Page 9 of Reacher's Ride or Die

“Sorry if I upset you,” he said, reaching across the table to cover her hand with his own. The way that he looked at her was so intense that she wanted to look away, but she couldn’t. It was as though she was a moth drawn to a flame around Reacher.

“We’re good,” she assured. The waiter came back with a basket of bread and they each ordered another drink. She already felt a little bit fuzzy from her martini, but she didn’t want to leave him to drink alone. After all, Brandi had been through hell and back today, and she wanted her to relax and have a good time. Hell, if she didn’t, Gloria would have her ass, and that was the last thing that she wanted or needed.

Reacher

Reacher’s cell phone buzzed in his pocket, and he stood to fish it out. He saw that Yonkers was trying to call him, and his heart sank every time Yonkers called him. For some reason, his mind went right to the worst-case scenario. Maybe it was the fact that after his father passed, he always waited for the other shoe to drop.

“I’ve got to take this,” he said to Brandi. “It’s Yonkers and I always answer the phone for him in case Gloria needs me.”

“Oh,” Brandi said. He held up his finger and answered his cell.

“Tell me that you’re not on a date with my mother’s new nurse,” he insisted.

“Okay, I won’t tell you that,” Reacher joked. From the growl on the other end of the call, Yonkers wasn’t in a joking mood.

“Gloria insisted that Brandi and I go out to dinner to celebrate my new job. Honestly, she gave us no choice in the matter,” he said. Reacher didn’t miss the disappointed look on Brandi’s face, and he wondered what that was about. He’d figure it out once he got off the phone with Yonkers, but he had afeeling that he was going to have to listen to Yonkers ream him a new ass before he’d let him get back to his dinner with Brandi.

“You know damn good and well that my mother is trying to play matchmaker,” Yonkers shouted. Reacher pulled the phone from his ear, wincing at Yonker’s yelling at him.

“Jesus, man,” Reacher said, “I think that you need to take a beat before you say something that you’ll regret.”

He could hear Yonker’s sigh at the other end of the call. “Wren tells me that all the time. Sorry that I yelled, but I just don’t want you fucking up mom having a nurse. If you mess things up with Brandi and she quits, I’m going to kick your ass, man.”

“Not going to happen,” Reacher insisted.

“Great, I feel so much better now,” Yonkers drawled.

Reacher could tell that he was being sarcastic, but he still couldn’t help but give his friend some shit. “You do?” Reacher asked.

“No, asshole, I don’t. My mother needs Brandi now that you have a job. Don’t fuck this up for my mom, Reacher,” he insisted.

“Got it,” Reacher said. “I won’t fuck things up. Anything else, man?”

“Yeah—congrats on the new job. That’s pretty awesome, man,” Yonkers said. He couldn’t help his smile. Yonkers might be rough around the edges, and extra protective of the people he loved, but he wasn’t unreasonable.

“Thanks, man,” Reacher said. Yonkers hummed into the other end of the call.

“Fuck off,” Yonkers grumbled, making Reacher laugh. His friend ended the call, and Reacher tossed his phone to the table.

“What was that all about?” Brandi asked. “Was he mad at you or something?”

“Not really,” Reacher lied, “he just wanted to congratulate me on my new job. I guess his mother told him about it,” he said.

“Did she also tell him that we’re out to dinner together?” Brandi asked. “It sounded as though Yonkers was angry that we were out together.” She seemed to be completely avoiding calling their dinner tonight a date, and that kind of hurt his feelings.

“He just had some questions about what we were doing tonight, and I told him,” he said.

“That we had no choice but to go out to dinner together because Gloria forced us to, right?” Brandi asked.

“I didn’t mean it that way,” he insisted. He seemed to put his foot in his damn mouth every time the pretty nurse was near him, and tonight wasn’t any different. He should have told Gloria that he had other plans tonight, but that woman could smell a lie a mile away.

The waiter brought over their meals and Reacher was happy for the reprieve. He asked if they needed anything else and Brandi ordered another drink. If he was keeping count, that would make her third martini. She looked Reacher over and smiled, “Don’t worry,” she said, “I walked here.” He understood that but letting her walk home drunk and alone wasn’t going to happen. They could argue about that later though. Right now, another drink sounded damn good to him.

“Another scotch for me—make it a double,” he said. The waiter nodded and walked away, leaving them both to sit silently, eating their meals. He wondered if she was going to talk to him again like she had before he took Yonker’s call. He really should have let it go to voicemail or gone to the men’s room to have a private conversation, but hindsight was twenty-twenty.

The waiter brought them both their drinks and left again. Reacher took a drink of his scotch, and Brandi did the same with her martini. “Are you going to talk to me again at some point?” he asked. He wasn’t trying to sound like an asshole, but he did. “I’m sorry, that didn’t come out as I planned for it to. Brandi, ifI’ve upset you, I’m sorry. Give me another chance. I didn’t come out to dinner with you because Gloria forced me to. I wanted to be here tonight. Hell, I’d love to even consider tonight a date, and you don’t know this about me, but that’s a big deal for me.”

“It is?” Brandi almost whispered.

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