Blackstone Ranger Scrooge - Alicia Montgomery Page 0,12
That’s the tryptophan working.”
“What?” He blinked, finding himself transported back to the present. “You know that’s not true, right? They’ve disproven that turkey makes you sleepy. Unless you eat copious amounts—”
She shoved a forkful of mashed potatoes into his mouth. “Here, have these before you make me swoon with your sexy talk.”
As she promised, J.D. filled his plate high with turkey, stuffing, and other sides, and they sat down to eat with Damon, Anna Victoria, Gabriel, and his mate, Temperance. The food was delicious, if a little too greasy and rich. When he commented on it, his mate merely snorted. “That’s what the holidays are for!”
“Hey, has anyone seen Dutchy and Krieger?” Anna Victoria asked. “Did they leave for the airport already? I know they didn’t want to get caught up in the traffic and crowds.”
“I have,” J.D. said, raising a hand. “We ran into them. Or rather, they ran into us.”
“They did?” Cam frowned. He didn’t recall seeing anyone else.
“Yeah, while we were in Damon’s off—oops!” She looked guiltily at Damon, then turned away.
“While you were in Damon’s what?” the chief asked, his brows furrowing together.
“Uh …” J.D. raised a spoonful of mashed potatoes to her mouth and mumbled, “Nothing.”
“J.D…” Damon warned.
J.D. swallowed. “Uh, so I went into your office and raided your candy bar drawer.”
A vein popped out in Damon’s forehead. “You stole my peanut butter cups, didn’t you?”
“I was hungry!” she pouted.
“And then what?”
“I was coming out and I bumped into Cam, and we realized we were mates … and then one thing led to another, and Dutchy and Krieger walked in—”
“Hold on a moment,” Cam said. “Two people walked in on us? Why did I not notice?”
“You were distracted.” J.D. winked at him.
“J.D.!” Damon exclaimed loudly. “What the hell? In my office?”
“On your desk, actually,” she said proudly, then turned to Anna Victoria. “You were right. It is the perfect height.”
The vein on the chief’s head throbbed. “You told her?”
“What?” Anna Victoria said. “She plied me with wine, and you know how I get when I have too much chardonnay.”
“Bah, don’t worry.” J.D. waved a hand. “The cleaning crew will clean everything up before you get there on Monday. Besides, from what else Anna Victoria told me, they should be used to it.”
Anna Victoria looked sheepishly at her mate, who looked like he was about to explode.
“Ha! I knew you guys were getting freaky in there,” Gabriel said, holding his hand up. “High five, Chief.”
Damon glared at him, which made the other man lower his hand.
“My, uh, apologies, Damon,” Cam managed to say. This was not only embarrassing, but inappropriate conversation in public. “I swear it won’t happen again.”
“It better not,” he muttered.
“Hey, guys,” someone said as they came up from behind them. “We’re heading home, Darcey’s pretty tired with the baby and all.”
“Yeah, I think it’s the tryptophan,” a feminine voice added.
Bugger. As if his evening couldn’t get any worse, he realized who had come up to say goodbye—Darcey Wednesday. And Anders Stevens.
Darcey walked around the table to where Anna Victoria was sitting to give her a hug. “Happy Thanksgiving—Cam?” she said when her gaze landed on him. “Oh, Cam, nice to see you. How have you been?”
“You look well, Darcey,” he said.
The tension in the air grew as Anders came to stand beside her, his arm going around her shoulders protectively. “Look who came down from his high and mighty tower to join us peasants.”
“Anders,” Damon said in a warning tone.
“What?” The tiger shifter shrugged. “Didn’t think you’d be the type to show up to these things. Thank you for gracing us with your presence,” he sneered.
“Hey, Stevens,” J.D. began. “I heard there’s a land called Douche-istan looking for a king. Should I tell them the search is over?”
Anders turned to J.D. “You’re defending this guy now?”
“Defend?” J.D. asked. “What did he ever do to you?”
Bloody hell. This was not how Cam wanted this conversation to go. If only pesky little things like the laws of physics didn’t prevent him from traveling back in time to tell J.D. why Anders hated him before all this. Or stop him from asking Darcey out on a date in the first place.
Thankfully, Gabriel shot up to his feet and spoke up. “Anders, Darcey, I need to talk to you guys about … something.”
“What about, Gabriel?” Darcey asked.
Gabriel looked to his fiancé. Temperance immediately got up as well. “Uh, shower curtains.”
“Shower curtains?” Darcey looked confused.
Temperance came over to her side and looped her hand through her arm. “Yeah.