My brows flew up. “We aren’t goin’ out for steaks.”

“No way in fuck I’m havin’ my first anniversary with my girl and making her cook.”

Hmm . . .

My stomach felt melty.

“We’re goin’ out for steaks,” he decreed. “You can cook me an anniversary dinner next Monday,” he paused, “or Tuesday.”

I put my hands to my hips. “I’m not waiting until next Monday to cook for you, Rush.”

He looked beyond me then back at me, ignoring my words to ask, “You get your proposal done?”

“No. But Tyra is reading over what I’ve got so far.” I looked down at the car then at him, “Why aren’t you out hunting?”

“No leads.”

“Bummer,” I muttered.

“We have to wait for him to make another move.”

Oh boy.

That was sure not to be good.

“Bummer,” I repeated.

“Yeah,” he agreed.

Then his head turned.

After that it tipped back so he could look to the steel-raftered ceiling.

He did that for a beat, and during that beat I heard the sharp staccato of heels hitting cement. But I didn’t glance in that direction because Rush shifted his attention to me.

“Brace,” he said right before . . .

“Yo! What the hell?”

I turned to the female voice only to see a black woman in a swank dress and fantastic shoes, for some reason glaring at Rush like she was super pissed at him.

The dress was awesome. The shoes more awesome.

But I’d taken on Benito Valenzuela on the hunt for a murderer, and her expression still scared me.

“You claim a biker babe, you don’t run her by me?” she demanded to know.

“Elvira . . .” Rush muttered.

My focus went back to the black woman because Tyra and Tabby had talked about her and the way they did, I’d wanted to meet her.

It also explained the ’tude.

“Hey,” I greeted.

She turned narrowed eyes to me. “You, the girls, me, Club, tonight. Cocktails and girl talk. Though you gotta be cool when you’re giving us the skinny. Tyra and Tabby don’t need to be hearin’ how your man gives you the business. And I can’t handle knowin’ a man’s place on the scale of givin’ pleasure. I like Rush. I wanna be able to look him in the eyes for the next six months. You with me?”

I wanted to start laughing.

I didn’t because Rush butted in.

“We’re going out to dinner tonight, Vira. It’s our anniversary.”

“Anniversary of what? You’ve known each other like, four days,” Elvira shot back.

“It’s been a week,” Rush returned.

“Well, shit, boy, a whole week,” she fired back and again looked at me. “Tonight. Martinis.”

“Um, how about tomorrow?” I suggested.

“Um, how about not at all,” Rush put in. “She’s not anywhere without a brother at her back.”

“So come with,” Elvira returned.

“I’m not going out for martinis with the girls,” Rush growled.

“Sit at the bar,” Elvira retorted.

“I’m not sittin’ at the bar at Club,” Rush kept growling.

“Havin’ your ass on a stool in a class joint isn’t gonna give you the unshakable urge to wear a suit, Rush,” she pointed out.

“I am not . . . sittin’ a stool . . . at Club,” Rush said slowly. “My woman is not . . . goin’ for drinks . . . with the girls until this shit is done. And tonight, we . . . are . . . having . . . steaks.”

Well then, the badass had spoken.

Elvira didn’t care the badass had spoken.

They went into staredown.

I was mildly surprised Rush won.

He did this when Elvira did a scan and asked, “Who you beat up?”

He’d split a couple of knuckles handing Gunner his ass.

See?

Hot.

“Rebel’s brother,” he answered.

Her eyes got huge and she turned them to me. “Say what?”

I ran it down for her.

“He was in town, escorting my mother to talk to my other brother, who’s bi, about getting him into a ‘program’ back in Indiana. Fortunately, by this time, my brother and his man were on their way back to their woman in Phoenix. Things got ugly. Rush intervened.”

“A program?” she asked.

I shrugged.

Her expression warmed, she turned again to Rush and crooned, “Well, you go, boo. Good on you.” Back to me. “We’ll come over. Tomorrow night. I’ll be making boards so you don’t got anything to worry about. Seven. See you there.”

Apparently, I wasn’t cooking for Rush tomorrow night either.

This was slightly frustrating, but mostly I wanted to know what boards were.

“Elvira,” Rush had returned to growling, “that anniversary? It’s been a week. We got time, we’re spending it together. You and the girls can have Rebel next week.” He paused then amended, “No. The week after.”

“Oh, Rush,” she clucked. “You know it don’t work that way.” Again to me. “See you, girl. Tomorrow. Seven. We’ll also bring the booze.”

Then she pivoted, and on a sashay, she clacked away.

“Well, she didn’t disappoint,” I muttered, grinning.

“She’s a pain in the ass,” Rush muttered back.

I looked to him to see him not grinning but scowling her way. “She called you ‘boo.’”

He switched his scowl to me.

“‘Stud’ is out. I’m totally calling you ‘boo’ from now on,” I declared.

His eyes moved again to the ceiling.

They didn’t stay there very long.

His attention turned to look out the bays.

I looked that way to see three cars driving in, two of them were squad cars, the lead one screamed “Cop!” but without the lights on top.

“What on earth?” I asked.

“They got their search warrants,” Rush murmured.

I shifted my gaze to him. “Search warrants?”

His gaze shifted to me. “Long story.”

“Rebel!”

I whirled to see Tyra hanging out the door to the office.

“It’s great!” she cried. “Come back! I have some ideas.”

“Um, Tyra, it seems the police are here with search warrants,” I informed her.

She didn’t even look out the bays when she replied, “Oh, that won’t take long. Let’s dig in this. We’ll have a preliminary to give to the boys by the end of the day.”

With that, she disappeared.

And suddenly, I had no worries about search warrants.

I twisted back to Rush. “Seems I have work to do.”

“Go, baby,” he muttered.

I smiled at him then started toward the office door.

“Babe!” he called.

I kept walking but looked back.

“Tawny Kitaen,” he reminded me.

I shot him a smile.

Then I skipped up the stairs to the office.

Nine twenty-nine that night . . .

One, two, three, slow glide.

One, two, three, slow glide.

God, he was killing me.

Watching Rush on his knees, fucking me.

Stroke, stroke, stroke, then that chest, those abs waving in a powerhouse glide, I couldn’t help but feel every inch of his thick cock filling me.

And it was seriously doing a number on me.

“Baby,” I panted, beginning to drop my feet to the bed.

“High and wide,” he grunted on a glide.

“Rush,” I whispered.

Thrust, thrust, thrust, glide.

Oh my God.

I kept my knees back, where they were.

“Rush, honey,” I whimpered.

“Beautiful, the way you love to take my cock,” he rumbled, that rough voice I loved so much shivering through me, his gaze hot, moving all over me, hair having fallen in his eye.

Amazing.

Fast, fast, fast, slow.

I moaned, lying opened to him, spread out for him.

All for him.

Punch, punch, punch, roll.