(51)
But the moment he’d slipped his arm around Dale’s waist or tried to take her hand, she’d suddenly developed an itch or had needed something from her purse that Farah had handed her when they’d met in front of the garage. She hadn’t been happy to see her phone was missing, but she’d been a good girl and had yet to mention it. Lukas was in the process of replacing hers with a tweaked phone that would be near impossible to hack.
Reaching for one of the bottles of Pinot Noir he’d gotten from the cellar a few minutes ago—Dale had shaken her head without meeting his eyes when he’d asked if she’d wanted to see it—he tuned into the conversation she was having with Farah just in time to hear her dreamy sigh.
Vasily, Maks, Sergei, and Samuel were having a private—speaking Russian—discussion about what had gone down at James’s son’s homes, because it turned out, the accountant hadn’t had what it took to get all four screws out, and he’d perished with his shoulder still attached to the chair.
Gheorghe had taken a seat at the other end of the table, on Farah’s left, and was listening to the girls.
“Dean and Sam were my go-to for the longest time,” Dale was saying, “but Erika forced me to binge watch her show. Now, I’m sad to say, I share my fantasies equally between the Winchesters and Rick and Daryl.” She put a hand up when Farah started to protest. “I know what you’re going to say, and it won’t change anything.” Smiling at Gheorghe, she accepted a platter of grilled lamp chops. “I don’t know why, but all the grime just adds to it for me. Can you imagine not having to do a PTA check before bed every night?”
Farah laughed as she wrinkled her nose and accepted a glass from Lukas. “Thank you.”
Wondering what flavor of fantasy Dale was partial to using when she masturbated—if she masturbated—he poured for her and Samuel before handing the bottle across to Farah so she could reach Gheorghe.
“What’s a PTA check?” Lukas asked Dale as she transferred some mixed greens to her plate from a large wooden salad bowl.
Her gaze went around their guests before she whispered, “That isn’t something ladies talk about at the table, Mr. Murdery.”
“Then you shouldn’t have any issues. What is it?”
Her eyes widened on a shocked laugh, and for the first time since they’d left the bedroom, she voluntarily touched him by cupping his jaw and kissing the corner of his mouth. “Screw it. I can’t resist you.” She gave him an affectionate little nuzzle. “We’re officially friends.”
He licked the taste of her off his lip. She’d been resisting him all day? “How’s that?”
“You just insulted me, and I liked it.”
He arched a brow. “I’ll pretend I didn’t hear that. PTA?” he reminded her.
She leaned into him under the pretense of placing the salad bowl down in exchange for the salt. “Pits, tits, and ass, baby,” she said quietly enough for no one but him to hear.
Naked. He needed her really fucking naked.
To get his mind off his cock that was once more straining against his zipper, he sent his attention across the table to Gheorghe. “Markus stayed with us when he was in town a couple of weeks ago,” he said, speaking of Lucian’s younger brother. “It was a nice change to host a Fane rather than have one show up unannounced the way you and Lucian tend to do.”
“Markus and my sister are anomalies in our family.”
The Romanian didn’t soften his statement with a smile, but he did appear at ease as he ate, keeping his eyes on his plate. The man needed to see a barber.
“Markus and Daria are social beings,” Lukas explained to Dale. “They enjoy the company of others, whereas Gheorghe and Lucian, who you’ll meet when we go to New York next month, don’t. You’re not to take offense. It’s nothing personal.”
Gheorghe didn’t comment, but a trace of a smile was evident when he raised his glass in a silent salute. The only time Lukas had known the guy to converse like your average person was when he was with Lucian. Otherwise, he observed and was standoffish to the point of being rude.
“What about you, Dale?” Farah wiped her mouth with her napkin. “Has he ever bothered you? I’d have remembered if you’d come to me with it, but maybe you took care of it yourself.”
Dale tipped her head and paused her task. She’d taken all the meat off the bone and was cutting it into small pieces. Lukas smiled privately, thinking she would do the same for their child in a couple of years.
“Who?” she asked.
“Garrett Dawson. He’s a handsy dick who frequents the club,” Farah explained to Lukas before going back to Dale. “He’s made a real nuisance of himself with Gretchen. So much so that I had to send Kong and Yusef to his place to give him a warning. He hasn’t been to the club since, and I was hoping we’d seen the last of him, but you were there when Gretchen said he called her. He said some horrible things in his message. We’re trying to figure out how he got her cell number.”
Concern dotted Dale’s expression as she ate a piece of lamb. “He targets my section every once in a while still, but he doesn’t talk to me anymore. His friendly attitude changed in a hurry when I told him I was gay. He didn’t believe me and asked why I live with a man, and I had to tell him Liam was also gay and we were best friends.” She shrugged. “I think he might live near me because I see him at the grocery store I go to. He pretends not to know me,” she said with an eye roll.