I rear back, nearly choking on my last bite of burger. “You don't need to run a background check or have me, I don’t know, actually fill out an application?”
He laughs, deep and booming. “You think I asked you without pulling your background check? Be for fucking real, Wilder. Your ass is squeaky clean.”
A small part of me feels guilty at hissqueaky-cleanassessment. Which is wild, because under any other circumstance, I wouldn’t feel even a shred of guilt. Randall Wallace got what he deserved tenfold. And, technically, I’m not the one who pulled the trigger.
“Right. Okay.”
“Also, get with the times, E. The paperwork is digital. Text me your email and I’ll send it over.”
I slide my phone from my pocket and fire off a text. “Start date?” I ask once it’s sent.
“How’s next week sound?”
“Works for me.”
“Glad to hear it. Any other questions?”
“Loads. Hours? I'm assuming it's not a nine to five. Pay? Benefits?”
“I’ll include it all in the email, and you can let me know if you have any questions.”
“Got it.” Unbidden, Scarlet pops into my head. “Hey, while we’re here, let me run something by you…”
He raises a brow, clearly intrigued. “Go on…”
“I’ve got this…friend.” The word tastes strange on my tongue. “And I think she’s in some real trouble.”
“Your friend happen to be the same one from The Creek?”
I slump back against the booth, which is apparently all the confirmation he needs.
“What’s going on?”
“She’s got a stalker.” I lay it all out there for him. The letters, the surveilling, the threats. “We filed a police report yesterday, but I… I don’t know, man. I’ve got a bad feeling.”
“We, huh?” Silas asks, grinning.Who the fuck grins after hearing something like that?“Sounds like security detail for your girl is a great first gig with us.”
“Two problems.” I hold up my index finger. “One, she’s not my girl.” I add my middle finger, pointing them both his way. “And two, she hasn’t hired you.”
“Not yet,” is all he says.
“Not yet to what?”
“All of it, man. All of it.”
TWELVE
SCARLET
“How’s it going, S?”Cara, one of the nurses I work with asks, as I trudge into the break room in search of coffee.
“Another freaking day in paradise,” I mutter, not bothering to look her way. I’m exhausted and overwhelmed and honestly kind of want to cry.
Cara’s like a freaking emotional hawk though—one second of eye contact andbam,you’re the mouse being plucked from the field as she picks apart your entire psyche. It’s as amazing as it is awful.
Amazing when it’s someone else’s life. Awful when it’s yours. And I’d really,reallylike to avoid her latching onto all of the many things keeping me up at night.
At this point, I’m not sure who’s dominating more of my time—Ellis or my stalker. Something shifted between the two of us over the weekend. Don’t get me wrong, Ellis still gets on my nerves like no other, but he was…softeron Sunday when he went with me to the station. Dare I say, even caring.
