“I don’t see you beating down my door, and you know where I am.” Damn, he lives to get under people’s skin. I should just ignore him.
“Always fucking working. You need to get a life, my man.”
“Can you do the job or not?” I’m questioning why I brought him into this, even though I already spent days coming up with squat.
“Touchy, touchy. Hit me. I have time right now.”
“I have an address and a plate number. I want to know anything you can find out about either.” I read off the info. “And keep this between us.”
“Uh-oh,” Iron mutters under his breath.
“What is it? Who is she connected to?”
“I knew it was about a female.” He sounds victorious.
Damn it, I’m showing my hand.
“The car is register to Maxine Johnson. What a weird fucking name. Who names their kid Maxine?” he rambles.
I have to admit the name doesn’t fit the woman at all, but it’s not as crazy as Iron’s making it out to be. “What about the address?” I urge.
“Same name. Holy shit, she’s young. Twenty-five with a name like that?”
“Can you focus for a second?”
“She’s owned the property for about two years. There’s a small mortgage, and I don’t see any other properties under that name. Who is this chick?”
“If I knew, I wouldn’t be calling you,” I retort.
He doesn’t give up. “Who is she toyou?”
“She’s been coming into the club. I thought she looked familiar but couldn’t place her.” The half-truth rolls easily off my tongue.
Iron groans. “Christ, please don’t tell me you’re using Rex as your relationship role model.”
“I’m not looking to own her, Iron. I’m just trying to figure out why the hell she’s following me home and showing up at the club.” I let too much slip in my frustration.
“Say what? Is she stalking you? That’s kind of hot. What does she look like? Are you leaving your curtains open and giving her a show?”
“Jesus Christ, are you done?”
“Not nearly. When I’m done finding out everything I can about her, I’ll give you all the details. That way you’ll know exactly how to wax her cherry.”
“Wax her cherry,” I whisper in utter astonishment. That can’t be a real saying.
“Get her hot,” he clarifies, as if I didn’t get his meaning.
“I’m hanging up on you now. How about you forget I even called?”
“Not a fucking chance.” He doesn’t even try to hide his laugh as he hangs up the phone before I can. I toss mine on the desk, wondering if he’s already calling Rex. When my phone doesn’t ring in the next ten minutes, I allow myself to relax, but the threat looms over my head, and Iron is probably loving every minute of it.
I open my internet, knowing it’s set up with a VPN, and type in the name Maxine Johnson. Usually, I’d get some social media hits, but nothing of interest comes up. I also don’t know what I’m looking for either.
It’s been days since I followed her home, and she hasn’t returned to the club since. It makes me wonder if she knows I was there and if leaving the rock in her window was too much. I’m tempted to go see if it’s still there.
Locking up my office, I decided to leave early. There’s no reason I need to shut this place down every night, and there hasn’t been in a long time. It’s just become another of my habits. The bouncers make sure the girls get to their cars safely, and Saddle can handle anything else that comes up.
I ghost through the club. No one approaches me, but I still feel their eyes on me as I make my way over to Saddle at the bar.
