Test?

Bringing me into the fold?

Peaches?

“Can’t go back. Have to go forward,” the blonde replied, still grinning huge.

“Fuck me,” Tack muttered.

“Um… hi,” the brunette said to me. “Don’t be alarmed. We’re harmless. Or at least Gwen and I are. I’m Mara.” She pointed to herself. “This is Gwen, Hawk’s woman.” She pointed to the blonde and I could see this. Hawk was hot therefore it was not a surprise that Gwen was stunning. “And this is Elvira.” She pointed to the black woman. “We’re not really here to test you. We’re more like a welcoming committee.”

Uh. What?

“No, we aren’t,” Elvira contradicted, eyes narrowed on Mara. “She doesn’t have sass, she’s not in the club.”

“I don’t have sass,” Mara returned.

“Girl, what you been smokin’? You totally have sass,” Elvira shot back.

Gwen leaned toward Mara. “It’s the quiet kind of sass. It’s different but it’s good.”

“Fuck me,” Tack muttered again.

“I wish,” Elvira muttered back, eyes on Tack then she looked to me. “That’s part of provin’ you got sass, lettin’ us know how he is when he’s in action. But, I’m warning you now, I don’t do too much information. Just enough to confirm he’s not only hot on the outside but he’s also got the moves. I can’t function around a man if I know his ability to give pleasure.”

I stared at her and I was pretty sure my mouth was open.

Was this actually happening?

Finally, seeing as no one was speaking, I figured it was up to me to respond so I mumbled, “Um…”

“Elvira, you’re scaring her,” Mara warned.

“I scare her, she don’t have sass,” Elvira retorted.

“Then that proves I don’t have sass because I know you and you’re scaring me,” Mara returned.

“Whatever,” Elvira murmured and looked at me. “Cosmos. Tomorrow night. Club.”

“That doesn’t work for me,” Tack put in, moving in my direction. “Tyra’ll be at my place tomorrow night.”

I would?

“We get that. It’s new. Things are intense when it’s new,” Gwen allowed.

“Tyra,” Mara said, smiling at me. “That’s a pretty name.”

I decided I liked Mara.

“Thanks,” I replied, smiling back.

“Right. Cosmos. Wednesday night. Club,” Elvira threw out an alternative.

Tack made it to me and pulled me partially away from the wall so he could slide an arm around my shoulders and tuck me into his side, a maneuver he conducted under the avid gazes of all three women and while speaking. “That doesn’t work for me either.”

“My man, you gotta let her up for air,” Elvira advised.

“No I don’t,” Tack returned.

Oh boy.

Another quiver way high up on the pleasant scale.

Elvira grinned then she asked, “Okay, macho man, so when can we have her?”

I felt Tack’s eyes and tipped my head back to look up to see them on me. “You wanna have a drink with these women?”

“Um…” I mumbled.

“Sho’ she does,” Elvira answered for me.

“Uh…” I mumbled again.

“Babe, Elvira’s a nut but Gwen and Mara are good people. You wanna expand your girl base, they’re good additions,” Tack shared.

“I take no offense to that, by the way,” I heard Elvira say then she went on in a mutter, “not that you care.”

I didn’t know these women or what this was about. What I did know was that Gwen’s man rescued me. I also knew they knew Tack. And, lastly, he’d asked me to trust him.

I figured I should probably start that now.

“Okay then, yeah. I’d like to have a drink with them.”

“Awesome,” Gwen whispered.

Tack looked at the women. “You can have her Wednesday.”

“Done,” Elvira agreed. “Now, we’ll be gettin’ on so you can resume the festivities. Later.”

And with that, she took off.

Gwen and Mara didn’t.

“See you Wednesday. And don’t worry, it’ll be fun,” Mara assured and I smiled at her.

“Look forward to it,” I replied.

“Little black dress. Or little anything dress. And heels,” Gwen advised and I turned my smile to her, finally looking forward to this. I hadn’t dressed up in a while and I loved to dress up so even though drinks with the girls was a crapshoot, at least that would be fun.

“I can do that,” I told her.

She smiled, both waved, I returned the wave and then they followed Elvira.

The door hadn’t closed on them when Tack turned me into his front and both of his arms closed around me.

“Is it me or was that weird?” I asked.

“It’s not you. Like I said, Elvira’s a nut. Gwen’s a nut too but the cute kind. Mara, I don’t know very well but what I do know of her, she’s solid.”

“And what was that all about?” I went on.

