Jasmine

Nine o’clock rolled around and I still hadn’t heard from Alamo. I tried not to let that bother me, but he said he’d call and I was admittedly miffed that he hadn’t. I didn’t even have my family to distract me, as family dinner night had been moved to Tuesday, which rarely happened. Sundays were our day, come hell or high water.

I was stretched out on my sofa, Scruffy curled up at my feet, when my phone pealed in the silence and I answered without looking at the screen. “Hello?”

“Hey, honey.”

I tried not to sound disappointed. “Hey, Willow.”

“What’s wrong?”

“Nothing.”

“How was the date?” she asked.

“Perfect.”

“Okay, so why do you sound like someone just kicked Scruffy?”

I frowned. “Alamo said he’d call and he hasn’t.”

“Hold on,” Willow said, and I heard the click of a door in the background. “He might not, Jazz. Major drama with his sister.”

“Oh, no. What happened?”

“I don’t know, honestly. Dash said Badger’s all tight-lipped, which is totally not like Badger, so this must be serious.”

“Well, shit,” I said. “That’s not good.”

“Nope,” she said. “I think Badger likes Alamo’s sister, but I don’t know if that’s a good thing or not.”

“Yeah. She’s married.”

“Exactly,” Willow said. “But enough about that. Tell me about the date.”

“It was amazing.”

“You sound floaty.”

I hummed in agreement. “I am floaty. Ohmigod, he’s delicious, Willow. I like everything about him.”

“But, can he skate?”

“He can totally skate.”

“Yay! You have a partner now.”

“Translation: Willow no longer has to come with me.”

She laughed. “Well, I wasn’t going to say that... out loud.”

I smiled. “I don’t think it’s his favorite thing, but he was a good sport about it.”

“I really want that for you.”

“A good sport?”

Willow chuckled. “A good man, period.”

“Me too, honey,” I whispered.

“Dash is calling me,” she said. “I’m gonna let you go, but are we still on for girls’ night?”

“Wouldn’t miss it for the world.”

“Awesome. I’ll see you on Wednesday.”

“Bye, honey.”

She hung up, and I set my phone on the coffee table and stared at Scruffy.

“Meow.”

“I know. I miss him too. But he’s dealing with personal stuff, so we probably won’t see him for a while.”

Scruffy’s tail switched. “Meow.”

“I get it,” I said, patting my leg. “It sucks.”

Scruffy crawled onto my lap and rubbed his head under my hand. Since it was just him and me for the moment, I decided to put in a chick-flick and curl up on the sofa with a glass of wine. Yep. Drinking alone was what my day had come to.

* * *

Alamo

Kinsey was finally asleep. I knew, because Quinlan and I had both checked multiple times over the last twenty minutes. My little niece was good at faking and would make us think she was asleep, then come walking out into the living room with a request for water, or snuggles, or her lost unicorn, Billy. I had no fuckin’ idea why the unicorn’s name was Billy, but Kinsey insisted that he’d told her his name, so it had stuck.

“She’s good,” Quin said, flopping onto my sofa with a sigh.

“You sure?”

She gave me a tired smile and nodded.

“You gonna tell me what’s been goin’ on?”

Before she could respond, her phone rang, and she snagged it off the side table. “It’s Michael.”

“Don’t answer it,” I said.

She squeezed her eyes shut and I could tell she was warring with her choice. The phone stopped ringing, shortly followed by the buzz to indicate a voicemail and she opened her eyes and called the voicemail. I could hear the angry message from my end of the sofa. She hung up and her head dropped.

“We’re going to take care of this, Quin.”

“How, Valley?” she asked, her tone one of frustration and sadness. “He holds all the cards.”

“Well, he won’t for much longer. I’m gonna take every one of them out of his hands personally.”

“I can’t keep Kinsey locked indoors for long, brother. She’ll wreak havoc.”

I nodded. “I get it, sis. Booker’s workin’ on shit, so this won’t take long.”

She sighed. “Do you ever miss Texas?”

“No. Do you?”

“Sometimes,” she said. “I miss our life.”

“That life’s dead, Quin.”

“I know. I just miss when things were simpler.”

“We’ll get you back to simple.”

“I’m gonna hold you to that, big brother.” She blinked back tears, but smiled as she stood and leaned down to kiss my cheek. “I’ll see you in the morning.”

“Night.”

She walked into the bedroom and I took a swig of beer... and suddenly realized I hadn’t called Jasmine.

