Zev did a visual sweep of the room, taking note of the large number of black vests sporting Dark Knights patches. A few dozen tables separated them from the bar across the back wall, behind which two female bartenders—a blonde and a brunette—were serving drinks. A crowd of people to their right cheered on a young guy riding a mechanical bull. To their left were pool tables and a dance floor, where couples were dancing to music that sounded like a cross between country and pop.
Zev led Carly away from the door and into his arms. “Your Zev…?”
“I was put on the spot. I didn’t know what to say, but I wanted him to know I was with you.”
“Babe, you claim me any way you want.” He kissed her jaw and said, “Your Zev.” He brushed his lips beside her ear and whispered, “Your sex slave,” earning a press of her body against his. He kissed her cheek and said, “Your boyfriend.” Holding her gaze, he said, “Any way you cut it, I’m still yours.”
“Hm. I kind of like sex slave.”
“Carly! Zev!” Birdie waved from a stool at the far end of the bar, where she sat beside a brunette wearing glasses who was chatting with Cutter.
“There’s Birdie,” Carly said, and they made their way toward the bar. “Sorry about Dare.”
“Is he always like that?”
“No. I don’t know what that was about.”
“If the Whiskeys are anything like my family, he was just watching out for you.” He had a feeling there would be a lot of that going on tonight. The guy standing beside Cutter turned as they approached. Cowboy.
Birdie slipped off her chair, wearing another interesting outfit—high-waisted polka-dot shorts with a matching crop top and cowgirl boots. She threw her arms around Carly. “I’m so glad you made it!” She greeted Zev with the same enthusiastic embrace. “Remember me? I’m Birdie.” Before he could answer, she pulled the other brunette off her stool and said, “And this is Quinn. She works with me and Carly and she’s been dying to meet you.”
He recognized Quinn, wearing the same tight skirt and cleavage-baring blouse she’d had on earlier in the day when he’d gone to see Carly at work. “Hi, Quinn. I think I passed you leaving the chocolate shop when I was going in to see Carly.”
“That was me,” Quinn said. “You two are all anyone in here is talking about. It’s like someone put out a notice that Carly was bringing a date tonight.”
“What? Why?” Carly asked.
Birdie swatted the air and said, “Don’t worry about it. Let’s have fun.”
“Hey, darlin’,” Cowboy said, embracing Carly. “This guy treating you right?”
Carly rolled her eyes. “Yes, Cowboy. Dare just did the whole Neanderthal thing out front. What is up with you guys?”
As she and Cowboy talked, Cutter shook Zev’s hand and said, “Glad you made it.”
“Thanks, man.” Zev put a hand on Carly’s back and lowered his voice to say, “Do you still like Sex on the Beach?”
She turned with daggers in her eyes, cheeks flaming. “Shh. Yes, but someone will hear you.”
“I heard him!” Birdie chimed in as she climbed onto a stool. “And my answer is most definitely yes!”
Cowboy glowered at her.
“I meant the drink,” Zev said to Carly. “That’s what you drank in college.” He leaned closer and lowered his voice. “But it’s good to know you still like doing it on the beach.”
She half scowled, half smiled.
“Now who has sex on the brain?” he whispered in her ear.
“You’d think after our naughty shower I could stop thinking about it,” she said for his ears only. “You’d better just get me a Blue Moon, or else all I’ll think about is the name of the drink.”
He winked and said, “One Sex on the Beach it is.”
Carly shook her head, and Quinn pulled her into a conversation with Birdie. Zev leaned on the bar to get the bartender’s attention.
The tall brunette bartender sauntered over, eyeing Zev curiously. “I haven’t seen you before,” she said, giving off a tough vibe. “You new in town?”
“Billie,” Cutter interrupted. “This is Zev. He’s with Carly.”
Billie’s brown eyes looked between Zev and Carly, who was chatting with Quinn and Birdie. Billie nodded and said, “That makes sense. Carly deserves a man as pretty as she is. What are you, some kind of model?”
“Hardly.” Zev chuckled. “I do a little of this and that, but no modeling.”
“He’s a big-time treasure hunter,” Cutter clarified.
Billie scoffed. “People don’t really make a living doing that shit.”