Drunk Dial (Hard Core #1) (Hard Core Series) Read Online Free Page B

their inebriated state told me she dealt with a lot of drunks after-hours.
    “How late is this place open?” I asked her.
    “We close at two.” Rosa rolled her eyes. “We get the worst of them after midnight.”
    “You’re not here alone, are you?”
    “No, the cook’s in the back.” She hooked a thumb over her shoulder. “But poor old Barry’s not much good. He’s got a bum leg and a bad ticker. He really should retire, but he needs the money.”
    I knew what that was like. My father had been an outboard marine mechanic all of his life and still wouldn’t have been able to retire if I hadn’t paid off his house and bought him a new car a few years back.
    “You ever need backup and you don’t want to call the police,” I said, passing her one of the non-descript cards I’d given Ash, “you call me.”
    She held the card between her fingertips. “What kind of business are you in? Security?”
    Lacy laughed. “No, he’s a professional fighter.”
    “That’s where I know you from,” buddy with the long hair said, snapping his fingers. “York, right?”
    “Right.” I rolled my eyes when they started snapping pictures of me with their phones. “Just give me a call when our food’s ready, Rosa. We’re gonna snag a table.”
    I grabbed Lacy’s hand and led her to the back of the restaurant, then I slid into a booth across from her. “You have to deal with tools like that all the time?” I asked, gesturing to the two men.
    “Comes with the territory,” she said, sounding too nonchalant for my liking.
    I knew she could handle herself, but I didn’t want her to let her guard down, especially with guys like that. In my opinion, the ones women underestimated could be the most dangerous.
    “Let’s talk about something else. Like why you’re here,” she said.
    I appreciated her directness but wasn’t quite sure how to respond. Before I could, my phone beeped. My brother. WTF, man? Where r u? I was surprised he’d even noticed I was gone. Took Lacy to get a bite. Be back soon.
    “Sorry about that,” I said, setting the phone on the table.
    “Hook-up later?” she asked, raising an eyebrow as she stole a glance at the phone.
    Some douche must have burned her bad. “Would I be here with you if I was hookin’ up with someone else later?”
    “I don’t know,” she said, folding her arms on the tabletop. “Would you?”
    Before I could defend myself, Rosa appeared with a plastic tray containing our food.
    “You didn’t have to bring it to us,” I told her, reaching for it. “I told you I’d come and get it.”
    She put her hand on my shoulder, smiling at Lacy. “This one’s a keeper, honey. Not like that last loser you were going out with.”
    I was torn between asking about the last loser and not wanting to think about her with another man. Finally, curiosity got the better of me as I set her plate on the table. “Is that the guy you mentioned on the phone last night?”
    “Yup.” She unscrewed the top of her water before taking a long pull.
    “What happened?” I shouldn’t pry, but I needed to know what I was up against. If this guy was going to make it hard for her to trust me, I wanted to know the whole story.
    She took the foil off her sandwich before digging in. “Same old, same old. I didn’t have enough time to spend with him. He said he was getting lonely—code for horny as hell—so he found someone else. Only he didn’t bother breaking up with me first.”
    “Sorry, baby. That sucks.” As my dumbass brother’s warning rang in my ears, I watched her closely for any sign that she was still hung up on him. I really hated myself for letting him mess with my head.
    “Whatever,” she said, rolling her shoulders. “Not like I was gonna marry the guy or anything.”
    Having a man cheat on them would have been a serious blow to most women’s egos, but Lacy seemed to take it in stride. She was either more resilient than most, or she’d built a wall so strong no one was