Chapter 20

Goddammit.It figured that Mellie would show up. But now that she had, Mike was going to make the best of it.

"Mike," Mel's incredulous voice rang out across the bar. "What are you doing here?"

He looked up, pasting a smile on his face, then stood, indicating the free chairs at his table. He hoped his grin didn't look as sour as his gut felt. "Would you like to join me?" he offered as the pair got closer.

Melanie and Cameron looked at each other in a moment of silent communication, then Mellie nodded. "Sure. Why not."

Mike waited until the pair approached before he sat down again. He gave a slight nod to Joe, who'd been watching the exchange, letting her know he'd indicate when it was okay for her to come over. He needed a few minutes to ponder how to spin things.

Knowing Joe, however, Mike figured the savvy agent was probably already way ahead of him; plotting what to say, and how she'd handle the unexpected arrival of his ex.

"So Mike. What brings you to our neck of the woods?" Mel asked once she was seated, clearly calling him out for "invading" her portion of the county.

Cameron just grunted, but that was par for the course when Mike ran into the man. The guy was either a noncommunicative sort to begin with, or was completely intimidated by Mike. He hoped it was the latter.

"What? A man can't have a drink where he chooses, these days?" Mike countered to Mellie with a raised brow.

"Don't bullshit me." She pursed her lips. "I know you. First of all, you never go for a night on the town unless you have your teammates with you. And second, you don't have a glass or a bottle in front of you because you don't drink during a work-week." Mel frowned, but after a moment of thought, she also preened a little. "How did you know I'd be here?"

Leave it to Mel to think that everything was about her. Well, she was about to have her ego-bubble popped.

"I actually had no idea you frequented this place," Mike lied, not in the least bit repentant. "I'm actually here because of a…friend." He said the last with a tinge of innuendo, wondering if Mel would pick up on it.

"Phht," she scoffed, looking around. "I don't see any of those testosterone-laden goons you call pals."

Aaand, it went right over her head, as Mike had expected, while in the same clueless breath, she'd managed to denigrate the group he hung with. Melanie had always been jealous of his teammates. It had never been a good look for her. Even now, after a year of having a life away from him that she'd decided she wanted, her mouth pinched up in envy at the mention of his team.

"Not one of those friends," Mike stated patiently, having counted to five, slowly, in his head. "I have a new someone I'm seeing." He silently signaled for Joe to come over while Mellie let his words settle.

"Then who?—"

"Hey folks," Joe intoned enthusiastically to Mel and Cameron. "It's nice to have you back at the Local Moose. What can I get for y'all?"

Mellie looked smug and pointed to Mike. "Why don't you ask him what he's here for, first?"

Why did Mike think that Mel was in for a major surprise, Joe-style?

And sure enough…

Joe gave Melanie the biggest, most sunshiny smile Mike had ever seen. Any brighter, and it would have blinded him. He'd been singed by her joyous heat before, but this brilliant display put her into super-nova territory.

"Oh. I know what he's here for, hon." Joe threw her whole heart into the performance. "That would be me." She shimmied over, bent down, and laid a hot, wet one right on Mike's mouth.

He could have sworn he heard titters from the table of women next to him. And who was he to discourage them? They were clearly enjoying the new entertainment.

"Nice," Mike rasped, not quite as in control as he'd been a few seconds before.

"Sure is, sweet lips," Joe purred in a sultry voice. "I'll bring you your water, once I…" She bent closer and…

Oh, no, she did not just stick her nose in his ear.

Before he could bring his brain back online, the snarky woman bounced back up with a grin. "Aren't you going to introduce me to your friends, sugar?" she asked, playing up a dumb-blonde routine that Mike hadn't seen before.

Mike almost couldn't form words. Joe was looking pleased with herself, and Mel was appearing like she'd just sucked an entire mouthful of sour candies.

He cleared his throat.

"Sure thing, baby." Mike added the last word purposely. He wasn't normally the kind of guy to call a woman by anything other than her name, but Joe had set the table with her act, and he'd follow suit.

He sent her what he hoped were goo-goo eyes, just to cement what needed to appear like an over-the-top attraction.

Not difficult to do.

"Elle, this is my ex-wife, Melanie, and her current boyfriend, Cameron."

Let Mellie eat that one.

