Claimed By The Devil - Joanna Blake Page 0,13

likes him,” Janet added bluntly. "We are girls. Men can be dumb about that kind of thing."

"No offense," Molly piped in sweetly. I almost laughed out loud at the look on Janet’s face. She had no bones about offending us. But she was right.

"This is a good plan. We'll have a barbecue at the lake this weekend. Saturday work for everyone?"

Nick sat up and looked around.

“Wait. You really think you can tell? If she doesn’t think I’m a dirty old man?”

"Of course, we can tell. We're females. We all speak the same language."

The transformation in Nick's demeanor was immediate. He looked hopeful. Excited. And nervous as fuck.

"Sound good, buddy?" He nodded, looking dazed. "So, that means you have to ask her out," I prodded.

"Can you do that?" Janet asked, giving him a dubious look. She kind of looked like she didn't trust him to manage his own business. I had to say I didn't entirely blame her for that.

"I could invite her. I'll just . . . I'll go in and I'll invite her."

"Good. You do that," Jack said, landing a heavy hand on his shoulder. I saw Nick flinch a little under the sudden weight. It was hard not to laugh. Jack had no idea how big his hands really were.

"But let's get you sobered up first," Donnie said smoothly, sliding a glass of water under Nick's nose and pulling away the bottle.

“Yeah,” Nick agreed, pulling out his phone. “Good idea.”

“Maybe talk to her tomorrow,” I suggested, giving his phone a pointed look.

“Shit. Working tomorrow,” he moaned. “I don't think I'll be sober enough to go in at six like usual.”

“You could text her,” Donnie suggested.

"No texting," Janet interrupted him. "He needs to be able to see her face. He's got to have some sense of whether she wants to go or not."

"Right." I nodded. Janet was right. "So, you're going to have to hold out for another day."

"What if she makes other plans for the weekend?" Callaway said with a frown. "I mean, if she's that pretty, I'm sure she has other options."

Donnie reached across the bar and slapped him in the back of his head.

"Not. Helping."

"She doesn't have any friends," Nick said sadly. "Only horses. Hendrix loves her. She looks after him for me."

We all exchanged a look. We knew how he felt about his horse. That horse was family to him.

It was all the more reason that he couldn't fuck this up.

"Friday. You'll ask her Friday."

Everyone nodded. Mostly, I made club rules around here, but the guys tended to listen to me on just about everything. They were my brothers, just as much as my little brother, John, had been.

"I can't wait to meet her," Janet said dryly. I knew what she meant. We were all itching to meet the girl who had brought Nick to his knees.

Saturday couldn't come soon enough.

Chapter Seven

Melissa

Something came up. Give Hendrix an apple for me.

That's what the text said. That's all I'd heard from Nick since he left two days ago. I kept checking my phone and rereading it. “At least he texted,” I muttered to myself. He’d gotten my digits the last time we hung out. That had to count for something.

But the sky was a little less blue this morning. The birds didn’t sound as sweet. My coffee tasted a little less awesome.

Well, no. That was a lie. The coffee was still pretty awesome.

Here I was feeling incredibly silly, hoping for a glimpse of his tall form striding through the stables, his long hair falling over his eyes, or the way his tight jeans hugged his, well, his perfect ass. It wasn’t just his good looks, though. I missed talking to him, too.

And then, just like that . . . he was there.

All 6' 2" of him.

I pretty much melted.

He froze for a split second when he saw me. I had a sudden thought that he’d been avoiding me. But then he strode forward with purpose. There was a warm but wary look in his eyes as he came to stand a few feet away from me. He gave me a crooked smile that made my insides feel all soft and gooey.

“Hey,” he said with a funny little crinkling of his brow.

“Hey,” I offered, feeling unaccountably shy.

“Sorry I missed you yesterday,” he said. I shook my head, about to tell him he didn’t owe me an apology. But he didn’t give me a chance. “Let me make it up to you. There's a barbecue this weekend. Do you