“I thought I was a lesbian.”
He shrugged. “All I care about is my siblings seeing that I get what I want, and nothing stops me. You put me in a position where they think I’m pathetic, and I can’t have that. Go out with me and maybe I won’t feel the need for revenge. If they think I had you and cut you loose, I might not care what you do with the rest of your small-town shitty life.”
“Fuck you.” She wasn’t about to play his games. She was so sick of assholes who thought they owned the world. “Maybe you should be afraid of me. Maybe I’ll sneak into your room one night and you won’t wake up in the morning. At least not whole. You like your dick where it is, Brock? Then you better leave me alone.”
She moved around him and started up the steps. If he wanted to attack her at least up here the kitchen staff would hear her scream.
She opened the door and ran straight into a mass of muscle.
The door slammed shut behind her and she found herself looking up into Michael’s eyes.
“What are you doing here?” The question came out on a little gasp.
Then a great big one because he leaned over and picked her up, tossing her over his broad shoulder like she was a bag of flour. “Asking you to join us for dinner.”
Before she could protest, he started for the dining room.
Well, at least she was going to get to eat that stew.
Chapter Seven
Ty looked up when half the dining room started to cheer.
Then he winced because they were cheering on Michael, who had something over his…damn. He knew that backside. He’d dreamed of that curvy, glorious ass about a million times. Lucy. He’d tossed Luce over his shoulder, and that really should make him mad. It should have him longing to take out the man who dared to treat the woman he loved like some furniture to be moved around.
All he could think about was she looked hot like that. The caveman thing was real, and while he considered himself a modern man and something of an ally to all the women in his life, there was still a little Neanderthal in him that wanted to take his woman somewhere quiet and show her who the boss was.
The modern man part of him wondered exactly what had happened that made Michael grab her and run.
“Uh, is there something I should know?” Zane watched as they made their way around the bar. “Because while I understand the impulse, I also have to protect my employee.”
“She’s not kicking or anything. If Luce was pissed, she would be fighting him.” It was the one thing that gave him hope.
“Actually, she looks really relaxed.” Zane pulled his order book. “Y’all staying for dinner or taking this show on the road?”
“Oh, I need them both fed. When Michael is hungry he stops using words. Lucy gets real cantankerous, and I need them both communicating on a polite level since our first date didn’t go so well.” He was starting to worry that his do-over wasn’t going to go well either. Had she tried to run? What had Michael said?
Michael made it to the table and stared down at him for a moment as though he’d done all the hard caveman work and wasn’t sure what to do now that he’d clubbed his intended over the head and dragged her back to the cave and had to face the consequences of his actions.
“You think she’ll escape if you put her down, don’t you?” Ty asked.
“I will admit I was running on instinct,” Michael replied.
Ty slipped out of the booth and took a knee in front of Lucy, who was calmly hanging off Michael’s back. “Hey, you doing okay there?”
Her head turned slightly. Her hair had come out of its ponytail and hung in waves around her face. There was a pretty flush to her skin, and her lips curled up. “I’m not sure. He came to the kitchen and he said he was asking me to dinner, but he didn’t actually ask me to dinner.”
“Of course I did,” Michael insisted.
“No, you told me you were going to but you never did,” Lucy shot back.
“He didn’t get around to it because he was too busy kidnapping you.” Ty was starting to get a handle on how things had gone.
“I didn’t kidnap her.” Michael made the declaration but he didn’t let Lucy go.
Michael—big, manly, cared-about-nothing Michael—was worried she would say no. “He’s worried you would leave and not give us another chance. We screwed up.”
“I didn’t,” Michael said with a huff.
Lucy reached out, and Ty sighed as her hand brushed across his face. “We all did. Yes. I would like very much to have dinner with you. Both of you. But Ty, you should understand that I’ve spent the last couple of minutes staring at Michael’s backside, and it’s really nice. I need you to be okay with that.”
He smiled her way because he’d moved past jealousy. He was also very comfortable with the state of his own ass. He worked those glutes hard. Lucy would think his butt was nice, too. “Oh, it’s all right. Mike and I decided there’s no room for jealousy, and that includes you in case in the middle of everything your men decide we’re curious and go at it hard with each other.”
Lucy was suddenly on her feet, and Michael was frowning his way. “That is not how I put it.”
Lucy smoothed back her hair, and her face was lit with amusement. “How did you put it?”
“So you’re staying?” Zane interrupted as Ty stood up and slid into the booth, making room for Michael. “Do you want dinner? They ordered drinks and appetizers but wanted to wait on dinner. I’m pretty sure one of these two is paying, so you should know we’ve got some excellent filets in and the fish of the night is…”
“Trout,” Lucy finished, sliding in across from Ty but taking up the whole middle of the booth. “I do work here, and I want the stew and cornbread, and I’ll take a glass of your finest white zinfandel.”
Ty gave him his order, and Michael did the same. It looked like they might actually have dinner with her this evening.
“Done,” Zane said. He nodded toward Michael and put a hand on his shoulder. “Good to know you’re an open-minded dude. I say go for it.”
Michael growled as Zane moved past.
Ty leaned over the table. “That’s his way of saying fuck you without saying fuck you. You’re over here with me, buddy. This way we can both talk to her and look at how pretty she is.”
The corner of Michael’s mouth curled up—an almost smile—and he moved in next to Ty. “She is pretty.”
“So pretty you had to toss her over your shoulder and drag her out to dinner.” It wasn’t a question. It was hopefully an explanation.
“I panicked.” Michael’s expression was stony. “She was standing there and she looked a little horrified to see me, so I panicked and picked her up and carried her out here, and now I can see where that might have been an overreaction on my part. Did everyone really have to cheer?”
“It’s that kind of town,” Ty replied. He had his very lovely piña colada in front of him because unlike Sawyer, Zane believed in blenders.
“I wasn’t horrified to see you.” Lucy reached out and stole his piña colada like she almost always did and took a little drag off the straw. “I was surprised you were there. Not surprised you were here at Trio. Surprised you were behind the door when I opened it and I’d just had…”