Stump might not care how he behaved around her, but around Penni or Grace, he wouldn’t be so rude.
Careful not to jar her knee, she had to wait for him to move aside before she could leave. Raising her lashes, she saw the look of retribution in his eyes.
“Consider Penni and Grace your new bosses. Wow, I almost forgot.” Zoey jiggled her hand into her pocket, ignoring the apple she had stuck in there to take out her cell phone. Snapping a quick picture, she posted it before turning it around so Stump could see. “This is me happy.”
13
Stump could only watch as Zoey jauntily walked into her office, using one of her crutches to shut the door. The little mouse he took her for turned the table on him, getting her point across without having to raise her voice. In a stroke of genius, she had him out of her hair by manipulating him into sitting in Penni’s and Grace’s office to give them the constant protection that Ice and Jackal wanted them to have, without having to deal with the angry spouses’ demands to protect Zoey.
Looking toward the women, he saw them hastily lower their eyes, pretending to get to work, thinking he was angry at Zoey’s behavior. He wasn’t angry. He was impressed.
“It’s going to be a long day. Do you have anything to pass the time?”
The women started in surprise, giving each other a wondering look before Penni dubiously reached for a folder on the side of Grace’s desk.
“Do you know how to use a computer?”
Stump rolled his eyes. “Yes, I know how to use a computer.” Reaching for the folder, he took it out of her hand.
“Kaden and the other members of the band are tired of touring. They want to perform for six months and then be able to write and record in the studio the other six. We’ve been able to whittle it down to three venues that have offered enough money and perks to make it possible.” Penni nodded at the folder. “Those are the companies that are competing for the band to set up a permanent residency. One is a casino in Las Vegas; another is in Nashville—”
“Nashville?” Stump raised his brow.
“Nashville actually has a popular indie rock culture,” Penni confirmed. “The last one is in Miami. What I need you to do is research each locale and find the safest place to live and how close it would be to the venue they’ll be playing in. Also research the schools and access to parks. Kaden also wants pictures of the areas in and around those neighborhoods.”
“Okay, I can do that.” Stump looked around the small office. There was only one desk in the front office and another in Penni’s office behind Grace’s.
“That’s the first thing you’ll have to take care of. Order a desk, chair, and computer for yourself. Kaden gave me a budget for the office. Just don’t go crazy, and Kaden will foot the bill without complaining too much.”
“Cool. I’ll take care of it.” Stump gave the office a critical glance. “You mind if I rearrange the furniture so my desk faces Zoey’s office, and if I leave the office door open so I can see who goes in and out?”
“Leave it open. We usually do anyway. I can see Zoey’s door from my desk, too.”
Stump shook his head at the thought of women watching the male eye candy that came and went from Zoey’s office.
“It’ll be a tight squeeze with two desks in here. We can move Grace’s desk into mine. We usually work together anyway.”
The three of them spent most of the morning moving Grace’s desk, arranging the new office furniture, and deciding which computer to buy. They were waiting for the delivery of the furniture when Penni and Grace decided to go to lunch.
“You want us to bring you something back?” Grace offered as they were about to leave.
“I’ll take a burger and fries. You going to ask Zoey if she wants something?”
“I always text her when we’re almost finished,” Penni told him. “Usually, she doesn’t want anything when she has clients so close together, which seems to be what’s happening today.”
“Is she always so busy?”
“It’s been getting busier each month since she’s rented her office. She used to have several breaks, could take lunch with us, and get off around four. Lately, she doesn’t get any breaks, rarely goes out to lunch, and works until six. She’s a busy girl.”
“I see that. She hasn’t had a break this morning.”
He had only caught brief glimpses of her as she had opened her office door to let her clients enter and exit.
After the women left, he called Ice, filling him in on what had happened that morning.
“Damn, you serious?”
“Yeah, Zoey accomplished what you and Jackal couldn’t.”
“If I suggested putting you in their office, Grace would have handed me my ass on a plate instead of giving me dessert.”
“Brother, I hate to tell you, but you and Jackal are letting your old ladies wear the pants. If they were mine, I would lay down the law right on their ass.”
“When you can keep one longer than a couple of months, I’ll take your advice. Until then, shut the fuck up.”
“How’s Hannibal? Make sure you use the leash when you take him out,” Stump warned.
“Who in the fuck do you think you’re talking to? I have two of these little shits myself. My backyard is fenced; he’s not going anywhere.”
“Hannibal’s small enough that he can wiggle underneath—”
Stump removed the phone from his ear when Ice hung up on him.
“Cold bastard,” he muttered, seeing a middle-aged woman staring at him from the hallway.
“Hi.”
“Hi.” Stump felt like a side of beef from the way the woman was staring at him.
“You want to grab a drink?” The inviting tone of her voice left no doubt she was offering more than a drink.
“No,” he replied curtly, trying not to make an excuse as to why he wasn’t interested.
