Lash shook his head and stood before he said softly, "You've been apart awhile but you know Ivey. You know her. She might be moving to Mustang but I'm not losing her and I never will."

Cody held his eyes then he tipped up his chin.

"I'll find Casey and I'll find out what went down," Lash told him.

"Right," Cody muttered and continued to hold Lash's eyes in order to communicate further without words being said.

Gratitude.

Lash took it then asked, "This private chat, this mean you want us to keep this shit from Ivey?"

Cody nodded again. "Yeah, but temporarily." Then he grinned. "She's all fired up to prove she's a badass, hard as nails ex-showgirl and do that by takin' on Buddy. She knows this shit, she'd lose her mind. She needs to sort her life with you, feel good about that, have time with you both." His eyes swept through Freddie then went back to Lash. "I want her to have that. She knows this, she'll hightail her ass to Mustang and let loose. I'll wait, give her this information when the time is right. She won't be kept in the dark forever, just for now."

"Understood and thank you," Lash said quietly.

Another chin jerk then Cody looked at Freddie and back to Lash. "Shit to do."

"Of course, see you at dinner," Lash muttered.

Another glance through both of them, another chin jerk then Grayson Cody strode to and out the door.

The minute it closed, Lash took a deep breath to calm the burn in his chest.

Then he turned to Freddie.

"Find me that motherfucker," he whispered. "No stone unturned, Freddie, do not count the cost. And when he's found, I want him brought to me."

Freddie held his gaze for a long moment.

Then he grinned.

Then he shoved his hand in his pocket and got out his phone.

Chapter Twenty-Eight.

Welcome Back to Mustang Three and a half weeks later...

To say I was freaking out when I drove my deep purple, Lexus 250C up Gray's lane toward his farmhouse would be an understatement.

I was totally freaking out. The palms sweaty, heart fluttering, brain consumed with panic type of freaking out.

Three and a half weeks ago, Gray and I had our dinner with Lash and Freddie and afterward Gray talked me into going with them.

I didn't want to leave him.

"The sooner you get started on that, the sooner you're with me," he whispered to me in our bed in the hotel room in the dark.

I saw the wisdom of this and gave in.

So I had over seven years without Gray, just over a day with him then off to Vegas I went to have another three and a half weeks without him.

This was no fun. Wrapping up my life in Vegas but most especially my life with Lash and Freddie in it was not a ball of laughs. And being separated from Gray didn't help.

But obviously, this separation was different. Mainly because Gray called at six thirty every morning, waking me up. He also called at eleven o'clock every night, right before he went to bed.

At first, these early morning calls troubled me. As crazy as it sounded, I wondered if he didn't trust me and he did it thinking he'd catch me in bed with Lash.

Then it hit me this wasn't it. This was when Gray started his day and he wanted to start his day with me.

And this hit me because on day three, he flat out told me then stated, "We got different schedules so if when I'm callin' don't work for you, dollface, and you want me to call at different times, say it. I'll stop what I'm doin' to say good morning or I'll wake up to say goodnight."

There you go.

He trusted me.

And he'd stop what he was doing to say good morning or wake up to say goodnight.

I liked that.

So obviously since I liked why he was calling at those times and what he said, I'd replied softly, "No, honey, I'll wake up with you when you start your day and I like being the last person you talk to before you go to sleep."

"Then that's what you'll get, baby," Gray replied softly back.

Of course, I also called him during the day when I had something to say, like telling him when I'd accomplished the task of boxing everything up. Then asking him when he'd be around to accept delivery. Then telling him when the movers were coming to get it and when he could expect them to arrive. Or telling him about a waitress we had who'd slept with two bartenders and three bouncers, was trying to pit them against each other and was working my last nerve (or, I should say, with this, I called him to moan about it). Or telling him my joy at learning Lash had shared his secret with Freddie. Or just telling him I missed him, loved him and was thinking about him.

And every time I called him, Gray stopped what he was doing to take the call from me.

Yes, even when I moaned for half an hour about the waitress, he stopped what he was doing, listened like he had all day and pretended really well that he was interested in what I had to say.

On day four of our separation, while I was still sleepy and whispering to him, Gray introduced me to phone sex. Later, he'd tell me he'd never done it.

Obviously, I hadn't either.

Incidentally, Gray was a natural.

It wasn't better than the real thing but it would do in a pinch.

But now, most of my belongings were already at Gray's. I sold everything from my old house when I sold my old house and I moved in with Lash. Thus, with my usual fastidious saving considering I was a girl who once never knew where her next dollar was coming from and I didn't want to be that girl again, I had a wad to drop on sorting Gray's problems so it was mostly just personal items. I had a couple of suitcases in my trunk. And I had my car.

And I had me.

