by Lori Leger
Niki stood with her hands fisted on her rounded hips. “Well, I sure as hell didn’t expect to see you here.”
“Disappointed?” he said, stepping in close for a kiss. What he got was a barely-there brush on her cheek as she turned her face.
“Well no, but I am surprised.”
He stood to his full height, looking somewhat shocked at her reaction to him. “After those fabulous couple of nights we spent together, I figured you’d be glad to see me, Nicole.”
She smiled at him, showing her dimples. “I was disappointed two weeks ago, when you didn’t call after said nights. I’ve moved on since then. Now, I’m simply surprised that you’re here.” She batted her eyelashes at him. “Thanks for carrying in the topping though. That was surprisingly…considerate …of you.”
She made a show of checking her watch as another knock sounded at the door. “Oh, hang on, Tex. That must be my dinner guest.” She swung it open, greeting the newest arrival with squeals of delight at the gorgeous basket of fall flowers in one hand and two bottles of wine in the other. “Hey, sweetie, come on in!” The tall, good-looking man leaned over and she threw her arms around his neck to kiss him soundly on the lips.
“Happy Thanksgiving, Niki. And thanks again for inviting me to this dinner.” He held out the bottles of wine. “This is for the two lovely hostesses, but the flowers are all yours. And uh, there’s a little surprise inside for you, but you’ll have to look for it.”
“Oh, I love surprises!” She took the wine from him and placed it in the fridge to chill, then set the flowers down on the table to start her search. “Oh, Bo McAllister, this is Tex. Tex, this is Bo,” Niki threw in, while continuing her search for the surprise. She pretended not to pay much attention, as the giant of a man from Texas seemed to size up his equally large competition. She smiled to herself, doubting seriously if Tex ever came face to face with someone as big as he was.
Tex was the first to step forward and offer his hand. “Matthew Broussard, but everyone calls me Tex.”
“Bo McAllister. It’s nice to meet you man, and Happy Thanksgiving.”
“You t—”
Niki cut off his reply with an ear-splitting screech as she jumped up and down. “The ballet! You got tickets to the ballet? I adore The Nutcracker! Oh thank you, thank you Bo!”
Bo caught her easily as she jumped in his arms. The room resonated with his deep laughter as he spun her in a circle. “You know I aim to please.”
****
Tex stood by, watching the display with a growing sense of alarm burning in the pit of his belly. Mitch approached his side.
“What’s going on in here?”
Tex looked at his friend and cocked one eyebrow. “He scored some tickets…to the ballet…something about cracking somebody’s nuts. Looks like it could be his. Who is this kid, anyway?”
Mitch gave him a friendly shove into the kitchen once Meagan joined the noisy melee in the living room. “He’s Red McAllister’s first cousin, and he’s a hell of a nice guy, so don’t even think about giving him a hard time, or I’ll have to pull Nik and Meagan off of your ass.”
“Thanks bro…semper fi to you too,” Tex snorted at his friend.
Mitch gave him a casual shrug. “Hey, I told you to call her, but you had more important things to do. You remember, like that blonde pole dancer in Beaumont?”
Tex hooked his thumbs in his belt loops and cocked his head. “Dude, do you have any idea what kind of muscles those girls use to hang upside down from those poles? That is some serious stuff, man, I shit you not!”
Mitch raised one hand to shut him up. “Whatever, man, but you screwed up. Meagan warned you. She well told you Nik has a low tolerance for jerks and assholes. She told me she even called you to let you know Nik was getting tired of waiting for you to call. You blew it.”
“Well hell, I guess I did.” Tex leaned his shoulder against the door and crossed one booted foot over the other as he watched the adoration fest in the other room.
Within seconds, Bo freed himself from the women and came over to meet the men in the kitchen. “Damn, something smells good in here! Did you deep fry that turkey?”
“Sure did,” Mitch said, shaking Bo’s hand. “How you doing, man? You two been introduced?”
“Yeah, just before he brought out the big guns…the ballet tickets,” Tex snorted.
Bo grinned at him, his McAllister blue eyes sparkling with mischief. “Oh that?” he said, jerking his head toward the women, who were already making plans. “That’s a diversionary tactic. I told them I’d watch Buck if I could get them tickets for that ballet. I also knew the ballet was scheduled for the same night as the heavyweight prizefight in Vegas. I figured while they’re at the ballet, we can be at my place watching the pay per view fight on my 70” flat screen. I ordered the fight today.”
Mitch slapped him on the shoulder. “Good plan, buddy. Excellent plan!”
Tex nodded, hating to agree, but unable to think of one damn reason not to.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Lori Leger resides in south central Louisiana with her husband. Between the two of them, they have five amazing, adult children. Though they love having the house to themselves, they adore getting frequent visits from their children and grandchildren, who range in age from one to eighteen years old.
In March of 2012, she resigned her eighteen plus year career as an Engineer Technician to pursue her dream of writing full-time.
She has five books published in her La Fleur de Love series, and this is the third book in her spin-off Halos & Horns series.
She also contributes to, as well as publishes, a series of seasonal anthologies called Seasons of Love. The fourth book in the series will be out by November, 2013.
Lori is the sole proprietor of Cajunflair Publishing.
www.CajunflairPublishing.com
www.lorilegerauthor.com
[email protected]
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Table of Contents
www.CajunflairPublishing.com
Table of Contents
1 the armpit of the middle east
2 weddings, receptions, and misconceptions
3 the sad man (part 1)
4 bartending tricks and feeling like a dick
5 marine 1 and marine 2
6 kites and confessions
7 two jarheads and a cowgirl
8 birthdays, brawls, and brothers in arms
9 fear of flying photos
10 cowboys, crowds, and competitions
11 the normalcy of paranormalcy
12 empaths and accidents
13 broken bones, bald tires, and blood money
14 hovering marine and a message
15 big needles and bigger promises
16 the new normal
17 disappointments and decisions
18 bachelorettes and barfing
19 feverish not-so-friendly fire
20 costumes and camouflage
21 accusations, denials, and restless nights
22 storage units and chance meetings
23 hulks and heroes
24 halloween hell
25 the sad man (part 2)
26 houston texans and #8
27 returns and revelations
EXCERPT OF RAINY SEASON
about the author