Family Honor (7 page)

He looked at Mel and smiled.

She grinned. "Eat that much all the time? You must have to spend hours in the gym working it off."

"I try to vary my exercise routine." He waggled his brows at her.

Becker placed one hand on Nate's arm. "You're probably so active I bet you barely have to exercise at all."

He said something only to her and Becker broke into peals of laughter.

Mel rolled her eyes and looked away. Tanner and Stone were discussing wrestling and as much as Mel despised that, it was preferable to watching Becker throw herself at Nate. She thought seriously about ordering another beer, but her good sense held and she sipped a soda with her meal.

Sara kept the beer flowing, though, and most everyone grew more jovial as they
ate,
drank, and the evening wore on.

Tanner excused himself to use the bathroom, and when he returned he leaned down to Mel.
"How about you and I tripping the light fantastic?"

She turned her head only slightly to answer him. "You better mean dancing, because if you're talking about something else you'll be tripping, all right. When I push you backwards over the table, that is."

"Of course I meant dancing." He batted his thick lashes at her.

Mel glanced around the noisy bar. "The first problem I have with that is
no one is dancing
. The second problem I have is that your fly is down."

He quickly stood and zipped the errant fly. "Maybe later," Tanner mumbled, and found a seat at the other end of the table.

Everyone around Mel burst into laughter. She chuckled as she sucked a piece of ice into her mouth.

Still giggling, Becker stood and pointed to Nate. "Don't go anywhere. I'll be right back." She headed to the ladies' room.

Nate took the opportunity to switch chairs with her, and slipped into the seat next to Mel. "Hello there." He dragged his beer along with him.

"Hi." She glanced over at him shyly, fiddling with the wrapper to her straw.

"Not drinking anymore?"

She shook her head. "If I recall, you designated me as the driver."

He waved a hand. "Don't do that on my account. We can call a cab. They have taxis here, don't they?"

"Here in the sticks?" she teased. "Yeah, we have the occasional horse-drawn carriage that doubles as a taxi."

"Shush." He bumped shoulders with her and tossed back the last of his beer. "I never said this was the sticks."

"You implied it."

"You did imply it," Stone agreed.

"Christ." Nate rubbed a hand over his face. "I either need to stop drinking, or I need a lot more beer."

Becker approached from behind them. "I vote for more beer. You grabbed the wrong chair, honey." She pointed to where Nate had been sitting. "You're over there."

He smiled up at her. "I'm over here now
honey
. You can sit there, or, if it's getting late, we'd understand if you had to go."

Her face reddened.
"Well, I never!"

Nate waved his empty glass at the waitress and plunked it down on the table. "Well, maybe you should try it sometime."

Becker plopped her hands on her hips. "You're drunk!"

"I'm working on it," Nate admitted. "A smart woman might take this opportunity to flee before she gets taken advantage of."

Several people watched to see Becker's next move. Mel wondered what Nate would do if the spunky little gal called his bluff, but she suspected the rookie
didn't
have the guts to do it. She nudged Stone and motioned for him to get Becker off the hook.

He tossed back the last of his drink and stood, leaving some cash on the table. "Come on, Sam. I think
it's
time for you and me to call it a night. I'll walk you to your car."

Becker's expression held a mixture of disappointment and confusion, but she let Stone lead her off.

"Have a nice night you two!" Nate called after them.

"Night guys," Mel repeated, and turned to Nate
who'd
started on another tall cold brew. "You're a mean drunk, Superman," she teased.

He wagged a finger at her. "I remember that joke. Damned if I can remember the punch line."

"That
was
the punch line."

"Oh, yeah!"
He laughed and gently knocked knees with her.

Mel shifted so their thighs and arms touched. It felt exactly as
she'd
anticipated, and tingles of excitement shivered through her.

The bar remained crowded but their end of the table had emptied. Sara came by and removed the dishes, clearing away plates and lots of empty glasses.

"You didn't eat much of your dinner," Mel observed as the waitress removed his half-eaten meal.

"Eyes were bigger than my stomach, I guess. Food was good, though." He picked at the soggy coaster under his glass.

"Real good," she agreed. They
didn't
look at each other, but friction between them was palpable.

"So what's up with this bartender, Cappie?
Why'd
Sara ask if he cut you off after one drink? There's something you're not telling me."

She nudged his arm. "Maybe I like older men."

