Sawyer grinned. “Yep.”
Flick nodded and turned in response to someone calling a greeting from the door. Sawyer’s fist shot out and nailed Kai in his bicep and he got the message:Find your balls and act like an adult.Good plan.
He was just trying to think of something to say that would show Flick that he wasn’t a complete moron when Tiffany handed her a phone from her side of the counter. “It’s Pippa.”
Kai heard her soft curse and watched as she lifted the phone to her ear. After listening for a minute, Flick closed her eyes and sighed wearily. “Let me talk to him,” she said before hauling in a deep, I-don't-want-to-deal-with-this breath.
“You are selfish and self-absorbed! Dammit, Rufus, why are we having this conversation again?
"This can’t go on, Ru. We cannot keep on running around after you, hauling you out of dives and meat markets. It’s not okay.”
Bad boyfriend, Kai immediately decided. Who was he and where could he find him? And was he stupid, screwing around on her? Didn’t he realize that women who looked like she did, sounded like she did, were few and far between? She hadn’t spent hours in front of a mirror this morning putting on her makeup and looked like she’d just pulled her long curls into a messy tail. Her outfit was eclectic too; cowboy boots worn with denim shorts and a white gauzy top. Her foot tapped the floor and he noticed her clenched fist at her side.
“You are unfaithful and disloyal and a pain in the ass. I’m sorry to be harsh but maybe this is the reason why you were dumped before. “
Kai looked around the bakery and noticed that a number of customers were actively tuned into her conversation.
Was she really fine with airing her dirty laundry in such a public forum? He shuddered at the thought. Another problem with small towns, he thought—everybody knew your business. His left shoulder blade prickled.
“I can’t keep this up, Ru. You’re killing me. Behave yourself or I am going to have to call it quits and— Hi, Pips. No, do not let him sleep on your bed!”
What. The. Hell?
“He is gorgeous, I know it and he knows it. And half of the female population in Mercy knows it. He can charm the pants off anyone. Donotlet him do it to you. I know it’s your day off but please keep an eye on him. He’s totally untrustworthy. Bye, babe.”
“Rufus acting out again?” Sawyer placed his hand on Flick’s shoulder and Kai ground his back teeth together, discombobulated by the swell of possessiveness swamping him. He never felt possessive. But who was this Rufus? In the three years of him dropping in and out of Mercy, he’d never heard of a Rufus, but since he was more out of the country than in, that wasn’t a big surprise. But he could find out—yeah, that was easy enough to do.
Flick twisted her lips at Sawyer and sighed heavily. “He’s driving me nuts, Sawyer. I’m beginning to think he’s a lost cause.”
Kai watched as she placed her arms on the counter and stared out of the windows behind them at the busy street. She had a great ass, round and tight, shown off to perfection in her shorts. Her legs were brilliant too. In profile, she looked about sixteen, with her high cheekbones and upturned nose. He was not surprised that she looked vaguely sad; anyone who had such a douchebag for a boyfriend had a right to be morose.
Sawyer shook his head in disagreement. “You can’t give up on him, honey. You’ve come so far.”
Kai’s mouth dropped upen hearing that statement from his long-time friend. Yeah, Sawyer swapped women like he did shirts but he always treated them well. And he never encouraged women to stay with bad men.Ever.
“What the hell?” he muttered to Sawyer.
Sawyer ignored him, running his hand down Flick’s arm, which really pissed Kai off. And the fact that it pissed him off pissed him off more. God, he needed coffee. Maybe intravenously injected.
Or a drink.
Sawyer and Flick ignored him and Flick pulled that luscious bottom lip between her teeth. Kai had to bite his own tongue to stop himself from telling her that he’d be happy to do that for her.
He was thirty-four years old and he was acting like a fourteen-year-old. Maybe three months in a sandy country with no booze or women was about two and a half months too long.
“I don’t know what to do,” Flick half wailed.
“Kick his partying, cheating, stupid ass over a cliff,” Kai stated in a low voice, thinking that this wasn’t rocket science. “I mean, God, why stay with someone who gives you grief?”
Those round mermaid eyes widened at his comment and Flick’s mouth dropped open. “Um, Kai?” Sawyer interjected, green eyes laughing.
“And what the hell is up with you, Sawyer? Since when do you encourage women to stay with morons? God, I need coffee.”
Flick slapped her hand against her mouth. Okay, seriously, what was the joke and why wasn’t he getting it? He stiffened his back and mentally retreated, his face hardening and his eyes narrowing. Were they laughing at him? Crap, theywere.
It took every last iota of willpower he had to keep his discomfiture tightly under wraps. “What’s the joke?” he asked in his best don’t-fuck-with-me voice.
Sawyer sobered up but Flick giggled again. So . . . not easily intimidated. That voice usually had soldiers, from generals to grunts, looking for cover. He looked from her to Sawyer, raising one dark eyebrow.