Hot Winter Nights

by Codi Gary

  “That would require sharing my great-grandmother’s recipe, which would be a mortal sin,” Hunter said.

  Allie popped the rest of the moist, chewy goodness in her mouth, humming with pleasure.

  “Uh-oh, I forgot to pack something,” he said.

  Trying to swallow the chewy bite, she took a drink from her water bottle. “What?”

  “Napkins.” He scooted closer. “And you’ve got something right”—he reached up and trailed his finger over her lips—“there.”

  Allie knew what was about to happen before his lips closed over hers, brushing and tasting her softly, as if he was savoring her. Allie kissed him back, opening her mouth to his tongue.

  The sound of something screeching overhead brought Allie scrambling away and glancing up toward the sky.

  “What the heck was that?”

  “I didn’t hear anything,” Hunter said.

  Allie’s cheeks warmed at the insinuation. He hadn’t heard anything because he’d been too busy kissing her, while she…

  She’d been distracted by a bird.

  It wasn’t that Hunter wasn’t a good kisser; he was. There just wasn’t any…

  Spark.

  Yet. She couldn’t judge Hunter based on her experiences in her past relationships. Those had been crazy hot in the beginning, but fizzled out quickly. She wanted something that was going to last.

  “Sorry, I’m not used to the great outdoors.”

  Hunter, easygoing and nice, just smiled. “Don’t worry about it.”

  Allie figured she’d blown it after that, especially since he started packing up their food. But after he picked up the basket, he took her free hand and held it all the way to the car. Even opened the door for her and gave her a sweet, chaste peck before closing her door.

  Everything was perfect about their date, and yet, she wanted to roll her eyes.

  Chapter 12

  Dex ordered another drink for Iris, some fruity cocktail with a ridiculous name, and another whisky for him. He’d downed three already, but who could blame him? He’d forgotten how grating Iris’s nasal voice was.

  He pretended to listen to Iris bitch about how cheap her ex was, nodding and grunting as he looked past her shoulder toward the door.

  I should have taken Iris somewhere else.

  Except Dex hadn’t wanted to go anywhere else, and if he was being honest with himself, it was because he wanted to see how Hunter and Allie’s date had gone.

  “I decided not to speak to him except through our attorneys. It’s better for my stress level that way,” Iris said.

  “Makes sense,” Dex said distractedly.

  Iris’s hand landed on his knee, moving its way up his jeans-clad thigh, indecently close to his crotch. “Here I am dominating the conversation with my complaining. My ex has the kids this weekend. Maybe we could go back to my place and I’ll make it up to you.”

  Dex opened his mouth to answer, but the door swung open, and in stepped Hunter and Allie, both smiling and looking nauseatingly happy.

  Until Allie’s pretty brown eyes landed on him at the bar with Iris’s hand in his lap, and her face crumpled into an unhappy scowl.

  Was that look because he was there or because he was with Iris? Suddenly, Dex grinned, feeling better than he had all day. He climbed to his feet. “What do you say we play some pool, darling?”

  Hunter and Allie had barely sat down at the bar when Penny walked over to take their order.

  “What will it be?” she asked curtly.

  Hunter, a little surprised by her attitude, asked, “You okay, Penny?”

  “I’m fine, just busy.”

  Hunter glanced around at the handful of patrons in the bar, and as if following his line of thinking, Penny snapped, “I’m trying to study for my test, okay?”

  “What kind of test are you taking?” Allie asked.

  Penny seemed to hesitate before answering. “Animal biology. I’m going for my master’s in zoology.”

  “That is amazing. I love animals. I just adopted a puppy that Dex Belmont found abandoned on the highway.”

  Penny’s guarded expression flashed into one of outrage. “God, I hate people! Is the puppy okay?”

  “Yeah, except he’s got a lucky fin, like Nemo.”

  Penny’s whole face melted into a soft, sweet smile. “Aw, poor sweetheart.”

  “You know, I need to find a pet sitter for him. I’m at the hospital during the day and I don’t want him to get lonely or backtrack on his house-training. I was going to put a flyer up at the vet’s office, but maybe—”

  “I’ll totally watch him,” Penny said.

