Page 15 of Trick
“It’s not. My ex just doesn’t know when to quit,” she bit out, frustration dripping from every word.
“He’s been harassing you?” I tried not to snarl as I asked the question, but I had zero fucking tolerance for men like that. I slowed down to turn on to her street, looking over at her in time to see her frowning as she gripped the phone tightly in one hand.
“He isn’t really,” she denied. “He’s just pissed because I left him, and he’s not happy that we’re taking a loss on the sale of our condo. I’ve told him to stop calling and to text me only if it’s about the sale, but he clearly doesn’t listen.”
I pulled into her driveway as Lauren rummaged around in her purse again, presumably looking for her house keys. I jumped out of the truck and rushed around to open her door, catching her by surprise.
“Oh,” she gasped, then smiled uncertainly as she stepped out of the truck with a key ring clutched in her hand.
I fell into step beside her, causing her to come to a stop as she turned to look at me suspiciously. I raised my hands in the universal gesture of surrender, before telling her that I was just going to walk her to the door.
“I don’t expect you to invite me in. I just want to make sure you get inside safely, especially since your porch light isn’t on.”
She reluctantly nodded her acceptance, then took the last few steps up to her porch. She unlocked the door a moment later, opening it a crack as she turned to me one last time.
“Thank you again for driving me home,” she started, before being interrupted by a plaintive meowing from inside.
“Get back, Elvis. Don’t you dare try to sneak out again,” Lauren said sternly.
Movement caught my eye, and I glanced down to see a black and white ball of fur dash out the door at the same moment Lauren wailed, “No!”
Without thought, I reached out and grabbed what turned out to be a cat, holding it carefully as it scratched at me and thrashed in my hold for a few seconds before relaxing and rubbing against the leather of my cut. Damned demon cat. I winced at the sting of the scratches and tried to remember if I was up to date on my tetanus shot.
“Oh my God, thank you! It took me twenty minutes to get him back in the house the last time he did that,” Lauren said, opening the door and motioning me and the furball inside before closing the door firmly behind us.
“You’re being a naughty kitty,” she scolded the cat as she gingerly lifted him from my arms and cradled him close before lecturing him again, using a voice normally reserved for talking to babies. “Such a bad kitty, yes you are. You know better. You could get hurt out there.” The cat put up with that nonsense for a few seconds before twisting out of her hold and diving for the floor, racing across the room and down the hall in the blink of an eye.
Lauren looked up at me and thanked me once more for keeping her cat from running off.
I was cut off from replying when her phone rang again from the depths of the purse still hanging from her arm. It stopped ringing by the time she retrieved it, then started ringing again, eliciting a deep sigh from her. Without thought, I grabbed the phone from her, seeing the name “Beau the Bastard” flashing on the screen.
“I’ve got this,” I growled, ignoring Lauren’s shocked objection as I hit the button to answer and held the phone up to my ear.
“Why the fuck are you blowing Lauren’s phone up? She told you she doesn’t want to talk to you, asshole. Text her if it’s about the condo, but otherwise, leave her the fuck alone.”
Ignoring the sputtering man on the other end of the phone, I hit the button to end the call, then handed the phone back to Lauren.
“Um…that wasn’t really necessary but thank you.”
“Sorry if I overstepped, but I’ve got no patience with bullshit like that. If he keeps bothering you, let me know.”
She nodded, then thanked me one last time for both the ride home and for rescuing her cat from certain doom.
“Anytime, darlin’,” I told her as I gave her a wink. I didn’t even realize I’d done it. It was almost an automatic gesture these days.
Lauren bit her lip, but it looked like she was trying to stifle a laugh, rather than the seductive kind of lip-biting response I usually got.
Deciding not to press my luck, I reminded her to lock up behind me and to leave her porch light on the next time, then headed back out to the truck. I winced as I flexed my hand, staring at the tiny beads of blood that welled up along the scratches. Damn, that cat’s claws were as sharp as razors.
I washed my hands thoroughly as soon as I made it back to the clubhouse, then applied some antibiotic cream from the first aid kit we kept in the kitchen, muttering about sexy ass, crazy cat ladies under my breath the whole time.
Ignoring the brothers scattered around the common room, and the club bunnies and hangarounds keeping them entertained, I took the stairs two at a time up to my room.
I stripped down and settled into bed, unable to stop thinking about Lauren and her sexy voice narrating that audiobook. The crisp, cool sheets did little to chill the heat flooding my body at the memory.
It took me longer than I expected to find the story they’d been listening to. Lauren apparently didn’t record under her own name, which was probably smart. Luckily, I remembered the names Cecilia and Damian. A Google search finally came up with a romance book with characters with those names, narrated by a Laura Asher.Bingo!
I downloaded it, then hit play and adjusted the volume, laying the phone on the mattress next to me as Lauren’s voice washed over me.
