said. “Pussy-whipped.”
Shade snorted. “For real, Gage? You want us to make a whole new Reapers chapter just so you can get—”
Pic burst out laughing. “Okay, that was unfair. It wasn’t his idea, actually. But he did meet a woman and wouldn’t mind some time here in town. That suits the club’s needs, so it works on our end. Do we have your support?”
“Yeah,” Shade said slowly. “We can try it, although it’ll boil down to a vote by all the presidents. But I can see this working. Keep me posted on the details. So long as Gage is there keeping an eye on things, I think it’s okay. You serious about this woman?”
“Maybe,” I said. “Better question might be whether she’s serious about me. Right now she’s a little pissed off. Apparently women don’t like it when you lie to them about who you are, and then fuck another bitch under their nose for weeks at a time. I don’t know how hookers do it—thought I’d lose my fuckin’ mind, and that’s the truth.”
Shade laughed.
“No, I’d imagine not,” he said. “This is why I don’t have an old lady. Too much work.”
“Fuck off,” Pic said. “You got no idea what you’re missing.”
That was my cue to call him pussy-whipped or something, but for the first time in a very long time, I didn’t feel like giving one of my brothers shit for keeping a woman around. Instead I had a feeling he was right. There was something there—something good—and I’d been missing out.
With any luck, I wouldn’t be missing out for much longer.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
TINKER
“You’re fucking kidding me,” Carrie said over the phone.
“I’m not,” I whispered, feeling sick to my stomach. “I can’t believe he played me like this. Nothing about him was real. Nothing! Why do I keep falling for guys who are liars and assholes?”
“Okay, yes—he’s a liar and an asshole,” she said. “But don’t beat yourself up too much. Brandon is evil, and you spent a decade of your life with him. Cooper—”
“His name is Gage.”
“Whatever. Gage is just a sexy asshole who got you a little hot and bothered. This isn’t a federal crime, although I’d like to throw out my vote for eviction one more time. If he lied on his paperwork, that has to be a good enough reason to get rid of him.”
“I can’t think about that right now,” I said. “God. He’s fixing the roof, Carrie. How am I going to get the roof fixed if I kick him out? And I’m supposed to take Dad to Seattle this week for his doctor’s appointment. My lawyer wants to talk, too. He thinks that maybe Brandon is pulling some kind of bullshit on the financials. Until now I haven’t pressed him for real, so we thought it was just stalling. But something may be really wrong there.”
“Stop,” she ordered. “Just stop for a second and take a deep breath, all right?”
Closing my eyes, I tried to do what she said, counting to ten while I inhaled. Slowly I let the air back out again, then repeated the process.
“How’s that?” she asked.
“Better,” I admitted. “I feel less like my heart is going to explode in my chest. I can’t believe he lied to me about having children.”
“He told you a lot of lies,” she agreed. “And it sounds like he’s full of shit on every level. But I think you should consider one thing—and I am not saying this to defend him, all right?”
“All right. What?”
“He doesn’t know you lost a baby,” she said softly. “And while I absolutely think he’s an asshole who deserves to have his intestines pecked out by buzzards, he didn’t set out to hurt you when he lied about having a family.”
“That doesn’t mean I’m forgiving him,” I said, my tone dark. Carrie laughed, and it wasn’t a nice laugh. More of an evil-queen laugh, with a side of maniacal genius.
“Oh no,” she said. “There’s no forgiving him. But he isn’t worth getting hung up on, either. How about this—I’m slammed with work during the day tomorrow, so why don’t you come over for dinner? We can laugh and talk and maybe throw darts at a picture of him.”
“I don’t have a picture of him.”
“No worries. I took one when he was working without his shirt the other day. Through the window.”
“That’s creepy.”
“Yeah, I know,” she admitted. “We’ve covered my stalkerishness before, so let’s keep moving here. We’ll throw darts at the picture and curse all men. It’ll be fun.”
“We