And insecure.
I called Jane.
“Well, hello there, bestie. How goes the delicious man?”
I bit my lip. “Um… well, we had our first fight.”
“Already?” she asked, but her tone was one of indifference, because the fact was, she knew me.
I filled her in on the past hour, not leaving anything out. Jane was the only person in this world to whom I told everything. All my sins, all my wins, total honesty.
When I was done spilling my guts, Jane laughed. “Oh my god. That poor man.”
“That poor man?” I cried. “I’m the abused one here.”
She snorted. “He just saved you five-grand by pointing out your landlord is really a slumlord, then he gets you back all your money, and then some, but on top of that, he finds you a place to live that’s way fucking cuter than where you are now, for less money,” she said. “Yes, you poor thing. The abuse and all.”
I flopped onto my sofa. “Maybe I overreacted a little.”
“You think?”
“It still doesn’t negate the fact he pushed in and bossed me around, not letting me figure it out.”
“Hmm-mm, yep, this is true. The monster.”
I dropped my head back and groaned. “I’m gonna have to apologize, huh?”
“Yup. You betcha. Ya sure do,” she said in a Fargo-esque accent.
“Will you ever be on my side?”
“This is me being on your side. Time for you to find some happy, Posey Mosey. And in order for you to do that, you’re gonna have to get your head outta your butt.”
“Whatever,” I breathed out.
She chuckled. “Do you need me to take your class tomorrow?”
“No, I’m going to see it after class.”
“Okey dokey, artichokey,” she said. “I’m off on Wednesday, so if you need help packing up, let me know.”
Unlike me, Jane had a full-time desk job. She worked dispatch for the sheriff’s office and although she loved it, it was stressful, so she found a great balance with yoga.
“I love you, Janie Brainy.”
“Love you too, babe. I’ll talk to you later.”
“’Bye.”
I hung up and stared at my phone for several minutes before calling Shadow’s number. He didn’t answer.
“You’ve reached Shadow. Leave a message.”
“Hi. It’s me. Um, you know, the woman who just went postal on your ass even though you were being sweet and trying to help me? I can’t promise it won’t happen again because I’m kind of a little bit, um, how do you say… reactionary? But I’m sorry I went a little crazy. I’ll go look at the place tomorrow. Call me if you have a break, honey, okay? Bye.”
I sighed, hauling myself off the sofa and heading back to my bedroom. Since I apparently needed to pack, I pulled a couple of suitcases out of my closet and dumped them on the bed.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
Shadow
MY PHONE BUZZED in my pocket and since I had a brief second to myself, I pulled it out and saw I had a voicemail from Posey. I stepped into the empty bunk room, put my phone to my ear, and girded up. I was ready for whatever abuse she had to throw at me.
“Hi. It’s me. Um, you know, the woman who just went postal on your ass even though you were being sweet and trying to help me? I can’t promise it won’t happen again because I’m kind of a little bit, um, how do you say… reactionary? But I’m sorry I went a little crazy. I’ll go look at the place tomorrow. Call me if you have a break, honey, okay? Bye.”
I noticed the time she’d left the message was less than half-an-hour after I left her, and I couldn’t stop a grin. Jesus, she was gorgeous.
Before I could dial her number, however, the alarm pealed, and it was go-time. There were apparently folks stuck in an elevator, so I suited up and jumped up into the truck, grinning like a loon as we drove.
Until we pulled up to Posey’s building.
“Who’s stuck?” I demanded.
“Don’t know,” Cap said. “We just know we’ve got four people inside.”
Fuck.
I was on high alert as we pulled up and headed to the elevator bay. I hoped to god it wasn’t Posey. I wasn’t sure how deep her fear of small spaces went but being stuck in an elevator would scare pretty much anyone.
“Grant, you’re on point.”
I nodded and walked to where a group of people were milling on the first floor. My heart calmed when I saw Posey and she smiled at me. Her smile was tentative though and I wasn’t sure if it was because she felt insecure about earlier or if she was trying to let me be professional.
“Does anyone know what happened?” I asked.
“Sharon was riding up from the first floor and I think it’s stuck in between,” Posey said. “There are two others in there as well. Hailey’s one of them.”
I nodded, grabbing the elevator key and slipping it into the keyhole. “Everyone, stand back, please.”
As my crew kept the looky-loos back, my captain and I pried the doors open and saw the elevator had in fact stopped between floors, but it was above the second floor.
“Oh my god, you need to get us out,” the petite woman with fake blonde hair squealed.
“Please don’t yell, Hailey,” the elderly woman next to her begged.
“We’re gonna get you out, ma’am,” I assured her. “Just stay back from the door while we work.”
“Sharon, are you okay?” Posey called out.
“I’m good, honey. It’s just a bit cramped in here.”
I saw Posey chewing on her thumbnail as we worked to get the elevator stabilized and knew she was worried about her neighbor.
It took almost twenty minutes, but we got everyone out safely. Our captain then did a few additional checks before shutting it down and putting caution tape across it.
“I want tape on every floor until this elevator has been serviced,” he ordered.
I knew he was holding back because we had a camera crew following us, but I could tell he was pissed.
“Sharon, honey, sit down,” Posey ordered, and I turned to face them.
Sharon looked white, so I walked over to them. “Ma’am, you should take a minute and let us check you out.”
A chair appeared out of nowhere and Posey helped Sharon sit in it.
“Thanks, Mike,” Posey said, and I noticed a man, probably in his forties, hovering a little too close to Posey for my liking.
“We’re gonna need some room,” I said, and Mike stepped back. I took Sharon’s wrist between my fingers. “Your pulse is too high for my liking. I’m gonna call an ambulance.”
“No, I’m fine,” she argued. “That happens when I’ve had a fright. I’ll be fine in three minutes.”
“I’ll watch her,” Posey said. “If there are any issues, I’ll call an ambulance.”
I looked at her, but she was focused on Sharon.
“You can take my pulse,” Hailey said breathily, practically pushing Posey out of her way.
“Are you feeling light-headed?” I asked, taking her wrist between my fingers. Her pulse was fine, as she well knew. “Your pulse is right on point.”