Page 65 of Cold Hard Cash

Deeper than the superficial carnal pleasures, their time together gave Jimmy a purpose, and it was one he could actually fulfill. He hadn’t been successful at freeing his father or getting a degree, but with Cold, all of his shortcomings about being a failure left him. Wrapped up in Cold’s seductive tones, he was always victorious. He was alwaysgood.

Jimmy puttered around his apartment, changing out of his rumpled tux and into a pair of sweatpants and a t-shirt. He tried to keep busy, straightening up and doing the few dishes he had left behind. He carried his mother’s jewelry box into his bedroom, placing it reverently in the top drawer of his dresser and laughing when he found his new socks and underwear neatly folded in his drawers already. Jerry was one of a kind.

Looking through his closet, Jimmy was amazed at how full it was. Everything they had purchased hung neatly in plastic from the dry cleaners’, his new shoes lined up together on the floor.

Jimmy thumbed through the new clothing, wondering if he should get rid of some of his old clothes. Some of it was pretty terrible, but he didn’t want to get too spoiled with his current lifestyle.

It was temporary, he knew. Unless he managed to woo Boss Cold before the last night of their arrangement, he would probably end up selling most of those nice clothes and be right back in rags again.

Jimmy didn’t want to think that way, deciding to stay positive and start snatching some of his old clothes from the rack. He threw them behind him, making a pile on the floor to donate.

“Hellooo!” Rowena’s musical voice sang out. She had her giant purse under her arm, grinning cheerfully at Jimmy when she strolled into his bedroom.

“Hey! Uhm,” Jimmy stammered in surprise. “How did you get in here?”

“Uh, duh,” Rowena drawled with a long roll of her eyes, “I had a copy of your key made. Now, awww, look at you. Had a good night, huh?”

Jimmy pressed his hands over his face as if he could hide the blush coloring his cheeks. “It was fine.”

“Mmmmm,” Rowena hummed, waggling her eyebrows. “Thirdsies told me you and Roddy were having a lovely time making sweet music together. Don’t worry, I won’t tell Dario what you guys did to his piano, but he’s gonna find out.”

Jimmy’s face reddened even more. “Oh, my God.”

Quirking an eyebrow at the clothing scattered across the floor, Rowena squealed excitedly, “Oh, my God is right. Are we finally having a bonfire?”

“No,” Jimmy protested. “I’m just, you know, clearing out some stuff. I’m going to donate them.”

“Jimmy,” Rowena said slowly, taking a deep breath. “Homeless people wouldn’t use your nasty clothes to wipe their asses with. Burn it. Put those poor rags out of their misery.”

“No,” Jimmy said stubbornly. “I’m going to donate it. Take some of my good luck and you know, pay it forward.”

Making a face, Rowena set her purse down and joined him in clearing out the closet. “You’re hopeless. You’re way too sweet to be a mafia boyfriend.”

“Yeah, yeah... hey, wait!” Jimmy exclaimed when Rowena’s indiscriminate trashing had reached a faded black t-shirt. “No, not that one.”

Rowena quirked a slim brow at the ragged old AC/DC shirt. “Are you serious?”

“It’s sentimental,” Jimmy said, grabbing it back with a defiant pout.

“Oh, your dad’s?” Rowena said with an understanding nod.

“Mom’s actually,” Jimmy chuckled. “It’s from the Razors Edge Tour. She was a huge fan. She dragged my dad all the way to Paris to see them on their honeymoon. She always used to joke that it was the night I was conceived.”

“Awww, that’s so cute,” Rowena said with a sweet smile, continuing to pillage Jimmy’s old clothing and throw them aside.

“Yeah,” Jimmy laughed as he hung the precious shirt back up. “Most people were like, wow, Paris for your honeymoon? How romantic! Not my mom. Paris, pfffft. She only wanted to go there to rock out with AC/DC.”

Rowena’s smile took a softer turn. “Mom was a little bit of a groupie, huh?”

“Well, let’s just say there’s a good chance that Brian Johnson might be my real father,” Jimmy giggled.

Rowena laughed, chucking the last of the clothing that failed to pass her standards into the pile on the floor. “Need to cash in on that, you know. Oh, maybe that’s where you got those pipes from!”

“Hey, maybe!” Jimmy grinned. “Wouldn’t mind some of that rock star money.”

“Speaking of those beautiful pipes,” Rowena teased, twirling around to retrieve her giant purse. “It’s paperwork time, sweetie.”

“Right,” Jimmy said dutifully, leading Rowena to his kitchen table to start filling out the forms. She used her cell phone to scan his identification and helped him fill everything out. The last form left was the contract.