Page 3 of Mac
"Here you are."Jailbait saved him from too much uncomfortable silence as she set a deck of cards on the table, along with a small note pad and a pencil."Wasn't sure if you'd want those so I brought them just in case.Anything else?"
"I'm good," Mac said with a shake of his head as he reached for the cards.
"You already eaten?"Tuck asked as Mac slid the cards from the box.
"Yeah.I'm good."
"Want me to fix you something?"Jailbait offered with a smile.
Tuck watched her for several seconds, glanced at Mac, then back to Jailbait."I wouldn't argue if someone else wants something but don't cook just for me."
"How about something sweet?"Jailbait asked, then she leaned close and spoke in a quiet voice."I happen to know there's some mint chocolate chip ice cream in the freezer."
Tuck closed his eyes for a couple seconds than nodded."I'll take some of that."
"Bowl or glass?"
Mac had to smile.He was long used to their president's odd way of eating ice cream, and it looked like Jailbait had caught on too.Tuck sighed.
"I'll have a glass," his gaze flicked to Mac, "you want some?"
"I'm good with this tonight."He shuffled the cards and nodded to his glass of whiskey.
"I'll have that right out."Jailbait hurried away.
"She's really taken to the job."Tuck shook his head."Gizmo's right.If we put the new guy in as a bartender, like we usually do, we need to put her in charge of the place."
"Has Dumbass seen the way she caters to you?"
"Huh?Oh, yeah.It's not been anything big, or anything different than she does for the other brothers.She takes good care of us but treats him even better and doesn't act different when he's around.She's not trying to move up, if that’s what you mean."
"Good."Mac rolled his shoulders and glanced at Tuck."What are we playing?"
Tuck blinked."How about gin?"
Mac didn't respond, just started dealing."The last thing we need is brother against brother, especially fighting over a piece of ass."
"I get you, but I wouldn't let Dumbass hear you call his girl a piece of ass.She might have been once, but it's been a while since she's gone with anyone who asked.Even before Dumbass was patched."Tuck fell silent as he watched the cards.
"That's part of why you delayed patching him in, isn't it?To see how things went between the two of them and with the rest of the brothers?"
"That was part of it.Not all, but part."Tuck picked up his cards and sorted them.They played in silence for a few minutes, each sipping their drink as they drew and discarded in turn.Tuck had just laid down his hand when Jailbait appeared with his ice cream.
"Here, let me have them, I'll shuffle while you eat."Mac took the cards and shuffled absently while the president dug into his ice cream.Taking mercy on his friend, Mac dealt the hand, backwards so cards fell as if Tuck had dealt, then picked up his own hand while Tuck set his glass on the table and picked up his cards.
They played into the night, Mac continuing to drink, until he knew there was no way he could ride home.Which had been his goal tonight.He wanted to make sure he had to spend the night here, so no matter how tempting it was, he couldn't go back to his neighbor's house and knock.
As he made his way up the stairs to his room, Mac wondered how she might react should he do exactly as he was tempted.Maybe she didn't have someone.
No.
He shook his head.Someone as hot as his neighbor was definitely attached.
Mac spent the next day working, thoughts of his neighbor occasionally sneaking into his mind, but between a tow truck blowing a tire and a shipment of the wrong parts, he'd had enough to deal with it hadn't been difficult to push those thoughts away and keep going.
By the time he called it a day, changed out of his greasy work shirt and headed out, he didn't have the energy left to fight the direction of his thoughts.He let images of his sexy neighbor run through his mind as he made the drive back to his house.He thought about knocking on her door and inviting her out.But where would he take her?What did he have to offer a sweet young thing like her?He was just an old mechanic with a group of brothers that most people didn't look too well upon.
None of that had ever bothered him.He liked his jobs, both as a mechanic and as a member of the US Marshals working to clean up the worst of the criminals and keep his country, and its people, safe.He'd had a few flings with women over the years, but none of them had been nearly as hot as his neighbor.
