Page 58 of New Rules
“Not a fan,” I replied simply.
She gave me a knowing smile—the type that told me she saw my jealousy for what it was and found it cute.
Hours later, Tammy had just finished everything she needed for closing and Andre and Diego were waiting by the bar to walkus both out. Given the fact that the last two times someone had broken in—or attempted to—were on Sundays, we’d decided it would be best to have extra coverage tonight as we all left.
“Alright, I think that’s it,” Tammy said, returning from the office and joining us at the bar.
“You switching it up?” Andre asked, pointing to the pouch in her hands.
“Huh?” Tammy asked.
“The money pouch in your hands.” Andre pointed again. “You not gonna lock that up like usual?”
“We’re actually depositing it through the ATM tonight instead,” I explained, having worked out the plan with Tammy already. “It’s not as reliable as taking it in person because the machines can make mistakes when you deposit that much cash, but we’re gonna take that risk for tonight just in case that asshole comes back.”
“You want us to go with you so you’ve got extra backup?” Diego offered, pointing to himself and Andre.
“Vince and Frank are meeting us at the bank for that very reason, but thanks,” Tammy told them, giving them the same information I’d given her a few hours ago.
They both nodded, though neither one seemed pleased by that answer. We all made our way out to the parking lot, as I constantly scanned the area.
The money bag was shoved inside Tammy’s purse, which she was clutching close to her like it held the crown jewels from the Queen of England.
Once inside my rental car, I turned to her and handed her my phone. “Will you text Frank and tell him we’re on our way?”
The drop went off without a hitch, though we realized we could only insert roughly two hundred dollars at a time so the machine didn’t get stuck. Several thousand dollars later, the money was deposited and we were on our way. Now we waited—waited to see if the person showed up tonight and received a rude surprise when they got there or not.
I glanced over at Tammy as we stopped at the traffic light. Her eyes were closed. She looked peaceful as she leaned back in the passenger seat.
This woman was quickly turning into someone who meant something to me—someone I wanted to keep around in my life. I knew that meant I needed to figure things out as far as moving here and dealing with all those logistics. The more I thought about the idea, the more I liked it and found I was actually looking forward to it.
Tammy was a fascinating puzzle. A complicated one, but one that I knew deep down would be worth it to solve. She was as stubborn as a mule sometimes but also sweet as a cinnamon roll when she wanted to be. She was great at letting people into her life on a surface level, but very few people knew the real Tammy deep down. I wanted to be one of those people.
I didn’t know which cards to play with her. But lucky for me, I had a full deck, and I intended to use them all if I had to.
EIGHTEEN
TAMMY
“See what a great houseguest I am?” Ray said, holding a cup in my direction as I entered the kitchen.“Not only do I give great orgasms while you scream my name, but I also make great coffee.”
I felt a rush of heat course through my body at that thought. “Is the screaming out of terror?” I teased, grabbing the cup from him and taking a big sip of that hot, delicious elixir.
I was trying to be funny to hide the nerves that were threatening to overtake me. He joked about getting me naked and making me scream his name, but we hadn’t had sex since that fateful Sunday night two weeks ago, when the second attempted break-in had happened.
He’d made plenty of flirty comments, given me many soft caresses on my arms and face when we were alone, but he hadn’t seemed to want to try for another tryst in the sheets since.
I was torn because for the longest time I hadn’twantedto get involved with him again because of the conflict of interest, but now…well, now I didn’t know what I wanted.
That was a lie. I wanted sex.
Last night I’d tried to make a move on him when we got back to my place after my shift at the bar. We’d made out hotand heavy in my living room for a few minutes before he pulled back, wished me sweet dreams, and turned to go to the spare bedroom.
I was an overthinker, and when it came to situations like these, my brain was working on overdrive.
Why didn’t he want to sleep with me anymore?
Was he over it?