He glanced at her, studying her expression, then smiled slyly.
"Maybe.
Or maybe
you're
full of shit. What aren't you telling me?"

Mel leaned in close. "I'm a Republican."

Nate clutched his heart and shook his head. "That's it, then. I'm a man who lives by certain rules."

"Didn't someone say 'rules are made to be broken'?"

"Oh, most definitely."
He grinned. "That's rule number one. Rule number two is
be
flexible."

"To back up rule number one."

"Of course."
They rubbed elbows and chuckled.

"This just gets better. What's rule number three?"

Nate peered into his beer thoughtfully. "Damned if I can remember."

Still grinning, Mel looked at him. "You're having some trouble tonight."

"You think?" He gazed into her eyes. "I thought I was doing pretty
good
."

His eyes were the deepest shade of chocolate brown. Mel felt
herself
melting in their deep pools. She forced herself to look away but got sidetracked by the three-day beard growth, and wondering what the rough stubble would feel like scraping across her cheek. She shook her head and tried to focus on reality. "We should go.
We've
got to get you to your hotel. Where did you say you were staying?"

"Damned if—"

"You can remember.
Heard ya.
Okay, come on big boy. Your memory
isn't
going to improve sitting around here. Maybe the brisk evening air will do some good." She stood and he rose with her.

"Whatever you say."
He removed his wallet and pulled out a wad of cash.

"Jeez, man!" Mel grabbed the money and glanced around. She looked at his tab and left enough to pay the bill and a generous tip, then tucked the rest safely back inside and handed over the wallet. "Hang on to this."

Nate clutched her hand. "I'd rather hang on to this."

"Yeah, I'll bet you would.
Hands to yourself, pretty boy.
Let's go." She pushed him toward the front of the bar, pausing long enough to say goodnight to her father.
"Taking off, Cappie."

He surveyed them for a moment. "Secret Agent Man isn't driving, is he?"

"Nope.
I'm
dropping him at his hotel. Thanks for everything, handsome." She leaned across the bar and gave him a peck on the cheek.
"Lovely evening as always."

"Right back atcha kiddo. See you soon."

Mel gently shoved Nate out the door.

"Now she's kissing him," he muttered.

"He's charming," she teased.

"I can be charming."

"I'm sure you can." She opened the passenger door to her Murano and boosted him in.

She went around to her side and climbed in, looking at Nate.
"Seatbelt."

His eyes were closed.
"Can't find it."

"Well I'm not feeling around for it. Use it or not, up to you."

He wrangled with the strap for several minutes before it finally clicked.

Mel drove toward the cop shop. "Seriously, what hotel are you registered at?"

He sighed, settling into the seat. "Seriously, I'd tell you if I remembered. It was something Hotel or Motel. Something
like
that."

"Narrows it down," she muttered sarcastically. "Look, dude, unless you want to sleep in your shiny black rental, you'd best come up with the name."

A soft, snoring noise came from his side of the Murano.

"You are totally kidding me." Mel stared at him.
What the hell?
The guy was asleep. There was no way she could drop him off at his car, let alone the hotel he
couldn't
name. "Nate! Nathan Willis! Wake up."

He opened one eye. "Are we there yet?"

"Where are we going? You need to remember the name of your hotel, please."

"Tired," he mumbled.

"Great." Her mind played out various scenarios until she finally decided what she had to do. She drove to her place and parked in the garage. "Come on, Supervisory Special Agent." She helped him from the car and into the house.

"Is this the hotel?" He squinted, looking around.

"No, genius.
This is my house. You can sleep in the guest room tonight. We'll figure out the hotel business tomorrow."

For a
moment
his eyes lit up.

She scowled. "No funny business. Remember, I have a loaded weapon."

"Me too.
More than one!"
He laughed at his own joke.

"
Which reminds me to take your gun for the night.
" With one arm around his waist, she led him to her spare room and turned on the light.

Nate closed his eyes quickly.
"The light.
It burns."

"Yeah, too bad, so sad.
Let's have the jacket." She peeled it off and spotted a Glock similar to hers in his holster.
"And the Glock."
Mel reached for it.

"Not my gun." He covered her hand with his.

"I swear to God you'd best let go right now," she advised him. "You're a guest in my house—a drunk guest, no less—and I'm not leaving you with a loaded gun."

He raised his hand and let her remove the Glock. "I'm not really that drunk. I just had a few too many."