Merry with a Gambler (Love Beach Holiday Collection)

Chapter 2

CHAPTER 2

Boots

Damn, it’s starting to rain. I pull the hood of my sweatshirt over my head and step off the deck. A motorcycle comes to life behind me and the engine purr comes closer.

I turn to see Stack roll his Harley up next to me. He’s wearing a ball cap on backwards and holding out his helmet to me. “Put this on and climb on behind me.”

“I have my bike.”

“With no headlamp for night riding and only one broken reflector on the back. Get on before the weather gets worse.”

“I need my bike to get to work tomorrow.”

“I’ll get you to work. Just get on and wrap your arms around my waist.” He turns his ball cap so the bill is shielding his eyes.

Slipping on the helmet, I tighten the strap and climb on behind him.

“What’s your address?”

I give it to him, and he takes off.

Okay, Nyla would be screaming at me for trusting a stranger. But Stack doesn’t feel like a stranger. He’s always been nice and polite. Protective, like Pax. He doesn’t give off that douche vibe that those younger guys at the table did earlier tonight.

It starts raining harder and I wrap my arms around his waist and lean the side of my head against his back. About the time we pull onto my street the weather lightens up briefly. There’s a man hunched near the door to the house where I rent a room. When Stack pulls into the drive the man glances up and takes off in the other direction.

Shutting off the bike, Stack asks. “Do you know him?”

“I don’t think so. But the people who rent rooms here change kind of often.”

“I thought you said you rented an apartment?”

“They-ah-call them apartments, but it’s really just a room with a minifridge and a hotplate. We share two bathrooms on each floor.”

“Are there other women?”

“Two for sure and I think the landlord has a girlfriend sometimes.”

“How many rooms on each floor?”

“Four. The bathrooms are Jack-n-Jill style.”

He slides his hand down his face. “Climb off and stay right here.”

Once I’m off he lowers the kick stand.

“What are you doing?”

“I want to see this apartment before I leave you.”

“I’m perfectly safe. There’s a lock on the front door.” He scowls at me as he climbs off his Harley.

Following behind me, he waits as I pull my key ring from my backpack. Before I can unlock it, he reaches over my head and punches the door with the flat of his hand about a foot above the lock. The door flies open.

He scowls down at me. “That lock ain’t worth shit and the door is almost rotted through. Show me your room.”

Walking down the hall to the stairs leading to the second floor, I hold my breath hoping the drunk couple in the second apartment have already passed out. I know where to place my feet so the stairs don’t creak but on Stack’s first step the wood groans.

“Be quiet you fucking bitch, we’re trying to sleep,” the male tenant screams out.

Risking a glance at Stack, I see him clench his jaw. Hurrying up the stairs I rush down the hall to my room. He stops me before I can insert my key. Once again, the door flies open with very little force from him.

I turn, looking up at him as we cross the threshold. “I installed a deadbolt and a chain. It’s perfectly fine once I’m inside. Pax gave me his number if I ever need help.”

“It’s a little late for that,” he points behind me.

Spinning around I gasp when I see my room. The drawers have been pulled out and dumped, the bedding stripped, and the mattress pulled from the wood slats. “What? Why?”

Swiping the tears from my cheeks, I drop to the floor and start collecting my clothes. Why doesn’t matter. There’s never an answer to the why question anyway. It’s always because someone could.

“You need to call the cops. I’ll stay till they get here.”

“There’s no point. This isn’t the kind of place they really worry about. There was nothing of value for them to take. It’s a waste of time and energy.

I see him taking pictures with his phone. “Do you have any idea who would have done this? One of your neighbors?”

Shrugging, I keep my focus on the task at hand. “Last time I was robbed it was my roommate. He abandoned me while we were out and when I got home, he’d taken all my cash, cleaned out my bank account and the few things he could pawn.”

“Could it have been him again? What’s his name? I’ll find him.”

“I doubt it. He’s probably long gone. Last time, he ruined most of my clothes. They seem to be okay so far this time.”

“What about money? How much would he have gotten?”

“I never leave money at home anymore. It’s all in my backpack. It’s safer at work where I have a locker.”

“What about your checking account? Could he have gotten that info again?”

“I don’t have one. I just keep everything with me.”

“Boots?” He rubs a hand down his face. “How much money are you carrying around with you?”

Meeting his gaze, I cringe inwardly. I feel a lecture coming on. “About six or seven thousand.”

“Jesus.” He shakes his head. “We need to get you a safety deposit box at a bank. Then somewhere else to live. This place isn’t safe, especially for a woman.”

I repeat what I’d said before. “I’m okay once I’m in my room. Pax gave me his number. I can always call him if I need help.”

“He’s no help once you’re being attacked. He’s got his own woman now. I don’t. You can stay with me until we find you something else. Plus, I’m not far from here so your trip to work will be about the same.”

“I’m good. I’ll lock up after you leave.”

“The hell you will. I will not leave you in a dangerous place. You’ll come with me for a couple days, at least.”

I can’t do that. It’s not fair to you. What about your girlfriend?”

“I don’t do girlfriends. I do one and done. And never at my place. You’ll be safe there until we can find you something decent, flower girl.”

“I’m not a girl. I’m twenty-one and I’ve been on my own a long time. I can take care of myself.”

He raises an eyebrow then glances around the destruction of my room.

Standing, I start shoving my belongings into a garbage bag. “It was all I could afford at the time since I’d just been robbed. As it was Nyla had to loan me money for the deposit. Since it was cheap, after I paid her back, I stayed so I could save money for college classes.”

“How much was your deposit?”

“A month’s rent, five hundred. Nyla loaned me a thousand.”

“This dump isn’t worth even that,” he says glancing around the space. “Do you have stuff in the bathroom?”

Shaking my head I cross to the windowsill where I keep all my bathroom supplies and cosmetics and drop them into another grocery bag.

When I turn, he’s in the closet reaching to the back of the top shelf. I watch in horror as he grabs the handle of my sex toy sales bag. “Oh, I’ll get that.”

Too late, he’s already brought it out into the open. The bright pink logo that says, Sexy Times glitters and shines in the light of the overhead lamp.

He looks at me with a smirk.

“It’s a parttime job selling intimate products to women at private parties. It’s not great money but I’ve made enough to pay rent a couple times. It’s mostly the other waitresses and their friends who buy, but more people have been coming lately. It’s kind of hard because most of the parties need to be in the evening and that’s when I bartend.”

“Can men come to these parties?”

I look up at him and shrug. “Some of the women who sell have done couples parties. I haven’t had a request for that yet.”

“I bet Pax and Nyla would come. So would I.”

My cheeks heat as he waggles his eyebrows.

Grabbing another bag, he collects my shoes and boots. After finishing the closet, he puts the drawers back into the dresser. Checking the hall before we walk out, he leads me down to his bike.