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CHAPTER EIGHT

Rook

“Sorry for the last-minute call,” I said as I opened the door for Tessa.

“No worries. I was just sitting in my car waiting for a delivery request to come in.”

She was dressed to be bumming around in her car, in a matching beige sweatsuit—despite the fact that it was warm out. But that kind of worked. Because she was also dressed for bumming around at my place.

I’d had one visit from Nancy since we spread some girly shit around my apartment. And Nancy’s eagle eyes had zeroed in on the hair clip on the coffee table immediately.

Then, when she’d checked the apartment out, she’d opened Tessa’s contact case and rifled through the tampon box before finally turning to me to ask if someone was living with me. Which was, she reminded me, against the rules without permission.

I’d been quick to assure her that while my girlfriend occasionally stayed over, she hadn’t moved in. Yet.

There’d been a lot of questioning then. About Tessa. How we’d met. If I’d known her in my old life. If she was a hacker. If she was associated with any criminal organization. The list went on and on.

In the end, though, as much as I knew it was killing her, she couldn’t do anything about who I fucked or dated.

I’d been high on her disappointment for a week.

But I’d just gotten a text from Coach, who said he’d seen Nancy making her way into town as he was heading out for a ride.

Hence rushing to get Tessa in my apartment.

It was time for them to meet so we could escalate our relationship and get someone to put eyes on my mom.

“Coach said he saw Nancy about fifteen minutes outside of town,” I told her, leading her over to the couch where I already had two mugs of coffee set up, some snacks sitting around, and a show playing on the TV.

“Look at you all ready,” she said, smiling as she sat down on the couch and pulled the blanket over her lap. “Have you heard any news about your mom?” she asked as I sat down next to her.

She draped the blanket over me.

“Last I heard, the psychosis is… controlled. But she’s really down.”

“I’m sorry,” Tessa said, sounding genuine.

We hadn’t seen each other too often since she moved into the clubhouse.

I caught her coming out of the karate studio once. And for dinner at the clubhouse. But we hadn’t really had any time to sit and talk.

Somehow, though, it felt natural.

My arm slid behind her back on the cushions, and she took the opportunity to scoot closer.

I’d like to say it was the click of Nancy’s heels on the steps that had my arm wrapping around Tessa, pulling her more tightly against my side. But, honestly, it was just an urge that I wasn’t going to fight.

“Ready?” I asked as the steps got closer.

“Sure,” Tessa said, but she was tenser than she’d been a moment before.

I wanted to assure her that it was all going to be alright, but it was right then that I heard Nancy’s signature three raps on the door.

“Come in,” I called.

There was the shortest of pauses before she did just what I suggested.

Then there was Nancy Bird. She was on the short side and had an average build under a gray plaid ancient blazer with a matching skirt, looking more like she was off to an office temp job than to check on her parolees. Her red hair was shorter than it’d been the week before, and it somehow put her icy blue eyes even more on display.

Those eyes lasered in on the two of us on the couch, narrowing as she took in Tessa’s turquoise hair, likely making a dozen snap judgments based on its color.

“You must be Tessa Kay,” Nancy said, voice tight and nasal and positively dripping with condescension.

“I am,” Tessa said, shooting Nancy a smile that no one would call fake, even though I could feel the tension in her body. Until she unfolded from me to stand and offer Nancy her hand. “It’s nice to meet you, Mrs. Bird.”

Nancy sniffed at the air, but manners forced her to take Tessa’s hand, giving it a short, hard shake, then pulling hers back quickly.

“I have some questions for you,” Nancy said.

“Oh, of course,” Tessa said. “Can I get you a cup of coffee?” she asked, reaching for her own cup.

“No. I don’t drink coffee,” Nancy said.

“Would you like to have a seat?” Tessa asked, waving to the empty spot next to me. “I’m going to have to get Rook to get some more seating in here, it seems.”

“No. I’ll stand.”

As Nancy rummaged in her bag for her trusty old notepad, where she kept track of everything I’d ever said to her, Tessa shot me a raised-brow, wide-eyed look that said Nancy was even worse than she’d been expecting.

