Page 16 of Seductive Nights

Quinn laughed. "Can you think right now? We'd like to come in and plan our wedding."

Jace tucked the notebook under his arm. He nodded toward the bar. "Yep. Let's go make some wedding plans. We'll get you married before we start digging into this building."

Entering the bar, he strode to his little office and tucked his notebook away into his computer bag. He'd take it home tonight for safekeeping. He grabbed his work notebook, the one he kept for customers and their parties, and strode back to the bar to find Quinn and Hanna chatting away with Mason.

Mason had been with him for a few weeks now and was doing well. A former Navy SEAL, he suffered terribly from PTSD. Staying busy seemed to be the key to keeping his mind from falling into despair. And Jace quickly began to rely on Mason to keep things even in the bar. He was a large man, over six-foot-five. Two inches taller than Jace himself. And while he smiled more now than he used to, he could also look imposing. Jace wished Mason had been around when those bikers came into town earlier in the year and wreaked havoc.

He lay his notebook on the bar and waited for his friends to finish their chat with Mason. It gave him the advantage of seeing Mason in action when Jace wasn't running around doing everything else. Quinn asked Mason, "Where are you living?"

Mason frowned slightly. "I have an apartment out of town."

Quinn nodded and pulled out a business card. "Give me a call in about three weeks. We'll be close to renting or selling our first units in the old barracks in town. I'm converting them into housing. Only selling or renting to veterans."

Mason looked at Quinn's card and smiled. "Thank you. I've been hearing about this place. I'll give you a call."

Mason turned to see Jace watching. "Sorry, boss."

Jace shook his head. "Don't be sorry. Quinn is one of my best friends, he and his beautiful future wife Hanna are good people. She's the cinnamon roll queen."

Mason laughed and patted his belly. "You're the person to blame for my extra couple of pounds."

Hanna laughed. "Guilty."

Mason nodded. "You're a tremendous baker."

Hanna's cheeks turned pink as Mason moved to help a customer on the other end of the bar.

"Okay folks, let's talk wedding plans."

Hanna smiled. "First, have you and Margo had any further conversation today?"

"No." It came out harder than it needed to be. "I've been in a good mood thinking about the remodel."

Hanna's lips turned down slightly. "Sorry to bring up the subject, but she really is very nice."

Jace shrugged his shoulders. "If you say so. She's more of a pain in the ass and judgy as far as I'm concerned."

Hanna frowned. Jace kept on. "She busts my balls at every turn. She thinks I flirt too much. I'm untrustworthy. I told her she should lighten up, and maybe if she smiled once in a while, she'd have a little fun, too."

Hanna gasped and put her hand over her mouth. "Oh, my gosh, Jace. She's going through a tough time."

"That doesn't mean she should be rude."

"I doubt she means to be rude."

"Maybe I flirt a little bit, but that's just because I enjoy what I'm doing. And what's wrong with making women feel good about themselves? I don't see anything wrong with that."

"I plan on visiting her tomorrow with some cinnamon rolls. Just to check on her."

Quinn chuckled. "Your cinnamon rolls should make her smile."

Jace changed the subject. "Let's talk about your wedding."

Hanna grinned.

The door opened and Jace saw Sid and Grace enter the bar, hand in hand.

"Hey there, you two. I don't know if you guys knew this, but Quinn and Hanna came in tonight to talk about the wedding."