“You shouldn’t have to leave. You didn’t do anything wrong.”
“But if I stay, Chad will keep harassing me and making it impossible to do my job. I don’t know what I ever did to that guy, but I can’t seem to get off his radar.”
“Why don’t you let me handle it?” I asked.
She tensed. “Listen, Batman, I didn’t tell you this so you could swoop in and save the day.”
“Yeah, but I don’t like seeing good people get railroaded by assholes. There’s a shortage of good people in this world, Jess. You’re basically an endangered species. I don’t want this shithead working you over for being nice. I’ll tell you what, text me their full names and any contact information you have for them. I’ll pass it along to Morse and Tap. Those guys are geniuses. They can hack into computers, phone lines, security systems, anything you can think of. They’ll get proof of what’s really going on between your manager and your boss, and then I’ll bring the information to you and you can decide what you want to do with it.”
“Invading their privacy is illegal,” she replied.
“And what they’re doing to you is wrong.”
“But what about Morse and Tap? I don’t want anyone to get in trouble.”
“Babe, I don’t think you understand how good those two are. Tap joined the club around the same time I did, and nobody even knows where he lives. Trust me, we’ve tried to figure that shit out, but he’s too goddamn stealthy. Nobody will catch them. Let them poke around and see what they find out.”
She still seemed hesitant. “They’d do that for me?”
I chuckled. “Yes. But don’t go gettin’ a big head about it. They’d do it for anyone. I swear they get off on this kind of shit. If your boys are on the up and up, they have nothin’ to worry about. But if they’re doing some shady-ass shit, they need to be taken down.”
Her eyes lit up with laughter as she pressed her lips together.
“What?” I asked.
“Shadyassshit.” She giggled. “Because Chad’s taking it in the ass.”
Glad to see her happy, I laughed with her. Then I tucked a stray hair behind her ear. “Text me their info, Jess. Let’s see exactly what these two are up to.”
Chewing on her bottom lip, she pulled out her phone and forwarded me two contact cards. I forwarded them on to Morse and Tap, giving them a little background on the situation. They responded immediately to let me know they were on it, and I could practically see them rubbing their hands together in anticipation. I wasn’t lying when I told Jessica they got off on this kind of thing. They were the type of men who liked to overturn rocks and expose shit hiding in the shadows.
Jessica and I finished dinner and headed into the living room.
“You post the ad for a roommate yet?” I asked as I sat next to her on the loveseat.
“Nope. I plan to do that tonight. Carly and Wasp will be back Sunday, so that’s when I’m moving back in. Carly wants to hang out with me here and make sure I’m okay, but I think I’m good. I could probably stay in my room tonight and be fine.”
“You could if I stayed with you.”
She studied me. “You’d do that? We could have an adult sleepover. I’ll make popcorn and rent a scary movie.”
“Yeah, babe, I’d like that. Especially if you sleep in the nude. But I don’t get off shift until two a.m., so you’d be stuck here alone until then. And I have to work tomorrow morning for my dad, so I’ll be getting up and heading out early. It’s probably best if you stay at the fire station tonight and I’ll creep into your room after I get off.”
“When do you sleep?” she asked, looking worried. “You need more than four hours a night.”
“When I can.” Her concern for me made my chest constrict. This girl was a fucking diamond in this rough ass city, and I needed to make sure she stayed that way. I had the perfect solution for her roommate problem that would allow me to keep her safe and sweet. “Have you ever thought about renting the room to a man?”
Her eyebrows shot up her forehead. “You want me to live with a guy?”
“Not just any guy. Me.” My hand returned to her knee. It was like I couldn’t stop touching her. I didn’t want to stop. I craved the feel of her skin. “I’ve been thinking about moving out of the fire station for a while now. Don’t get me wrong, the guys I live with are family, but I’m kinda tired of living in the club’s version of a frat house. I’ve looked at a few apartments, but they’re expensive as hell. Even if I could afford the rent, I don’t want to live alone. So… I was thinking… you need a roommate, and I’m gonna be spending a lot of time here getting to know you, so I might as well split rent. It just makes sense.”
“You’re making a lot of assumptions, mister. What if I don’t want you here?”
“You do.” I slid my hand up her leg, under her dress. “You will.”
She eyed me. “You play dirty.”
“I’ll do whatever’s necessary to spend time with you.”
