Page 35 of Hero Unbound

“Brighter?” Lincoln asked.

“Know how your dad talks about everyone in town drinking those blue Electric Smurf drinks back in the day?”

Baby Bollinger, Lincoln’s dad, had been the town charmer when he was younger. The exact opposite of Lincoln. Bear was much more similar to his Uncle Baby than Lincoln had ever been.

“Yes,” Lincoln said dryly. “I’ve heard the stories.”

They all heard them every time their parents got together. Not to mention watching videos of their dads performing some line dance calledthe Cowboy Boogiewith their shirts off. It was scarring but, Theo had to admit, pretty damned amusing to see Dorian doing it.

“Something like that would generally be a sign that the ladies are amenable to being approached,” Bear continued. “But clear shots or whiskey…not quite as cut-and-dried.”

Sure enough, they pointed to another group of four women. They were dancing, each holding some sort of bright-green drink. Every once in a while, one or all of them would make eye contact with various men.

“They’re looking for company,” Tucker said.

Theo glanced back at the first group of women, the ones not interested in male company. Sure enough, their drinks were dark—a dark rum possibly or whiskey. Definitely not bright and colorful.

“You assholes spend way too much time here,” he muttered. “I should probably call Callum and report you as stalkers.”

Tucker laughed. “Callum doesn’t come here anymore because the ladies are so gaga over him. A little older? Widowed? That’s catnip for women.”

Eva and Becky still hadn’t gotten there. Maybe they’d changed their minds. Or, even worse, maybe once they did arrive, their drinks of choice would be dark. And while Theo didn’t mind spending a few hours with the men at this table—some of his best friends in the world—he was really here to see Eva.

To what end, he didn’t know exactly. A strange place to be for someone who’d been taught his whole life to think strategically about all things. To figure out what gave him tactical advantage and position himself accordingly.

He wasn’t sure what gave him tactical advantage with Eva. Hell, when it came to Eva, he wasn’t sure about anything.

Except that he wanted her. And wanted to keep her safe—to erase that haunted look that gathered in her green eyes every so often. To give her a place where she could just stand down.

And that place was in his arms.

Jesus, if he said any of that out loud, he would never hear the end of it from the guys. But it didn’t make it any less true.

And then, as if his thoughts had conjured her, Eva walked through the door. At first, he didn’t see her because she was behind Becky and Lilah, both of whom were taller, especially in heels. But Becky turned back to say something and opened a line of sight for him directly to Eva.

He almost swallowed his damned tongue.

“Holy shit,” Tucker whispered. “She looks way different from when you were sucking face with her earlier today, boss.”

Theo couldn’t even drag his eyes away from her to glare at Tucker. But yes, she looked completely different. Theo hadn’t realized it before now, but when she was working, Eva tended to wear clothes that were too big for her. Usually scrubs like what a medical professional wore, but even her jeans and shirts seemed to hide her figure.

Not the case for what she was wearing tonight. The tank top molded to her breasts and trim waist. She didn’t have much height, but that skirt definitely helped give her the appearance of having legs for miles. Especially in how they ended in those red boots.

Eva didn’t normally wear much makeup, which never bothered him. But whatever she’d done to her eyes made them look even bigger, if that was possible, and more sultry. And holy hell, that lipstick. He had to completely lock down his thoughts to keep himself from thinking about how those pouty red lips would look wrapped around his—

“That’s her?” Lincoln said, one eyebrow raised, otherwise completely unfazed. “That woman, who can’t possibly weigh a hundred pounds soaking wet and probably doesn’t come up to your chin, is why you needed backup?”

“He’s not trying to take her down in hand-to-hand, dumbass,” Tucker muttered. “Different kind of backup.”

Lincoln was a fucking genius when it came to computers but didn’t always catch nuances when it came to human behavior. Calling him in as wingman probably wasn’t the best move on Theo’s part. But then again, Lincoln had been known to notice things about people no one else caught.

“I remember her here from last week. That’s Sam’s sister, huh?” Bear asked. “He didn’t mention she’d be in town a few weeks ago when he and the helitack crew dropped in.”

“I don’t think he knew.” Theo’s eyes were still on Eva. “Eva says they don’t talk much.”

“That’s weird,” Tucker muttered. “I thought their family was close.”

Theo didn’t answer. He didn’t have many answers when it came to all the things about Eva that didn’t make sense.

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