Then he winced because they were cheering on Michael, who had something over his…damn. He knew that backside. He’d dreamed of that curvy, glorious ass about a million times. Lucy. He’d tossed Luce over his shoulder, and that really should make him mad. It should have him longing to take out the man who dared to treat the woman he loved like some furniture to be moved around.
All he could think about was she looked hot like that. The caveman thing was real, and while he considered himself a modern man and something of an ally to all the women in his life, there was still a little Neanderthal in him that wanted to take his woman somewhere quiet and show her who the boss was.
The modern man part of him wondered exactly what had happened that made Michael grab her and run.
“Uh, is there something I should know?” Zane watched as they made their way around the bar. “Because while I understand the impulse, I also have to protect my employee.”
“She’s not kicking or anything. If Luce was pissed, she would be fighting him.” It was the one thing that gave him hope.
“Actually, she looks really relaxed.” Zane pulled his order book. “Y’all staying for dinner or taking this show on the road?”
“Oh, I need them both fed. When Michael is hungry he stops using words. Lucy gets real cantankerous, and I need them both communicating on a polite level since our first date didn’t go so well.” He was starting to worry that his do-over wasn’t going to go well either. Had she tried to run? What had Michael said?
Michael made it to the table and stared down at him for a moment as though he’d done all the hard caveman work and wasn’t sure what to do now that he’d clubbed his intended over the head and dragged her back to the cave and had to face the consequences of his actions.
“You think she’ll escape if you put her down, don’t you?” Ty asked.
“I will admit I was running on instinct,” Michael replied.
Ty slipped out of the booth and took a knee in front of Lucy, who was calmly hanging off Michael’s back. “Hey, you doing okay there?”
Her head turned slightly. Her hair had come out of its ponytail and hung in waves around her face. There was a pretty flush to her skin, and her lips curled up. “I’m not sure. He came to the kitchen and he said he was asking me to dinner, but he didn’t actually ask me to dinner.”
“Of course I did,” Michael insisted.
“No, you told me you were going to but you never did,” Lucy shot back.
“He didn’t get around to it because he was too busy kidnapping you.” Ty was starting to get a handle on how things had gone.
“I didn’t kidnap her.” Michael made the declaration but he didn’t let Lucy go.
Michael—big, manly, cared-about-nothing Michael—was worried she would say no. “He’s worried you would leave and not give us another chance. We screwed up.”
“I didn’t,” Michael said with a huff.
Lucy reached out, and Ty sighed as her hand brushed across his face. “We all did. Yes. I would like very much to have dinner with you. Both of you. But Ty, you should understand that I’ve spent the last couple of minutes staring at Michael’s backside, and it’s really nice. I need you to be okay with that.”
He smiled her way because he’d moved past jealousy. He was also very comfortable with the state of his own ass. He worked those glutes hard. Lucy would think his butt was nice, too. “Oh, it’s all right. Mike and I decided there’s no room for jealousy, and that includes you in case in the middle of everything your men decide we’re curious and go at it hard with each other.”
Lucy was suddenly on her feet, and Michael was frowning his way. “That is not how I put it.”
Lucy smoothed back her hair, and her face was lit with amusement. “How did you put it?”
“So you’re staying?” Zane interrupted as Ty stood up and slid into the booth, making room for Michael. “Do you want dinner? They ordered drinks and appetizers but wanted to wait on dinner. I’m pretty sure one of these two is paying, so you should know we’ve got some excellent filets in and the fish of the night is…”
“Trout,” Lucy finished, sliding in across from Ty but taking up the whole middle of the booth. “I do work here, and I want the stew and cornbread, and I’ll take a glass of your finest white zinfandel.”
Ty gave him his order, and Michael did the same. It looked like they might actually have dinner with her this evening.
“Done,” Zane said. He nodded toward Michael and put a hand on his shoulder. “Good to know you’re an open-minded dude. I say go for it.”