“He has a key to your place. You shouldn’t stay here.”
“Fuck. This sucks. I don’t have the money for this.”
Jump spoke before he could really think about what he was offering. “Stay at my place for the night. I have two bedrooms and an air mattress you can crash on. That guy has a key to your place. You can’t stay here. He could come back and do something bad.”
Blakely closed her eyes and fought the tears that threatened. He was right. She couldn’t sleep here until she figured out how Grayson had obtained the keys to her place. She would have to have a very serious talk with the office. Hopefully, they would spring for re-keying her door, or she would have to move out. But she didn’t want to move. This was the best place she’d lived in ages.
She popped open her eyes and stared at the man who’d come in to rescue her. Could she trust him? Her ability to judge people was questionable. She’d spent too many years being controlled by others to understand okay behavior. Maybe she should run from this guy, too. But her choices were limited, and if she left here alone, Grayson might follow her.
“Fine, I’ll stay in your spare room. What choice do I have? But I swear to God—” She pointed her finger at him, shooting him a warning look.
He raised both hands to convince her he wouldn’t think of touching her. “Hands off. I understand. I won’t do more than offer you breakfast and coffee in the morning.”
She rolled her eyes. “I get it. I was wrong to assume that you’re like one hundred percent of guys I’ve met before. I’m sure you aren’t.” The sarcasm was hard to hold back on.
He chuckled. “I’m not totally innocent. But no, in this situation, it wouldn’t be right to come on to you. You’re in a bad situation, and I’m only here to help.”
Was this guy for real? Could he actually be one of the good ones? Grayson showing up, trying to ruin everything, and this guy saving the day. What the heck was going on?
The last time Grayson had walked into her life, she’d ended up with a broken orbital bone, a few broken ribs, and a broken arm. The only reason she’d escaped and survived was that a group of school children on a field trip had walked into the parking garage and interrupted the attack. She’d never thoughtshe would be saved by a group of school children, and she hadn’t expected to be saved by this man who called himself Jump. Maybe it wasn’t such a crazy idea that Jump could save her.
CHAPTER TWO
The alarm sounded at two in the morning. Jump was used to getting called from bed, but not like this. Usually it was a call or a text. This alarm was rude and left no room to be ignored.
His bare feet hit the floor, and he grunted. The fire alarm had been pulled. As he stood to grab for his pants, he remembered he had a guest staying in his spare room.
“Fuck.”
Had she set his apartment on fire? Or was there something else on fire? Could it be a false alarm?
This was an older building, which meant it didn’t have the proper fire blocking material in place to keep a fire from spreading. If one of the units was on fire, the whole place could go up in smoke.
He needed to figure out what had happened. Jump rubbed his face and slapped his cheeks, trying to wake up. The second he stepped out of his bedroom, the door to the spare room opened. Blakely stood in the hall, her eyes wide.
“It’s fucking Grayson. It has to be him.”
Her words confused him for a second. “Why?”
Blakely’s frown deepened. “I don’t know why I think it’s him. I just know. This is something he would do.”
There was something about the way she said those words that made him suspect she was right. She was wrapped up in a mess of crap, and he’d stepped into it with her. Maybe he shouldn’t have invited her into his life. But would Grayson have set the fire anyway, even if she’d gone to a hotel?
He could walk away. Just turn from her and never look back. But there was something about her, something intriguing, drawing him in.
“Let’s see what’s up out there,” Jump said.
“Shit. I’m so sorry you got wrapped up in this.”
“Well, if this is him, he probably would have killed you if you’d been at your place.”
She nodded. “Yeah, he would have.” Then she shrugged. “Maybe he wouldn’t have. He needs me alive.”
He wanted to know why this Grayson dick needed her alive, and why he wanted something from her in the first place. What was going on, and why the hell was the smoke alarm going off?
There wasn’t time to ask those questions right now. He could find out later as long as they survived. To survive, they had to get out of this apartment and away from the fire. If there was a fire.
“Let’s check the door. See if it’s hot.” He moved to the door, checking it. “It’s not hot.”
