Page 3 of Coast

“What the hell are you talking about, Coast?” Flirt asked as we watched the pushing and shoving going on in front of us.

“That both sides of me are full of superstitions and traditions.” The garter began to fall, and I stepped into the middle of the fray, raised my arm, and used my hand to snatch it out of the air. When I pulled back and stood with the garter in my hand, Flirt shook his head.

“What’s gotten into you, brother?” Flirt looked at me as if I’d lost my damn mind.

Honestly, maybe I had, ‘cause most men would walk away if a woman dodged them as often as Mac had done to me the last few months.

“Working on a strategy,” I answered while I looked around until I spotted Mac where she stood with the other women and clapped as Jag lifted River up and carried her off.

Flirt and I were silent as we watched the couple stop where Flyboy, Jag’s dad, stood with Poppy in his arms. Jag’s baby girl’s giggles when Jag leaned in and kissed all over her small face had me smiling.

“How soon do you think it will take before Flyboy is calling Shakes or one of the other women to help with Pop?” Flirt asked while we continued to watch the interaction between Jag and his daughter before he led River toward the road to our houses. They were spending the night on the compound, then leaving in the morning for a few days away before River started her teaching job at the school.

“The dads handled us as kids. I think Flyboy can take care of one little girl,” I said while I focused my eyes back on the woman who had held my attention for months.

“You’re right, but we’ve learned with Ally and Neely that girls are way different than boys,” Flirt countered.

“Brother, you have issues if it took you that long to realize they’re different,” I smirked while Flirt glared.

“Hilarious. Now let’s get back to you realizing both sides of your bloodline are known to follow various traditions. From my perspective, it sounds to me like you might finally have found your balls, brother,” Flirt said and slapped my shoulder.

“Never lost them. But I did remember patience was never my strong point.”

Flirt’s laughter followed me as I started closing the distance between myself and what I wanted.

Mac.

Mac looked up at me when I stepped in front of her. Then when I squatted, she frowned.

“You’re going to want to hold on to my shoulders, Mac.”

Without waiting for her to comply, I grabbed one of her legs and lifted it, which left her no choice but to grab hold of my shoulders if she wanted to keep her balance.

“Umm, damn,” Luna said.

Sami followed with, “Holy shit.”

“What are you doing, Emery?” Mac asked as I slid the garter over her shoe. “Oh my God, stop gawking and do something to help me.”

I would have chuckled at the desperate plea to the women if I hadn’t found myself having to concentrate on the task of slipping the garter on her. And I hadn’t thought how touching her skin intimately would affect me as much as her. Not to mention the subtleness of her perfume wrapping around me.

“Mackenzie, you’ve been around the men enough to know they don’t follow orders well,” Carly said and chuckled.

I grinned as I glanced up and saw Mac glaring at Carly, then she looked at Bailey. “Really? A friend, plus you work for me?”

“Yes, and you can thank me later for not interfering.” Bailey winked at me, and I chuckled when Mac mumbled “traitor.”

“Well, I think it would be a good time for us to find our men,” Carly said, and the other women agreed.

“I can’t believe you are deserting me,” Mac said, sounding a little disgruntled, which made me smile.

She huffed when Luna said, “You look like you’re in quite capable hands.”

“I agree. Let’s go find our men,” Bailey said and grabbed Luna’s elbow and started to lead her away.

I knew it was wrong, but the women were helping me out, so I said over my shoulder, “You’ll find your men in the clubhouse—hiding out.” The women grumbled and headed in the direction of the clubhouse. That would teach the assholes.

“I can’t believe you threw your friends under the—” Mac never finished her sentence when I started to slowly slide the band up her leg.

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