Bare It All

Rowdy laughed. “You’re a f**king hulk and you know it.” He nodded toward the women. “Seems to me they’re noticing, too.”

Reese ignored that reference to their female audience. He plain and simple didn’t care. “Once Logan knows your plans, he’ll want to help, as well, and since Dash owns a construction company, he’ll probably have all kinds of useful input.”

“Jesus, round up a posse, why don’t you?”

“They’re your family now. You’ll get used to it.” Or at least, Reese hoped he would.

Slowly, Rowdy nodded. “All right, then. It’s a deal. I’ll keep you posted on what’s happening and when.”

The women chose that auspicious moment to intrude. The dark-haired one led the pack, coming up to Rowdy first. “Hi.”

“Hi, yourself.” Rowdy included the rest of the ladies with a smile.

The woman turned to Reese with a dreamy look. “Are we interrupting?”

God, he knew that smile, knew that look in her eyes and what it meant. He needed to get home to Alice, not play games with...well, beautiful and sexy women who weren’t Alice.

Disgusted, he rubbed his face, knowing he was whipped, without much effort on Alice’s part. All she’d done was accept him, and he’d fallen headlong into monogamy.

Last night she’d wanted confessions from him, but damn it, this was all so new. He wasn’t even sure what he felt. He only knew that he felt it in spades.

When Reese just stood there, probably looking dumbfounded, Rowdy brought the woman’s attention back to him with a touch on her chin. “Sorry, darlin’, but he’s newly taken and still fighting it. And, yeah, we are sort of busy at the moment. But if you like, I can give you my number, and maybe we can hook up some time.”

She sighed. “It was a little unrealistic to think you’d both be available.”

Rowdy laughed. “Should I be insulted that I was second pick?”

A blonde pushed her way around the brunette. “I’ll take your number, no problem at all.”

Grinning, Rowdy dug out a card.

Reese eyed him. He wasn’t yet a businessman, so was the card strictly for hooking up with women? Probably.

“I’ll be busy tonight,” Rowdy told her, “but ring me tomorrow and we’ll see what we can cook up.”

Another woman asked, “All of us?”

“Works for me.”

More than a little put out, Reese crossed his arms over his chest. Even before Alice, he wasn’t in the habit of setting up orgies, yet Rowdy appeared to take it in stride.

It drove home just how different their lives had been.

The brunette gave him another sultry look, then daringly reached out to stroke his shoulder. “It’s a shame you’re unavailable. I’d have shown you a real good time.”

“It’s my loss,” Reese told her.

“If things don’t work out, let me know. We’re at the park here nearly every day.”

Doing...what, he wondered. Picking up strangers? “I’ll keep that in mind.”

Rowdy gave her a swat on the ass. “Move it along now, honey. We’ve got business to complete.”

Laughing, she rubbed at her backside and led the others away.

“That one’s going to be a handful,” Rowdy murmured. “I like that. Doesn’t even bother me that I was second pick.”

Reese watched them go, until Rowdy gave him a nudge. “You having regrets, or looking for tattoos?”

“Tattoos.” His only regret was that he was away from Alice right now. She’d be worried about Cheryl, anxious, and he didn’t want her alone. “Other than a butterfly on one ankle and a rose on a shoulder, I didn’t see any ink.”

“Me either.” Rowdy lifted one brow. “And I was looking real close.”

Understandable, given the women were all hot. So, why didn’t Reese care, damn it?

Rowdy laughed. “You’re in love, dude, just go with it.”

“Fuck off, Rowdy. We—or at least I—have work to do.”

Unfazed, Rowdy watched him. “Why is it a problem? Alice is a sweetheart.”

Why was it a problem? He had to keep a clear head, be unbiased, analytical...and he couldn’t, not with Alice involved.

Rather than spill his guts to Rowdy, Reese came to a decision. “All right. You can go check out Killer Designz.”

Brows up, Rowdy said, “Was that still in question?”

“But you’re not going alone, and not without backup.” To get things arranged, Reese pulled out his cell and put in a call to the lieutenant. After he explained what he wanted to do, he expected her to argue.

He expected her to refuse.

Lieutenant Peterson surprised him by enthusiastically agreeing.

Seemed everyone enjoyed going undercover except him.

* * *

SLUMPED IN THE corner of the small motel room, Cheryl suffered in miserable silence.

Her wary stare annoyed him. “Relax, will you? I’m not going to drown you.” Yet. But after that debacle of a phone call, he was in a killing mood.

Unfortunately, in order to keep that pain-in-his-ass Alice from slipping through his fingers, he needed Cheryl alive. “I thought she would care about you.”

“She—she does. She will. Let m-me call her back. I’ll convince her, I sw-swear.”

Studying her, Hickson rubbed his chin. “You’re sure you don’t know her last name?”