Colorado 01 The Gamble (39 page)

“Boys, this needs to go outside,” Max
ordered, getting closer to Harry.

“
Fair warning,
Robert
,” Harry declared. “She’ll suck your dick great
but, bein’ a woman and able to multitask and all that shit, she’ll
have her hand in your wallet while she’s doin’ it.”

I gasped. Mindy giggled. The manager
approached way too late because Robert shook off Brody’s hand and
advanced, swinging, connecting with Harry’s jaw and Harry went
flying.

There were some shrieks as Harry landed on a
table, taking it down to its side, glasses, plates and salt and
pepper shakers going flying. He righted himself, turned and
charged, bent double. He hit Robert in the belly with his shoulder
and took him back six feet into another table. Glasses spilled,
plates crashed and the patrons jumped away as Robert landed then
pushed up. Harry couldn’t find his feet, wrapped his arms around
Robert and they both went to the ground, wrestling around, grunting
and cursing at each other.

I got up to my knees in the booth to watch
them as did Mindy.

This didn’t last long. Max and Brody waded
in, Max taking Harry by the back collar and jeans, lifting him up
to his feet and pushing him off. Brody did the same with Robert,
pushing him in the opposite direction.

“Dumbass, motherfucker!” Harry yelled, steak
juice, ketchup and horseradish sauce and what looked like wine,
butter and sour cream too on his shirt, Max’s hand in his chest,
pushing him back toward the front door.

“Cool it, Harry,” Max clipped still pushing
at his chest, Harry shuffling backward, “outside.”

I watched until the door closed behind Max,
Harry turned jerkily toward the front steps, Max’s hand came to his
upper back and they walked out of sight. Then I looked the other
way and Robert and Brody had disappeared out a glass door that led
to a back patio. Shauna, too, had vanished from sight.

“
Wow,” Mindy breathed and I looked at her
then she smiled bright. “Neens, babe, you’re a
totally
fun date.”

I grinned shakily at Mindy, something
caught the corner of my eye, I lunged to the side, grabbed our
scuttling waitress by the wrist and asked, “I know you’ve got clean
up but when you get a chance can I have an Amaretto on the rocks?
A
big
one.”

“Sure,” she muttered distractedly.

“And you have one too,” I told her. “Put it
on our bill.”

Her eyes focused on me and she said, “Hey,
thanks.”

I waved my hand, got off me knees and sat on
my behind. “No problems,” I muttered, took a deep breath and looked
at Mindy. “You think we’ll ever go out without the night ending in
men fighting?”

“This one was more fun than the last,” Mindy
commented.

“Yes, this is true,” I agreed.

“Still, it might get old,” Mindy said on a
smile.

“This is true too.”

“I’ve never had Amaretto. That isn’t a big
seller at The Dog. Should I try one?”

“You have to taste Amaretto before you die,”
I informed her, my words dramatic but they were also true.

“Then that’s a yes.”

I smiled at her. She smiled back.

* * * * *

“
My favorite part…” we were all standing
beside the Cherokee, me swaying slightly and Brody was reminiscing
about our night, “was when Nina told Shauna she was in your bed and
your hand was down her jeans. That was fuckin’
awesome
.”

“Say goodnight, Brody,” Max ordered.

Brody grinned. “Just sayin’.”

“
I liked it when Nina came up with all
those words for crazy,” Mindy added, also feeling like waxing
poetic about our fun filled evening. “I didn’t even know
there
were
that many
words.”

“I forgot barking,” I informed Mindy.

“
I
so
have
to live in England. You all talk
killer,
” Mindy exclaimed.

“And barmy,” I went on.

“Cool!” Mindy cried.

“And loopy, batty and crackers,” I carried
on.

Max opened the passenger side door and his
hands went to my hips. “Say goodnight, Nina.”

“’Night!” I called when Max’s hands turned
my body toward the door and then lifted me up so I had no choice
but to crawl in.

“’Night, Neens!” Mindy called back.

“Yeah, Neens, later. Max, bro, be safe,”
Brody said.

“Always,” Max muttered and slammed my
door.

