Page 4 of Pickle
It’s boring in the office with Silas gone. The rubber ball bouncing against the wall closest to the door and back into my hand can only keep me entertained for so long. Should I be working on the quarterly taxes? Duh. Am I? No. Also duh. It’s been two days of solitude since he and the guys we subcontracted, guys we frequently work with and know, left to travel with the Ronsons, and I’m over it.
Yeah,I get it. This is penance for sleeping with a client. Again. But shit, a girl’s got needs. In retrospect, I should have just handled myself by myself. But alas, I’m a short-sighted bitch when dick is on the menu. Sue me.
More annoying is,I’ve gone back to the diner every day since Sexy Nosy Biker Dude was there. No dice. Lexen’s not a huge city by any stretch, but apparently, it’s big enough to keep me from innocently bumping into the guy soon enough for my liking.Much more of this string of bad luck, and this girl’s gonna have to actually put in real effort to go looking for him.
Before I can bustout a pen and paper to start making a list of possible ways to track him down, a buzz on the outer door of our offices catches my attention. I mentally shelve the hunt for my biker hottie and head to the reception area.
Duty over bootyprevails once again.
“Hi, how can I—”The words stall in my throat. Standing just inside the door is the man himself. And he’s not alone. He’s got a cute little girl perched on his hip who looks just like him and a gorgeous woman standing at his side, her hand cradling the kid’s back. Great. I’ve been fantasizing for days about a married father.New low, Thyrie. New low.
“I’m lookingto hire a body woman to guard my sister and niece while they stay with me for a few weeks. Any chance you’re available?”
His words sinkthrough my thick skull, and relief washes through me like a tidal wave. Not that I allow myself to resume drooling over the guy. I learned my lesson for real this time.
Just because thewoman and kid he’s with right now aren’t his wife and daughter, it doesn’t mean he isn’t married. I shouldn’t be lusting after guys whose relationship status I have no clue about. I’m sticking to the straight and narrow from here on out. To that end, I force purity into my thoughts and focus on the business that brought them here.
“Possibly I can.Let’s go into my office and talk details.” I wait until the trio pass me before striding to the front door of the office and flipping the lock. Walk-ins are uncommon, but obviously not impossible. With just me here this afternoon, I don’t want anyone wandering in off the street while I discuss the security needs of a potential client.
For the next two hours,the man, whose name I learned is Hyram, detailed their needs. A short time into the meeting, the woman he’d introduced as Frankie, carried her daughter over to the sofa against the wall and settled her down for a nap. Once the kid was asleep, both Hyram and Frankie opened up with more specifics about the dangers that brought them to me.
“We’ve gotthe tech end of things handled,” he explained and didn’t shy away from the details when I insisted on having them. As I’d suspected, he’s exactly the rough-looking biker I’d envisioned him to be. He’s president of a local MC that’s only recently been identified here in Lexen.
Before Ghost Born MCshowed up, it was pretty much just the Savage Dreams club in town. Silas and I never had much call to cross paths with its members, so though I’m aware of them in a general sense, I don’t have a lot of background.
“So this is definitely notturf conflict between you guys and SDMC?” Much as I’d be loathe to turn down protecting an innocent woman, I’m even less inclined to embroil Sentrify in an inter-club beef.
“Hundred percent sure.Frankie and Teeny live in Darrow with my brother-in-law where our mother charter is. He sent her here for safety while they deal with things there.”
“Misguided, adorable jackass,”Frankie mumbles from her slouch in the chair beside her brother. I get the feeling she’s said the same thing a lot.
“You don’t thinkthe threat is significant?” It might seem like an innocuous question, but I’ve learned the hard way how much harder things are when the protectee doesn’t think my presence is necessary.
“Oh no.I get why ‘Lo sent Teeny and me away. He’s an overprotective lug, but I don’t want Teeny in the crossfire, and it’s a dad at her preschool.” Her lip curls in obvious disgust, and my concerns subside. The woman across from me may be annoyed at having to leave her husband and home for temporary security, but she’s not objecting.
I meet her eyes,finding a resolute challenge in the warm depths. She’s well aware of what her husband and his motorcycle brothers will do, and she’s resigned herself to feel no guilt for it. Like recognizes like, and if there’s anything I’ve learned in my years as a soldier and in the time since, it’s that not all lungs deserve breath in them. Respect flourishes between us as she finds the acceptance and promise I’m conveying in my stare.
“I’ll protect you both,”I vow.
“I’ll provide guard duty.Surveillance twenty-four seven and security for everyone at our place. But I want, I need, someone in charge of physically standing between my girls and danger, so I can focus on taking out the trash.” Hyram’s low rasp drips with menace. “If it shows up here.”
I turnmy attention to the man who’s been dominating my thoughts for the past few days. Beard scruff lends masculinity to the lush bow of his lips, heavy brows furrow over dark hazel eyes I watched dance with mirth when he played with his niece. The assorted facets of his personality I’ve seen have me hooked, even more now that I’ve properly met him.
After the fiascoof sleeping with Bryan fucking Johnstone, I should stand by my resolve to not get involved with a client ever again. But even as the thought crosses my mind, I’m already rationalizing the ways Hyram Holt isn’t actually my client. It’s a technicality, because Hyram is hiring Sentrify, but Frankie and Teeny are my protectees.
As far asI can figure it, that makes Frankie my client, and Hyram her very available brother. Silas will say I’m splitting hairs. But Silas isn’t here right now, is he?
CHAPTER FIVE
Pickle
Tracking Thyrie had taken my brother, Malik, and his partner, Rurik, less time than it takes to find a takeout menu in my junk draw. They have more skills at finding information than is reasonable, and thankfully, Rurik knows more than anyone what it feels like to hunt down an obsession.
I’d expectedit to take some maneuvering to convince Thyrie the job was real and not some fabricated bullshit. Bringing Frankie and Teeny with me had been a calculated move on my part. The two of them would have been safe back at the compound with the guys, but keeping her with me satisfied my concern that Thyrie would refuse the contract.
The not unanticipated bonus is,my sister and niece are irresistible. Even Ace’s grouchy ass crumbles when Teeny flashes one of her schemy little grins at him. And Frankie’s so intrinsically sweet it’s impossible not to be friendly with her.
“Alright.I’m in. Let’s get a service contract laid out.” Thyrie’s easy agreement gives me hope she’s feeling the same magnetic pull I am. Sure, it could just be business on her end, but I’m choosing to believe the chemistry is hot enough between us that she’s succumbing to it, too.