Her face fell in disappointment. “Why not? Too old?”
“Not interested.”
“What would it take to get you interested?”
Zoey’s door was opened before he could reply, letting a pimply-faced kid who looked like he should be in school leave. She gave him a quick glance before giving a searching one to the client who was waiting. Stump could tell Zoey had figured out what had been going on outside her office.
“Susanne, you can come in.”
The other woman gave him a long, wishful glance before going inside. Stump could hear them laughing as Zoey closed the door.
The furniture and computer arrived before Penni and Grace were back from lunch. He was working on setting up the computer when they returned. Leaving him alone in the front office, they went into Penni’s.
“Dude, that shit will kill you.”
About to take another bite of his burger, he looked toward the doorway. The stranger was twice his size, around the same age, and was wearing a hat backward.
“Fuck off.” He continued to eat his lunch, despite Zoey’s client’s disparaging comment.
“Dude, I’m just saying—”
“Dude,” Stump mocked, “we aren’t friends. Until we are, keep your opinions to your own fucking self.”
“Dude, you should hire Zoey. Your attitude sucks.”
Stump laid his hamburger on the wrapper, starting to rise from his chair. “I’m about to shove my attitude—”
Penni cleared her throat from behind him. “Hi, Roan. Zoey should be out in a moment.”
“No worries. She’s worth the wait.”
Stump started to rise again, intercepting the wink Roan shot toward Penni. Before he could get to his feet, though, a hand on his shoulder pushed him back down.
“Ro is just being friendly,” Grace said, moving to stand closer to him and leaving her hand on his shoulder, subtly warning him not to kick the roids out of him.
Stump could hear the door being opened across the hall, but Zoey was blocked from his sight by the hulky body that a cruise ship couldn’t hide behind.
“Girl
s, if you decide to take me up on that raincheck for drinks, let me know when I’m done.”
“They won’t,” Stump growled, wrapping what little was left of his hamburger in the wrapper. “The only ones they’ll be having drinks with are their husbands.”
“Too bad. We could have had a good time.” The freakazoid turned his attention to Zoey. “How you doing, dollface?”
Stump didn’t miss the smirk on his face as he shut himself and Zoey inside her office.
“There needs to be a water fountain in the hall. All of her clients are thirsty.” Taking his frustration out on the water bottle sitting on his desk, he crushed it before throwing it into the trash can by his desk.
“Zoey gives that suggestion when she encourages them to ask people out.”
Penni reached down, taking the bottle out of the trash and putting it in the small red can by the door.
“Do Ice and Jackal know?”
“Know what?” she asked, turning away from the recycling can.
“That most of the male population in Queen City are given free rein to hit on you?”
“They aren’t all hitting on us. They’re being friendly,” Grace said, removing her restraining hand. “Besides, our husbands wouldn’t care. They trust us.”
“They’d care if they knew, and they’re going to know by the end of the day.”
“Stump, you don’t understand how Zoey works. She encourages her clients to get out and meet new acquaintances.”
“She should be encouraging them to stay the fuck away from this office before one of them gets hurt.”
“If any of Zoey’s clients mysteriously get hurt, neither Grace nor I will be happy. Keep that in mind when you’re tattling,” Penni warned.
“Why is it only women get happy when they get in an argument with a man?”
“Because we’re the ones who are usually right.”
Deciding it was a losing battle to fight with them, he went back to work, losing track of time until Penni and Grace began to leave.
“You going to stay with Zoey until she gets in her car?” Penni asked, taking her keys out of her purse.
“I’m going to stay with her until she walks in the door of wherever she’s going.”
“Thanks, Stump.”
“I’m still having that talk with Ice.”
Penni took a key off the chain in her hand, laying it down on his desk. “What Grace said is true. Our husbands trust us. Snitch all you want. We’re not worried, are we?”
“No.” Grace’s agreement ended with a volley of words that Stump couldn’t understand, but if he took a guess, it sounded like French and involved cursing.
“If I have to deal with that shit, I’m never getting married,” he muttered after they left, still hearing Grace’s fluent French until the elevator doors must have closed. “Thank God. Peace at last.”
He was going to have a sit down with Ice when he got back to the club. Another brother could deal with this shit.
He was debating on which brother to throw under the bus when Zoey’s door opened, and she came out with a woman who looked the same age as her.
“I’m going to do it, Zoey. I might need to text you tomorrow to build my courage before I do it though.”
“Do that. We can pretend I’m right there with you.”
The woman gave her a grateful smile before spontaneously reaching out to give Zoey a hug before leaving her standing in front of her office.
Meeting his gaze, Zoey’s smile faded at his skeptical expression.
“You lay it on pretty thick, don’t you?”
“That was my last appointment. We can talk in my office.”
Stump closed Penni’s office before striding into hers. She had already taken a seat on the couch where she motioned for him to take the opposite side.
“There’s no need for me to sit. I’m ready to go when you are.”
