Asa (Marked Men #6)(60)

Ayden’s fingers squeezed mine, and I had to squeeze back because she was the only other person alive that could understand how hard caring for a man like Asa could be.

“That’s why I worry. All he’s done since I brought him to Denver is function. Nothing more and nothing less. That’s no way to live. But now he watches you like you matter, like he’s worried I’m going to scare you off with all the stories of his past misdeeds. So I have hope, a thin, tiny thread of hope that there is finally something out there in the world that he’s going to realize he has to wake up and live for.”

I looked over my shoulder toward the bar. He was leaning against the top and talking to a really good-looking man that had a dark beard and colorful tattoos scrolling up the side of his neck. Asa was obviously deep in conversation with the guy, but his eyes were locking on our table and I could tell he was watching me and Ayden intently. I gave him a little grin to let him know everyone was going to make it out alive and I saw his shoulders fall a little as a bit of the tension left him. I turned back to Ayden and tilted my chin up in a defiant manner.

“I want to wake him up.”

She laughed, a warm and rough sound that matched her whiskey-tinted gaze. “Atta girl.”

Suddenly Cora stood up from the other side of the table and clapped her hands together. It was amazing that just a few extra weeks had led to her looking actually pregnant in other places than her boobs. Her face had rounded out a little and her tiny midsection had the barest hint of an actual baby belly starting to show. She was probably the cutest, most rock-and-roll expectant mom in the world and I didn’t miss the way Salem stared at that little bump with open envy.

“We should dance.” She hooked a thumb over her shoulder to where the older ladies were still getting their groove on in an uncoordinated and messy show of undiluted joy. “That’s going to be us one day, ladies. Escaping the men and children at home so we can have a night out to ourselves.” She laughed. “Granted we’ll be more colorful and have better haircuts, but that’s so going to be us.”

Sayer held up her hands and rose to her feet. She was ridiculously classy and looked like she had just left the courtroom. “Sorry, but I don’t dance, ever.” She pushed some of her perfectly sleek blond hair over her shoulder and looked at the bar. Something in her blue gaze shifted and at first I thought she was looking at Asa, which made me scowl, but when I turned around I noticed the bear of a man at the bar had shifted in his seat and the two of them were locked in an unwavering stare-off. “Um, I’m just going to go tell Zeb hi really fast.”

Somehow saying hi had never sounded so much like “strip naked and f*ck on the bar.” That was a lot of sexual tension happening and it was thick enough to fill the space separating the two of them. With the modern-day-mountain-man look Zeb was sporting and the clearly defined muscles straining against his plain, white T-shirt, I couldn’t say I blamed her. There was always something appealing about a man that looked like he could take care of business, no matter what that business might be.

Ayden pulled me to my feet and I suddenly found myself not only in the middle of bumping and grinding but also doing shots. The night faded into a blur of drinks and laughter, more dancing—who knew Ayden was a two-stepping machine?—and a lot of hugging, and hushed talk of what it was like to have sex with a guy that was pierced “down there.” It sounded like a whole lot of fun, but I would take a guy that whispered dirty, sexy things to me with a southern drawl over a guy with metal in his junk any day. There was also a lot of gushing about their men and babies, and of course everyone had to grill Cora on when she was actually gonna tie the knot. It was so much fun I couldn’t believe I had ever been hesitant to throw myself all in with this entire group. For someone that had never had friends, that had never really been comfortable around other girls like this, I hit it out of the park by being so fortunate to land with this crew.

Since Cora and Shaw couldn’t drink because of all the mommy stuff in their lives, they were tasked with getting Ayden and Salem back to their men in one piece. Sayer had slipped out at some point when we were all rocking out to Guns N’ Roses without saying good-bye. Though I could have easily hitched a ride with the other girls, Asa sent Dixie over while I was shimmying and shaking to an Eminem song to tell me that he wanted me to hang out until he was done closing the bar and that he fully expected me to go home with him. Uh, yes, please.

I told her to tell him that was fine, but if I was going to stick around he needed to make it worth my while. His response had been to send his bearded friend over with another round of shots and the order to keep me company and keep me out of trouble until he was done working.

Surprisingly, Zeb was really nice and superfunny beneath his intimidating appearance. I liked the way his emerald eyes glittered with easy humor and the way his teeth flashed straight and white in his ruggedly handsome face. Not to mention those muscles he had for days were drool-worthy and totally worth checking out every time they flexed as he brought the beer bottle up to his mouth. I had to give it to Sayer, she had good taste. He seemed fascinated by the fact I was a cop and asked me a hundred questions about my job. At some point in the conversation he mentioned that he had served time, which normally would have made me uncomfortable and turned the conversation awkward, but he was so open about it and so matter-of-fact that I just rolled with it and went on to ask him how he knew Rowdy’s sister.