  Hunter stared between the two women as they went back and forth, totally ignoring him as they ironed out the details of Kermit’s new schedule. His gaze wandered to where Dex was, talking to a few bikers playing pool. Hunter shook his head and stood up. “I’ll be right back. I’m gonna go say hi to Dex.”

  He noted Allie’s dark look as she glanced toward his friend. “Okay.”

  If things continued between Allie and him, he was going to have to deal with the dislike between the two. He couldn’t have his girl and his best friend hating each other.

  Stopping beside the pool table, Hunter saw that Dex was concentrating hard on his next shot. It wasn’t as if Dex couldn’t handle himself when it came to hustling pool, but Hunter could already tell he’d had a bit to drink. And these guys didn’t look like the type to take losing or Dex’s good-natured ribbing well.

  “Hey, buddy, what are you doing?”

  Dex looked up from his shot. “What does it look like? I’m about to kick this guy’s ass at pool.”

  Iris giggled nervously while the biker holding the pool cue didn’t appear amused.

  Dex took his shot, knocking two into the pockets, and stood up. Pulling his wallet out and holding some money out to Iris, he said, “Why don’t you get us a few more drinks, honey? This won’t take long.”

  Hunter shook his head and moved next to Dex. “Are you trying to get yourself killed? You don’t know these guys and—”

  “Dude, I’m fine. Why don’t you go back to your date and see if you can pull that stick out of her ass?”

  It took everything in Hunter not to slam his fist in Dex’s jaw. “You’re being a real asshole, man.”

  Dex lined up another shot, not even bothering to look at Hunter again. “Then maybe you should walk away.”

  Hunter did just that, heading back over to where Allie was watching him, her face a mask of concern as he sat down. “Everything okay?”

  “Yeah, it’s fine. He’s like that sometimes. Whatever it is, he’ll get over it.”

  Drunk or not, Dex was kicking the biker’s ass, all right, and the dude did not look happy about it. Neither did his scruffy friend who was leaning against the wall, his arms crossed and bulging.

  “Eight ball, corner pocket.”

  Dex took his shot, and as the ball sank in, both men cursed a blue streak while Iris, who had started to look a little bored two games ago, cheered loudly.

  Dex grabbed the money off the side of the pool table, now a couple hundred deep, and slipped it into his pocket.

  “I want to thank you, gentlemen, for such a splendid night—”

  The biker who had lost, a mean-looking son of a bitch with a shaved head and a long, bushy beard, grabbed the front of Dex’s shirt and pulled him forward. His face mere inches from Dex, he snarled. The dude’s breath made Dex’s stomach turn. “Where the hell do you think you’re going? You aren’t leaving until we have a chance to win our money back.”

  Dex smirked, too buzzed to recognize the danger he was in. Or maybe he’d just been spoiling for a fight. “I gave you three chances to win it back. Really, man, you oughta quit before I really clean you out.”

  Baldy didn’t like that. He pulled back his burly arm to swing.

  Dex ducked, ripping his shirt, and swung, nailing the guy in the gut with his fist. Dex weaved a bit, off-balance, as Baldy stumbled back
against a table.

  Suddenly, Baldy’s friend was there, shoving Dex. He fell backward, hitting the floor so hard it knocked the wind out of him.

  Dex tried to get his bearing back just as another biker stepped forward with a pool cue raised over his head.

  “Ah, hell!”

  Allie stopped talking at Hunter’s exclamation and was left alone and dumbfounded as he jumped up and raced across the room. Allie spun around and saw Dex on the ground. One of the men he’d been playing pool with stood over him, a pool stick in his hand. Allie’s gut lurched as she realized he was about to hit Dex with it.

  Hunter got there as the man was bringing it down, and grabbed the pool cue out of the biker’s hand. He threw it across the room. Allie hollered a warning as the other biker made a move at Hunter’s back.

  And then Dex was on his feet once again.

  “Climb behind the bar!” Penny yelled, hopping over it with a baseball bat in hand.

  “What the hell are you doing?”