“Fuck!” I breathed out, sliding my phone from my pocket. It was ten o’clock. I had no idea how late she stayed up, but I knew she had an early day tomorrow, so I’d royally fucked up.

Tapping my phone against my forehead, I mulled over my options. Not reaching out wasn’t an option. She meant more than that, but if she was asleep and I woke her, I’d feel like a dick... so, I did the next best thing. I texted her.

I felt like a dick anyway, considering I found myself saying this to her a lot. Maybe it was all too much right now. Maybe I should just let her find someone else and once all this shit was done, if it was good timing, we’d readdress. I shook my head. There was no way in hell I’d let Jasmine go. I was fallin’ for her. Hard.

I grinned and dialed her number.

* * *

Jasmine 

“Hi,” I said into the phone.

“Hey, baby. You pissed?”

“No, why would I be pissed?”

“Because I said I’d call and I didn’t.”

“Are you calling now?” I asked.

He chuckled. “Made it just under the wire, huh?”

“I might have had a little heads-up that you were in the middle of something,” I admitted. “Is everything okay?”

“Not really.”

“I’m sorry, Alamo,” I said, and then he shared. Everything. His entire day. Finding his sister beat to shit, watching his niece open an unlocked door alone and vulnerable, and then bringing them back to his house in an effort to protect them.

With every word, he sounded more and more exhausted and my heart broke for him. I couldn’t imagine going through what he was going through. It was all too much, and I couldn’t stop the tears from streaming down my face.

“So, that’s basically been the rest of my day,” he said.

“Wow, Mo, that’s a lot.”

“Yeah, baby, it is. Now I’ve gotta figure out how to keep my asshole brother-in-law from gettin’ to my sister. If it wasn’t for Kinsey, I could fuckin’ deal with him the way I really want to, but unfortunately, we’ve gotta do this smart.”

“Does he have that much power?”

“Michael Westgate—”

“Wait.” I sat up in shock. “Michael Westgate is your brother-in-law... your sister is Quinlan Westgate?”

He sighed. “Yeah. I take it you’ve heard of them?”

“Alamo, I know them. God, I can’t believe I didn’t put two-and-two together before. Quinlan is not only a client, but she and I have been attending the same fundraisers together for years. We move in all of the same circles,” I said. “Kinsey goes to daycare with my nieces and nephews.”

“Fuck,” he breathed out.

“And you’re right. Michael’s a dick. He’s close, personal friends with Brad Aljets and I wouldn’t be at all surprised if there were videos out there of him visiting the same dominatrix. But he’s not someone to be trifled with. He’s rich, arrogant, and mean.”

Brad Aljets was Willow’s ex-fiancé and had been arrested in a high-profile sting on a brothel. He was in deep shit, which couldn’t have happened to a better guy. He deserved whatever he got in prison, in my opinion.

“Okay, Firefly. Do me a favor.”

“Anything,” I said.

“If you see Michael, do not tell him you know me. Don’t tell anyone you know me. Make sure Parker and Willow don’t say a fuckin’ thing about you and I knowing each other. This does not touch you.”

“Okay, Mo. I can do that... but...”

“But what?”

“Does that mean we’re not going to see each other until this is dealt with?” I couldn’t believe I was asking this question, but the thought bummed me out in a big way.

“No fuckin’ way.”

I relaxed, my heart calming almost instantly at his insistence.

He chuckled. “You miss me, Firefly?”

I smiled. “I plead the fifth.”

“Well, I miss you, so this is a wrinkle I wasn’t prepared for.”

“How’s your sister?” I asked.

“She’s Quinlan. As even-keeled as ever. She’s always been the same, but I can tell this is wearin’ on her and she’s shutting down. I don’t like it.”

“I always wondered if she was always so controlled. It was like she was perfect, or felt the need to be.”

He sighed. “I shoulda stepped in sooner.”

“What could you have done, Mo? It was her choice to stay.”

“It’s complicated. One day I’ll tell you about it, but that’s a story for another day.”

I bit my lip. He sounded wrecked and all I wanted to do was wrap my arms around him... well, and other stuff. God! So much other stuff.

“Did I lose you?” he asked.

“No, I’m here. Sorry, just processing.”

“Did I overload you?”

“No. I just wish you were here, so I could kiss you while you tell me about your bad day.” I groaned. “I can’t believe I said that out loud.”

He chuckled. “Wish I was there too, Firefly. You free for lunch tomorrow?”

