Page 15 of A Hard Sell

Finn would be lucky to have them. But since Rory’s default mode was being the kindest person on earth toeveryone,it was hard to say if they felt the same about Finn. Also, Luka had promised Finn he wouldn’t say anything.

“How was your day?” Luka asked, taking the first delicious sip of his drink. Kazio might be a prick, but damn, could he make a Bloody Mary.

“It was great!” Rory said. “Finn and I were looking at the favorables from the new Boyer spot for most of the morning. Looks like we killed it.”

“That’s great! Cheers.” Luka offered his glass and Rory clinked it in return.

“Yeah.” Rory smiled. “Finn thinks we finally cracked our twenty-five to thirty-four target…” They continued to talk, eyes shining, as Luka tried not to let his lip twitch every time Rory dropped Finn’s name. Chances looked good that they felt the same.

Luka took in a breath, ready to prod into Rory’s weekend plans on Finn’s behalf, when a large figure at the end of the table caught his attention. Thomas was there talking to Tawney.

He looked back at Rory, his heart speeding up. “What are you up to this weekend?” he managed to string together, rather coherently, he thought. But he couldn’t resist shooting another quick glance at Thomas. His stomach jolted when Thomas looked back at him.

Thomas’ sleeves were rolled up again, his tie gone. His shirt didn’t have to work quite so hard to keep his bulk contained when the top three buttons were undone. A hint of chest hair peeked through. Well, that just seemed unfair. It was going to be difficult to do anything but stare.

Luka leaned a little closer to Rory to listen to their answer, swallowing hard and nodding. They chatted a while longer, but Luka was intensely aware of where Thomas was, noticing when he took a seat next to Ilona. Then Morgan arrived, making a beeline for his latest target.

Rory excused themselves to use the washroom while Luka tried not to pay attention to the blond preening and touching Thomas’ arm. “Christ,” Luka muttered, finishing off his first drink. He reached for the pitcher and a glass.

He got up, new drink in hand, and spotted Tawney over at the dartboard. “I fucking hate Morgan,” he announced when he arrived at her side.

“That’s ’cause he’s a dick,” she agreed. She clinked his glass. “Cheers.”

“That’s insulting to dicks,” Luka muttered. Then he noticed what she was wearing. “Excuse me with this dress, by the way.”

“This old thing?” Tawney gave him a pose, tapping a dart on her chin. The black and white plaid pencil dress was total perfection, set off against her warm acorn skin.

Luka sighed and tilted his head. “Marry me.”

She rolled her eyes and held out a handful of darts. “Oh, stop. I’m still going to kick your ass.”

Tawney won the first game, barely. She gloated enough that Luka demanded a rematch, which then turned into a tiebreaker, with several beers along the way. Tawney always knew how to take Luka’s mind off his ex. The next time he glanced at them, Thomas was on his way to the bar, and Ilona was talking intently to Morgan.

“Time for another drink?” Tawney asked, giving Luka a meaningful look.

“I’m sure I have no idea what you’re talking about.” He sniffed at her. “Plus he’s probably not even gay.”

She smirked. “He is. Ilona told me. And single.”

Well, shit.That was very, very interesting.But before he could pretend to beuninterested for Tawney’s sake, she gave him a little push toward the bar.

He glared at her as he combed his fingers through his hair and made his way over. He wasn’t sure if he was wobbling a bit or if it was just a natural side effect of winding through the tables. Thomas was propped against the counter in an effortless, sexy lean.

“Hi,” Luka said, trying to empty his head of the way that ass looked in those dress pants.

“Hello,” Thomas replied.

“How’s it going?”

“Good. You?”

“Good. Good.” Luka watched Kazio at work, ignoring them on purpose probably. “This guy hates me,” he said in a low voice, nodding at the bartender. He realized he was listing too close to Thomas’ lips. He straightened up. “Let’s see how long it takes me to place an order.”

“Hmm.” Thomas frowned. “Excuse me, sir?” he called in Kazio’s direction.

Kazio looked up, scowling.

“Could you please add Luka’s order to my pint?”

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