Mike had purposely made it sound like his one-time wife was known to flit from flower to flower, when as far as he knew, she'd only stepped out on him. But he knew the comment would twist Mellie's short-hairs for at least its one-time veracity.

He continued before she could unclench her jaw.

"Melanie, this is Elle. My girlfriend."

"A waitress, Mike?" his ex questioned haughtily after semi-regaining her aplomb. Although her retort made her sound like a twat. "Seriously?"

Joe, listening to the interplay, sniffed loudly, looking totally offended before ramping up her airhead persona. "Shows what you know," she mocked. "Get it right. Geeeze. I'm called a server these days, you know."

More snorts from the table next door had Mike almost losing character. The ladies listening already had Joe's real number.

"Oh. I'm sorry. Server." Mellie rolled her eyes. "Where did you two meet? The police station, perhaps?" she added snippily.

"Oh!" Joe pretended shock. "No ma'am. I'm not a criminal. I met Mikey at the gym."

Oh crap. Mikey. Now she was laying it on a little too thick.

"You wanna see my muscles?" Joe continued with an eagerness that wouldn't be denied. She plunked her empty tray on the table, hiked her T's shirtsleeve up until it was hooked over her shoulder, and flexed.

Damn.Mike hoped he wasn't drooling. The woman had incredible biceps.

Joe continued. "I'll arm wrestle y'all if you're game. Just say the word."

This was fun, but…

"Uh, I think that's a hard no, Elle," Mike intervened. He had no idea where this would go if he let it continue, but for everyone's safety, he decided to shut it down. "Why don't you see what my companions would like to drink."

"Okay, hon." Joe fixed her shirt, bent, and rubbed her boobs deliberately on his shoulder before picking up her tray again to face Mel. "What can I get y'all?" she asked perkily.

"Miller on tap," Melanie said acerbically.

"Same," Cameron's grunt was an actual word this time.

"Comin' up," Joe stated, and bounced away on her soft heels, her ass swaying provocatively.

"Oh, Mike. Really?" Melanie gave him a look that was half pity and half envy, only he knew he wasn't supposed to see the second bit of attitude. "You must be damned lonely these days."

Mike chuckled. "Not anymore. Elle keeps me pretty busy."

"No. I mean lonely for adult-type stimulation," Mel attempted to qualify.

Mike wasn't letting up. "Oh. I get plenty of that," he smirked. And he would make Joe pay later for the chest-thrust that had caused him to harden beneath the table.

Melanie grew angry. "Stop being sophomoric, Mike. I mean mentally, and you know it."

"You may not believe this, Melanie, but Elle has an amazing brain," he enlightened. He didn't know why he was defending the pretend Joe, when clearly the sassy agent was going out of her way to camp things up, but he was damned proud of who she really was, and couldn't hold himself back. "Servers aren't lowlifes, Mel. For some, it's a profession. For others, it's a way to make money to care for aging parents, or to pursue higher education. None of that is worthy of your denigration."

Melanie huffed. "Well, clearly your new friend is a waitress for the long term." Mel went with the non-PC label again, and didn't relent. "She's obviously too old to be thinking about school, and too young to have elderly parents." That was a purposeful dig.

"Oh?" Mike's brows raised as he tried to tamp down his anger. "You are talking about age differences, now? You really want to go there?" He looked pointedly at Cameron, who was ten years Melanie's junior.

"Fine," Mel sniffed, giving up. She knew she wasn't going to win. When Mike dug in his heels on something, he never budged an inch. It was one of those "annoying" things Melanie had always hated about him, but he had a feeling Joe would love going toe-to-toe with him; that any argument would lead to some stellar fighting, and…make-up sex.

"So, you two met at the gym?" Mel questioned.

Mike sighed. "Do you really want to talk about this, Mellie?"

She nodded.

"Fine. Yes. I met her at the gym. And if you're looking for additional deets, why don't you pump the kids for info next time you see them. That's been your modus operandi ever since you walked out."

Melanie reared back, looking offended.

Good.It was about time Mike called her out on extracting things from their offspring that were none of her business.

"I'm not touching that one," she grimaced, looking offended.

"That's probably for the best," Mike answered. Then, because he was such a good guy, he turned to Mel's boyfriend and changed the subject. "So. Cameron. How's the new job treating you?"

