CHAPTER FOUR

Booker

I was fucked. Royally fucked. The second I saw the pretty little blonde trying to force her car down the street, I’d known I’d help her. Couldn’t really stop myself. She was gorgeous. Petite, curvy, big tits, nice ass, and she smelled incredible, but it was the glasses that sent me over the edge. I could envision her in thigh-highs, pearls, and those glasses while she straddled and rode me.

When I’d coaxed her out of her car and she’d started talking, her obvious sense of humor showing even though she was terrified, I’d watched in fascination as every emotion she was feeling showed on her face in real time. I couldn’t remember ever meeting a woman more beautiful… and fucking innocent. Kindergarten teacher and daughter of the chief of police. Shit.

I dialed Mack’s number and then started my truck.

“Yo.”

“You got the car over to Hatch’s?” I asked.

Hatch Wallace was our Sergeant at Arms and owned his own shop close by. We took all of our more difficult jobs to him because he was a genius with engines.

“Yeah,” Mack said. “It’s fucked up. Might need to rebuild the engine.”

“Shit.” I headed onto the freeway. “I’ll be there in twenty.”

I hung up and stared out at the road in front of me trying to figure out how the hell I was gonna get out of this, and whether or not I really wanted to.

***

Danielle

My bell rang hour after Booker left. I opened the door to my brother who leaned down to kiss my cheek as he handed me a box with a phone inside and stepped into my apartment. My brother was tall, just over six feet, with blond hair and hazel eyes. My girlfriends all had crushes on him, waxing poetic about how much he looked like Brad Pitt.

“Hi,” I said, and closed the door.

“Hey. Where’s your car?” he asked. “It’s not in the lot.”

“One of the guys at the wreckage place is having it towed somewhere to evaluate it. He’s going to call me tomorrow or Friday.” I glanced at the new phone. “Well, he’s going to leave me a message and I’ll call him back since he can’t really call me.”

Elliot chuckled. “Got it, sis.”

“I forget you’re smarter than you look.” I grinned. “Want some wine or a beer?”

“I have to go, actually. Just wanted to make sure you got home safe. What time do you have to be at school tomorrow?”

“Seven.”

“Want me to pick you up?”

“Oh, yes. Crap. I didn’t even think about how I was getting to work,” I admitted. “I’m a little frazzled.”

He crossed his arms. “How was the blind date?”

“Ohmigod, it sucked. So bad. He was boring with a capital B. He went on and on about the mating life of silkworms.”

“You’d be well-dressed.”

“I’d be dressed in stuff that was dry-clean only. Pass,” I retorted.

Elliot chuckled. “I could set you up, you know.”

“No,” I said quickly. “I’m done for now. I just want to focus on getting my life back and maybe saving again.”

My brother’s face darkened. “Asshole.”

“Yes, I know, Ell, but there’s nothing we can do about it. Em did all she could legally and he’s making restitution.”

Our sister, Emily, was a lawyer and had been trying to deal with my issues from a legal standpoint for years.

“A hundred bucks a month is bullshit.”

“I agree. I’m hoping Emily can find more in his financials.”

Elliot studied me for a few tense seconds. “Okay, I’m going. I’ll pick you up tomorrow at six-thirty.”

“Thank you. You’re the best big brother on the planet.”

He grinned, his body relaxing a bit. “Don’t I know it.”

He gave me a quick hug and then he was out the door, and I locked up and flopped onto the sofa. I pried open the plastic wrapping containing the flip phone, plugged it in, powered it up and called Kim.

“This is Kim.”

“Hey, it’s me.”

“Well, hello ‘me.’” Kim giggled. “Got your text. Brilliant.”

“Thank you,” I said.

“I assume you’re home and safe?”

“No, I’m buried alive in a ditch on the side of the road.”

“Oh, where? I’ll come rescue you.”

I laughed. “I love how you’ve always got my back.”

“I’m a giver,” she retorted.

“On that note, can you give me the number I texted those pictures from, please?”

“Ah, sure? But you have to tell me why.”

