Forbidden Harmony (Harmony Falls #3) - Elizabeth Kelly Page 0,57
he knew that she meant a great deal to Gideon. “How’s she doing?”
“Okay. She’s back to work now. It’s been rough on her since Murray died, but the fundraiser auction and dinner went really well, and they raised a lot of money. That seemed to help. They had a PowerPoint tribute thing for Murray at the dinner. There wasn’t a dry eye in the house after. Has the person who won the bid on your tattoo at the auction contacted you yet?”
“Nah.” Preacher’s gaze drifted back to Lucas. He and Addison were by the folding table that the food was set out on. He was standing way too close to Addison and hot jealousy flowed like lava into Preacher’s gut when Lucas tugged on a lock of Addison’s hair.
“Asshole,” he muttered.
Gideon laughed. “He’s actually a nice guy. I had a beer with him and Connor last week.”
“You didn’t think he was so great when he was hitting on your woman,” Preacher said.
“And now you have a problem with him because he’s hitting on your woman,” Gideon said.
“She’s not my woman.”
“No, she isn’t. So, why are you sitting here looking like you’re about to crack Lucas in half?”
“Fuck off, Gideon.”
Gideon took a drink of beer. “Don’t worry about it. Addison isn’t going to go out with him. One, he’s not her type, and two, Grace told me she isn’t looking to jump into another relationship right away. What did she say when you showed up at the piercing place in Willington?”
“Who says I showed up at the piercing place?”
Gideon snorted. “I’ve known you seven years, asshole. You’re like an open book to me. What did she say?”
“She was surprised and then pissed with me,” Preacher said.
“You must have really done something stupid then. Addison is the sweetest woman in Harmony Falls.”
“I refused to let her get pierced and literally carried her out of the shop over my shoulder.”
Gideon choked on his swallow of beer, spitting it out in a fine spray. Tank lifted his head from Preacher’s chest and sniffed the air before squeezing in between their lawn chairs and licking at the spilled beer on Gideon’s t-shirt.
Gideon wiped at his mouth. “Are you serious?”
He shrugged. “If she wants another piercing, I’ll do it. The fucker in Willington has a rating below three on goddamn Yelp.”
“Another piercing?” Gideon raised one eyebrow at him.
“Addison didn’t tell Grace she got pierced?”
“If she did, Grace didn’t mention it to me. What did she get pierced?”
“That falls under the piercer/client confidentiality agreement,” Preacher said.
Gideon laughed. “Asshole. Fine, keep your little secrets. Just remember that Addison and you won’t work.”
“I know,” Preacher said. “I love you but I’m getting real tired of you being on my ass about this.”
“Pookie bear, I haven’t even climbed onto your ass yet. Trust me, you’ll know when I do.”
Despite his sudden bad mood, Preacher couldn’t help but grin. “You’re such a shithead.”
“Yeah, but I’m your shithead.” Gideon took a drink of beer before pushing Tank and his tongue away from the front of his shirt. “Go on, Tank. Lie down.”
As Tank settled in the grass at their feet, Gideon said, “Daniel is drunk.”
Preacher glanced across the yard. Daniel and another firefighter named Jesse, were sitting in lawn chairs near the firepit. Daniel was gesturing wildly to Jesse with one hand while he held a beer in the other.
“How many has he had?” Preacher said.
“At least six.” Gideon glanced at his own beer. “Enough that he’s not driving home. On Tuesday night, Ian got called out to The Hitching Post to break up a fight between a couple of drunks. Daniel was one of them. Ian said the same thing happened the week before.”
“Shit.” Preacher glanced at Addison. “His sister know he’s drinking that much?”
“I don’t think so. But if he keeps this up, we’ll have to -”
Preacher stopped listening. The asshole gamer was holding Addison’s hand and studying the friendship bracelets on her wrist. He stood and stalked toward them. Without speaking, he grabbed a paper plate and dumped some raw veggies onto it before standing next to Addison.
He stared at Lucas’s hand holding Addison’s hand before giving Lucas his best what the fuck do you think you’re doing look.
Addison pulled her hand away from Lucas and smiled at Preacher. “Hi there.”
“Hey, Preacher.” Lucas held out his hand and Preacher shook it. “How’s it going?”
“Fine. You just here for the weekend?”
“Actually, I’m living here now. Moved in last weekend into a fantastic condo that Kira helped me find,” Lucas said.