Tack’s eyes roamed my face and the way they did I wasn’t certain I liked.

“Right,” he said softly. “A while ago, Gwen had a thing. Like yours, it involved kidnapping. Unlike yours, it also involved drive-bys.”

Holy crap!

Tack continued. “I got involved in her thing. I wanted to be more involved with her. That didn’t work out which, at the time, sucked for me.”

Peaches.

Gwen was blonde. Gwen was the “cute” kind of nuts. This meant Gwen was the “sun” he said had “staying power”.

Now I got it, all of it, and I didn’t like it.

Tack’s arms gave me a squeeze.

“At the time, babe,” he said quietly. “Now, it doesn’t suck for me at all.”

I remained silent as I considered all this information.

Tack’s arms squeezed me again and stayed tight.

“Baby,” he started, still talking quietly, “her thing was intense. We got close during it. And we stayed close. But she’s Hawk’s and, a man like Hawk, she… is… Hawk’s. They’re not only married, they’re tight. I got that a long time ago but that didn’t mean somethin’ didn’t keep growin’ for her and me. It did. We still got that and I hope we always do. And part of us havin’ that is, she heard about you and although Elvira looked like the ringleader of that sneak attack, Gwen was the brains behind the operation. Hawk told her I’d claimed you and she wants to be sure it’s all good for me. It’s sweet. It’s friendly. And that’s all it is.”

Okay, to trust him I had to trust that. I still didn’t like it but… whatever.

Moving on.

“And Mara?” I asked.

“Mara’s a long story that I’ll tell you while I’m makin’ you chops tonight.”

I didn’t know if that was good. What I did know was that chops sounded great.

“Pork chops?” I queried.

“Are there other kinds of chops?” Tack queried back.

“I don’t think so.”

He grinned then confirmed, “Yeah. Pork chops.”

“Do you make good chops?”

“Cooked for you twice, Red. What do you think?”

That answered that. He made good chops.

I hadn’t had breakfast and my mouth started watering.

But I had to know.

“Did you get… involved with Mara too?”

“Fuck no. She’s bangin’ a cop.”

Well, that was firm. It was also good to know.

“And last, Elvira?”

“Elvira works for Hawk. She’s in Gwen’s posse. She lassoed Mara into Gwen’s posse. The shit that went down with Gwen meant four men were involved. One of them was Hawk. One of them was me. One of them was Mara’s man, Lawson. And one of them was a man named Lucas who claimed himself a woman named Tess and it’s likely she’ll be wearin’ a dress and heels at Club come Wednesday night. I don’t do chick so I have no clue what’s in store for you. All I know is, Gwen’s got a big heart. Elvira’s is arguably bigger. And Mara’s is off-the-charts big. Gwen’s drama started that posse and with each new drama, that posse grows. They wanna suck you in, worse things could happen.”

“Right,” I whispered, intrigued but I’d let it go until chops. “So, I’m at your house tomorrow night?”

“Yeah.”

“Did you think of maybe asking if I’d like to be at your house tomorrow night?”

His lips twitched.

Then he said, “No.”

“Annoying,” I muttered.

“Yeah, you say that, baby. What you didn’t say was that you aren’t coming to my house tomorrow night.”

Damn. I was totally figured out.

I sighed.

Tack chuckled.

Then he squeezed me with his arms and dipped his face close.

“Give me that mouth again, babe, then get outta here.”

“Is the word ‘please’ in your vocabulary?”

“No, but you throw more attitude at me before givin’ me your mouth, tonight, that word is gonna be in your vocabulary and I’m gonna make you use it often.”

Oh boy.

That didn’t cause a quiver. That caused a quake and it shook me from top-to-toe.

“Babe,” he growled, “mouth.”

“Oh, all right,” I muttered, saw humor light his eyes then I gave him my mouth.

He took it and the way he did, that caused a quake too.

He’d let me go, turned me, scooted me toward the door with a hand at my ass and I was wandering there, slightly dazed by his kiss, slightly dazed by the girl posse’s visit but mostly dazed in a happy way I was hoping I was right about when I heard Tack call, “Red.”

I turned to him and my hand shot up automatically as he sent the key to the office I’d dropped on the desk sailing in my direction. Dazed, it was a miracle I nabbed it in the air but I did.

Then I stood at the door watching him pick up the envelope that contained the resignation letter I’d laid on the desk. Then I watched him rip it in half. Then I watched him toss it in the trash.

Finally, I watched his eyes settle on me.

Heated but it was again there.

Steely determination.