“Okay. How long have you two been… seeing each other?” Nancy asked as Tessa snuggled up to me again, putting on a show that was making Nancy uncomfortable enough to avert her gaze.

“Oh, well. We met a few months ago in passing, right, honey?” she asked, looking me in the eye.

“At the… karate studio?”

“Yes. I was working remote for a while because it was kind of a haul into town every day. But once I started renting a room in Shady Valley, I began coming into the office again.”

“I see. And the dating?”

“I guess it started slowly. Just passing each other at work or right outside. Then one day, we really got to talking. The rest, as they say, was history. I mean, look at him,” Tessa said, reaching over to squeeze my chin. “Who wouldn’t fall for that face?”

Nancy’s nose wrinkled, but she kept her thoughts to herself for once.

“Are you living here?”

“No. I mean… not yet,” she said, nudging me in the ribs. “Hint hint.”

“I’d love to have you here all the time,” I said, sliding my fingers between hers and squeezing.

“As I’m sure you’re aware, that is something that must be run past me.”

“Of course,” Tessa said, unflappable even in the face of Nancy’s clear distaste. “But, no. I’m not living here. In the interest of full disclosure, though, I did fall asleep here one night. I was just so exhausted after we spent three hours, well, you know ,” she went on, making Nancy’s cheeks go scarlet. “And I fell asleep. I left as soon as I woke up, though. Well, not as soon ,” she added, giving me a saucy look.

The look of horror on Nancy’s face nearly had me throwing my head back and laughing.

“We do tend to lose track of time together,” I agreed, releasing her hand to let my hand slide almost indecently high on Tessa’s thigh. Nancy’s gaze followed the movement, and she actually twitched twice, making me need to fake a cough to cover a laugh.

“I mean, you know how it is,” Tessa said to Nancy. “When you just can’t keep your hands off of each other.”

“I… I… let’s get back on track here.”

“Of course. What did you need to ask me?” Tessa asked.

“I need to know a bit of your history. I did run a background check on you. I found no criminal history.”

“Not even a parking ticket,” Tessa said. There was something strange in her voice as she confessed that. I couldn’t quite put my finger on what it was, though.

Nancy, blunt as ever, went on. “Do you do drugs?”

“No, absolutely not. My mother was an addict. I watched it destroy her life and my whole life. I would never touch the stuff.”

Nancy nodded at that, scribbling away. “What about alcohol?”

“I mean, I have nothing against a glass of wine here or there. But I’m not really much of a drinker. Coffee is my main vice. Oh, and buying office supplies. I might have an actual problem there. If you ever need a pen recommendation, I’m the girl for you.”

Something about what she said seemed to soften Nancy’s posture a bit. Maybe she was an office supply addict as well.

There were a few more invasive questions, but it ended up being a lot less intense than I’d been expecting.

Tessa had laid on the charm thick. And Nancy had eaten it up.

“I am going to look around here for a bit, but I would love to see your office when I’m done,” Nancy said, making my brows shoot up.

“Absolutely! I can give you one of those pens I was talking about. I know they might take an extra second to dry, but the smooth way it writes is worth it. I’ll, uh, leave you to it,” she said to Nancy. Then she turned to me, pressing her hands into my chest, then going up on her tiptoes to press a peck of a kiss to my lips.

A peck.

That’s all it was.

But I swear there was a sizzle.

And we weren’t even going to talk about the way my cock stirred to life.

“I’ll see you for dinner later?”

“Can’t wait,” I said, grabbing her chin and pulling her back up.

It was just a show for Nancy.

Or, at least, that was what I was telling myself.

My lips claimed hers, pressing harder, deeper.

Tessa’s hands curled into my tee, and a little shiver racked her system.

It was a quick kiss.

But I felt fucking drunk on it when I pulled back.

Tessa was either equally as affected or putting on a hell of a show for Nancy as she swayed a bit on her feet before moving away.

