Holding Strong
Page 57
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“Gotcha. Well, do this for me and then you can call them back.”
“All right.” He sipped at his beer. “Let’s hear what it is.”
“I need you to hit on Vanity.”
CHAPTER TEN
UNSURE IF HE’D heard that right or, if he had, whether Denver’s suggestion was serious, Stack took his gaze from his friend to the killer lady at the bar.
Damn, but her ass looked sweet on that bar stool. Megasweet.
Maybe too sweet.
He’d never seen a woman so drop-dead gorgeous from head to toe, and God knew he’d known plenty of sexy women. To make it even more confusing, Vanity Baker was nice. And funny.
And while she had to know she was hot¸ she didn’t seem to care that much about it.
“So I have your attention?” Denver asked with a low laugh.
“Yeah.” Still looking at Vanity, he said to Denver, “I’m listening.”
“You remember the creep she’s talking to?”
“Dude from Kentucky.” Stack scratched his jaw. “Leese Phelps. He was pestering Cherry before I pointed out that you were keeping watch. That seemed to discourage him.”
As if the reminder bothered him, Denver worked his jaw. “I need to have a word with him.”
Ho, what was this? “I know for a fact Leese struck out, the poor schmuck.” That made Denver frown—which had Stack laughing. “Why are you thinking about dismembering him, given that Cherry wasn’t interested, much less involved?”
“The others already know, and Cannon was going to tell you tomorrow, but since you’re here...”
“Damn, man. Now you’ve got me curious.”
The story Denver shared took care of any humor Stack felt at his predicament. Cherry was a sweet girl. Funny, lively and completely hung up on Denver. Since Denver hadn’t seemed to reciprocate, had instead chosen to wallow in misery, it had been a little sad to watch. That was the major reason he and Miles had tried so hard to cheer her up, while also doing their part to needle Denver.
Stack slanted his gaze back to Leese. “Funny that he’d show up here after all that going down.”
“If you think that’s funny, you must have a twisted sense of humor.”
“Nah, Leese is okay. You’ll see.” Cutting off Denver’s curse, Stack said, “Did you notice he’s beat all to hell and back? I saw him walk in, and let me tell you, he’s moving like a man who went five rounds in the cage and lost them all.”
Brows shooting up, Denver twisted in his seat to view Leese with new awareness.
From the back left angle they had, only a few war wounds showed: a big, purple bruise above his ear, with less colorful shading under his eye and across his nose.
“Hell of a coincidence, right?”
“Huh.” Denver didn’t show any sympathy. If anything he looked a little more volatile.
“So I’m to interrupt and lead Vanity away.” Stack said that as if there was no question of her following, but for once in his life, he wasn’t sure of his success. “Then you’re going to...what? Add more bruises to Leese’s black-and-blue camouflage, or just talk?”
“That’ll depend on him, now, won’t it? But Rowdy already read me the riot act about anything going down in here.”
“As if.” Denver wasn’t a barroom brawler. It wasn’t his MO. Then again, he’d never been this strung out on a chick before. The fact that it had taken him and Cherry so long to work out whatever it was keeping them apart only made Denver tetchier when discussing her.
“If necessary, I’ll lead him outside.”
Lead, as in drag, given the way Denver said it.
If that happened, Stack would follow, because Denver would only end up feeling bad for pulverizing a lesser fighter. That, too, was his MO. He had the greatest sense of fair play Stack had ever run across.
Pushing back his chair, aware of profound anticipation zinging through his bloodstream, Stack affected the cockiness necessary to convince his friend and said, “Give me two minutes.”
Vanity Baker had only recently moved to the area and joined their group. Hailing from California, she had the surfer-girl look with crazy long, pale blond hair, a light tan, sexy toned legs that went on forever and curves that’d showcase any bikini. The day she’d walked into the rec center every guy had immediately gotten snagged by her big blue eyes and easy smile. In a nanosecond, they’d all had carnal ideas on their brains. But because she was Yvette’s best friend, and Yvette was engaged to Cannon, no one went after her hot and heavy.
