Free Dawson's Stand (Welcome to Covendale Book 4) by Morgan Blaze Page A

arms. “Yes, you do.”
    “All right, here goes,” he said. “I took Jenny Steele out last night—”
    “You did what? ”
    “Just let me finish, Luka.”
    “Fine.”
    “She told me she broke up with Dean, and I believed her. Because I’m an idiot. Okay?” He stared at his sister until she relented. “Anyway, Kyla was at the bar for whatever reason, and we talked for a few minutes.”
    “I was having two drinks,” Kyla said.
    Gage smiled and raised an eyebrow. “That’s…oddly specific,” he said. “So Jenny and I had a disagreement, and I was going to take her home. But Dean was waiting for me in the parking lot. With some friends.”
    “That son of a bitch,” Luka seethed. “I knew this was all him. He did that to your eye, didn’t he?”
    “Yes, but that’s as far as it went,” he said. “Because then Kyla gave him a face full of pepper spray.”
    “She did not.” Luka turned an awed expression on her. “Did you really?”
    Kyla nodded. “I don’t like bullies.”
    “Seriously, I love you so much right now.” Luka grinned and put an arm around the girl, squeezing briefly. “You’re my hero. See, I knew it was the right thing to hire you.”
    “So you’re…not mad?”
    “Are you kidding? Dean’s the biggest pile of shit in Covendale, and he wears a badge so nobody ever stands up to him. Except Gage. But that only gets him in trouble.”
    “Yeah. Thanks for the vote of confidence,” Gage said. “So I guess that’s the end of the story. They ran off, and I got to take Kyla home instead of Jenny. That was much better than what I had planned.”
    “Gage.”
    He frowned. Luka was giving him The Look. “What?”
    “We have to talk.” She turned to Kyla, and said, “Would you excuse us for a minute? If anyone comes in, just ask them to have a seat.”
    “Sure. Is everything okay?”
    “It’s fine. I just need to have a word with my brother. Come on, Gage.”
    Gage held back an angry response and followed Luka to the back of the salon, toward the supply room. He suspected he knew what she was going to say—and it wasn’t something he wanted to argue about in front of Kyla. Otherwise he would’ve refused to go with her.
    He walked inside, and she closed the door behind them. Before his sister could start in, he said without looking at her, “No, I didn’t.”
    “Excuse me?”
    “I know what you think.” He turned slowly, surprised to find he was more hurt than angry. “You’re assuming I took advantage of her. That I banged her, since I couldn’t get my hands on Jenny. Because that’s what I do, right? Sleep with everything that moves.”
    “Gage, I—”
    “Don’t bother pretending that’s not what you were going to say. It’s bad enough I get this shit from Mark.” He drew a deep breath and stared at the ceiling for a moment, willing his emotions back. For the first time he was facing up to the fact that he’d earned his reputation—and if he wanted to change it, there’d be hell to pay. “I drove her to her place,” he said as evenly as possible. “We said goodnight. She got out, and I went home. The end.”
    Finally, he managed to look at Luka. Now she was smiling.
    “What?” he said. “Jesus Christ, I don’t get females.”
    “You really like her, don’t you?”
    He almost said something sarcastic, but decided he’d better come clean—at least with Luka. She’d hound him relentlessly if he didn’t. “Yeah,” he said. “I do.”
    “Well, you just be careful with her. Because I like her, too.”
    “What’s that supposed to mean?”
    “Don’t be dense.” The Look surfaced again for an instant. “And…you’re right. I assumed the worst, and I’m sorry about that.”
    A grin tugged at his mouth. “Hold on a second,” he said, patting his pocket. “Would you mind saying that again, after I turn my phone on so I can record it? It’s a miracle—Luka Dawson, apologizing for something.”
    “Ha, ha.”
    He smiled. “Since you’re so