gets back?” Cutter asked with a skeptical lilt to his voice.
“That’s for me and Carly to work out. But I would like to get to know you and her other friends better. Maybe we can go for a drink one night?”
“Are you coming to the Roadhouse with Carly tonight?”
“The Roadhouse?”
“It’s a bar where we all hang out Wednesday nights. No matter how busy she is, she never misses it.”
“Oh yeah, we’ll be there.” Zev tried to play it cool, like he knew about her plans, though he wondered why she hadn’t mentioned them. “We might be a little late. We have something to do first.” He was excited to show Carly the concretions, but he didn’t want to cause her to miss a weekly get-together with her friends.
Unless she didn’t want him to go with her and that was why she hadn’t mentioned it.
Well, hell.
“Cool.” Cutter looked around the tent and said, “Did you set all of this up for Carly?”
“Yeah. Tents and movies were two of our things when we were younger.”
“Seriously? I can’t imagine her sleeping in a tent, but uh…I guess I don’t have to imagine it now.”
Zev shot him a warning glare.
Cutter held his hands up and said, “It was a joke. But for what it’s worth, I have no idea who that woman was that ran out of this tent with her ass showing. The Carly I know is up with the sun, at the shop by seven, and her idea of a wild time is riding horses at Redemption Ranch on Sunday mornings.”
“Really?” Zev wondered why Carly hadn’t mentioned that to him, either. They’d ridden horses when they were younger, but it had never been one of their things. He wondered what else had become her thing. He remembered the story she’d told him about the other guy, Callahan, who had acted like her boyfriend rescuing her when her car had broken down. Had she made that up, or was it true after all? Was horseback riding her and that guy’s thing? She’d said he was like a brother to her, and Zev definitely didn’t want to impede on that time if it was their thing. He clearly had a lot to learn about Carly’s life.
“Do you know her friend Callahan? I think his family owns that ranch you mentioned.”
“Cowboy? Sure. Everyone knows the Whiskeys. Why?”
“Think you can get him to meet us at the bar? I’d like to get to know him, too.” Bandit bounded toward them carrying something in his mouth.
“Trust me, once I get the word out that you two will be there, they’ll all be waiting to meet you.”
“You make it sound like I’m walking into an ambush.”
Cutter grinned. “Don’t be silly. Nobody’s going to be hiding in the bushes.”
Zev chuckled, crouching as Bandit came to his side. “Give it here, boy.” Bandit dropped Carly’s green bikini bottom at his feet. Zev picked it up and checked it for holes.
“Guess you and Carly went swimming.”
“Cliff diving,” Zev said, pocketing her bikini bottom. Cutter’s brow wrinkled with disbelief. “Looks like there’s a lot we both don’t know about Carly. Have you got someplace to go? Because I could use a little help moving things back where they belong after I feed the chickens. We can head inside, grab a cup of coffee, and talk while we work.”
“I can stick around for a bit,” Cutter said, and they headed for the inn. “I don’t know how much time you’ve spent with Char, but let me give you a little advice. Don’t let her hear you call the chickens anything but Chickendales.”
“Yeah, Beau told me.”
Cutter said, “And don’t let Carly hear you call her Carls. She hates that name.”
He fucking loved knowing that—and staking claim. “That’s because it’s my name for her.”
“No shit?”
“No shit. You know she hates milk chocolate, right?”
“She’s allergic,” Cutter said.
Zev laughed and clapped a hand on Cutter’s shoulder. “I think it’s going to be an interesting morning, my friend.”
BY THE TIME Carly got to the shop, it was almost ten o’clock, which should have thrown off her entire morning, but Birdie had saved the day by coming in early and making all the specials. Carly had surprised them both. Despite starting out behind schedule and volleying Birdie’s forty-minute interrogation about her night with Zev, Carly was in the best mood and more inspired than ever. She’d not only caught up on all her normal tasks quickly, but she’d also come up with a surprise for Zev—a chocolate treasure chest—that