“Rocky says girls don’t like dirty houses,” he shouted over the vacuum then Blondie lost interest in Jas and attacked Tripp and Jasper grabbed the handle of the vacuum again and started pushing it under the coffee table.

There you go. Rocky was behind this activity.

“She’d know,” Layne muttered, his eyes swinging to Rocky and catching her dimple before she turned back to her vegetables.

He walked to the island beside her and dumped his bags next to the vegetables. She had a bowl in front of her already filled with salad leaves, sliced cucumbers, diced tomatoes, strips of yellow bell pepper and she was working on a carrot.

“Hey Dev,” Layne greeted.

“Boy,” Dev greeted back, his eyes slid to Rocky, back to Layne and he smiled slowly.

Layne had no idea how long Rocky was there but however long it was, she’d earned Dev’s approval. This didn’t surprise Layne. Her Dad was a cop so was her brother and she knew every uniform and plainclothesman in the county – Rocky was Dev’s kind of people. Rocky was also a female of the beautiful variety who wore tight skirts, high heels and soft sweaters – that was Dev’s kind of people too.

Layne moved into Rocky’s back, put a hand to the counter in front of her and discovered one good thing about her wearing her hair up. It left her neck totally exposed. With this opportunity afforded him, he placed a hand on her sweater at her waist, slid it forward to her belly and touched his lips to the skin behind her ear.

He absorbed the minor tremor that slid through her body before it went stiff and he whispered in her ear, “Hey baby.”

She kept cutting as she whispered back, “Hey Layne.”

“You’re early,” he noted and she nodded, her body still stiff, likely because his was pressed the length of her back, from hips to shoulders and he not only hadn’t moved either hand, he also had begun to slide his thumb back and forth across the soft material of her sweater.

“I thought I’d help Jasper impress Keira with his concern over her nutrition,” she replied and tossed some of the carrots into the bowl. “Though, not too concerned. I also bought an apple pie and vanilla bean ice cream for dessert.”

She hadn’t changed because, after work, she’d gone to the store and she’d gone to the store to do something for his boy.

Layne grinned and lifted his face from her neck but didn’t move away when he asked, “Flowers?”

“Those’re from me. You don’t have dinner with the ladies without buyin’ ‘em flowers,” Dev put in and Layne smiled at him.

“Fair warning, sweetcheeks, Dev’s a ladies’ man,” Layne told Rocky.

“He’s already impressed that on me,” Rocky returned and Layne chuckled.

Then he put his lips back to her ear and invited softly, “You need to get outta those shoes, baby.”

“I would,” she replied, “if I wasn’t scared of what my feet would encounter after doing it.”

Layne lifted his head again, still smiling, and called to Tripp, “Finish polishing, Pal, then get that thing that sweeps the floors.”

At his words, Rocky twisted her neck and tilted her head back to look up at him. “It’s called a broom, Layne.”

He smiled down at her. “I told you this was a testosterone zone, sweetcheeks. ‘Bout the only thing in the house that has a connection to work that doesn’t have a plug or use batteries is that polish Tripp’s wielding. We got a thing that sweeps the floors.”

Rocky kept staring up at him after he’d finished speaking, the vacuum had gone off and Layne forced his eyes from hers when he heard Jasper announce, “I’m on that, Dad. Tripp’s gonna clean the downstairs bathroom after he finishes with the furniture.”

Layne looked to Tripp. He had no idea how his youngest bought that chore but him accepting it gave new meaning to his adoration of Rocky.

“I think I got a gasmask and industrial gloves in the garage, Pal. And after you do that, I’ll give you five dollars.”

Tripp sauntered into the kitchen, Blondie at his heels, muttering, “I think it’s worth more like fifty.”

Tripp was not wrong.

Both his boys, and the dog, hit the utility room and Layne turned his attention back to the island. He took his hand from Rocky’s stomach, nabbed a slice of the carrot she was cutting and tossed it into his mouth.

He was chewing when he asked Dev, “How was your day?”

Devin looked in his eyes and pointedly didn’t look at Rocky. “Good.”

“How good?” Layne pressed.

“Real good.”

Layne swallowed, grinned and tagged another carrot he threw in his mouth before he asked Dev, “Oxygen gettin’ thin?”

“I already hear someone chokin’,” Dev replied.

Layne grabbed another slice of carrot and Rocky said, “As fascinating as you and Devin talking in code is, Layne, you take another carrot, you’ll find your hand stuck to the counter with my knife.”