“One of the guys said he’d call me tomorrow with an update on my car and I want to give him the new number.”

“Hmm-mm, I bet you do,” she said. “Tell me the real reason.”

I both loved and hated that my best friend could see right through me. “That is the real reason.”

“Is he hot? Your ‘the guy’ that’s ‘one of the guys’?”

Ohmigod… was he hot? That was an understatement. “He’s a thug, Kim.”

“That’s not what I asked.”

“Yes, he’s good looking… in a rough sort of way, I guess.”

“Hmm-mm, right,” she retorted. “I’ll text it to you.”

“Thanks.”

“Do you need a ride tomorrow?”

“You’re willing to come and get me at six-thirty?”

She gasped. “In the morning? Ah, no. Sorry, I just don’t love you quite that much.”

I giggled. “I know. Ell’s picking me up.”

“Oh, how I love him.”

“I know, babe. Everyone does.”

“Okay, I’m gonna text you his number and then hit the hay.”

“Thanks, Kim. See you on Tuesday for lunch, right?”

“Definitely. ’Bye.”

“’Bye.”

I sat on the sofa staring at the phone for what seemed like an eternity before Kim’s text came through. The number popped up on my screen and my heart raced in excitement. It was just after ten and I was typically in bed by now and wondered if he might be too. Maybe he wouldn’t answer, and I could leave a message. I bit my lip. I didn’t really know what to do. I felt compelled to call him. Like if I didn’t hear his voice before I went to bed, I wouldn’t be able to sleep.

“Dani, you are ridiculous,” I told myself, but it didn’t negate the fact that I was attracted to him. In a big way.

I set the phone aside and sipped my wine, then picked the phone up again and stared at it. I set it aside again and repeated these actions for several minutes as I contemplated my stupidity. In the end, I chalked it up to the fact that he had my car and I was just calling him to give him information. It didn’t matter that it was past ten on a Thursday night. It was business, so I dialed the number.

“Yo.”

“Um, hi. Is this Austin?” I asked. No response, so I glanced at my phone, then put it back to my ear. Maybe I’d dialed wrong. “I’m sorry. I must have the wrong number.”

“You got me, Dani.” His voice washed over me and sent a chill down my spine.

“How did you know it was me?” I asked.

He chuckled. “No one else calls me Austin.”

“Oh. Right. Um, I just wanted you to have my new number for when you know what’s wrong with my car.”

“And you had to tell me that now?”

I was officially an idiot. “Well, no, I guess not. But it was either now or really early in the morning because I have to be at work at seven and I figured if you were asleep, you wouldn’t answer so I was going to leave a message. I didn’t expect you to pick up.” Crap, I was rambling again.

“Got it, darlin’.”

“Well, good. Okay. I’ll let you go.”

“Probably a good idea.”

I should have hung up. But as always, I was a glutton for punishment. “Why is it probably a good idea?”

“Dani, I’m not the man for you.”

I gasped. “Excuse me? I never said you were.”

“You don’t have to say it out loud, babe. It’s written all over your face.”

“It is not! Wow. Are you always this rude, or am I just lucky?”

He chuckled and damn if I didn’t squirm a little at the sound. “Your car’s a piece of shit.”

“I’m guessing it’s both,” I grumbled.

“You really shouldn’t be driving it,” he continued, ignoring my astute observation.

“Well, it’s all I can afford, so I don’t have much choice in the matter.”

“Why is it all you can afford?”

“Um, excuse me, Sir Rude-a-lot, that’s none of your business.”

He chuckled again.

I sat up straighter. “Well, have someone call me with how much it’s going to cost me to fix it and I’ll have someone drive me down to pick it up.”

“Four-thousand, seven-hundred, ninety-two dollars is the current estimate,” he said.

I choked. “What?”

“Your engine’s pretty much shot, Dani.”

“I don’t have that kind of money,” I whispered, blinking back tears. I tended to get a bit emotional when I was exhausted.

“Pickin’ up on that, darlin’. Wonderin’ why.”