He caught her staring again and when she noticed him noticing, a pink blush covered her cheeks.
He ducked his head to hide his smile and focused on the discussion about properties.
“My uncle and I recently logged out a nice patch of land on the west side of town. Would make a perfect plot to build, and he’d give us a good rate.”
“Not sure how much money we could raise to buy land plus build, but we’ll keep that in mind. Thanks, Rio.” Dixon raised his jaw toward the group of girls. “That brunette’s had her eye on you since you walked in the bar, Tank.”
“Nah, man. She’s just hanging with the ladies, enjoying her night.”
“Bet if I called her over here, she’d watch you the entire way.”
Why did Tank feel annoyed by that statement? He was unattached in all ways and hadn’t been laid in six months. He should be hitting that woman up and take her straight home to his bed.
Fucking Catarina. For the past few months, he found himself comparing every woman to her. Nobody had her exact shade of green eyes, like a smoky jade hue he’d only ever seen in a few trinkets in souvenir shops. Or her thick strawberry blonde curls that she often wore pulled back for work, but when she let her hair down, it tumbled in corkscrews to her shoulders. And those freckles…
Some guys didn’t like freckles, but Catarina’s entire face sported so many he couldn’t possibly count them all if he sat and stared at her all day. They distracted the hell out of him with their cuteness. And don’t even get him started on her body. Even in the coverall-type EMS uniform he often saw her in, he couldn’t stop his body from responding.
Dammit. He really had a thing for her. No denying that fact—but he planned to keep suppressing the fuck out of it.
The night continued on, with people coming and going. Fiona must have served so much beer and so many baskets of wing-dings that there couldn’t be any supplies left. And the girls who’d stood so long in a group finally moved to a table and the brunette sat in a position where she could glance up at him every so often.
A shout sounded from the front of the joint, followed by a crash. Tank shot to his feet, along with a dozen other Dark Falcons. He moved first. People said he was fast for such a big guy, and he used it now to reach the fistfight.
“Get the fuck off him!” a woman yelled from the side.
Tank put out an arm and forced her to back up a step as Dixon, Patriot, Blade and Diesel shoved into the middle of two guys duking it out, possibly over this woman Tank guarded.
One guy rushed another. Dixon put a hand against his chest and held him back using very little force.
“Who the fuck are you?” he yelled in Dixon’s face.
Fiona leaped over the bar and landed by them, her famous baseball bat in hand. In total opposition to her threatening stance, her voice came out sweet as peach pie. “Dixon, get these assholes outta my bar, would ya, baby?”
He cocked a grin. “Can’t I fuck with them a little bit?”
“Only if you take it outside.” Fiona waved the bat at the people within her reach. “Anybody wants to fight, take it outside and my boyfriend and his buddies will join you!”
“No thanks, Fiona. I like my teeth too much,” one man joked, and a bunch of laughter followed.
The woman behind Tank popped out next to him and started forward. He stepped into her path. “Don’t get in the middle of that, lady. Let them fight it out. Why don’t you call a friend to take you home?”
“Dammit, Brian! You told me no more fights!” she screamed around Tank.
He gently took her by the shoulder and turned her around. He spotted a neighbor of his that lived down the street and tipped his head to him. “Why don’t you take her on home?”
“Sure thing, Tank. C’mon, lady.”
After Tank watched her leave with his neighbor, he held the door open for the guys to march through with the two fighters. As soon as they hit gravel, one lunged for the other. Tank and his brothers stood back to watch for a minute, but as soon as it became evident that the odds weren’t even, Tank grabbed one guy by the nape and forced him away from the man he attacked.
Tank gave him a light shove. “Get on home. And you better not be drunk driving. My buddy’s making a call to the sheriff right now, and he’ll pick you up.”
The other guy stalked off toward his truck, climbed in, slammed the door and then backed out at lightning speed. He peeled rubber on the road and gunned it away from the Painted Pig.
They all watched the other guy move more slowly to his car. He didn’t sway on his feet, so he didn’t appear to be drunk. As soon as he drove out of the parking lot, the Dark Falcons all went back inside.
Fiona looked up, a smile on her face for her man that left Tank wondering why the fuck he never found a woman who looked at him that way. Instead, he got friend-zoned. Motherfuck.
After that, they shared one more pitcher between them. Blade stood first. “Hate to break up the party, but I’ve been up since before dawn and I got another early one tomorrow.” He looked to Tank. “You on first shift these days?”
Tank sighed. “Actually, no. The plant laid me off.”
The guys grew silent.
He shrugged. “I’m free any time you guys need me to lend a hand.”
Blade clapped him on the shoulder. “Tough break, but it always works out. Don’t lose heart, man.” With those parting words, he took himself off for home. After that, several more members left and a few prospects as well, leaving a few members lingering at the table.
Dixon twitched his head toward the brunette. Tank followed his gaze to see the girl twirling her straw in her drink.
“She’d fit right in with us, by the looks of her, and she wants to be wrapped around you.”
“Nah... I don’t know.” He considered it more. “Maybe.”
Why did he hold out for a woman who thought of him as her best friend? He couldn’t think of being called anything worse.
Pushing away from the table, he felt the effects of sitting so long with his still stiff muscles. “I’m gonna head out.”
“Need a ride?” Dixon asked.
“I got my dad’s old beater car. He loaned it to me earlier in the week until I get some wheels.”
Dixon stood and gripped his hand, drawing Tank in for a bro-hug. “Gonna take the girl for a test-spin?”
“Not tonight.” He chuckled even though he didn’t feel very amused. The other guys said their goodbyes, and on the way past the brunette, Tank gave her a nod. Tonight, he didn’t have more than that to give.
Next time Catarina showed up on his doorstep wanting sympathy after her latest fight with her douchebag boyfriend, Tank would tell her to go home and fix it herself.
Outside the Painted Pig he stood in the night air, filling his lungs with cool, deep breaths. Hell, who was he kidding? If Catarina showed up right this minute, he’d do his best to put a smile back on her beautiful face. Because he was fucking hooked on her.
I must be fucking crazy.
Catarina jumped into the passenger seat of the rescue unit and grinned at her friend behind the wheel. “We haven’t worked together all week. I’m so glad to see you.”
Nicole grinned. “You too, girl. How’s your life been? And why does the boss man always split us up? Doesn’t he know women are always the hardest workers? Together, we get twice as much done.”