Geneva smiles and runs a hand down to Bo’s ass, where she cops a feel right on the dance floor. “Couldn’t attend the ceremony, but I wouldn’t miss the reception. I’m here as this wild one’s date in the hopes of getting a little bit more than a twirl around the dance floor. What do you say, cowboy?” she coos in her lovely British accent, though her innuendo is anything but lovely. It’s downright naughty.
“I say giddyap, ma’am.” He swings her out and brings her back, dipping his hips and rubbing his body all over the wanton author.
“My goodness . . . you two need to get a room!” Sky giggles, her cheeks firing red for the second time this evening.
I love how my woman still blushes. She’s so beautiful when her face takes on that rosy hue.
“Why, that’s an excellent idea. Wha’ d’ya say, cowgirl? You want to take a ride?” He rolls his hips in a blatantly sexual manner.
“I just got here!” She chuckles and swats his ass. “Behave.”
Behind them, I see Baylee pacing in the background, her thumbnail resting between her teeth, her eyes flickering to Bo and then back to the room at large as if she’s debating interrupting his dance. The woman is new to our fold, doesn’t actually come around much, but I know since she started working at Lucky’s a couple of months ago, Wendy and Sky have spent some time with her. From what I understand, we don’t know a lot about her, just that she needed the job and started work immediately. The holidays had hit right around the time the shit went down with Tracey, and with Pops being laid up, Bo hired a couple of people, Baylee being one of them.
Seeing her pace the floor in a royal-blue dress that reaches about four inches above her knees and a pair of nude platform pumps is a side to her we haven’t seen. Hell, I knew the woman had a nice shape and a gorgeous face. In all honesty, Bo wouldn’t have hired her if she weren’t easy on the eyes. It’s just not in his makeup. Still, I don’t think any of us knew the bombshell she was hiding behind those shapeless T-shirts, jeans, and sneakers. Looking at her now, the woman is a freakin’ knockout. Long legs that seem to go on for days. Tanned skin. Long, wavy sandy-brown hair, and a fuckuva lot of it too. Normally she’s got that mane in a ponytail or pinned in a messy bun on her head. Hanging down and styled, not only is it eye-catching, it looks shiny and soft, something that makes a man want to run his fingers through it . . . after he fucks the shit out of her. Her dress is rockin’, showcasing her large breasts, and it glides along her flared hips. The woman is the epitome of an hourglass figure. Yep, definite knockout.
“You can stop licking your lips now, honey.” Skyler dips her face in front of mine so all I can see is her and not Baylee.
“Peaches, I would never—”
She places two fingers over my lips. “Relax.” She smirks. “I was just joshing you! Though I did catch you eyeballing the new girl.”
“Sky, baby, I can’t help it. I’ve never seen her look like . . .” I scan her sexy-as-fuck body and blink a few times, making the image go away before my woman clocks me the way Kendra clocked Roy earlier.
“Like a Sports Illustrated swimsuit model?”
I blink dumbly and focus on my golden girl. “Yeah. Pretty much.”
She snickers. “Honey, she’s wearing my dress.”
I can feel my eyes trying to bug out of my head as I maneuver her around so I can get a better look. Shit, yep. It’s one I’ve drooled over Sky wearing.
“Though I will say, her female attributes have been highlighted to their fullest possible extent.” She smiles, taking in the woman.
“I didn’t say anything,” I blurt defensively.
Skyler grins. “I know you love me and only me, but you’re not dead. You’re allowed to look and appreciate a beautiful woman.” She leans into my space again, bringing her lips to hover just over mine. Her peaches-and-cream scent fills my nostrils, and I’m drunk on her all over again. “You’re just not allowed to touch.” She kisses me softly, touching just the tip of her tongue to mine before easing back and smiling.
“You do not play fair, woman.” I pull a move like Geneva’s and get handsy with my girl’s ass.
“Hey! Pretty boy. Hands off,” she admonishes, and after a playful squeeze of the tightest, most perfect ass I’ve ever seen, felt, or bitten into, I move my hand to the center of her spine, where I can trace the velvet surface of her skin at my leisure.
