He doesn’t elaborate but I swing my legs out of the hammock anyway and throw the book behind me. “Yeah, I’ll come with you. I don’t have anything better to do tonight.” I’m already dressed in my pink checkered sneakers, boyfriend jeans, and an off-the-shoulder sweater with a beanie. “Am I dressed appropriately,” I ask. Because I’m not showing up somewhere fancy wearing this.
“You always look perfect. Give me a minute to change and we’ll head out.”
The comment doesn’t escape me, and he heads inside before he can see my face turn tomato red. A few minutes later he comes out of his room wearing Chucks, a pair of jeans, a black hoodie, his glasses, and a black beanie. The man looks incredible in a suit, but this look is like kryptonite to me. What’s even better is we kind of match.
He comes over and takes my hand. “Remember the other day when I said we were going to be late if you kept looking at me like that? Well, I didn’t just mean then. I mean all the time.” I feel my cheeks fill with heat and he just smirks. “Let’s go, beautiful.” And we head to the car.
He lets go of my hand long enough to open the passenger side door of his SUV for me, and then retakes my hand in his after he gets into the driver's seat.
Tingles race up my spine just like every time he holds my hand. It’s like an impulse for him, and even though I should probably pull away, I don’t.
When we drive towards the freeway, I ask, “Are you going to tell me where we’re going or am I going to be left in suspense.”
He looks at me really quick and returns his attention to the road. “Don’t get mad, but we may or may not have an appointment with Candy and Brad. They’re calling themselves Diamond and Brock this week though.”
I stare at his profile in shock. “What! How the hell did you find them? The police can’t even find them. These people are dangerous and we’re just going to meet up with them? We should call the police,” I rant in panic. Because Brad and Candy are the worst kind of people: conniving and mean.
“Slow your roll.Wearen’t meeting with them. I am. You’ll be staying in the car. But I thought you might want to witness them get a taste of their own medicine.”
“Um…what? You’re crazy.” I shake my head at him.
“So you’ve told me… multiple times now.” He chuckles.
“You can’t be serious, Lucas. These people are professionals. They know what they’re doing. And what’s your plan? Go up to them and what… beat their asses? That will land you in jail and your pretty face cannot go to jail. You’ll be someone's bitch before I have enough money to bail you out.”
“No one is going to jail…except maybe those two.” He turns his head to me and smiles. “You think I’m pretty?”
I groan. “You’re missing the point. Tell me what your grand plan is so I can have nine-one-one on speed dial, just in case you get murdered by the stripper and Jersey shore wannabe.”
He freaking grins and then says, “I put an ad out as a photographer on the same site you used to advertise yourself, and I got a message from none other than Diamond and Brock. Two names that are as fake as Candy and Brad. Unknown to them, we aren’t actually showing up at the meetup location for the photoshoot. We’re going to ghost them and then follow them home. And then, I’m going to knock on their door and kindly ask them for your camera back. I checked the pawn shops in the area, and they haven’t had anyone bring in any cameras lately. So, I assume they still have it.”
I’m in disbelief. He really thought this through. This is either the most romantic thing anyone has ever done for me, or the most diabolical. I guess we’ll find out by the end of the night.
“They’re never going to give you the camera back just because you ask for it,” I argue.
He shrugs. “Maybe. But it won’t hurt to try. I need you to stay in the car at all times though. When we get to their place, you cannot, I repeat, cannot get out of the car for any reason. I’m not entirely sure what kind of people we’re dealing with, and I won’t risk your safety.”
“But you’ll risk yours?” I ask.
“Damn straight.”
My mouth flounders open and shut but nothing comes out. I don’t know what to say to him. We’ve been living together for the past week, but why would he risk anything for me? All sorts of questions plague my mind until we pull up to a beach not far from where I originally met them. When Lucas parks the car, he squeezes my hand to get my attention. “Look in the back.”
I do. And there lies a grocery bag full of snacks. All my favorites that I told him about this week when talking about our childhoods. I bring the bag forward and pull-out dill pickle sunflower seeds, fruit leather, beef jerky, and Swedish Fish. “What’s all this for?”
“You need snacks for a stakeout.”
I raise an eyebrow. “I take it you’ve done this before?”
He shrugs. “Something like that. You get to do all sorts of stuff as a bodyguard, and this happens to land under that umbrella.”
I’m not convinced but I go with it. “Thank you, these are all my favorites.”
He squeezes my hand once more. “I know. Now pass the dill pickle sunflower seeds. I’ve got to try them.”
We share the snacks while we sit and watch the beach for Diamond and Brock, or is it Candy and Brad?
Lucas asks me to describe my camera to him in detail while we wait, and I make sure to tell him there’s a small sticker of a rose on the shutter button. That way he knows what to look for when we follow them back to their place. I still think his plan is nuts and we shouldn’t be doing this, but he seems completely content with the whole setup.
