How did he know she was feeling nervous?
He and Winona had told her after she’d woken up from her nap that no one cooked supper on Saturdays at their house. They always ate at the pub, a favorite hangout for Team members and other locals. Naomi hadn’t been excited. After years of waiting tables and serving food and drinks to men who thought they were paying her a compliment when they grabbed her ass, she much preferred to eat at home.
While Chaska parked the car, she and Winona went inside. People crowded the entryway, making it hard for Naomi to pass through with her crutches, music coming from a live band forcing her to raise her voice to be heard. “Excuse me. Pardon me.”
Winona helped, calling some people by name.
A woman with long blond dreadlocks and a nose ring saw them and headed straight for them, clearing a path. “Make room here, folks, please.”
She had a beautiful face and bright green eyes, her arms covered with tattoos of twining skulls and roses. “Hey, Win. The Team’s back at the usual table. You must be Naomi. Welcome to Knockers. I’m Rain, hostess and general manager.”
Rain led them through the pub around a corner toward the back, her easy smile and familiarity with her guests marking her as a pro. “You just missed Sasha trouncing some tough guy from California who thought he could show her the ropes. Oh, man, it was sweet!”
Naomi was about to ask what she meant by that when she saw.
A climbing wall.
It took up the entire rear wall of the pub. Nearby, Team member sat together, cheering and ribbing Jesse Moretti who was working his way upward. He reached the top, did a fist pump, and was slowly lowered to the floor.
That explained why Chaska had come wearing climbing pants and a T-shirt.
“Hey!” Sasha saw them and waved. “Move over, guys. Make room for Win and Naomi. That means you. Yes,move.”
Megs and Ahearn were there, too. So were Creed Herrera, Isaac Rogers, Nicole Turner, Eric Hawke and…
“Ellie!”
Ellie saw Naomi and got to her feet. “How are you feeling?”
“Better.”
Ellie spoke with Rain, who helped Naomi get settled at the end of one of the tables with an extra chair so that she could elevate her leg. “Do you need ice or a cushion?”
Ellie answered before Naomi could say a word. “Yes, to both.”
“You got it.” Rain disappeared into the crowd.
Naomi turned to Winona. “Wow. This place is not what I was expecting.”
“Wait till you try Victoria’s Chicago-style deep-dish pizza.”
Eric Hawke called down the table to Naomi. “Vicki is my wife. I used to come here a lot. Now I spend my whole life here just hoping to catch a glimpse of her. She runs the pizza part of the business.”
“He’s such a whiner.” A beautiful dark-haired woman in a chef’s coat walked up to the table and kissed Eric’s cheek. “Does someone need attention?”
Eric grinned. “Always.”
“What’syour favorite part of a woman’s body?”
“Her mind.” Chaska was in a hell of his own making.
On his left sat Nicole, who’d traded places with Herrera to get closer to him. She’d had one too many margaritas and was doing her best to get him into her bed, asking suggestive questions, getting a bit too close, touching him.
On his right sat Naomi, who had grown quiet and was trying to pretend she wasn’t miserable. She was polite to everyone, even Nicole, but Chaska already knew her well enough to see the hurt in her eyes. She hadn’t eaten all of her pizza, either.
Farther down the table sat Megs, who had noticed all of this and was watching, an amused grin on her face. “What do you think, Belcourt? Can a man have too much of a good thing?”
Chaska glared at her.