“What do you think she wants?” I watch her focus completely on Bo and decisively nod, her hands rounding into fists at her sides.
She’s about to approach Bo, her finger reaching out to tap him on the back, when Bo growls and crushes Geneva’s lips to his in a searing kiss that rivals the one Royce gave Kendra earlier. Not quite as heated as theirs, but definitely holding promise of something more carnal at a later hour in the evening.
Baylee sees the kiss, backs up several steps, bumps into someone, and steps on a man’s foot with the spiked heel of her stiletto.
“Ooowee! That fucking hurt!” the man roars, spinning around and grabbing Baylee by both biceps and shaking her. “Watch where you’re fucking going, you idiot!”
Oh hell no. I move to approach, but at this point, Bo’s already turned around and jumped into the fray before I can even situate Skyler behind me and back up my buddy.
“Watch how you talk to a lady, asshole!” Bo spits with a growl, and yanks Baylee out of the man’s hold. “Are you okay, Lee?” He slides his hands soothingly up and down her arms, which I can already see have red blotches marring where the fuckface grabbed her.
She looks at him, then at the furious man who’s shaking his sore foot, her eyes filled to the brim with tears. “I’m sorry . . . so, so sorry. I didn’t mean to hurt you.” Her face is a mask of remorse and apology. “And, Bo, I didn’t mean to interrupt. Um, I didn’t know . . . uh . . . that you had a girlfriend. I’m . . . I’m . . . It doesn’t matter what I am. I need to go.” A tear slips down one high cheekbone before she dashes it away with her hand, steps back out of his hold, turns on her tall heels, and takes a runner.
What is it with women and running off?
“Christ! Baylee! Come back, sweetheart!” he calls out, and then, without another word, jets off after her.
Geneva crosses her arms and pouts. “Well, bloody hell. Looks like I’m going to have to find another bloke to warm my bed this evening. Pity,” she mumbles.
Mick approaches with a stern face and his wife holding his hand and trailing just a step behind him. Her fluffy dress is bouncing all over the place as he moves at a fast clip.
“What is the meaning of this debacle?” Mick’s voice is hard and cold. “Are you starting trouble again, Uncle Neil?”
The older man, who carries a remarkable resemblance to Mick, blusters and straightens his coat as if he’s been in a full tussle. “Out of nowhere this bumbling woman crashed into me and speared her stiletto into the top of my foot! She may have broken a bone! I’m going to have to see a doctor,” he tuts, as if Baylee planned to run into him.
Mick’s mouth quirks for a moment before he gets control of himself.
I wrap my arm around Sky’s shoulders as she adds, “That may have happened, but you didn’t need to manhandle and yell at the young woman who accidentally bumped into you and stepped on your foot. I saw the entire thing.”
“I see the drunken, bumbling twit has friends,” the man barks.
That makes my hackles rise. No man treats a woman like that, especially a sweet girl like Baylee.
“Jesus. She didn’t do anything to you. Man up,” I bark back, standing up straighter while taking a step closer.
“Well, I’ve never been treated such a way in my entire life.” He raises his chin haughtily.
Mick’s nostrils flare, and he narrows his eyes. Unfortunately he’s too late, because Wendy takes the torch, pushing herself in front of her husband. “Sounds to me like you’re overreacting—”
“Cherry, quiet,” Mick growls, but lovingly wraps an arm around her chest from behind.
> “Are you going to let your new wife talk to me like that, son?” the man asks, seemingly affronted.
“I am not your son, and I’ll let my wife speak however she wants to the guests at her wedding in her backyard. Do remember who controls this family. You do not want to get on my bad side, or the family business we actually do together, Uncle Neil, will dry up. Keep that in mind. Now if you’ll accompany your date to the receiving room, I’ll have the doctor on call here evaluate your injury.”
“Good,” he sneers, and grabs the arm of the woman he’s standing with and storms off. I assume she’s his wife, although she’s at least half his age.
“If his foot were broken, he wouldn’t be able to walk.” Wendy watches his retreating form.
Mick chuckles softly against Wendy’s neck and kisses her there right at the sparkling collar.
“Just sayin’.” She snickers.