“All right.” He sipped at his beer. “Let’s hear what it is.”
“I need you to hit on Vanity.”
CHAPTER TEN
UNSURE IF HE’D heard that right or, if he had, whether Denver’s suggestion was serious, Stack took his gaze from his friend to the killer lady at the bar.
Damn, but her ass looked sweet on that bar stool. Megasweet.
Maybe too sweet.
He’d never seen a woman so drop-dead gorgeous from head to toe, and God knew he’d known plenty of sexy women. To make it even more confusing, Vanity Baker was nice. And funny.
And while she had to know she was hot¸ she didn’t seem to care that much about it.
“So I have your attention?” Denver asked with a low laugh.
“Yeah.” Still looking at Vanity, he said to Denver, “I’m listening.”
“You remember the creep she’s talking to?”
“Dude from Kentucky.” Stack scratched his jaw. “Leese Phelps. He was pestering Cherry before I pointed out that you were keeping watch. That seemed to discourage him.”
As if the reminder bothered him, Denver worked his jaw. “I need to have a word with him.”
Ho, what was this? “I know for a fact Leese struck out, the poor schmuck.” That made Denver frown—which had Stack laughing. “Why are you thinking about dismembering him, given that Cherry wasn’t interested, much less involved?”
“The others already know, and Cannon was going to tell you tomorrow, but since you’re here...”
“Damn, man. Now you’ve got me curious.”
The story Denver shared took care of any humor Stack felt at his predicament. Cherry was a sweet girl. Funny, lively and completely hung up on Denver. Since Denver hadn’t seemed to reciprocate, had instead chosen to wallow in misery, it had been a little sad to watch. That was the major reason he and Miles had tried so hard to cheer her up, while also doing their part to needle Denver.
Stack slanted his gaze back to Leese. “Funny that he’d show up here after all that going down.”
“If you think that’s funny, you must have a twisted sense of humor.”
“Nah, Leese is okay. You’ll see.” Cutting off Denver’s curse, Stack said, “Did you notice he’s beat all to hell and back? I saw him walk in, and let me tell you, he’s moving like a man who went five rounds in the cage and lost them all.”
Brows shooting up, Denver twisted in his seat to view Leese with new awareness.
From the back left angle they had, only a few war wounds showed: a big, purple bruise above his ear, with less colorful shading under his eye and across his nose.
“Hell of a coincidence, right?”
“Huh.” Denver didn’t show any sympathy. If anything he looked a little more volatile.
“So I’m to interrupt and lead Vanity away.” Stack said that as if there was no question of her following, but for once in his life, he wasn’t sure of his success. “Then you’re going to...what? Add more bruises to Leese’s black-and-blue camouflage, or just talk?”
“That’ll depend on him, now, won’t it? But Rowdy already read me the riot act about anything going down in here.”
“As if.” Denver wasn’t a barroom brawler. It wasn’t his MO. Then again, he’d never been this strung out on a chick before. The fact that it had taken him and Cherry so long to work out whatever it was keeping them apart only made Denver tetchier when discussing her.
“If necessary, I’ll lead him outside.”
Lead, as in drag, given the way Denver said it.
If that happened, Stack would follow, because Denver would only end up feeling bad for pulverizing a lesser fighter. That, too, was his MO. He had the greatest sense of fair play Stack had ever run across.
Pushing back his chair, aware of profound anticipation zinging through his bloodstream, Stack affected the cockiness necessary to convince his friend and said, “Give me two minutes.”
Vanity Baker had only recently moved to the area and joined their group. Hailing from California, she had the surfer-girl look with crazy long, pale blond hair, a light tan, sexy toned legs that went on forever and curves that’d showcase any bikini. The day she’d walked into the rec center every guy had immediately gotten snagged by her big blue eyes and easy smile. In a nanosecond, they’d all had carnal ideas on their brains. But because she was Yvette’s best friend, and Yvette was engaged to Cannon, no one went after her hot and heavy.
