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“I need you to do something for me. No questions. Just trust me.” Blake knew his words were coming out cryptic, but if they helped keep her safe then it would all be worth it.
Orly glanced around the otherwise empty room and he saw a glimmer of concern mar her eyes. “What?”
“If you sense anyone, if anyone connects with you, I need you to ignore it.”
“What? Why?” She demanded, and he knew she wouldn’t accept his request easily.
“Vivian,” he said, hoping she wouldn’t ask him to elaborate.
“She told us you two work together. That she’s a friend of yours.” Orly met his gaze with more questions in her eyes than she could ask, or he could answer in the short amount of time they had right now. Someone was going to walk in on them any second, and of the two women, Orly’s gift was the more prominent one. He could hardly tell when Hallie had a glimpse, but Orly usually spoke out loud, insisting Luke or one of the guys take quick action to help whoever had connected with her.
“She does work with me and Caden, and I don’t know how much more I can tell you. Not yet. But please, if anyone connects with you, ignore it or let me or Luke know as quietly as you can, and go somewhere private to respond. Okay?”
Orly’s entire expression filled with concern, and Blake worried Luke would know something was wrong as soon as he saw her.
She nodded but didn’t say anything. “It’s okay,” he tried to reassure her. “It’s just like when you’re at work or at the store, and you don’t want to draw attention to yourself.”
“But I’m not at work or at the store. I’m with you and Luke, and our friends. Are you telling me that Vivian is -”
He took her hand in his and gave it a quick, gentle squeeze. “Don’t say anything to Luke here. I need to gather more intel before I can go public with anything. Even Caden doesn’t know yet.”
“What about Hallie?” She screeched in a low whisper, fear lacing her tone. “We can’t let her -”
“Nothing is going to happen to Hallie. I promise you that. If you can find a way to tell her discreetly, fine. If not, don’t worry about it. She’s good at keeping her glimpses to herself since we usually can’t do anything about most of them anyway.”
Orly nodded thoughtfully. “Okay. But Blake, are we in trouble? I mean - is Vivian going to be like Russell?”
Blake hated hearing that name coming from her. The monster who’d hurt her, threatened her, kidnapped her, and planned to kill her, deserved to be behind bars. But no law enforcement agency had been able to collect enough evidence against Russell Graham to send him away, and throw away the key. “No. I will never let it come to that. Just have fun today and don’t worry about Vivian or anything else.”
Orly sighed. “Okay. Hopefully everyone stays out of my head. That will make it easier.”
“You’re not alone in this. Remember that.” He felt like shit for putting a crack in the safety bubble he and his friends had purposely created for Orly and Hallie, but it was the only way to keep her safe right now.
He’d let Vivian get too close, not once but twice now, but he’d be damned if he ever let that woman hurt the people he cared about.
A car pulled into Caden’s long driveway and he turned just as Hallie’s joyful words rang out. “You made it!”
Skyla was coming up the driveway wearing a sequined baby pink tank top, cut off white denim jeans, and open toe shoes that had her pink polished toes on display. Her hair flowed over her shoulders, catching just below her breasts, and the smile she gave Hallie went all the way to her eyes, lighting up her entire face. She carried several bags that looked heavy, and he and Caden moved to take them from her.
His fingers brushed against hers, and he expected her to look up at him the way she had every time they accidentally touched, but it seemed she was still avoiding his gaze at all costs. The weird part about that was it was actually starting to bother him.
Hallie took a bag from her. “Did you bring the whole bar?” Hallie joked.
“Close. You can just put that in the kitchen. Let me just grab the premixed drinks I brought. They’ll go well with the burgers, and I can make more after we eat.” Skyla said more to Hallie than to the guys, but they all nodded in agreement. He turned back for a second to watch her haul another bag from her trunk and went back to grab it. “I got it,” he said.
Their fingers brushed again, and this time, she brought her gaze up to meet his, and the whiskey-colored eyes he was so used to seeing, reflected the sunlight behind him, bringing out a spectacular show of gold flecks he’d never noticed before. “Thanks,” she said, softly.
“Let’s eat,” Garrett announced, carrying a large platter of freshly made burgers to the table, and everyone swarmed in like a hungry pack of wolves. Blake gave her a quick nod and brought the bags inside before joining his friends at the table.
There were no assigned seats. Everyone just put some food on their plates and took the closest available spot. Orly sat with Luke. Hallie and Caden sat across from them. Tanner sat on Orly's other side and Garrett next to him because that was the spot closest to the grill. Blake ended up sitting between Martin and Skyla, with Vivian on Skyla’s other side and across from Garrett.
It wasn’t Blake’s favorite seating arrangement,but he wasn’t going to make a fuss. He had no idea what was going on with him and Skyla, but he wasn’t about to open that can of worms. She was a possible person of interest, and he had a job to do. That was it. That was all it could ever be between them. No matter how beautiful those gold flecks in her eyes were, or how she’d literally made his heart quicken with just the brush of her fingers. Fuck, this was the last thing he needed right now.
Conversation flowed easily and everyone seemed to be having a good time until Garrett stood to flip the burgers that were still on the grill.
“So, Skyla,” Vivian said. “What’s a Sunday like at Madigan’s?”
Skyla easily slipped into telling her all about the bar and grill, while Blake took the opportunity to study her for a moment, particularly the large purple butterfly tattoo just behind her left ear. It was an intricate and beautiful design. He’d spotted it briefly the other night when he’d held the door open for her. There seemed to be a word or a name scrawled into each of its wings, but Blake couldn’t make out what they said. He’d meant to say something about it, but then he saw his friends and wanted to make sure they were alright after their encounter with Vivian.
