Hear Me When the Sun Goes Down by Lisa Olsen Page A

water into four mugs.  “I was stuck with nothing but brothers though, the brutes.  Tea or coffee then?” she asked.
    “Oh, tea, please, I’m not much of a coffee drinker,” I said, taking a seat at the kitchen table.  “How many brothers do you have?”
    “Why, d’ya want one?”
    Rob appeared, loosening his tie and shrugging off his suit coat, revealing a shoulder holster with a very lethal looking gun tucked under one arm.  “You been playing nice?” he asked his cousin.
    “Don’t I always?”
    “You want me to answer that?”  He raised a brow as he sat at the table, favoring me with a quick wink and a smile.  “Hullo,” he said to me, taking my hand where it lay on the table and giving it a squeeze.  Apparently he wasn’t too concerned with Laveda spilling the beans about our relationship, and I took comfort in that, squeezing his hand back with a smile. 
    “Hi.”  It felt good to do something so simple as hold hands without worrying about being seen and I just sat there, smiling at him like a fool until Laveda cleared her throat.
    “Shall I just fetch the milk then?  No need for sugar with all that sweetness passing back and forth in here.”
    Rob ignored the comment, but he did tear his eyes from mine, sliding his mug closer to give it a stir.  “Shoot that newspaper over here, yeah?” He jerked his head in her direction, but all she did was perch both hands on her hips.
    “More like I’ll twat you over the head with it if you don’t ask nicely.”
    Rob stared her down and she met his gaze without flinching.  I’d seen grown men nearly wet themselves when facing that stare.  “Please,” he bit out finally and she was all smiles.
    “There now, was that so hard?  Men, they’re so difficult to train,” she sighed, slapping the paper down on the table. 
    “Actually, I’ve found Rob’s training to be exceptionally thorough,” I smiled, leaning closer, propping my head up with my hand, elbow on the table.  Rob’s body canted toward mine as he sat forward, our knees touching. 
    “The things you say,” he rumbled, lightly stroking the back of my hand and Laveda cleared her throat again. 
    “Go on, you two.  You’re throwing off enough heat to make me blush.”
    I looked away before the urge to challenge him to a sparring match faded.  There were some holds I definitely wouldn’t mind revisiting now that our friendship had deepened into something more.  “Sorry, we don’t get to be together like this very much.  We’ll behave, I promise.”
    “Behaving ain’t what I had in mind when I brung you here,” he muttered.  Me neither, but what could we do with his family there?   
    “Is Leila coming back?” I asked, trying to focus on something other than the feel of his hand in mine. 
    “She’ll be around soon enough,” Rob said, blowing across the top of his mug.  “She’s busy with something or other, shooed me right out without so much as a hi and goodbye.  So, what you been doing to keep out of trouble, Veda?”
    “Call me that again and I’ll show you trouble.”  She wagged her finger at him before her e yes lit upon the clock.  “Holy shitballs, is that the time?  I’d better leg it soon or I’ll be late for work.”  Grabbing a couple of ice cubes from the tiny freezer compartment in their fridge, she stirred them into her coffee, gulping it down as soon as it was cool enough.
    “Where do you work?” I asked, wondering what kind of a place she’d start so late in the day.
    “Place called Bird in Hand, do you know it?”
    My mouth fell open in surprise.  “You seriously work there?”  She seemed so… normal.  Not at all like the women I’d met there on my one and only visit.  Rob’s face instantly hardened into a scowl at the news. 
    “I thought we agreed you’d give up this lifestyle?”
    “ You agreed, I happen to like this lifestyle,” Laveda said loftily, setting her mug into the bottom of the sink with a thunk and