Rock Chick Renegade (Rock Chick #4)(152)

His mouth was at my chest, my scar, my br**sts, his hands pressing in to make me arch my back and expose myself to him. I moved faster, faster and he tipped his head back. His fingers slid into my hair, tilting my face down to his and he kissed me right before he came.

I guess he wasn’t grossed out by my body.

* * * * *

We had Christmas at Nick’s, just Vance, Nick and me.

I gave Nick tickets to an upcoming Springsteen concert. I gave Vance this kickass choker with a thick, braided leather band and two small, silver medallions at the front, one of an eagle and one of a buffalo. He tied it on and usually I didn’t like jewelry on guys but that leather and silver on him looked hot.

Nick stole my bracelet while I was recovering and had three more links put in. One with an emerald, for Nick which days later I found out signifies goodness, fidelity and love; one with a blue topaz, for me which signifies sincerity, courage and wisdom (and when I read this out to Vance and Nick, Nick said, “Don’t know about that last one,” a comment which Vance thought was so funny, he threw back his head and laughed, which meant I had to try and tackle him but he just caught me, swung me up in his arms and kept right on laughing, his face buried in my neck); and also one with a pearl, for Vance which signifies nobility, beauty and peace.

How’s that for perfect?

Of course I burst into sloppy tears when I opened it, which pissed me off because I seemed to be crying all the time those days but Vance pulled me into his lap and held me until I was done crying, which, head crackin’ mamma jamma that I was, I still had to admit was super nice.

Zip dropped a gift by Nick’s. It was gun holster with a note attached that said “Just in case’. I laughed my ass off. Vance and Nick didn’t think this was funny (at all).

We had Christmas dinner at my place because I had a better dining room table.

I cooked dinner while Nick looked worried and Vance looked amused mainly because I banged around and cursed a lot through this process.

I’d been practicing cooking at Vance’s cabin while I was recovering and wasn’t doing too badly. However the Christmas pork tenderloin somehow ended up kinda raw. I swore to both of them it was not my fault, it had to be my stupid oven. Then Nick asked me what temperature I cooked it on and I said, “One fifty, like it says in the cookbook.”

Nick got the cookbook and showed me it said three fifty which I guess proved it wasn’t the oven.

Vance, for your information, stayed silent through this exchange however he wore his shit-eating grin the entire time.

Luckily, Nick cooked a backup pork tenderloin (just in case) so all was saved.

Vance gave me my present later in bed when nothing but the moonlight was shining down on us. It was an ultra-wide, hammered, silver ring that went all the way up to my knuckle. It was gorgeous.

I put it on my right ring finger and Vance took it off and put it on my left but not before kissing my finger and looking at me with that “mine” expression on his face.

I could see it, even in the moonlight.

What was more, I could feel it.

Since then, I’ve never taken that ring off.

* * * * *

The week between Christmas and New Year’s was busy because I was going back to work after New Year’s and Vance and I had a lot to do, considering we were splitting houses.

He brought a bunch of his stuff to my house and I moved some of my stuff back but left a lot of it at the cabin.

We doubled up on kitty paraphernalia so Boo could go back and forth with us (Boo liked riding in the Sierra, by the way, crazy cat) without us carting around litter boxes and kitty bowls.

I bought Vance some bookshelves for his cabin. He bought me a stereo so I could listen to music there. He also put in decent locks so no one would steal the stereo which I thought was a smart move.

He gave me a key.

* * * * *

Lee was recruiting new Nightingale Investigations Men not to mention a new receptionist and he hit the jackpot that week before New Year’s.

Darius, finally disentangled from the drug trade, went to work for Lee. Word on the street, Vance told me, this was not a popular move. Though I don’t think anyone at Nightingale Investigations ever cared if something was popular.

Hector, who miraculously didn’t blow his cover, ended his long investigation by getting his man. After that, for reasons only known to Hector (and I knew this for certain because Indy tried na**d gratitude on Lee, like, seven times, and got nothing), he quit the DEA and went to work for Lee.

The kicker was Shirleen, also now drug-trade-free, was looking for a way to spend her days. She and Darius also owned a bar and ran a poker game. She shut down the game, hired a good manager for the bar and became Lee’s receptionist.

No one really knew why Lee hired a crazy, ex-drug-dealing woman with a huge Afro and no experience whatsoever to be his receptionist (and we talked about it a lot, mostly over brunch at Dozens), but then again he’d also hired Dawn so go figure.

* * * * *

The only downer about the New Year’s Party Indy and Lee threw at their duplex was when the fireworks started going off and I freaked out.

I didn’t mean to, but I couldn’t control it, the noise… I just panicked.

Once he ascertained I wasn’t going to go off half-cocked and run screaming into the night, Vance left me with the girls (and Tod and Stevie) all crowded around me. Then he, Luke, Mace, Lee, Hank and Eddie (not to mention Tex and Duke) took off, each one wearing a scary-angry look on their face. In about ten minutes there was no more noise and they all came back with a shitload of confiscated fireworks.