“Yes, but it would have to be early... like eleven or eleven-thirty.”

“I can make that happen.”

My heart sang. “I’m really glad, Mo.”

“Me too, baby. I’m gonna let you go.”

“Okay. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“Yeah.”

He hung up and I headed to bed.

* * *

I rang up my final client (and good friend) before lunch and handed her the shopping bag I’d filled with almost five-hundred dollars-worth of product. Aspen Westwood could afford it, and product was my bread and butter. All of my clients wanted to buy what I used on them, so I only used the very best... which meant they only bought the very best. I couldn’t wait until I was selling my own creations. Not long now, I hoped.

“Are we still getting together on the twentieth?” Aspen asked.

“Totally. We can finalize everything closer to the day, but Parker and Willow will probably meet at my place and we’ll grab an Uber. You can join us, if you want.”

“Andi’s schedule is always so frantic, so how about we decide the Tuesday before?”

Andi Rivers was Aspen’s best friend and a kickass nurse. Andi’s schedule was insane, so we’d had our dinner date on the books (with Willow and Parker, too) for almost a month already. Aspen had more money than God, but she was as down-to-earth as they came and the five of us had gotten pretty close.

“Sounds good,” I said.

She grinned. “I’ll see you in a couple of weeks.”

“Bye.”

As I slid the receipts into the drawer, I heard the bell over the door ring and raised my head to see Alamo walking in. Ohmigod, he looked edible. He wore dark jeans, a tight, black, long-sleeved T-shirt (ribbed for my pleasure), along with his leather jacket and boots, and I wanted to peel him out of everything. Then lick him. God, I wanted to lick him.

Alamo raised an eyebrow as he approached, and heat crept up my neck. I had an inkling he might have read my mind. “Hey.”

“Hey, Firefly. You ready?”

I nodded. “I’ll just grab my purse.”

I walked to our little lunch room and grabbed my purse from my locker, then joined Alamo again at reception. He took my hand and we headed toward the front door, where he gently pushed me against the wall and kissed me. I slid my arms under his jacket and up his back, squeezing him gently, opening my mouth to deepen the kiss.

His hand stroked my neck and his tongue moved against mine in the middle of my little salon lobby, making my resolve weaken exponentially the deeper he kissed me.

He broke the kiss with a, “Fuck,” dropping his forehead to mine and then kissing my nose. “That got a little out of hand.”

I licked my lips. “A little. Yes.”

He grinned, kissing me again, but this time just a quick peck. “Let’s eat, baby, or I’ll fuck you in the back room.”

“I’d probably let you.”

“Don’t say shit like that,” he complained as he led me outside. I locked up (after I set the alarm) and followed him to his truck. “Tryin’ to respect your timeline, Firefly. You’re makin’ it impossible.”

“Sorry.” I pressed my lips together in an effort not to grin like a loon. “Not sorry.”

He groaned. “Keep doin’ that, baby. I dare you.”

“I’m not going to be able to wait seven months, Mo, so you and I are kind of in the same boat.”

“Halle-fuckin-lujah,” he said as we climbed into his truck.

“I’m not ready for it to happen tonight,” I rushed to say as I secured my seatbelt.

“I hear ya, Jasmine.” He chuckled. “Your pace, baby.”

“I know.”

“Do you?”

I nodded, squeezing his hand. “I do. I trust you.”

He linked his fingers with mine. “Good, baby.”

We arrived at “our” little café and we sat down to eat. “How’s your sister?” I asked once we’d ordered.

“The same,” he said. “Michael’s been callin’ her non-stop and leavin’ threatening voicemails, so she’s locked down for the moment.”

“What are you going to do?”

“We’re gonna take care of it.”

“Care to expound?”

“Nope.”

I rolled my eyes. “Does this fall under the club business thing that Willow complains about?”

He shook his head. “It falls under the ‘this does not touch Jasmine’ thing.”

“I have strong shoulders, Mo. I can carry this.”

“You’re not fuckin’ carryin’ it, baby.”

Before I could comment, our food arrived, so the conversation was paused for a few minutes. Once our server left, I studied Alamo, then smiled.

“What?” he asked.

“You’re gonna be a challenge. I can tell.”

“Love isn’t worth it if you don’t work for it,” he said.

I raised an eyebrow. “I suppose we’ll find out, huh?”

He grinned and took a bite of his burger. I did the same, trying not to obsess over his use of “love.” Yes, this was a man I could fall in love with... and fall hard.