Page 13 of Lamb

“You’re in the right place.” I moved closer, smelling the sickly sweet taste of hard spirits on her lips. They were glossy and pouty, her tongue darting between them. “Just the wrong direction.”

“Oh.” The girl’s eyes flickered with clarity for just a moment. “You’re gay?”

I heard a burst of laughter farther down the bar but didn’t deign Jax a laugh, not even as his laughter grew into hysterics.

“Not exactly.” I shrugged, reaching my hand to grasp her chin. Her skin was soft, as the residue of makeup transferred onto my skin. I leaned forward, watching her fall enticingly into my lull, lips parting, eyes widening. “You’re just not my type.”

Soured at my words, the girl jerked her face from my hold. Her heels clapped against the wooden floor, her tits bouncing at the motion before turning and stomping off back into the crowd.

“Wow,” Ronnie, Jax’s old lady, didn’t wait a moment before chiming in. “Did you really have to say it that way?”

“Leave him.” Jax giggled, his laughter still shaking his chest. One arm dangled limply over his old lady’s shoulder, the other wiping tears from his eyes. “He’s a stone-cold heartbreaker, that one. No sympathy for the old, the weak, or the beautiful.”

I didn’t correct him.

Ronnie just frowned, tucking her long hair behind her shoulder. She looked down into her own glass of orange juice.

“Do you think I did the wrong thing?”

Ronnie’s green eyes jumped to mine, surprise widening them. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Jax roll his eyes.

“Not exactly.” Ronnie shrugged. “Just think you could’ve gone about it differently, is all.”

“If the end result is the same, does it matter?”

Ronnie’s brows knitted, not in thought but in reflection as she stared long and hard in my direction. Even Jax paused to give me a second look.

“I guess not, but …”

“Tell you what”—I moved closer, leaning an arm on the bar—“I’ll make it up to you.”

“Oh shit,” Jax groaned. “This can’t be good.”

Ronnie registered Jax’s reaction, giving me a skeptical side-eye. Curiosity got the better of her in the end. “How?”

“I’ll let you know a secret.”

“What’s it going to cost me?”

“You’re sharp. I like it.” I smiled, glancing toward Jax, who puffed his chest out with pride. “He needs someone like you.”

“Hey!” Jax snapped.

“Never mind him.” Ronnie smacked her hand against Jax’s chest. Then she leaned forward over the bar, her space invading mine. “Name your price.”

“What’s to say there is one?”

“You don’t strike me as the charitable type.” Ronnie smirked, the gesture wrinkling her nose.

“You’re right; I’m not.” I shrugged, liking her more with every word out of her mouth. “But let’s say you’ve earned this one.”

“Fine.” Ronnie squinted, not sounding convinced, but also not one to look a gift horse in the mouth.

I leaned forward, my mouth coming to the corner of her ear. I heard her breath hitch and felt the slight warmth glow from her cheeks. “She wasn’t after me.”

A frown puzzled Ronnie’s soft warm face. Then she turned to Jax, who sipped easy on a beer, eyes obliviously scanning the room, a pout on his lips. At the realization, her easy smile cooled.

“Prove it.” A smug smirk took over her face as she dropped back onto her stool as if she had caught him out.

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