Mick turns his wife around and brings her into his arms against his chest. “And I am saying that my wife is the most beautiful woman here, and I shall request the honor of our first dance together as husband and wife.”
“I shall accept your request and return that my man is a stone-cold fox, and I’ll dance circles around you all night just to see you smile like that at me.” She bats her eyelashes and shimmies her hips and chest in a sultry display that gets all of Mick’s attention.
He grins wide, his eyes sparkling blue and his smile only for Wendy as he captures her against his chest and sways to the music.
I watch as Geneva moves off the dance floor, likely to find a new guy to keep her entertained since Bo disappeared after Baylee.
Following Mick’s lead, I curl my hand around Skyler’s and bring her back into my arms. “Wow. A lot just happened,” I murmur in her ear.
“Totally weird. First, we’ve got Royce and Kendra in a kiss-off ending in a fight. Then we’ve got Baylee acting strange about approaching Bo and then running away in tears. And Mick nearly duking it out with his uncle Neil, which I didn’t even know he had! Then to hear the way that Mick feels about his uncle . . . yikes. There is some family drama all over that. I’ll have to find out the goods from Wendy.”
“Sky, don’t get involved in their drama,” I warn.
She frowns. “Why the heck not? Wendy has half her body stuck in everyone else’s lives. Why can’t we poke around a little? Hmmm?”
I chuckle. “It’s none of our business, and we’ve had enough of our own drama to last a lifetime; we don’t need anyone else’s.”
Her smile falls. “This is true. I hate it when you’re right.”
I rub my cheek along hers. “It’s not that I’m right; I’m just protecting what we have. We’ve been through a lot, and I don’t want to get involved in anything else that’s going to shake our lives up again. I want just you, me, our home, our dogs, and living the good life. Can we just do that for a while?”
She kisses my cheek and wraps her arms tighter around me. “Yeah, honey, we can do that . . . for a while. At least until Wendy gets back from her honeymoon.”
“Christ. Whatever am I going to do with you.”
She shrugs and grins as her eyes light up with a sensual flicker I’d recognize anywhere. “I can think of a few things.”
“Mmm . . . I bet you can.”
3
SKYLER
Not long after the debacle on the dance floor, a surly Bo flops down in the open seat next to Parker and me. He reaches for the huge slice of wedding cake in front of my guy and slides it in front of himself. Without a word, he picks up the fork, digs a big chunk out of the cake, and shovels it into his mouth. Frosting rings the hair around his mouth of his mustache and goatee.
“Hungry?” I ask with a grin.
His lips twist into a snarl while he tips his fork sideways and cuts another large helping of cake.
“Brother, what’s up with you and Baylee?” Parker asks gruffly.
“Nuthin’, man. I got it under control. It’s all good,” Bo half growls, but focuses on the stolen cake and not my man.
Park nails him straight out. “Then why the hell are you avoiding eye contact with me?”
Bo drops the fork on the plate with a clank, grabs the linen napkin in front of him, and wipes his mouth with it. “I tagged her, all right? It was a one-time thing, we both agreed. No biggie.”
“Nuh-uh!” My mouth drops open of its own accord as shock—and a little bit of excitement—skitters down my spine. I twist my seat a couple of inches closer as Bo crosses his arms and leans back.
“Then why did she look like a little kid whose ice cream had been taken away when you were dancing with Geneva?” Parker asks, a curt and protective note to his tone.
Bo sighs and plucks at his goatee. “Hell if I know. When I caught up to her, she said she was feeling out of sorts, was sorry she bothered me, and bailed again. That time, I didn’t chase her. Not gonna play games. If the woman doesn’t want to talk, give up what has her ass in a snit, who am I to push?”
Parker purses his lips. “Bro, she ran off after seeing you with Geneva.”
“Nah, man. She ran off because she was embarrassed.”
“You’re wrong. I know women; you know I do. That woman had hurt plastered all over her face. That hurt was directed at you, not at the fuckwad extended family of Mick’s.”
Bo shakes his head. “You’re wrong. Me and Baylee, we’re tight. Work together at the bar five, six nights a week. She’s solid. Works hard, keeps her head down, never complains.”