  “Squashing this shit,” Penny said, tossing Allie a saucy grin before jumping into the fray.

  Suddenly, a chair went whizzing through the air…right toward Allie’s head. She barely had time to duck before it crashed into the bar wall behind her. Landing on the floor, she climbed back to her feet in time to watch Penny hit the biker attacking Hunter with her bat.

  The rest of the bar was clearing out, including the woman who’d had her hand buried in Dex’s lap when Allie had first walked in with Hunter. She’d tried not to let it bother her, but still…

  Allie saw Dex being thrown over the pool table, the biker looming over him with his hands around Dex’s neck. Hunter and Penny were busy pinning the other guy to the floor.

  Allie had no idea what she was about to do, she only knew that she was running. She came up behind the biker and let her foot fly up from behind.…

  And it connected, hard, against his testicles.

  The guy let out a high-pitched cry as he released Dex and fell to his knees, his back still to her. Allie hopped on one foot and nearly burst into tears as the pain in her foot radiated upward. As it subsided, Dex sat up coughing and wheezing, and their gazes locked. The light in his eyes when he looked at her stirred a warm, fuzzy glow in her chest, and she smiled at him through the pain.

  And then the biker turned on her, looking seriously pissed off. “You stupid bitch.”

  As he took a step toward her, Allie realized that she should have taken Penny’s advice and hidden behind the bar.

  Chapter 13

  Dex didn’t think as he launched himself onto the man’s back, slipping his arm around his neck in a choke hold. He’d seen Allie’s look of terror and lost all reason, jerking back hard as the guy clawed at his arm. The biker outweighed him by a good fifty pounds, but as Dex felt him start to go limp, he tossed him away from Allie as if he weighed nothing.

  Then Dex was on him, throwing his fists until someone jerked him off the guy. Dex took in the blood oozing from Baldy’s nose and lips, and his muscles relaxed.

  “I’m okay, I’m fine.”

  Hunter released him and faced him with a look of rage. “What the hell were you thinking? The cops are on their way here and you’re hammered. You can’t drive—”

  “I’ll take him home,” Allie said softly.

  Dex glanced her way as Hunter tried to argue. “You don’t have to do that.”

  “We’re going to the same place. It’s not as if I’m going out of my way or anything.”

  They were all standing around, talking about Dex as if he weren’t there, and it was starting to piss him off.

  Hunter nodded. “Okay, thanks. Dex, give Allie your keys.”

  Dex fished out his keys and handed them to Allie. Unfortunately, he didn’t have time to turn away before Hunter stepped into her, gave her a kiss on the cheek, and said, “Sorry for the way our date ended.”

  “It’s all right. I had fun until about ten minutes ago.”

  “So, you’re saying getting into a bar fight wasn’t on your bucket list?” Hunter asked jokingly.

  “Yeah, not so much.”

  Hunter took Allie’s hand, threading his fingers with hers. “Next time, we’ll just stick to the fun.”

  Jealousy churned in Dex’s stomach. He’d had enough. “If we’re going, can we get a move on? I don’t really want to spend the night in a cell with these two dickheads.”

  Both Allie and Hunter shot him a dirty look, but he was beyond caring. His head, his face, and his back…every part of him hurt and the room was starting to spin. The last thing he wanted to do was pass out at the Grizzly.

  Finally, Allie released Hunter’s hand and stepped forward, putting her arm around Dex’s waist. “Come on.”

  Dex wrapped his arm around her shoulder and leaned on her a little more than he needed to.

  Hunter roughly helped the bikers to their feet. He was already pissed about not being able to take Allie home, and now he was stuck here, cleaning up Dex’s mess.

  Come on, the last thing Dex needs is an assault charge on his record. Allie taking him home was the best option.

  Still, Dex hadn’t deserved the help tonight. He’d been an asshole this morning and in the hour before the fight broke out. For a moment or two, Hunter had gotten the feeling he was jealous of Hunter being out with Allie.

  Trying to push his suspicions aside, Hunter stared into one of the burly biker’s dark eyes.

