Saxon's Savior (Protect and Serve #3) - Pandora Pine Page 0,29

run, but I knew that was just an excuse to get away from us. We’d been merciless, teasing him like he was part of the family. The others might have seen him as another brother, but the feelings I had toward him were definitely not brotherly.

“Okay, spill!” Hennessey sat down next to me after he’d checked in with a few lingering lunch customers. A couple of girlfriends sat near the window and were laughing happily together, while a couple of liquid lunchers sipped on their drinks at the bar.

“Spill what?” I asked innocently, knowing perfectly well Hennessey would see right through me.

“Don’t make me beat it out of you in front of all these nice people.” Hennessey’s grin darkened.

One of the beer guzzlers belched. He wiped a hand across his mouth and bumbled his way to the men’s room.

“There goes another satisfied customer.” I snorted. “Christ, is he okay?”

“Charlie’s fine. Wife left him a few months ago. He comes in once a week and drinks until it’s time to pour him into an Uber and send him home. He’s harmless and pays his tab.” Hennessey shrugged. “I think he’s gay and is too scared to come out. I’ve been slowly earning his trust. We’ll see what happens.”

I’d always wondered how Hen dealt with customers who were stuck in the bottle. He’d had his own share of dark days. He was a good man to help out, instead of just taking Charlie’s money and turning the other cheek.

Hen nudged my elbow with his own. “Enough stalling.”

I knew it was pointless to keep trying to put him off. “I might have stayed behind to talk to you about something.”

“Someone, you mean.” He waggled his light eyebrows at me.

“I swear he showed up here on purpose today. Who does he think he is sitting with us like he did?” I was being a total jerk and I knew it.

“Wow, you’ve got it bad, brother.” Hen shook his head. “You heard Saxon say he didn’t know this was my place. He didn’t want to sit with us, but we didn’t give him much of a chance.”

“I wasn’t urging him to sit here.” Christ, I sounded like a sulky tween.

“Not with your words, but I could see in your eyes how much you wanted him to sit here.” Hen paused, staring at me for a few seconds. “It’s obvious you like him.”

“Maybe.” It was all I was willing to concede.

“Maybe, my ass!” Hen chuckled. “What is it about him that’s making you act like this?”

“Like what?”

“Like a dumbass. Saxon is a great guy. He got the shaft at his last job. We both know what a prick Toby Whitmer is.”

Hen had been the brother I’d gone to when the shit hit the fan with Toby. He was the brother who’d always been the peacemaker, but I also knew he was the easiest of my brothers to rile up over a case of injustice. Real or imagined. “Yeah, he’s the worst.”

“He was sexually harassing Saxon and when he didn’t get what he wanted that way, he made sure the guy was punished. Transferred him out of the firehouse and exiled here, where, rumor has it, you and Ozzy terrorized him. If anyone should be sitting here bitching about someone, it should be him about you, not the other way around.” Hen got up from his seat and made his way back to Charlie at the bar, who ordered another round.

My brother was right. I knew, firsthand, what kind of a man Toby was. I don’t know what the fuck I’d been thinking taking his side against Saxon. Why had I listened to him in the first place?

“Because you were hoping for a second chance.” Hen set a hand on my shoulder before taking his seat again.

Christ, was that really it? Was I hoping that by reaching out to me Toby was hoping to reconcile? God, I was fucked up.

“I can see the wheels of your mind spinning. You know I’m right.” Hen did not look as if being right made him feel better.

“Am I really that fucking desperate?” My head hurt just thinking about it. I was willing to roll over and put my self-esteem on the line again for a man who was just looking for a hole to satisfy his own needs.

Hennessey shook his head. “I don’t think you’re desperate at all. What I do think is that you need to take a look at the situation, objectively. Saxon is a good man. Ozzy