After I flicked the key at Gary’s front door and drove us both home, I pulled my truck into my parking spot next to my custom-built Harley Softail. My eyes ran over my bike that I hadn’t ridden in forever.
And then an idea sparked in my brain.
I turned off my truck then held out the keys to a still silent Indy. “Here, let yourself in. Unpack whatever, wherever. I’ll be back in a sec.”
Her eyes warily flicked between me and the keys I held. After a beat, she gingerly took them. “Okay.”
I held in my sigh at her obvious wariness. “Don’t forget to lock the truck. I’ll be back.”
I headed for Nathan’s place, two doors down from mine. All three of us—me, Nathan, and Ryan—had bought condos in the same block. It’d felt like a good idea at the time, but as they all paired off, it’d just underlined how alone I was most days.
Case in point, when I reached Nathan’s door, it was open and judging by the giggling and squealing coming from inside, I was interrupting the love birds. Again. But I had to run my idea by someone and like hell was I braving Hope’s wrath if I woke my niece up from her nap—again.
Pushing the door a little more open, I took in the scene in front of me. Nathan had Maddie over his shoulder in a fireman’s hold and was heading toward the hallway and the bedrooms beyond no doubt. Maddie was giggling and squealing as she hung over his shoulder.
I hated like hell to interrupt, but now was better than five minutes from now.
I cleared my throat loudly.
Maddie lifted her head and peered at me as I stood in their doorway.
“Uh, you guys might wanna close this before you get too busy.” I rubbed the back of my neck uneasily.
Nathan grunted and turned slightly toward me. “Thanks for the tip. Bye now.”
“Wait.” I lifted a hand. “I have something I wanted to talk to you about, Nathan. If it’s not a bad time.”
“It is. Bye now.”
Maddie slapped Nathan’s behind. “Stop. Let me down.”
“Seriously? But we were going to—”
“Now, Nathan,” she snapped.
Nathan whipped her around to her feet. She took a dizzied step and had to grab Nathan to stay upright. He smirked and slid an arm around her shoulders.
“What’s going on, Dyl?” she asked.
“I, uh, it’s shop business, but I, uh, had an idea about the receptionist position.”
“Does the person you want to hire have at least three brain cells?” Nathan asked with a frown.
“Yes.” I nodded. “She’s actually pretty smart. She—”
Nathan waved a hand. “Does she want to be an actress or a singer or something?”
“No.” I smiled slightly. “She hates fake people and can’t carry a tune to save her life.”
“Fan-fucking-tastic. She’s hired. Now get the hell outta my living room.” Nathan took two steps to the door, dragging Maddie along with him, and all but shoved me out of his condo. The door slammed shut, and I heard the lock twist.
“I guess I’ll tell her she starts Monday?” I shouted through the closed door.
Not that I got a reply.
Now all I had to do was convince Indy.
Chapter 6