I'd taken two days to drive to Colorado even though it was really just a one day haul, about ten hours. But Gray nor Lash nor Freddie would allow me to do this because they didn't want me to get tired. I explained I'd had ten years of driving long hauls with Casey and I was a current badass, ex-Vegas showgirl so tough enough to haul my ass across two states in ten hours. This was clearly not enough evidence for them seeing as not a single one of the three believed I was a badass or tough so Gray decreed no more than seven hours the first day.

It killed me to be only three hours away from Gray in a hotel but I saw the merits of this although they weren't the same merits Gray saw.

My merits were that after three hours of driving the next day, I'd still be refreshed when I got to him. Not to mention, before I left I had time to primp but there wasn't enough time in the car in the summer heat for the bloom to go off the rose.

Obviously, I drove with the top down. I mean, I had a kickass convertible, it was summer, I'd be crazy not to.

So two days it was.

But the overwhelming excitement of being back with Gray mixed with sadness of leaving behind Lash, Brutus and my life had now been replaced with panic.

We'd spent two and a half months together seven years ago. He was twenty-five, just twenty-six. I was twenty-two. We were young. What we had flamed fast and bloomed bright but we'd never lived together.

And a lot had happened in between.

I was worried this was a terrible mistake. I was worried that eventually the badass, hard as nails ex-Vegas showgirl that I totally was (no matter that anytime I said that to Gray, Lash or Brutus, they laughed their asses off) would show through and he wouldn't like it. I worried we wouldn't get along.

I worried about everything.

And now I was here.

Shit.

His farmhouse in sight, I saw him come out the door. He was headed across the porch before I even got close. By the time I parked, he was down the steps, waiting for me.

Nope, even though it was only three and a half weeks, nothing had changed about him. Faded jeans, tight navy blue tee, head-to-toe beauty.

God, I hoped I didn't disappoint him.

I parked just beyond the porch so I didn't block his truck (and he had the same truck I was both horrified and gleeful to see). I barely had the ignition switched off before he was at my door.

I undid my seatbelt, twisted my neck, tipped back my head and smiled nervously at him from behind my shades.

Yep, nothing changed. Total beauty even through sunglasses.

"Hi," I whispered.

Then I squealed.

This was because Gray leaned over my door and plucked me right out of my convertible. Then I squealed again as he tossed me over his shoulder. With long, fast strides he rounded my car and headed to the porch.

I wrapped my fingers around his waist and cried, "Gray!"

He kept walking fast, up the porch steps across the porch.

"Gray! Put me down!" I snapped.

He didn't put me down. He kept going, into the house, straight to the stairs, muttering, "Jesus, top down, probably got third degree burns."

"I lived in Vegas for seven years, Gray," I told the small of his back, head and hair hanging. "I've been introduced sunblock."

He ignored me and kept muttering, "My girl's got a purple car."

"It's tyrian gray," I stated though that was the official color name, it was still totally purple.

"Whatever," he kept muttering, taking the stairs.

Taking the stairs.

Which meant going upstairs.

To his room.

My mouth got dry.

Up we went, down the hall then in his room then across it and I was flying through the air to land on my back in his bed.

I pushed up on my elbows, already breathing heavily, already turned on. I lifted a hand and pulled off my sunglasses. Then I stared at him standing by the bed staring at me.

His eyes moved down my body (cute black sundress, skintight, button all the way up the front, halter top and fabulous strappy black heels).

Then his gaze shot to my face and he whispered, "My girl's home."

My breath caught and my heart missed a beat.

Then Gray's hands went to his tee and I watched him pull it over his head exposing his unbelievably amazing (still) chest.

That's when I started panting.

Then I scrambled to my knees, walked on them to the edge of the bed and my body hit Gray's. His back bowed, my head tipped way back, his arms sliced around me, my arms curved around him and his mouth hit mine.

Then his tongue drove in my mouth.

Then I whimpered in his.

His hand went under my hair and I felt it tug at the bow that held the straps of the halter top. He broke the kiss but demanded roughly against my lips, "Get this thing off, honey."

He let me go and, my eyes still locked with his, my hands went instantly to the buttons of my dress. His hands went to the belt of his jeans. It took effort, my fingers were shaking but I undid buttons as did Gray. Then he got rid of his boots and socks. Then he got rid of his jeans and my hands stilled after releasing the last button that was mid-thigh.

Oh yes, I missed him. All of him.

Gray didn't hesitate and surged toward me.

I went to my back, he landed on top of me and his mouth took mine at the same time he spread the dress open like unveiling a present. Then his body came to mine and I felt his skin, his heat, his muscle against me and I arched into him.

He broke the kiss, went to his knees straddling me and his hands went to my pits. He hauled me up the bed and away went my panties. He spread my legs wide, dropped between them and suddenly his mouth was on me.

My knees cocked, my hips surged up, my heels digging in the bed and my fingers drove into his thick hair.

Oh God, yes.