ible for causing pass her by.
“Can we just order,” Ian growled, glaring at Haley sitting next to him. “It was nothing, okay? Any man worth his salt would’ve done the same thing.”
“Not any man would have allowed Tim to hit him twice just to make sure he got extra time on his sentence.”
“Did Gary tell you that?” He frowned at her, not liking that she knew just how far he’d go to protect her. She was right, he wouldn’t have gone that extra step for just anyone.
“Yes, but he didn’t have to. I already suspected as much.” Which just made Haley even more sure that he was the man for her to test the sexual waters again with. The timing couldn’t be more perfect since he was leaving tomorrow and the decision whether to see each other again would be taken out of both their hands.
“You did that?” Mary asked, tears in her eyes. “Do you like chocolate?”
“I love chocolate.” Narrowing his eyes at her, he asked suspiciously, “Why?”
“I have a whole chocolate cream pie I’m saving just for you. Now,” she stated briskly before he could argue, “I’ll go ahead and take your orders so you don’t have to wait for Darlene. As you can see, we’re still swamped with the holiday tourists.”
The tables were filling up as soon as they were vacated and cleaned and from the number of both pedestrians and cars traversing Main Street, the extra business holidays always generated looked like it was going to stretch through the weekend.
Brody and Ian spent the next hour conversing quietly as they ate while half listening to Piper and Haley first filling each other in on the last twenty-four hours since they saw each other and then on clothing designs. When they started discussing the lingerie items Piper was currently working on, both men listened attentively, much to their amusement. Feeling devious, Piper elaborated on some very risqué outfits she contracted for an online store that sold an assortment of sexy clothing as well as sexual enhancements and toys.
“What’s the point of wearing crotchless panties,” Brody asked as he imagined a pair of red lace framing Piper’s nude sex. Shifting uncomfortably, he tried to adjust his semi-erect cock discretely, but by the grins spreading across both women’s faces, he knew he failed. “Fuck it,” he growled as he blatantly reached down and shifted his dick to the side so it wasn’t pressing against his zipper, adding to his misery.
Smirking, Piper looked down at his crotch pointedly. “That’s the point,” she said, smiling widely and pointing at the obvious bulge in his pants.
Haley couldn’t help but glance down at Ian’s cock and wasn’t surprised to see a hard bulge pressing tautly against his jeans. Moving her eyes up, she found his on her, narrowing to dark brown slits.
“Yes,” he admitted succinctly and that was all he was going to say on the matter. He had been having enough trouble keeping himself in check just sitting next to Haley, his mind insisting on conjuring up scene after scene of him fucking that slim body, the best part of his fantasies watching her eyes widen and glaze over with the pleasure he was giving her. And if that was the best part, he was all the more thankful that he was booking out of here tomorrow.
“Come on, we’re drawing attention.” Brody pushed back, grabbed Piper’s hand and led the way out of the still busy restaurant, Ian following him with his boxed up pie in one hand and Haley’s hand held tightly in the other. “I’ll call the sheriff to meet us at Rowdy’s and we’ll fill him in on our departure and he can tell us how convinced he is that Haley’s ex didn’t have anything to do with Piper’s disappearance.”
Rowdy’s was just as crowded as the diner, but apparently Crack had been expecting them because he was waving them over to an open booth in the back corner when they came in. “Clem texted me and let me know you were headed this way,” Crack said as he plopped a beer down in front of each of them then planted his fists on his hips and glared at both Brody and Ian. “First, you let that sleaze ball of an ex hurt Haley again and now I hear you’re taking Piper to Atlantic City when you know there’s going to be someone there gunning for her father. I thought you were good at your jobs.”
“Now, Crack,” Piper began soothingly, placing her small hand on his forearm as Haley said at the same time, “Ian saved me.”
Ian growled next to her, his frustration with her evident in the hard look he gave her before taking a hefty drink of his beer.
“Don’t you ‘now Crack’ me, missy, and if he had been more diligent, he wouldn’t have had to save you,” he told Haley. Turning back to Piper, Crack added, “You have no business getting mixed up in this. It’s their damn job, not yours.”
“I assure you she’ll be perfectly safe.” Brody found it difficult to assure the older man of anything when he himself couldn’t be positive that would be the case. He, Ian and Carlos weren’t the only law enforcement that will be there. Undercover cops will be stationed inside and out of the casino, but even with all bases covered there were always loopholes.
“You can’t assure me of any damn thing and you know it.” Turning his glare back to Piper, he reiterated, “Don’t go, Piper, let them handle it.”
“I have to know, Crack. I’m ninety-nine percent sure Charles is dead, but that one percent will haunt me if I don’t go. If he doesn’t show, I’ll know for sure.”
“Why would you say that?” he asked, clearly confused.
“Because Charles loves the Empire more than anything or anyone else. He won’t relinquish it without a fight, not if he’s alive. That place is the reason he started doing business with this Pasquino in the first place.”
It wasn’t lost on Crack that she called Charles by his given name instead of dad or father, and now he knew why. Shaking his head in resignation, he told Brody and Ian, “You better be right,” his tone as hard as his eyes before turning away.
Crack had no sooner returned to his station behind the bar when Sheriff Norton came in, followed Crack’s point and joined them in their booth, making the four of them crowd closer together. “What’s this I hear of you letting Piper in on this sting you’ve got set up in New Jersey?”
“Does news always travel this fast in this damn town?” Ian asked irritably, not used to having his business spread like wildfire before he had even ironed out the details himself or having to explain himself to so many people. He should have known after Clem had come out from the kitchen to grill them that it wouldn’t stop there.
Gary shrugged lightly, unperturbed by their scowls and obvious frustration with small town grapevines. “Pretty much. Now, give.”
Piper ignored them, through trying to explain herself. By Monday, she planned to be back here resuming her life and working to put the past behind her once and for all. Turning to Haley, she asked her quietly the one thing she had been dying to know all night. “So, are you going to give Ian a nice farewell, or not?” When she had called Haley about meeting for dinner, she had told her about what happened between her and both men, relieved when Haley said she was looking forward to hearing all the intimate details later and showed no signs of jealousy.
“If he’s willing, yes, I’m going to go for it. Wish me luck?” Haley had no idea how she was going to get Ian into her bed, she was definitely not some sexy, conniving diva experienced at seducing men, and Ian was not a man who could be seduced easily.