Devin chuckled and Layne tossed the carrot into his mouth before he put that hand back to her belly, her body, which had relaxed, went stiff again and his mouth went back to her ear. “Baby, I’ve had four cups of coffee and a breaded tenderloin sandwich today. Aren’t you concerned for my nutrition?”

Her head turned, his came up and she looked him in the eyes. “I’m thinking you’re healthy enough.”

He dipped his face close to hers and whispered, “You have no idea, but, you want, later I can show you.”

The fire died out of her eyes, the intensity went into them, she stared up at him, totally off-balance and he knew this because she swallowed.

He fought the urge to kiss her as the boys, with dog, re-entered the room carrying new weapons to attack their filthy house and Layne decided to give Raquel a break, moved away from her and toward the bags.

“Tripp, do a good job but do it fast. We gotta have a conversation before Keira gets here,” he announced as he emptied the bottles from the bags and he felt all eyes turn to him.

“Jesus, boy, you havin’ a teenager over for dinner or you hostin’ a rave?” Devin asked as the bottles were unveiled.

“Rocky likes red wine,” Layne replied and he felt Rocky’s body, already on alert, jerk to solid beside him.

“Yeah, I’m seein’ that and then some,” Dev muttered.

“What do we have to talk about, Dad?” Tripp called Layne’s attention to him.

“Finish in the bathroom, Pal then we’ll talk.”

Tripp and Jasper both eyed him then Tripp disappeared and Jasper plugged in the thing that electronically sucked shit up from tile and wood floors.

While his boys did this, Dev caught Rocky’s attention and they started chatting as Layne put away the bottles of booze and opened one of the reds. He poured her a glass, got himself a beer and then walked back to her to set her glass beside her workspace on the island, workspace she was clearing now that the gargantuan salad was done.

When her eyes went to the glass then lifted to him, he muttered, “Sorry, sweetcheeks, we don’t have any fancy glasses in the house.”

“That’s okay, they drink it like that in Italy,” she replied, reaching out to grab the small glass, she turned to Dev. “I’ve never been to Italy, of course, but that’s the way they drink it in movies set in Italy and I always thought that was cool.” She lifted her glass and reached toward Dev, finishing, “Welcome to the ‘burg, Devin.”

He clinked his bottle of beer against her glass, sucked back a pull and, after swallowing, said, “Dev, darlin’. Pretty girls get to call me Dev.”

She smiled at him. “Dev, then.”

“You got time tomorrow, you can give me a tour of the ‘burg,” Dev invited as if he already hadn’t scouted out the lay of the land.

“I’d love that but I’ve got to work,” Rocky replied. “But I’ll tell you that it’ll be worth your while to get up early, go to Hilligoss Bakery and get yourself a donut. I’ve never been to Italy, or anywhere else really, but I’d put down money on any donut from Hilligoss going up against anything in the world and winning.”

“I haven’t been to Italy either but I’ve been around and Roc isn’t lyin’,” Layne added.

“Your treat tomorrow then, boy,” Dev told him.

“Done in the bathroom!” Trip shouted, rounding the corner and running toward the utility room at the same time juggling an armload of bathroom cleaning stuff.

Layne looked to Jas to see he was also done and winding the cord up. He turned to the back counter, saw Rocky’s purse sitting by the coffeemaker, walked to it and dug through it until he found her keys.

Then he turned to Jasper as he heard Rocky start to say, “What are you –?”

“Jas,” he called over her, Jasper’s head came up and Layne tossed his son the keys which Jasper nabbed one-handed. “You pull the Charger out then pull Rocky’s Merc in the garage.”

“Layne –” Rocky began.

Layne talked over her. “Get Dev’s keys too, pull the Calais into the drive behind the Merc.”

“But –” Rocky tried again.

“You get Keira, you park behind the Suburban. Drop the door after you pull in the Merc,” Layne finished.

“Right Dad,” Jasper said, carried the sweeper to the utility room and disappeared as Tripp reappeared.

“Layne, you can’t –” Rocky started and Layne looked at her.

“HOA isn’t big on cars parked on the street overnight.”

“Over –” she began again, this time in a whisper.

“HOA?” Dev cut in, sounding disgusted. “Tanner Layne, the boy I proudly watched dodge bullets to enter a house filled with hostiles in order to grab a hostage, a rescue during which he took two boys out with only a half-filled clip in his gun, and he ran out without a nick on him carrying that hostage, is livin’ in a place with a home owners association?”