  “I’m going to go out on a limb and guess that your records aren’t so clean that you can afford another run-in with the cops, so I’m giving you a chance. You can leave town now, no hard feelings, but if you stick around—”

  “We’re gone,” one of the bikers said, shooting his buddies a warning glance. The guy who’d started it with Dex didn’t look happy about it, but wasn’t going to be stupid.

  Once the bikers were out of the bar, Hunter handed Penny Dex’s wallet. “This is Dex’s. Whatever cash you find, give it to the owner. Dex will come in and work it out for the rest.”

  “And what about the other damages? Those men caused some, and so did you. Is Dex supposed to get stuck with the whole thing?” Penny asked.

  Why is Penny being so hostile?

  For some reason, Hunter was furious enough at Dex to almost say yes, but he didn’t. “No, I’ll settle my part of the damages, too.”

  “Fine.” Penny set the bat down on the bar and grabbed the broom. When she tossed it at him, he caught it in midair. “Then you can start now by helping me clean up this mess.”

  Allie parked Dex’s truck in front of his place, ready to tell him to get out. He hadn’t said a word to her the entire drive, which had left her alone with her thoughts and a roller-coaster of emotion.

  I was just in a bar fight. A man came at me and Dex stopped him.

  Allie opened her door and glanced over at Dex. A bruise was already discoloring his cheek, and the cuts and scrapes across his knuckles were probably going to be sore tomorrow. He looked so peaceful and beautiful despite his injuries. His lips, which had escaped unscathed…she was tempted to lean over and wake him up with a kiss.

  Of gratitude, of course. For protecting her.

  She needed to stop thinking like that. It was insane. The man was drunk as a skunk and beat up. She needed him to get moving, because there was no way she was going to carry him inside.

  “Dex, wake up.”

  He snorted.

  After she got out and went around to the passenger side, she pulled his door open and leaned in. Giving his shoulder a gentle shake, she hissed, “Dex, come on, you’re gonna have to walk.”

  Grabbing his arm and putting it around her shoulder, she grunted as she tried to lift him out of the car.

  “What are you trying to do, rip my arm off?” Dex mumbled.

  “Yes, that is exactly what I’m trying to do, you idiot. I need your help. I can’t carry you inside, so you’re gonna have to stand up and walk.”

  “Whoa, why so snippy?” Dex stood up an
d leaned so hard against her she nearly stumbled.

  “Will you at least try to walk straight? You’re a lot bigger than me, and if you don’t stop swaying, we’re both going down.”

  They paused at the door, and while Allie searched through his key ring for the house key, she felt his breath rustle the top of her hair. “Is that an invitation?”

  As his meaning sunk in, her head flew up and both of them cried out when her temple connected with his chin.

  “Ow. No, that was not an invitation, you pervert.”

  “Why am I a pervert? You say something like that, what am I supposed to think?”

  Finally, she found a key that worked. “I was trying to find this so I could get you inside instead of leaving you on your porch.”

  The man actually pouted at her. “You’re cranky.”

  Allie counted to five, trying to find her patience. As she unlocked the door, both of Dex’s arms wrapped around her shoulders from behind and he leaned against her, his face buried in her hair. Her skin tingled at his proximity, and she told herself she didn’t like it—loathed it, actually—but she couldn’t deny that the feel of Dex’s hard, lean body pressed against her back made her heart skip with excitement.

  “You smell so good. Why do you have to smell so good?”

  God, he was practically moaning against the back of her neck, and her hands began to tremble.

  “I guess I could try not bathing,” she said, trying to lighten the mood.

  “Hmm, but you’d still be you.”

  What the hell did that mean?

  Bluebell bellowed. Allie shuffled across the living room, Dex still hanging on to her.

  “Where’s your bedroom?”

  “End of the hallway.” His speech was really beginning to slur and Allie, afraid he was going to pass out on her, picked up the pace. Opening his bedroom door, she angled him toward the bed and loosened his arms.

  “Here you go, big guy.”

  Dex flopped across the bed, the back of his head hitting the pillow with a groan. Allie lifted first one foot and then the other, untying his boots and dropping them to the floor. Then she placed his feet on the bed and moved up, trying to get him to lie straight.