“There are several things we need to discuss before we do.”
“Like what? Your asinine idea that I work for you?”
“It isn’t asinine. Either you work for me or you can go back to your plan of staying in the lobby. In that case, I plan to contact the owner of the building and report you, which would have you removed from the property.”
Her matter-of-fact tone had his hackles rising at being outmaneuvered again.
“I’m really starting to dislike you.”
“You hated me on sight. Why?”
His feelings about her weren’t explainable to himself. Therefore, at a loss for words, he gave a loud sigh and took a seat on the couch.
“Let’s get this over with so I can go home to my dog.”
“How’s Hannibal doing? Has he run away again?” Her features smoothed into the same gentle expression that he saw whenever she talked to other people. It was the same one she had used on him the first time he met her. He hadn’t realized how much he had liked it until now.
“He’s good. And no, he hasn’t. So, are you going to get on with it, or we going to sit here and stare each other for the rest of the night?”
“I guess we can get started since you’re not comfortable with polite conversation—”
“Lady, you just don’t know when to quit. Look, let’s make this quick and simple. Tell me what I need to do to get you to go along with me trying to find out who’s stalking you, and I’ll tell you which ones I will and won’t do.”
“First, we need to settle on your pay. How much do you charge to be a bodyguard?”
“I’m not a fuc—” Stump stopped short of finishing the word at the warning look she gave him.
“Call it what you want… How much?”
“Let’s say five hundred a day.”
“Let’s say a more reasonable amount, like one hundred.”
“If you were planning on chipping me down, why not just say how much you wanted to pay?”
“I wasn’t planning on trying to get you to lower your fee. I just didn’t expect it to be in the five-hundred-dollar range. That amount is ridiculous.”
“You can afford it.” Stump settled back on the comfortable couch. If she wanted to be a pain in his ass, she was going to pay for it. “I counted ten clients today coming in and out of your office. If you charge each of them a hundred dollars, you can easily afford me.”
“I don’t charge that much. I’ve only been charging my clients a fee when I started renting this office two months ago.”
“How much do you charge?”
The subtle shifting of her body showed that Zoey wasn’t comfortable having the focus turned around on her.
“It’s not about money with me. I enjoy helping others,” she predicted.
“How much?”
“Twenty dollars.”
“Twenty dollars? You’re shitting me?”
“What did I say about—”
“Woman, a good hamburger and fries will cost you twenty bucks. You should be charging fifty dollars.”
“Many of my clients can’t afford that amount.”
“I saw your clients. Most of their shoes cost that much. Not one of them looked like they were hurting for money.”
“I help my clients by teaching them to dress for success. To do that, they have to wear the right clothes. I direct them toward a stylist who helps them achieve that goal.”
“Now I get it.” He nodded slyly. “Your clients think you’re offering them a deal on your fee, and you’re sticking it to them by getting a commission off the sales of the clothes and products they buy. Damn, you’re smarter than I gave you credit for.”
Instead of being complimented, she was taken aback.
“I… do not take a commission, and neither does Cory.”
“That’s lame.”
“You’re a very negative person.”
“I might be, but at least I’m not lame.”
“I can’t sit here all night going back and forth, arguing with you. Give me a price I can work with.”
“You have somewhere to be?” Seeing
irritation on her face had him rudely propping his long legs on the low table.
“Yes, I do.”
“Where?”
“Your duties as a bodyguard begin and end at this office building. What I do before and after is no concern of yours. A hundred dollars a day it is then. I’ll schedule you in for the same time tomorrow and Thursday.”
“Schedule me in?”
“Yes. Usually I only see a client once a week, but I can see you need twice weekly visits.”
“You’re not paying me in cash?”
“No, you need my services, just as much as I need your protection.”
It took everything he had not to laugh. The woman had no intention of paying him in cash from the get-go. Reluctantly, he was beginning to become intrigued by the woman.
“You said you charge twenty for a session. How does forty dollars a week average into the five hundred you’re going to owe me?”
“I’m charging you two-hundred and fifty dollars each session. I’ve never had a client who needs me more.”
He couldn’t hold back his laughter.
“Lady, you’re a piece of work. I suppose if I remind you that I would do it for free, it wouldn’t make a difference.”
Zoey stood up, reaching for her crutches that she had propped next to her. “No, it wouldn’t.”
The decision to accept the offer was in his hands. He could accept it or stick to his and Ice’s original plan of hanging out in the lobby. It wasn’t really a choice, and she knew that. That was why she was preparing to leave.
“You win. Anything else?” he asked, rising from the sofa.
“No, the rest is up for you to achieve.”
“God, save me,” Stump muttered, opening the door for her to go through.
“What did you say?”
“I said I’m glad one of us is happy.”
14
Dear Mom,
Why haven’t you called? I’m worried about you. Dad says you call him all the time. Why won’t you call me? I just want to hear your voice. I want to tell you about my new school and the friends I’ve made.