“Yeah, but you just said you slept with her,” Parker adds.
“It was two months ago, right after all the shit went down with Tracey and Pops. I was working the bar; it was Christmas Eve. All of you had plans, and I had the bar on my own. It was busy as fuck. She came in, having seen the ‘Help Wanted’ sign. Hired her on the spot. She worked the tables, took orders, and served, and we made the bar a shit ton of cash. After, we were tired, dead on our feet, so we took the solo couch in the place, turned on the TV, and sat and watched Christmas movies while doing shots. We got shit-faced. One thing led to another. Hooked up. One-time deal. We agreed. She says she’s good and has been at work every day since. I have no idea what was up tonight, and she didn’t want to share. End of. Now can we move on from this?”
Just as Parker’s about to say something, we see Mick approach the stage where the four-piece quartet is, standing about ten feet in front of us with a mic in his hand, his beautiful bride at his side.
Wendy is beaming from ear to ear as Mick puts his arm around her waist.
“My wife and I would like to thank everyone for coming and sharing this day with us. The past year has been a whirlwind of activity.”
Mick grins and glances down at Wendy’s smiling face. “My woman became the sister to a brotherhood of men we couldn’t imagine our lives without.” Mick’s gaze roams to our table where all of us are sitting.
He then turns and cups Wendy’s chin and caresses her cheek with his thumb. “We suffered a crushing personal loss and helped our friends overcome crippling tragedies . . . and yet here we all are, celebrating an unbreakable love. One that I will never take for granted.” He wipes away a tear that slides down her cheek.
My heart stops, and I grip Parker’s hand in mine, squeezing it tight. He lifts our hands and kisses each one of my knuckles as we watch stoic Mick worship his woman with his words.
“Wendy, you are my entire world. Without you, I have no compass. No path to follow. No goals to achieve. Nothing. I will live every day of my life attempting to give you all that I am, and all that you could ever dream of. In front of all of our family and friends, you are my love and my life.” He gifts her a rare, full, even-toothed smile, but it’s not enough for our quirky girl. No, she wraps her arms around his neck and smashes her lips to his in a heart-melting kiss. He cups the back of her head and kisses her more deliberately to the hoots and hollers and tinkling of glasses from the entire crowd.
Wendy eases back and rubs away the red
stain on Mick’s lips. He grins, takes his pocket square, and wipes his mouth as she finagles the mic from his hand.
“Hi, everyone . . .” She waves cheekily at the crowd, including our table as we laugh at her cuteness.
“I want to reiterate what Mick said. We’re very thankful to have each and every one of you in our lives.” Her facial expression becomes serious. “You know, I grew up with nothing. No family. No friends. Looking around this room, I know how very blessed we are to have all of you. From my guys”—she gestures toward our table—“to my best friend, Skyler, who helped me make all of this happen, and my new adopted parents, the Ellises and Momma Sterling.” She gestures to the table next to ours where Parker’s parents are sitting alongside the Sterling clan of Royce’s mom and sisters. “As well as all of you, our friends from all over the globe. We thank you.”
She turns her body toward Mick and brings the mic toward her face. “Mick, you’re the first person I ever loved. I didn’t even know what the word meant until I met you. Our love story moved at the speed of light. Some people say when you meet the person you’re supposed to be with, you just know. The day we met, all you had to do was look me in the eye, and I knew there would never be another person on this earth who could move me the way you do. You smile, and I melt. You kiss me, and I die a thousand beautiful deaths. You make love to me, and the entire world stops. The day we met, my life started over. You’re the man of my dreams. And you’re going to be the world’s greatest father.”
The entire room goes dead silent as Wendy reaches for Mick’s hand and places it on her belly.
Mick cups Wendy’s face with his other hand as she holds the first to her abdomen.
“I’m going to be a father?” We can hear him through the microphone, only it’s softer since she has it held down at her hip.
“Yes, sir.” She lowers her gaze.
“You’re pregnant with my child. My son.” His voice is strained and thick with emotion.
“Or baby girl. We won’t know for another two months what we’re having.” She smiles, lifting her gaze to his.
International Guy: Volume 4 Page 30