1
“Motherfucker!”
The low, aggravated rumble slipped out before I could stop it.
“You wanna tell her or should I?”
I dropped my binos and looked at Matt. His pissed-off scowl was a far better sight than watching King Douchebag snort a line of coke off a whore’s double Ds on the balcony of a hotel room like he was the star in a bad Eighties action flick. And the whore was a whore in the sense he’d paid for the prostitute’s services which apparently included blow as well as blowjobs.
The “her” was Lauren Saunders. Sweet, shy, sexy Lauren.
The “motherfucker” was her boyfriend, Guy Stevens. The dude was a tool. Lauren was way too good for the jackass and that was before Matt and I caught him with his face in a pair of tits that were most certainly not Lauren’s.
“I’ll tell her.”
“Logan, she’s not gonna appreciate learning her man’s stepping out on her. Combine that with him snorting coke and her head might explode.”
“She can’t get more pissed at me,” I reminded Matt.
My jaw clenched as the memories of my last interaction with Lauren assailed me. She was right pissed-off when she stomped away after calling me an asshole for the hundredth time.
“Yeah, well, her being pissed and what she’s gonna feel when she learns what Guy’s been up to are two vastly different things. She’s gonna be hurt and embarrassed and you better believe she’s gonna shoot the messenger. Which, now that I’m thinking on it, maybe no one should tell her while she’s on Triple Canopy property and close to an arsenal of heavy artillery.”
What had Guy been up to?
That was the million-dollar question, literally. What the hell was the moron doing in Atlanta four hours away from where he lived? At the same hotel as the drug dealer we were tracking was staying, in the same city where a million-dollar deal was going to go down? Using a whore bought from another scumbag we were tracking?
I ignored Matt’s comment—though I thought it was smart to keep Lauren away from all weapons; for a shy little thing, she had an explosive temper. Unfortunately for me, seeing her pissed and ranting was a serious turn-on. Lauren might be reserved but she was no pushover. The woman wasn’t light, she was fire. And when she caught, her blaze scorched. And I must’ve turned into a masochist because I needled her whenever I could to watch her burn knowing she’d never be mine. I did whatever I could do to get two minutes of her attention.
“Long drive to get a blowjob,” I noted.
“Quite the coincidence that blowy’s coming from one of Frank’s girls.”
Seriously? Blowy? I shook my head in disgust.
“Brother, if you ever say the word ‘blowy’ again I’m kicking you in the nuts.”
Matt’s smile told me he was wholly unaffected by my threat. His laugh punctuated it. And the wave of his hand dismissed it.
“Frank’s known to give freebies to his associates. A perk of doing business with a pimp. He’s also known for having the highest-priced ass in Georgia. Guy supposedly works in computer networking. No way in hell he’s got five-grand an hour to blow on a hooker.”
It was the supposedly that had my gut churning.
“Anyone run a background check on him?” I asked, knowing I hadn’t.
“Not that I know of.”
That was a mistake. We had the resources; someone should’ve run the asshole when he started dating Lauren. She worked at Triple Canopy. She was one of us and there wasn’t a single employee of TC that liked Guy.
The men thought he was a tool and I heard some of the women complain he gave them the creeps. Yet no one but me had said a word to Lauren about not liking the douche. Anytime I’d voiced my opinion in the last few months it had started an argument. The last one being a month ago at Liberty and Drake’s wedding.
“Do you have what you need?” I asked Matt, gesturing at the digital camera.
“Yep.”
“Then let’s get out of here and get back to the warehouse.”
“Listen, Logan, let me tell Lauren.”
“She already hates me.” The veracity of that statement coated my tongue with a layer of grit, making it hard to swallow. “It’s better coming from me so she can turn to the rest of you when she falls apart.”
“The last thing she feels for you is hate, you stubborn asshole.”
I needed Lauren to hate me. I needed her to despise the very sight of me. I needed her to cast her beautiful eyes at me in disgust. I needed her strong because when she was near me, I was weak.
“Then me telling her that her man’s stepping out on her should do the trick.”
“You’re not—”
“Leave it, Matt,” I warned.
“Stubborn asshole,” he muttered.
Better a stubborn asshole than a wife-beating motherfucker.
2
My body ached. Top to toe, every muscle screamed. I needed a hot bath, BENGAY, and a shot of vodka to dull the pain. Unfortunately, I didn’t have vodka.
I slammed my front door and limped across my small living room, barely making it to my couch before I collapsed. My phone rang and I used what little strength I had left to dig it out of my purse still strapped over my shoulder.
The caller ID flashed Quinn Walker’s name and I groaned before I connected.
“The answer is no,” I said as my greeting.
“I’m guessing Addy didn’t take it easy on you.”
“Your sister’s the Devil.”
“I told you to tell her no,” Quinn huffed.
My mind filled with Adalynn’s sparkling green eyes as she demanded another mile on the exercise bike. She’d called it a “cool down”. I called it torture. Never again was I agreeing to work out with her.
Never.
Every part of me hurt.
“Lesson learned. From now on my answer is no, to everyone.”
“Well, that sucks. I guess I’ll have to give my extra ticket to Firefly to Sawyer.”
Funny how the mention of my favorite music festival made the muscle ache subside. And I didn’t know who this Sawyer person was, but they were shit out of luck.
“How’d you get tickets? They sold out the first day.”
“My dad knows the guy running security for the event.”
Of course, Jasper Walker knew a guy; he knew everyone in Georgia and the surrounding states.
“Take me, please.”
“Don’t be a dork, I’m taking you. The festival’s this weekend,” she reminded me. “You think you’ll be up for walking around all day?”
I had two days to recover and even if the concert was tonight I could rally.
“Um, yes!”
“Is Guy still away on business? I only have two tickets.”
Quinn was the only person who acknowledged I had a boyfriend. The men I worked with made it no secret they didn’t like Guy. Everyone except Logan was polite about it. But then, Logan was rarely polite about anything. In the beginning, my friends were supportive. Delaney, Addy, Liberty, Hadley, and Quinn all understood I needed to move past my ridiculous crush on Logan. But right after Liberty and Drake’s wedding, something changed. None of them said anything, however, at times it felt like they were disappointed I’d given up on Logan.