Page 33 of Rough Hard Fierce (Chicago Underground 1-3)
“I’m fine.” I clutched the soap, which slipped from my hands onto the tub with a thud.
“Sure?”
I picked up the soap. “Never better.”
“Can you move today?”
I dropped the soap again. “Fuck!”
“What?”
“Nothing. Ahhh, moving. Hmm…” To be honest I hadn’t been entirely sure we were doing that, or whether the whole thing had been some weird date dream. And I really hadn’t expected it so soon, but leave it to Colin to be expedient.
“I don’t know,” I said. “Can we talk about it later? I have to go in to work this afternoon.”
“About that,” he said.
I didn’t like his tone. I poked my head out of the shower. Colin leaned against the bathroom counter, somehow looking not at all silly while totally naked—and hard.
“I was thinking you could quit,” he said.
I gaped but managed to eke out a, “What?”
He shrugged in the face of my shock. “It sucks. The pay is shit, and so are the hours. You don’t even like it.”
He added that as an afterthought, but of course, I didn’t like it. Damn him for knowing that. “Wait a minute. How do you know how much I make?”
His eyes flickered. “You work shifts in a low-end bakery. How much can it pay? Besides, I’m in the industry.”
That made sense, I supposed. But still… “It would take time to find a better job. How would I pay my share?”
“I didn’t ask you to move in because I need a roommate, Allie.”
The effect of his sarcasm was offset by the teasing light in his eyes. I tightened my grip on the shower curtain to shield myself from the cold air and his hotness. “How will I pay you back for the lawyer?”
He snorted. “It wasn’t going to be a loan. Besides…there won’t really be a regular bill.”
That alarmed me.
“Relax,” he said. “He’s a real lawyer. He’s already on retainer, that’s all, with my brother.”
I wanted nothing to do with his brother, and Colin knew it. I especially didn’t like the idea of using his lawyer, someone who might have a different agenda. And worse, if the lawyer was paid by Colin’s brother, I’d owe him.
“No,” I said.
Colin didn’t look the least bit perturbed, as if he’d known I’d say that.
“It’s not about the money. He’s good at what he does.” Colin paused to give me a look, confirming that yes, the guy had gotten them out of illegal shit before. “I wouldn’t trust just any lawyer to help with this, seeing as, well…fathers have legal rights. Visitation, joint custody.” He shrugged away the awful words.
“I see,” I said through clenched teeth. “If you think he deserves visitation and…custody, why are you helping me?”
Colin looked me straight in the eyes. “I don’t think he deserves anything. I don’t give a fuck about him. I’m doing this because you want it, and I’m going to get it for you.” Then he turned and walked out of the bathroom.
My heart beat against my chest, hard and fierce.
It was a rather dark shade of gray, his declaration, but I didn’t think I’d ever heard anything more romantic than Colin telling me he’d spend his money, break laws, do anything he had to, to give me what I wanted. He was the man I’d been looking for without even trying. The man I hadn’t believed existed, one who’d fight for me. One who’d win.
Chapter Thirteen
