"You complaining about that?" he said.

"No." She smiled. "I just want to be clear about where we are."

"What's to know? I made you my sweetheart. You know what that means, right? We're serious and you're off limits," he said, unsure what else she wanted from him.

"So romantic," she gushed. She placed a hand on her chest and fluttered her eyelids.

"If you're looking for the chocolate-and-flowers type, we both know I'm not your man."

"Is that what you are? My man?" she said.

"I thought that was clear. Or you telling me you don't want it to be?" he said. She had him feeling out of his element. He hated that. He narrowed his eyes, unsure of the circles she was spinning.

"I just thought..." She paused. "You don't like commitments."

"I don't like having my wings clipped. I live this life to be free. As long as you're cool with that, this thing between us will flourish," he said.

"There are many definitions to the word free," she said.

He sighed. "You know I'm not fucking anyone else. You're independent with your own life and friends. If you have something going on you can't handle, I'm here. But otherwise, keep the damsel in distress to a bare minimum."

"Fuck you, Moose. I don't need a man to save me from shit," she said. Anger flashed in her eyes.

He grinned. "I know. That's why you're perfect," he said.

Joey scowled. "You know I wasn't sure if you realized what you did the other night. You were so drunk." She shook her head.

"I knew. Is it enough for you?" he asked.

"If I say no?" Joey whispered.

"Then this will have to be the end of the line. I'll never bullshit you, Joey. So, if you want to ask me a question, you'd better be sure you're ready for the truth."

"So, we stay in a perpetual state of dating?" She tilted her head.

He could practically see the wheels in her head turning. "You looking to get hitched anytime soon?" he asked.

"No." She snorted. "Maybe not ever."

"See? We match," he said.

Joey paused and a wide grin spread across her face. "Yeah, I guess we do, don't we?"

The tension around in the room faded.

"We're good now?" he asked, tentatively. He learned a long time ago to never take things for granted with a woman. You had to make sure you were on the same page.

"Very." She pushed herself up onto her knees and crawled onto his lap. "Now I think we should kiss and make up."

"Baby, I thought you'd never ask."

Chapter Four.

Joey halted in front of Corked and prepared herself for the shakedown. Then she shook her head and walked up to the table at the back of the wine bar. It had been awhile since they'd gotten together. Between Juliette's wedding, her secret relationship and Evonne's mystery man, Levi, they hadn't had much time for hanging out. She reached the back of the bar and found Juliette and Hilary at their table. "Hey, girls, where's Evonne?" she asked as she sat down at the table, placing her purse in her lap.

"Off with him who we still haven't met." Hilary said, rolling her eyes.

"I guess he surprised her last minute with a weekend trip, and she didn't want to turn him down," Juliette explained. "Don't be so mean, Hil."

"Wow, we're in the weekend trip stage?" Joey asked. Guilt issued a sharp elbow to her ribs. Had she been so off the grid she completely missed the serious turn Evonne's love life had taken?

"Apparently we are now. This was the first time," Hilary said, filling in the blanks.

"Geez, Hil, did this guy piss in your cereal, or what?" Joey asked, shocked by the deep scowl that twisted her friend's lips downward.

"I don't like that we haven't met him yet. I mean...why the avoidance? And he's making Evonne act all out of character," Hil defended.

"How do you figure?" Joey asked.

"She'd be the first one here to give us shit about missing a night with the girls and if there's nothing wrong with Mr. Perfect, why haven't we met him yet?" Hil huffed.

"Because there's no one more levelheaded than Evonne and I think it's a good thing she's letting loose a little bit," Juliette said. "I don't want us to become so suspicious we kill our joy. Not everyone is a lunatic in disguise."

Joey winced. It took a lot for her to say that after what she'd gone through. The girls turned to Joey for a tiebreaker, and she squirmed in her seat. "Maybe we should be having this conversation with her. Get her take on it. Sometimes, when you enter into a relationship you need to feel it out for yourself before you bring others into it," Joey said, doing her best to be diplomatic. She didn't want to throw Evonne to the wolves, but part of her was worried. She'd gotten really into this guy, and they hadn't even met him yet. It wasn't like their resident logic-driven friend. They called her Spock for a reason.

"That was just a little too insightful, Joey. Anything you want to share?" Hil asked.

For a second, Joey swore Hil's eyes flashed red as anger poured off her in waves.

"Can I get you ladies started off with something?" a tow-headed waiter asked.

Thank you, God.

Hilary flashed Joey a look that told her she wasn't off the hook by any means.

"What do you think, girls? Something new, or tried and true?" Juliette asked.

They ended up deciding on their favorite pinot grigio.

"Been forever since I had a decent glass of wine," Joey commented.

"Well, you were always more a beer or whiskey girl," Juliette noted.

Hilary snorted. "Hence her oh-so-classy Whisky Makes me Frisky shirt collection," Hilary said.

"Hey, those shirts are bitching," Joey defended.

They all laughed, and the edgy vibe that had descended over the group faded out.

"I know you don't think I forgot what I asked you before the waiter showed up," Hil said. Her narrowed gaze burned holes in Joey.

