Total pages in book: 73
Estimated words: 73311 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 367(@200wpm)___ 293(@250wpm)___ 244(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 73311 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 367(@200wpm)___ 293(@250wpm)___ 244(@300wpm)
“I give you permission to bite her.”
He didn’t so much as nod in understanding—damn dog.
Stephanie’s eyes were the first thing that met me as I got out of the bathroom.
“What, you didn’t trust us with him?” Stephanie sneered, her arms crossed over her belly, hand resting near her gun, as she stared down at Tank before returning her gaze to mine.
My belly tightened in anger.
“Nothing against you, honey, but I don’t know you,” I told her honestly. “So no, I don’t trust you. I trust Tough because I know the man. You, not so much.”
Stephanie’s mouth tightened. “That’s going to get really awkward when you’re depending on me to teach you the ropes.”
I refused to say anything.
She, however, had no problem letting me know how unhappy she was.
“And I’m going to warn you, I’m not going to go easy on you because you’re the prodigal son.”
My brows furrowed.
“I’m not anybody’s son who’d get me a job here,” I informed her. “Now, if you’ll move out of my way, the bathroom will be all yours.”
She moved, but only enough to allow me to pass by.
My phone vibrated in my pocket, and I pulled it out as I walked past her, thankful for anything that would take me away from thinking about this woman who I wanted to strangle.
“Hello?” I answered.
“Hey,” Imogen said. “I just wanted to tell you before you started your shift that I was going to head to the shop. Is it all right that I start working a little on the Nova?”
She sounded so hopeful that I decided to let her, even though it went against the grain to have anyone working on the car but me.
“Sure, baby,” I agreed almost immediately. “Will you be there all day?”
“You can’t have your phone out while at work,” Stephanie snapped.
I covered the mouthpiece with my hand and looked at my watch.
“According to my watch, I still have four minutes until my shift starts. So I can do anything I damn well please.”
She opened her mouth to reply, but I chose to walk away.
“Sorry,” I muttered into the receiver. “Did you answer me on whether you’ll be there all day?”
“Yes,” she answered. “Yes, I’ll be here all day. At least until around five. I have a lot of backlog I need to get started on. I’m just waiting on parts for them now.”
“I’ll call you around lunch time to see if you’re free, then maybe we can grab lunch at that diner across from your shop,” I offered.
She hummed in content. “That sounds nice. Who was that woman that told you that you couldn’t be on the phone?” She cleared her throat. “I can let you go if you need me to.”
“I need to go, but not because she told me I needed to hang up, because I start my shift in like a minute and a half. Want to make a good impression and all that shit.”
She snickered.
“I’m sure that’s exactly right. Good impression.”
I grinned.
“Yeah, I’m not fooling myself either.”
Tough snorted from beside me, and I flipped him off.
“Gotta go, baby,” I told her. “I’ll call you around lunch and let you know what’s up with me.”
“Okay,” she whispered. “Take care of yourself and Tank.”
“It’s nine in the morning. You’re on shift now.”
Stephanie’s voice was already getting to me.
“I will, darlin’,” I promised, knowing that she was nervous about the whole new cop aspect of my life. “Talk to you soon.”
“Bye.”
“Bye, baby.”
Stephanie pushed out the door of the locker room the same time I slid my phone back into my pants, leaving me with two laughing men who were doing it at my expense.
“What the fuck is her problem?” I hissed, staring at the closed door for a few long seconds before returning my gaze to the two men.
Tough grinned.
“Welcome to our world,” Tough gestured to himself and then to McClain.
“What the fuck is her problem?” I crossed my arms over my chest, repeating the question in hopes they’d give me an answer I could deal with.
Tough looked at McClain, then back to me.
“She’s pissed at you because you got the dog and the hours she wanted,” McClain piped in.
My instincts weren’t off then. Whatever she had against me was personal.
She may be a bitch in real life, but nobody was that big of a bitch without a freakin’ reason.
“Are you ready or am I leaving by myself?”
I looked up to find Stephanie at the door, waiting with barely restrained patience.
Her foot was tapping and she was glaring at me like I’d just shit on her front porch.
“Yeah, yeah,” I grumbled. “I’m fucking ready.”
“I’d appreciate it if you didn’t use coarse language in my presence. It’s vulgar and offends me.”
With one final look at the two men silently laughing their asses off, I headed to my doom.
***
The first call of the day started out fairly normal. It was at an apartment complex just east of the city. A call about suspicious activity out in the parking lot. A man had called to say he thought there was a drug deal going down in the parking lot, but without getting closer he couldn’t be sure.