She nodded and gave me a grateful smile. “Thanks, Tate.” Teddy shook her head, a frown forming on her face. “Who in the hell would want to stalk a mangled former model?”
“Mangled? Are you fucking blind on top of everything else?”
She stopped and glared at me. “I know what I look like Tate, but I’m nobody anymore.”
“We’re all somebody, Teddy.”
She shook her head, about ten seconds from breaking down. “I’m sorry about this, I didn’t mean to dump it all over you. I need a drink.” She marched back to her kitchen, pulled out a half-empty bottle of gin and poured a shot. “Shit! Why did I do that?”
I laughed and took the bottle. “Take a seat.” Her kitchen was organized, making it easy to find what I needed. Tonic water and a grapefruit. “Here.”
“Thanks.” She took several long gulps, draining half the glass. “Okay, let’s just do wedding stuff. I’m going to get a gun.”
“You know that you’re more likely to be killed with your own gun?”
She nodded and took another sip. “And I’ll definitely end up dead if I don’t get one, Golden Boy. Do you think this will stop at gifts? I don’t. A girl I modeled with ended up dead thanks to a guy she smiled at in line at a coffee shop. He thought they were building something and when she disagreed, he broke in to her apartment and choked her to death.”
There was more she didn’t say and I didn’t ask. Prying wasn’t my thing. But I could help. “The club has a gun range and it’s open to the public. Come by and I’ll teach you how to shoot.”
“To kill, right?”
I laughed. “You always shoot to kill.”
“Good to know. Now, tell me Golden Boy, have you been dreaming of your brother’s wedding since you were a little boy?”
“You really are a smartass.”
“Yeah, tell me something I don’t know. Tell me Tate, do you have any idea what they want for this wedding?”
“Honestly? No. But I want to do this for them. You know Jana, couldn’t you just do some down low recon?” When she threw her head back and laughed, my body tightened in response. Heat coursed through my veins and my cock began to swell, which was no fucking good. This was Teddy. Sure she was hot as fuck with that wavy red hair and long, shapely legs. Never mind that sharp tongue of hers. But she was best friends with my future sister-in-law. “Shit.”
“You okay?”
Fuck no I wasn’t okay. “Yeah, I’m fine. So, you’ll talk to Jana?”
“No. You will. Take her out to lunch and ask her how the planning is going. I promise she’ll talk your ear off and all you have to do is remember it all.”
“That’s it? Easy peasy.”
“Lemon squeeze-y,” she shot back and stole my untouched glass. “Fill me up, barkeep.”
I made more drinks while she grabbed her tablet and began typing like a fiend. “I’ll find out the date they want to tie the knot and then we can look for venues. And don’t even say your clubhouse.”
I frowned and turned to her. “You got something against the club?”
“Christ you’re a touchy one, aren’t you? I don’t know shit about bikers other than what romance novels and Kurt Sutter tells me. But I know that some of your guys weren’t nice to her and she’s not comfortable around them. She’ll handle it because she loves Max, but even at your grand opening, she was uncomfortable.”
Shit. “How come I didn’t know this?”
She shrugged. “Max handled it. Plus, it happened while you were fighting for your freedom and shit.”
I liked how she made light of it, unlike everyone else who whispered it like it was cancer. “That should be my next tattoo, ‘Freedom & Shit.’”
She nodded her agreement. “Right across your neck, like this,” she gestured a throat-cutting move that made me laugh.
“That’s like foreshadowing a future where I end up back in prison.”
“Or,” she held up a finger, shoulders squared with a knowing look on her face, “it’s how people expect a guy who owns a tattoo shop to look.” She shrugged. “Or we could go with your way,” she added sarcastically.