What on earth?

Suddenly, I was no longer held in the curve of Gray’s arm but tugged into a tight embrace, iron bands clamped around me and in my ear a man whispered, “Saved Mirry, saved Gray, saved Mustang. Welcome home, Ivey.”

I pulled my head back and saw Sonny had hold of me.

I stared in his still intense eyes as his arms gave me a tight squeeze and he said again, “Welcome home.”

That was when me, tough, badass, hard as nails ex-Vegas showgirl Ivey Larue burst out crying.

Publically.

Okay, evidence was suggesting that maybe Gray, Lash and Brutus were right. I wasn’t all that hard. Instead, I was a big softie.

Shit.

The iron bands released but I was shuffled into Gray’s embrace as everyone kept cheering.

For me.

I shoved my face in his chest and kept crying.

Gray’s body moved so his lips were at my ear where he muttered, “Told you they don’t think shit about you. Or, at least, not bad shit.”

“Shut up!” I snapped, this muffled by his tee since I snapped into it then my body jerked with a sob.

“Pipe down! Pipe down! You don’t shut up, I can’t get their orders and feed Ivey,” I heard Sonny shout.

My body was again shuffled and I heard Gray ask, “Can you shift? I want my girl sittin’ at my side.”

“No problem, Gray,” someone answered as the applause started to die then Gray came back to me.

“Dollface, you wanna unplant your face from my chest so we can sit down and eat?”

“Not really,” I told his chest.

“Honey –”

“I have a feeling my makeup is messed up.”

“First, they got a bathroom. Second, I don’t think you get it that these folks don’t give a shit. You’re Ivey, you saved my ass, you saved my land, we got ripped apart and now we’re back together and, bottom line, they like you.”

This appeared to be true on all counts. A standing ovation was hard to deny.

I shoved my hands up between us and swiped at my cheeks hoping I wasn’t doing more damage.

Then I tipped my head back and looked at Gray.

“Well?” I asked.

“Bathroom’s at the front, off to your right,” he answered.

Great. He gave that answer and he barely had to look.

He grinned and dipped his head to touch his mouth to mine.

He shouldn’t have done that. He really, really shouldn’t have.

Because when he did, the whole lodge again went crazy.

Great.

He lifted his head no longer grinning but smiling huge. I rolled my eyes, dashed my hand across my cheeks and pulled at his arms.

Gray let me go.

I walked to the bathroom lamely giving out waves to people who were clapping and shouting after me.

I hit the bathroom and tried to repair the damage.

And as I did, I stared into the mirror and saw Gray, Lash and Freddie were right.

There was no hard behind my eyes, no hard around my mouth.

I just looked happy.

“Welcome back to Mustang, Ivey,” I whispered to the mirror.

Then I grinned.

Then I went to go eat a fantastic steak.

* * *

An hour and a half later…

Gray’s arm around me, mine around him, he was walking me up the sidewalk toward The Rambler.

Three feet from the door I came to a dead halt in a way that Gray had no choice but to stop with me.

I looked up at him. “Okay, I could do the VFW, I can’t do this.”

Gray turned into me and curled his other arm around me.

“Honey, Janie can’t get away from the bar and she wants to see you. She feels shit for some things she said. You gotta give her that.”

I shook my head. “It’s not that.”

His eyes held mine. “Then what is it?”

I pressed my lips together. Then I looked to the door of The Rambler before turning my eyes back to Gray.

Then I whispered, “I was happy there.”

He closed his eyes.

I sucked in a deep breath.

Gray opened his eyes and his arms gave me a squeeze. “Ivey –”

“And not only that but this is… the VFW and now this. It’s our first date, Gray.”

“I know that, Ivey,” he replied instantly. So instantly, I blinked.

That was why we were here. Why he pushed me to go to the VFW. Why we were going to The Rambler.

He was giving me our first date again.

Oh my God.

How sweet was that!

“Gray,” I whispered, again feeling overwhelmed, this time in a good way and he grinned.

“No shittin’ you, dollface, I could have started our first date with you naked in my bed for hours, I woulda taken that. I could have that date knowin’ you’d end it in my bed, I’d take that too. That was the best date I ever had but, gotta say, this one’s better.”

I stared at him. Then I burst out laughing.