"No but I hoped you did," Joey mumbled.

"What's going on? You're always so candid. It's not like you to start keeping secrets," Juliette said.

"It's not a secret really. I just needed to be sure it was worth mentioning before I ran off at the mouth," Joey said.

"Oh." Hilary's mouth turned into a circular shape.

"So is it..." Juliette paused for emphasis, "worth mentioning?"

"Yeah, now it kind of is," Joey said, smiling bashfully. This thing between them was new, but it felt so right she couldn't contain her happiness.

"Oh this smile tells me things are serious." Hilary said.

"Moose and I have sort of been seeing each other," Joey said. A weight rolled from her shoulders with the admission. Keeping things from her best friend wasn't the norm, and it had proved to be harder than she expected. When you've known someone since the first grade, you notice changes.

"I knew it!" Juliette said. She pointed at Joey and laughed.

Hil's jaw dropped. "Are you serious?" Hilary asked. Sh crossed her arms over her chest, and Joey cringed.

"Don't be mad, Hil," Joey said, pleading with her eyes. The last thing she wanted to do was alienate herself from one of her closest friends.

"I'm not mad. I'm shocked. I mean no offense, Joey, but I didn't think he'd be your type." Hil said.

"Why, because he's a biker?" Joey asked.

"Among other things. Gruff, dangerous and emotionally unavailable...being the other three that pop out at me," Hilary said.

"I know this sounds cliched, but you don't know him at all, Hil. I'm not looking for marriage, and neither is he. We have a good time together and we get each other. What more do you need?" Joey said. She locked gazes with Hil, refusing to back down or defend herself further. She'd done nothing wrong and Hil needed to learn boundaries.

"Love, commitment, trust," Hilary said "Not everyone wants that and I do trust him. We have an understanding that works for us. Traditional routes aren't always successful or...for everyone." Joey gentled her last sentence knowing it cut close to home for her shrewish friend. Hil's parents had placed her in the middle of their bitter separation as they worked out the terms of the divorce. Seeing the picture-perfect marriage peeled back to reveal ugliness did a real number on her brain.

"Yeah, I hear you. I'm sorry I came off so highhanded. I just don't want to see you get hurt." Hil said. She reached across the table and gently squeezed Joey's arm.

"I know. Everything in life is a risk. We have to weigh if it's worth the chance of getting hurt. I think he is," Joey said.

"I should've seen this coming. I suspected you guys had a thing for each another. But I never imagined it'd escalated so far," Juliette said.

"Yeah well, Red had something to do with that," Joey said. The memory of the trouble the redhead caused made her grind her teeth.

"Jesus, did she make a play for him, or something?" Juliette asked.

"Or something. Crazy broad tried to take advantage of him after he'd been drinking," Joey said. She related the events softening the severity of Moose's retaliation.

"Is that why she got sent to a different chapter?" Juliette asked.

"Yep," Joey said popping the p.

"The sleazy bar chick with the red hair?" Hilary asked.

"That's the one," Joey said.

"Can't say I'm surprised. She looked at men like she was starving and they were a buffet," Juliet said. Disgust dripped from every word.

The wine arrived and their conversation paused as the bottle was opened and they enjoyed their first glass.

"So what are we going to do about Evonne?" Hil asked. "After everything that's happened, not knowing anything about this guy makes me nervous." Hil toyed with the stem of her glass, swirling the liquid around and around. "Am I the only one who hasn't forgotten Peter's threat? He said she'd regret defying him. That there were four of them running that sex club, Room 801, and they would make her pay. I can only imagine the money they make from it. They won't leave that operation in jeopardy."

"Trust me, I haven't forgotten," Juliette said. "I want to give her room to stretch her wings, but all I can think about is how Peter did the same thing to me, slowly weaning me away from you girls, so he could exert more and more control."

Joey's stomach tightened. "I don't like this. Look, let's meet up for lunch next week and lay it out on the table. I'm sure she'll reassure us, arrange a time to meet this guy, and we'll all feel better."

"Sounds good," Hil said.

"You know I'm in," Juliette agreed.

"Good, now that we've solved that, we can actually relax." Joey took a healthy sip of her wine and ignored the girls' laughter.

"You haven't said much tonight about what's going on in your life, Hil. It's not like you," Joey said.

"There's not much to tell. I'm in editing hell and you all know how that consumes me." Hil shrugged.

"Do we ever," Juliette said.

Joey narrowed her eyes and studied her friend's face. Tension thrummed just beneath the surface. She could see it in the pinched set of Hil's lips and the strained areas around her eyes. Even her jaw seemed tensed. "You sure about that?"

"Damn your intuition, Brooks." Hil sighed.

"I knew you were hiding something." Joey pointed her index finger across the table at the curly-haired woman, who rolled her eyes.

"Why lie?" Juliette asked. "Haven't we had enough of secrets?"

"It's not personal. I just don't want to drag anyone else into it," Hilary said. She blew curls out of her face as she leaned back in her seat.

"Start talking, now," Joey demanded.

"I've been doing research on Peter's victims," Hil said.

"Why?" Juliette asked. Her face twisted into a mask of confusion and horror.