Marc leaned down and patted his head. “I know, boy. I want to go over there too. But keeping an eye on her and keeping my distance are two separate things.”
Both were equally stupid.
“How about a man night? You and me and a couple bloody steaks. I’ll even let you have some of my beer.”
Wingman didn’t answer, just stared across the alley.
Finishing her second drink, Lexi slid off the counter, set the cup in the sink, and wiped her hands across her mouth. Then she smiled over at Marc and gave him a little wave. He waved back. And his smile came out stupid and big.
“Too bad man night excludes the girl next door,” Marc mumbled, right as his phone rang. He looked at the screen, saw Trey’s number, and hung up.
He didn’t have time to listen to his kid brother lay into him over something he had or hadn’t done. He was too busy trying to figure out where Lexi, who had grabbed a small handbag off the table and sashayed her ass out of sight, had disappeared to. And why she wasn’t returning his calls.
Marc walked to the corner of his office and peered out into the parking lot at the back of the bakery. He didn’t see Lexi, but he did see a tool in slacks and a polo strangling a bouquet of roses on her back stoop.
“Dumb-ass,” Marc muttered. Lexi hated roses. Thought they were cliché.
His phone chimed that he had a voice mail. He dialed and listened.
“Answer your phone, will you? I need to get a hold of your buddy.” Marc could tell by the way Trey said your buddy that what little love there had been between the two was long gone. Not good. “I know he’s away on his honeymoon, but he still owes me some financials. Monte is on my case about it. So if you hear from him, tell me what he says.”
The message ended. Marc hung up. He could tell Trey exactly what his buddy had said.
I know this is a lot to ask, but you guys used to be friends.
Marc and Lexi had never stopped being friends. In fact, Marc, abiding by man law, had vowed to keep his distance from her, and over the years he’d done his sex proud. But when Lexi stepped out on her porch, too-big grin in place, tottered a bit on those heels, and then stumbled right into Mr. Friday Night’s arms, friend was the last person Marc was capable of being. Especially when Dumb-Ass pulled her closer, resting his hand pretty damn low for a first date, and tugged her toward his shiny sports car.
Wingman growled, baring his teeth and his obvious dislike for Lexi’s date.
“Me too,” Marc said.
The silver-streaked hair, corporate-branded shirt, and overcompensation with a spoiler told Marc that this was Vince Jones, a local dot-comer who specialized in social media and younger women. He was twenty years too old and Lexi was already three shots too far gone for this to be a good idea.
Wingman jumped at the window, barking up a storm and practically foaming at the mouth to rip the guy apart.
“Give me the first shot at him.” Marc grabbed Wingman’s leash and was already reaching for his keys when he added, “If he’s too stupid to listen, I’ll give you ten minutes in a dark room with the guy.”
Which was how Wingman ended up eating kibble for dinner and Marc found himself at the Spigot, wedged between an irrigation specialist and an investment banker, nursing a warm beer and watching Lexi wobble around on those ridiculous heels while Vince supplied her with enough tequila to get an entire crew of vineyard workers hammered.
Lexi licked the tip of a dart, took aim, and leaned over a bar stool for balance, causing the denim to stretch even more tightly across her incredible backside. Marc zeroed in and choked on his beer when she threw the dart and gave an excited little wiggle. He couldn’t see what she was aiming at, but it must have been a bull’s-eye because she started bouncing up and down on her toes—and then all thinking became impossible.
God, the woman had an incredible body.
A low, appreciative whistle sounded from his right, and Marc realized that the irrigation specialist—and half the freaking bar—was just as interested in the sight of Lexi jumping up and down while holding a weapon. But when Dumb-Ass leaned in, getting all up behind her to