The young man worked for a tree removal service where he'd been for a couple months.

"Okay," he gave the one-word answer, then shrugged. "It's a job."

Yeah.Like the last two positions the guy had undertaken; that he'd either quit or been fired from. No wonder Melanie was thinking about Mike's will and life insurance. The couple's income, at least from Cameron's side of things, was sporadic, and nobody lived on a teacher's salary these days.

Well, tough for them.

Little did the pair know that Mike had taken the morning off to amend those two documents they coveted, with the help of a new attorney who didn't know Mellie, and couldn't be coerced, as he suspected their old lawyer might have been.

Fait accompli.

But he wouldn't let that juicy tidbit drop, yet. He needed to catch the duo red-handed; apprehend them while they were attempting to kill him. Then he'd haul their asses into custody to scare the crap out of them…or more. Where Mike took things from there really depended on what he thought was best for the kids.

"Great…Sport," Mike finally replied, if a little condescendingly. "I hope this one holds your interest."

Mellie looked pissed at that backhanded comment, but what could she say? Her beau didn't have the greatest track record.

"So what are you two doing for fun these days?" Mike asked, skewing the conversation around to meet his agenda. As long as he had the pair here, Mike was going to drop them the set-up he'd hoped the kids would spill. There was no need to depend on happenstance now. He'd lay the groundwork himself.

"Oh, you know," Mellie immediately replied because she loved talking about herself. "We hang out with friends. Go to the lake. Eat out a lot. The kind of stuff that gets us out of the house."

Yeah.Mel had never liked being a homebody. Another thing she'd blamed on Mike; his long-standing suggestions that she either stay at home more or include the family in her frequent outings.

Fat lot of good that had done. She'd chosen to exit-stage-right, instead.

"Yeah? Well, I was out at the quarries with the team last weekend," Mike planted, watching for a twitch from either of them.

Blinkity-blink.

Mike held back a snort. How about from both of them? It took all he had to continue, straight-faced.

"…and I realized it's been too long since I took a good, challenging hike. So, I've convinced Elle to join me to do Baxter Peak this coming Sunday."

Melanie's mouth fell open, but there was also a contemplative glint in her eyes that Mike didn't miss. "That's like, uh, nine miles. Do you think your waitress friend has the stamina for that one? That she won't do a half mile and give up?"

Could Mike say…fishing? Because, yup. He'd hooked a big one.

Mike shrugged. "She's in extraordinarily great shape." He rubbed that in a little. "But if she wants to call it quits after three or four hours," he emphasized, "I'm good with that."

"I won't be quitting, sugar," Joe's sweet southern twang hit his ears again like music. He might have to ask her to use that drawl more. Every now and then. Just for him. "You know I'm no quitter where physical activities are concerned," she added. This time while talking, she sidled up to his thigh as she put their drinks on the table, making completely inappropriate contact between his ribs and her ass.

Well, shit.His cock twitched.

Two could play at this game.

"Oh, I'm aware of that," he taunted before deliberately running his hand up under the back of her skirt to grab a healthy handful of one ass cheek.

Joe turned bright crimson from her collarbone to her hairline, but she didn't back off. Instead, she bent further into his touch, sending his hand slipping toward the gusset of her panties, where Mike found a wetness he couldn't ignore.

"Elle," he growled.

She groaned in answer. "Yup. I sure am thinking about later on tonight," she admitted breathlessly. "Can you tell?"

She wiggled a little into his touch, then stepped sideways so his hand fell away.

"Uh, huh," Mike let his fingers fall, bereft, back into his lap, answering with what little of his brain hadn't descended to his cock. "Later."

Elle winked and walked away.

"Oh, please," Melanie grimaced. "The two of you are just pathetic. And disgusting." She looked around the now packed bar. "If there were anyplace else to sit…"

"Yoohoo. Mikey," a female voice rang out from the table of friendly women who'd clearly been taking the whole thing in. "We have a chair for you if you'd like to join us?"

Mike didn't hesitate, although he would be having words with them about what he was to be called. He stood up, grabbed his glass of water, and didn't look back as he joined the grinning ladies.

"Thanks for that," he told them as he took the offered seat.

"No probs," one of them giggled. "But you owe us. What do you say? Will you and your server friend be our new besties?"