Max disappeared from the window but suddenly
Mindy was there. I smiled at her through the window then saw her
flatten her hand on it. I lifted my hand and flattened it against
hers. She gave me a funny, little smile that I didn’t quite
understand before her hand disappeared and she walked away.

I hummed while I fastened my seatbelt and
Max got in beside me. My mind was on Mindy being so very sweet as
well as the baked, marble cheesecake I most recently consumed,
washing it down with Amaretto.

“In a good mood?” Max asked, starting the
truck.

“I love Mindy,” I announced.

“Figure she loves you too, Duchess, you’re a
match made in hell.”

I didn’t really listen to his words, I
just kept talking. “That cheesecake was
yummy.
”

“You blitzed?” Max asked, his hand on the
back of my seat, his torso twisted to look out the rear window to
pull out.

“I’m tipsy, not blitzed.”

Max twisted back and pulled into the road.
“What chance I got you won’t pass out on the way home?”

I waved my hand in front of me and declared,
“Oh, I’ll be fine.”

“Right,” Max muttered.

“Can we listen to music?” I requested and
Max turned on the music.

Five minutes later I was dead to the
world.

Concoctions

“
Oh… my…
God!
I
love
your
house!
” I heard
my mother cry.

I blinked away my weird dream into the
morning sunlight shining into Max’s loft and I saw his empty
pillow. Why I was dreaming about my mother, I didn’t –

“
And
you’re gorgeous!
” she exclaimed.

My heart stuttered and my eyes went
wide.

“No,” I whispered, threw the covers back and
stopped dead when I saw my body. I was naked except for a pair of
white, lace panties.

My mind flew back to last night, waking up
in Max’s arms as he carried me from the car to the house. Me
telling him I’d be okay to walk. Him putting me on my feet at the
foot of the spiral staircase. Me stumbling up, taking off all my
clothes but my underwear and my shoes and falling face down in
bed.

And that was it.

Oh.

My.

God.

“I love it here!” my mother shrieked, the
sound jerking my mind from my dismaying thoughts and my body into
motion. “Steve, I want to move here.”

I heard male mumblings but I’d located Max’s
shirt from last night on the floor and snatched it up. I shrugged
it on, buttoning it at the same time I was running across the room
and down the stairs.

I hit the bottom and saw Mom standing,
looking out the window, her arms up and straight out at her sides
as if she was calling to the Mountain Sun God to shine his blessing
on her. Max was standing a few feet away from her smiling, wearing
nothing but his pajama bottoms. Steve was standing as close to her
side as he could get with her arms spread wide, also smiling.
Steve’s smile was indulgent to Max’s entertained.

“God’s country!” Mom declared loudly.

“Mom, what on earth?” I asked, walking
toward them and Mom whirled.

“Neenee Bean!” she screeched and rushed up
to me, throwing her arms around me and giving me a fierce hug.

I forgot to be shocked by Mom’s surprise
visit when I felt her arms around me. Mine went around her and I
hugged her tight.

“This feels good,” I whispered into her
hair.

“Oh yes, sweetie, the best,” Mom whispered
back.

I felt her hands gather up my hair and she
pulled away, holding my hair at the back.

“I like your hair this long,” she observed,
her eyes doing a Mom Scan.

“Thanks, you look good,” I observed, my eyes
doing a Daughter Scan, seeing Mom looked fit and healthy, her skin
tan, her hair perfectly dyed the blonde she declared she’d never
let go and pulled softly back in an attractive, mature-lady’s
ponytail at her nape. Her turtleneck and slacks were trim, neat and
fashionable.

All pure Mom.

“Swimming three times a week, gardening,
golf and a good diet. And you have to moisturize, Neenee Bean, day
and night. Don’t forget.”

“I don’t.”

“
I know, sweetheart, your skin is
flawless
, always
was. Though, Nina,” she admonished, her eyes narrowing on my face,
“you shouldn’t go to bed with your makeup on. If I taught you
nothing, I taught you
that.
”

“You wanna let the big, bad stepdad get a
hug in or are you gonna keep her all to yourself?” Steve’s rumbly
voice asked from close and I stepped back and looked up at him.