“I’ll see you downstairs,” she said to Nancy before making her way out the door.

As soon as she was gone, Nancy’s usual tight posture and pinched face came back as she literally slipped on rubber gloves to tear my apartment apart.

I’d gotten my fun by—as the coffee brewed while I waited for Tessa—I’d ripped open a few condom foils, put a dash of fluid in them and a little oil on them, and dropped them into both the bathroom and bedroom garbages.

She reeled back like there were maggots in there.

It was worth the prep.

“Everything alright?” I asked, biting my cheek to keep from smiling at her obvious discomfort.

“Fine,” she said, voice tight. She moved on to my drawers instead of rifling through the actual trash like she normally would.

“She’s great, isn’t she?” I asked, leaning against the wall as she went into the kitchen to dig around in the cabinets and fridge, looking for drugs that she knew I didn’t touch, or, I dunno, a laptop hidden under a stash of dishes or some shit. There was no logic behind her searches. “Tessa,” I added.

“She seems like a nice young woman.”

“She’s fantastic. I would like to eventually let her move in. She’s been dropping a lot of hints.”

Nancy was silent for a moment as she finished her search of the kitchen.

“I suppose that wouldn’t be a problem. So long as there are no electronics in the house. If she has a laptop or tablet, she has to keep it elsewhere.”

“Understood,” I agreed. Then, as much as it killed me to say it, I added, “Thank you.”

She acknowledged that with a nod before concluding her invasion of my privacy and making her way downstairs.

I wanted to follow, to keep an eye on her, to make sure she didn’t threaten Tessa in some way.

But I had to keep my ass upstairs, watching out the door until I saw Nancy make her way to her car half an hour later.

Tessa must have been waiting for her to pull off because as soon as she did, she started up the steps.

I opened the door to let her in.

“You okay? How did that go?”

“It was good,” she assured me. “Well, she was nice to me anyway. She didn’t have the nicest things to say about you.”

“I don’t care about that. I just didn’t want her picking on you when she got you alone.”

“Yeah. She kind of just went on and on about how ‘good girls’ like me should make smart choices on who we date. Blah blah blah. I was as nice as possible while still making it clear I’m committed to you.”

“You did great, babe. And I got approval for you to move in. I know you just moved into the clubhouse…”

“This was the deal,” she cut me off. “It’s okay. It’s not like I have a lot of stuff to move. I do have one condition, though.”

“Okay.”

“I get to go to the clubhouse for dinner at least one night a week.”

I didn’t know what I was expecting, but it wasn’t that.

“Babe, you can eat there every night if you want. You’re not a prisoner here. I just need you on call for a random Nancy drop-in.”

“Okay, good. Now that I’ve had Detroit’s cooking, I can’t go back to ramen and gas station food.”

“I don’t blame you. Every night I miss a meal there is a bad night.”

“So, is there anything about living with you I need to know?”

“Like what?”

“I don’t know. Do you snore? Are you a neat freak? Does having dishes in the sink drive you crazy? That kind of thing. I don’t want to step on your toes.”

“Babe, no. I’m pretty easy going. You don’t have to tiptoe around me.”

I got the feeling because of some things she’d said, some ways she reacted—the thing about the gift basket comes to mind—that Tessa had a history with someone that was… —let’s go with—‘difficult’ in her past. I was leaning toward it being at least borderline abusive, but because she was careful not to mention exes, I couldn’t know for sure.

I didn’t want her to think that any of that abuse was ever going to happen with me. Even if our relationship was fake, the trust was going to be real.

I wanted her to know that from the jump.

“You need to get that?” I asked as her phone beeped.

“Work,” she said after checking it. “Okay. I am going to take this one job. Then I will go get my stuff.”

“I’ll meet you at the clubhouse. We can have dinner there before making our way back here.”

“That’s an even better idea,” she said, giving me a smile.

My gaze slid to her lips, and the memory of them against me flashed through my mind, making desire ignite through my system.

Everything was going right.

Save for the whole actually being attracted to my future wife thing.

That was definitely not in the plans…