“Babe, it’s date night,” he said.
That’s right. The horrifying badass with the slobbering baby stuck to his chest said things likedate night.
She practically glowed when she looked at him. “Yeah, I forgot. Me and my two guys tonight. Sorry, Eli, maybe another time.”
“Sure thing, Eve.”
I watched them head to a table in the corner. Zeke always, always sat with his back to the wall so he could see everyone and everything that happened in the bar. It wasn’t lost on any of us that he sat in the same place, in the same way, every time he came here.
“So what do we think?” I asked the guys, not for the first time. “He has to be a former S.E.A.L., right?”
“Couldn’t tell you,” Cal said. “But I sure as hell wouldn’t want to be his enemy.”
“True, but he is one lucky son of a bitch,” Ark said. “Eve’s a sweetheart.”
Jackson snorted.
“What? You don’t think she is?” I asked him.
Jackson, who we had appropriately given the nickname Daniels, after his preferred whiskey, was the quietest of our group. But that was because he always had his eyes and ears open. Watching and listening for signs that the rest of us might miss. It’s why Cal had hired him, despite his former criminal record. Jackson always knew before anyone else on the crew when trouble was coming.
“I think only a certain type of woman could be with a man like that. That type isn’t a sweetheart. My guess, she’s as badass as he is and could probably kick all your asses.”
“But not yours, right, Daniels?” I laughed.
Except when I looked at him, I realized he was dead serious. Who was I kidding? He was probably right. The thing I figured out quick about Jackson was that he didn’t have much of a sense of humor.
“Still, whatever their deal is, they are obviously into each other,” I pointed out. “You guys ever think about all that? The wife, drooling kid. Baby car seats and S.U.V.s and shit.”
“Had it,” Cal said softly. “Lost it. Never doing that again. Now, are we going to play cards or talk about our fucking love lives? The bet was two bucks.”
I frowned. I knew Cal had lost his wife and young daughter in a car accident years ago. There was a picture of the three of them he kept on a shelf in his office at camp. He didn’t talk about them, ever, but they always seemed to be there with him.
Everyone put up the two dollars Cal had bet, and Ark dealt the turn.
A harmless two of spades.
I glanced over to where Eve was chatting away while Zeke just looked at her, his hand on his son’s back, rubbing gentle circles.
“Love lives,” I muttered, thinking about what Cal said. “How can we talk about love lives when we don’t have any? Eve is the only attractive woman in Hope’s Point and she’s obviously spoken for.”
“You’re forgetting about Olivia,” Cal said and even as he said it, I swear he smirked at Ark. “She’s attractive.”
Instantly, Ark reacted. “Olivia isnothot. She’s a she-devil. Don’t let those looks fool you. That woman would eat any man alive after she had him in bed.”
Olivia had long, dark hair, legs that went on forever, and dark blue eyes. She was totally hot.
“Tell us how you really feel about Dyson’s newest engineer?” I poked him.
Ark growled. “I feel better when she keeps her ass in Anchorage and stays out of my way. A woman who gets between a man and his babies is obviously a shrew.”
Babiesbeing his rigs. As head engineer, Ark was responsible for their maintenance. Since Olivia had been hired, she’d been up to Hope’s Point twice to make suggestions on improving efficiencies.
Ark was not a fan of suggestions. What I couldn’t figure out was if he really despised Olivia as much as he said he did. Jackson probably knew which way the wind blew, but typical of him, he wouldn’t comment.
“Olivia is company and that comes with all that sexual harassment bullshit,” I said. “What we need are some nice normal women up here. To date.”
Cal was assessing me with a look that suggested he cared about what I needed. It was the kind of look I always thought a dad would give me, if I had ever had a father.
