But at this point, everything was a theory, because, again, they had dick.

“Next moves?” Mag asked Hawk.

“We wait,” Hawk answered.

None of the men were at one with that but none of them said anything because they didn’t have a choice.

“If it lasts longer than tomorrow, I’ll get Mamá to apply some pressure to Lynn and Heidi. Not to freak them. Just to show them the way,” Hawk continued.

With nothing more to discuss, Hawk dismissed them.

Axl didn’t take long in saying good-bye to his buds.

He had an early reservation and not a lot of time to enjoy it before Hattie had to be at Smithie’s.

He headed home. Let himself in. Called to Cleo, who ignored him. Got his mail and ignored that. He then took a shower, with Cleo sitting outside the shower door, watching. He got out of the shower, which, as usual, sent Cleo scurrying.

He shaved, pulled a comb through his hair, picked a pair of dark gray trousers, a blue shirt and black shoes, and while he grabbed his wallet, phone and keys, Cleo showed some love, weaving through his ankles.

She did this mostly because she knew he was leaving, and it was an inconvenient time to give it.

She was like that.

So he picked her up, scratched her in one of precisely five places she liked to be scratched, under her chin (the others were behind her ears, her tailbone, her chest, and when she deigned to cuddle, she demanded tummy rubs).

She started purring, but he had to go, so he forced a kiss on her nose which got him the stink eye.

He put her down, smiling, nabbed his lint roller, dealt with the remains of his cat on his shirt, and then headed out to his Jeep.

Sitting in it, he texted Hattie that he was on his way, texted Sly that he was off duty, pulled out of his garage and drove to Hattie’s.

And he did it trying hard not to slam his fist into the roof of his Jeep like a douchebag because he felt the deep need to celebrate the fact that his ass was in his car on his way to Hattie’s to pick her up for a date.

Fucking finally.

He found a parking spot relatively close and hoofed it to her front door.

She didn’t make him wait, opening it almost immediately, beaming up at him and saying, “I’m ready! I just have to shove a couple of things into my bag that I forgot.”

She then whirled on one very high heel, the very short skirt of her dress flying out and up so he could almost see panties, and Axl didn’t move because he had to concentrate on fighting getting hard.

When he managed this feat, doing it even knowing not only did they not have time to take it there after their date since she had to get to work, but also he didn’t intend to take them there at all until he knew they were ready (mostly her on that, he was ready to fuck her about two months ago), he walked in.

He found her down in her bedroom area, doing something with a bag on her bed, babbling.

“It was hard to pack. I know you guys are good at what you do, so it won’t take long for you to catch this jerk, but maybe it will. I’ve got rehearsals every day. And obviously I need regular clothes.” She looked his way. “Can I borrow your teeth-strengthening mouthwash? I’ll buy you a new bottle later. But we have the same brand so it kinda seems stupid to pack mine.”

He had no clue why she had to put the “teeth-strengthening” part before the word “mouthwash.”

But it was cute.

As she was on a regular basis.

He would not have pegged himself as a cute-girl guy. His leanings had always been toward tall, cool, slender blondes. And as such, when Lottie made her choices for all the boys, and he got a look at Hattie, he knew this wasn’t going to happen.

He was seeing now it never worked out with those tall, cool, slender blondes, not because there was anything wrong with them.

But because he was about curvy women of just above average height who had a mass of loose, brunette curls, big brown eyes, a frustrating instinct for self-preservation, could soar through the air five feet above the ground with the grace of a gazelle and were cute.

Also, one more thing.

A woman who was able to select adorable, even girlie dresses that she wore like she was in jeans and a tee and it made her a thousand percent fuckable.

“You can borrow whatever you want,” he told her.

His voice was not the usual.

It was lower, rougher, and it made her head jerk his way again.

“Are you okay?”

Outside of needing—very badly—to fuck her in that dress?

Yeah.

He was okay.

Though the need was so strong, and now she was standing by a bed, he was just barely okay.

“Fine, baby, but we got a reservation and it isn’t like we’re flying to my place in Aspen. We can come get anything you forgot whenever we need to do that,” he told her.

“Oh, right,” she replied, her gaze drifting to her bag. It came back to him and she asked, “You have a place in Aspen?”

He grinned at her. “Sorry, no.”

She grinned back, returned her attention to her packing, seemed to make a decision, finished shoving whatever in her bag and started to zip up.

Axl took that as his cue to move from where he was standing, at the top of the two steps, down into the space.

Her bedroom area had wood floors. White walls. White furniture.

Also, a white comforter.

Pale pink sheets on the bed. Dark pink throw pillows.

There were white vases with fluffy fake flowers in them in vibrant colors. She obviously read, because there were stacked books on the floor under her legged nightstands. And an eReader with a hot-pink cover sat on a night table.

The space was small. She’d utilized it well. And the way she decorated, as he’d found earlier that day, was feminine and kickass.

He reached beyond her to grab the strap of her big overnighter and hefted it on his shoulder.

Fuck, it felt like it weighed fifty pounds.

“Set up to stay awhile?” he teased.

“It’s shoes,” she replied, grinning and reaching for a canvas book bag that said FORTNUM’S USED BOOKS.

She scooted quickly to the nightstand, grabbed the eReader, pushed it in the bag, and put it on her shoulder.

Her bare shoulder, seeing as she was wearing a dress that was mushroom colored and it dropped down the sides of her shoulders, hugging her upper arms. It had long flowy sleeves and a wide, flirty ruffle at the short hem. It was belted with a thin belt in the same fabric.

She wore nothing else but earrings, those were big gold hoops.