Page 91 of Walking Red Flag

Luckily, it looked like the Carter family was finished and were cleaning up and heading out.

They all offered chin lifts, but didn’t stay to talk, leaving the entire place breathing a collective sigh of relief once they were gone.

The Carters were good people, but they were cops after all.

Cops were such Debbie Downers.

“Coastguard.”

I looked up to find Etienne, one of the members of Gator Bait MC, standing there with his hand out.

I took it with a grin and said, “Etienne. What are you doing in Dallas?”

“Poker Run for Easter,” he said.

“Ahh.” I nodded. “I actually heard about that.”

“You’re not doing it?” he asked. “There’s a big to-do going on in Mansfield.”

“Not this time,” I said as I curled my hand around the back of Milena’s thigh and pulled her closer to me when Etienne’s club brother, Bain, came closer.

His eyes weren’t exactly on Milena in a way that I thought he was finding her attractive, but in a calculating way.

I grumbled something under my breath, causing Bain to look at me.

He didn’t look apologetic in the least as he said, “Coastie.”

My club name was Coastguard, but sometimes it was too long to say in a satisfying way, so lots of times it got shortened to Coastie.

Normally I wouldn’t care, but Bain had just sized my woman up, and I wasn’t feeling all nice and tingly about that.

“I don’t know if you remember me,” Bain said, ignoring me. “But one time I came into your sister’s bakery. About two years or so ago. And you were there helping. You gave my daughter a cheese Danish when she fell and busted her lip.”

Milena’s head tilted sideways a bit before saying, “The one that bled all over the floor and it looked like a murder scene?”

“That’s the one.” Bain laughed.

I let up on Milena’s thigh, but instead of pulling away, she leaned into me more.

“The cops came in because a dad was complaining about the noise, and I threw a freakin’ fit.” Milena snickered. “How’s she doing?”

“Growing like a weed,” he said, his eyes flicking to me.

He didn’t say anything, but he didn’t need to. I read the look in his eyes.

If I ever hurt her, he’d kick my ass.

But he needn’t have worried.

Milena had a long line of male protectors that would kick my ass if I fucked this up.

“Come sit with us and catch up,” Etienne said. “Webber, how ya doing? Your ol’ lady still doing good?”

“My ol’ lady isn’t my ol’ lady anymore,” Webber grumbled as he took the seat next to Etienne.

I waited until everyone was seated, even my grandfather, before I turned Milena to face me. “You okay with eating with them?”

She raised her hand and smoothed my beard down before saying, “As long as you don’t leave me there alone, I’m perfectly fine.”

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