Steve was big and tall, had gone only
slightly soft, not losing his lean physique or his broad shoulders.
His hair was all gray and he didn’t care most likely because it was
a thick, silvery gray and it suited him. Unlike Mom, who was
dressed for lunch with the girls, Steve was wearing jeans,
comfortable walking shoes and a flannel shirt. He’d been a
maintenance engineer and before he retired he’d supervised a
complex of eight buildings.

He was also a lovely man.

“Hi Steve,” I said and slid into his arms
for one of his deep, tight, bear hugs.

“Good to see you, doll,” he said to the top
of my head.

“You too, Steve.”

“
Oh!” Mom cried and Steve let me go so we
could turn to her but he kept an arm around my shoulders. When we
faced Mom, we saw she was addressing Max. “We get to know each
other I’ll get to hug
you.
”

It was then I remembered to be shocked by
Mom’s surprise visit. And at that moment, I added horrified.

“Mom!” I snapped and Mom turned to me.

“I get to do it when he doesn’t have a shirt
on too. I’m calling it now,” Mom declared.

“Speakin’ of that,” Max muttered, grinning
broadly but heading to the stairs. “I’m gonna get dressed.” He
looked at me when he passed and said, “Babe, can you start
coffee?”

“Um… yes,” I replied.

His eyes dropped to my shirt and I caught
them darkening before he turned his head away and went up the
stairs.

“
Nina, sweetie, this house, that view,
that
man
. My
God!
” Mom
cried.

“Nellie, darlin’, this place is open plan.
Max can hear you,” Steve informed her.

“
So? We’re all family now. He’ll have to
get used to me,” Mom decreed madly and marched toward the kitchen.
“I’ll make coffee, rustle up breakfast. Neenee Bean, you go wash
your face and
moisturize.
”

I was still swaying from the force of Mom’s
“we’re all family now” statement so my protesting words were weak.
“Mom, I’ll get coffee and maybe we should meet in town for
breakfast or something and you can tell me then what you’re doing
here.”

“
Oh,
tosh!
”
Mom was in the kitchen, opening and closing cupboards. “That’ll
take too long, we’ll have breakfast here,” she declared then went
on. “I’ll make pancakes. No! My famous scrambled eggs. Max strikes
me as an egg man.”

I decided speaking was giving my mother
fodder to embarrass me further so I grinned at Steve, ducked under
his arm and rushed to the stairs, saying, “I’ll be back down in a
second.”

I hit the loft as Max came out of the
bathroom wearing a dark blue Henley thermal and jeans and I stopped
dead.

“I’m so sorry,” I whispered loudly.

Max got close and tilted his head down to
me. “Yeah? Why?”

“My mother’s… she’s… well, my mother.” I was
still whispering.

“Heard the knock, honey, expected to see
your Dad at the door. Damn better sight seein’ your Mom smilin’ and
wavin’ and jumpin’ up and down.”

I closed my eyes as the vision of Mom doing
that, and she would do it, filled my head.

I felt Max’s hands on my neck and he called,
“Duchess.”

I opened my eyes and repeated, “Sorry.”

He used my neck to pull me closer. “Only
thing you got to be sorry for is passin’ out on me last night.
Though, baby,” I watched up close as his eyes got warm, “you
passin’ out naked but leavin’ on those fuckin’ sexy shoes and now
wearin’ my shirt makes up for it.”

“What?” I was lost in his eyes. I couldn’t
process words especially since his words were mostly scary.

“Not all of it, but it helps.”

“What?” I repeated, still coping with the
shocks of my morning and, of course, Max’s warm eyes.

He got even closer and whispered, “Gonna
fuck you in that shirt too.”

I processed
that.

“And those shoes,” he went on as if deep in
his thoughts, “though, not at the same time.”

My knees buckled and my hands shot up to
grab Max’s waist in order to stay standing. I found if I hooked my
thumbs in his belt loops at the sides this worked really well and I
realized why he’d used that on me though, obviously, his was
different.

“You got any sisters?” Max asked for some
reason and I shook my head. “Brothers other than Charlie?” he went
on and I kept shaking my head. “Cousins?”