His arms gave me another squeeze and when I sobered I saw him smiling down at me.

Then he said gently, “Come on, Janie’s waitin’.”

I nodded, he let me go with one arm then turned me to the bar.

We entered and I braced. The applause was awesome and I liked it, I liked why I got it but I didn’t want to go through it again.

I didn’t.

Barry and Gene had transferred their asses from the benches at the VFW to their seats at Janie’s. Peg was at the bar as usual. It was Friday so the crowd was not heavy but it wasn’t light. And Janie was behind the bar.

Yep, God liked her. Seven years and she still looked great.

I saw her mouth move saying my name but I didn’t hear it. Then she moved to the near end of the bar.

Gray walked us toward her as Peg called out, “Hey, Ivey,” like the last time I saw her was yesterday.

I smiled at Peg. “Hey, Peg.”

She grinned semi-drunkenly back. It was early. She wasn’t sloshed. Not yet.

Jeez. Peg.

Well, at least she hadn’t died of liver damage.

I turned again to see Janie had cleared the bar and she was coming at me, smiling tentatively.

“Hey, Janie,” I said and her smile got bigger before it wobbled.

God, I hoped she didn’t cry. I didn’t have much makeup left. If she cried, I would and another bout would take the rest.

Then she made it to me and folded her arms around me.

I returned the favor.

I’d never hugged her and now I had proof that her breasts weren’t fake.

“Hey, Ivey,” she whispered.

My arms went tighter.

So did hers.

Neither of us moved.

Then her arms got tighter, her head turned and in my ear she started, “Years ago, I hung up on you when you were tryin’ to find Gray. And a month ago, I said some –”

“Don’t,” I cut her off and pulled my head back, keeping my arms around her and finding her eyes. Her head went back too. “It’s over. I get it. You do too. Don’t.” I grinned. “That’s done. Everyone’s moving on. I’m home.”

She studied me carefully, eyes moving over my face, they flicked up to Gray then back to me where she grinned and asked, “Wanna job?”

I started laughing.

She smiled bigger but she stated, “No joke, wanna job?”

I stopped laughing and stared at her.

She wasn’t joking.

Wow.

Could I go back to work at The Rambler after wearing thousands of dollars of dresses, jewelry and shoes every night at Lash’s club for years?

I didn’t know.

“Can I have a couple of weeks to settle in and think about it?”

“You can but job might not be there because, seriously, I need some help. But you think and even if that job goes, I’m sure you’ll find where you wanna be. It seems to happen that way, you hit Mustang.”

“Experienced that,” I muttered and she smiled again.

“Two beers, Janie,” Gray ordered, moving in to claim me. When he had me at his side with an arm around me, he went on, “Me and Ivey’re gonna play some pool.”

“You got it, Gray,” she murmured, grinned at me, I grinned back and Gray turned me to the pool tables.

He got the balls while I got the cues.

This felt weird, this felt good and this felt sad.

I decided to focus on the former two.

Gray racked the balls. I gave him a cue. Janie brought our beers.

“Flip to break?” I asked.

“What’s the point?” he asked back.

I grinned and walked to the head of the table, leaned over and set my cue to the ball.

“Go easy on me dollface,” Gray called and just my eyes tipped up to him.

“Not a chance.”

He smiled.

I looked at the table and let fly.

Balls scattered, two went down.

I hadn’t lost my touch.

Good to know.

* * *

Seven hours later…

I woke tucked in the curve of Gray’s body, his arm around me.

I didn’t know what time it was. I just knew, after Gray took me home, we had sex and, after, he cuddled into me in order to go to sleep at a time when it was way earlier than I was used to going to sleep. Lash and I didn’t hit his ivory sheets until two or three in the morning nearly every night.

It took me awhile to find sleep but now I was awake like I could face the day.

It would take awhile to get used to this.

But now, I had an idea and, lying there wide awake, I decided I was going to go with it.

I carefully slid out from under Gray’s arm only for it to tighten and bring me back.

“Where you goin’?” he rumbled in a sleepy growl.

Oh yes, I liked that. The growl and that he didn’t want to let go of me.

I liked them both.

A lot.

“Bathroom,” I lied. “Be back.” That wasn’t a lie.

He let me go.