“I know.” Bess felt the warning flutter in her stomach. Thoughtfully she drew her finger down through the moisture on the bottle. “I’ll cross that bridge when I come to it.”
“Bess, you don’t cross bridges, you burn them.” Lori gave her hand a quick squeeze. “Don’t get hurt.”
There was a touch of regret in Bess’s smile. “Do I ever?”
Alex liked the way she looked. It took a certain panache, he supposed, to be able to wear the jade-toned blouse with bright blue slacks, particularly if you were going to add hot-pink high-tops. But Bess pulled it off. Everything about her was vivid. He supposed that was why he’d gone into her office to apologize and ended up asking her out.
It was probably why he hadn’t been able to get her, or the idea of taking her to bed, out of his mind since he’d met her.
For herself, Bess took one look at Zackary Muldoon’s bar, Lower the Boom, and knew she had a relaxed, enjoyable evening in store. There was music from the juke box, a babble of voices, a medley of good, rich scents. The tangle of pear-shaped gemstones at her ears swung as she turned to Alex. “This is great. Is the food as good as it smells?”
“Better.” He gave a wave in the general direction of the bar as he found them a table.
As usual, the bar was cluttered with people and thick with noise. Since his sister had married Zack, Alex had made a habit of dropping in once a week or so, and he knew most of the regulars by name. He grinned at the waitress who stopped at their table. “Hey, Lola. How’s it going?”
“It’ll do, cutie.” Resting her tray on her hip, Lola gave Bess the once-over. Though less than ten years Alex’s senior, Lola had taken a maternal interest in him. It wasn’t often Alex brought a date into the bar, and Lola made it her business to check out his current lady. “So, what can I get you?”
“Tequila.” Bess dropped her bag in the empty chair beside her with a thunk. “Straight up.”
Alex only lifted a brow at Bess’s choice. “Give me a beer, Lola. Rachel around?”
“Upstairs. And she better have her feet up.” She gave the ceiling a scowl. “She’ll probably sneak down here before the night’s over. Can’t keep her away from the boss.”
“What’s Rio’s special tonight?”
“Paella.” Her eyes lit with appreciation. She’d sampled some herself. “He’s been driving Nick crazy, making him shell shrimp.”
“You game for that?” Alex asked Bess.
“You bet.” As Lola wandered off, Bess propped her chin on her hands. “So, who’s the boss, who’s Rio, and who’s Nick?”
“Zack’s the boss.” He gestured toward the tall, broad-shouldered man working the bar. “Rio’s the cook, this Jamaican giant who’ll fix you the best meal this side of heaven. Nick’s Zack’s brother.”
Bess nodded. She liked to know the players. “And Rachel’s married to Zack.” After a long study of the man behind the bar, she smiled. “Impressive. How’d she meet him?”
“She was Nick’s PD after I busted him for attempted burglary.”
Bess didn’t blink or look shocked, she simply leaned a little closer. “What was he stealing?”
Alex was vaguely disappointed that he hadn’t gotten a reaction. “Electronics—and doing a poor job of it. He was tangled up with a gang at the time. This was about a year and a half ago.” Absently he toyed with the square-cut aquamarine on her finger, watching it catch the light. “Nick had some problems. Actually, he’s Zack’s stepbrother. Nick was still a kid when Zack went off and joined the navy and his mother died. Anyhow, when Zack came back a few years ago, his father was dying, and the kid was chin-deep in trouble.”
“This is great.” Bess beamed up at Lola as their drinks were served. “Thanks.”
The smile did it. Lola sent Alex a look of approval before she swung by the bar to report to Zack.
“Don’t stop now.”
Alex lifted his mug of beer. He knew very well that Lola was giving Zack a sotto voce rundown of her impressions and opinions of his choice of companion. “You want to hear the whole thing?”
“Of course I do.” Bess sprinkled salt on her wrist, licked it, then tossed back the tequila with all the flair of a Mexican bandit. While she sucked on the lime wedge Lola had brought with the drink, she grinned at Zack. “I like the zing.”
“How many times can you do that and live?”
“I haven’t tested it that far.” The liquor left a nice trail of heat down her throat and into her stomach. “I did ten once, but I was younger then, and stupid. So keep going.” She leaned forward again. “Zack came back after sailing the seven seas and found his brother in trouble.”
“Well, Nick was tangled up with the Cobras...” Alex began. By the time their paella was served, he was enjoying himself. It always polished a man’s ego to have a woman’s complete and fascinated attention. “So that’s how I ended up on the point of having an Irish-Ukrainian niece or nephew.”
“Terrific. You’ve got a flair for storytelling, Alexi. Must be some Gypsy blood in there.”
