Smolder (Georgia Smoke #6)

• Ten •

“I tried dating out of my league, and it didn’t end well.”

Sebastian

My phone rang, and I already knew who it was. I leaned up against the front of my car and answered it.

“Already miss me?” I asked.

“I didn’t say I needed groceries,” Royal snapped on the other end of the line.

I smiled. I wished like fuck I hadn’t reacted to her, but after today and all I’d witnessed, I knew there was a part of me that liked her. Even if she was a con artist.

“You didn’t have to. I saw the contents of your fridge.”

A deep sigh on the other end. “Amory, I’m not a charity case. I can buy food. I was going to get us dinner tonight.”

“With what? Your Vespa?” I asked, reminding her that we’d left it at school with two flat tires. It had new ones now and was currently being delivered to her house, but she didn’t know that yet.

“I would have figured it out,” she replied. “This is entirely too much food. There are twelve full bags. Twelve. I don’t know if we have room for all this. And the delivery guy said he couldn’t take it back.”

I glanced over at the door to the police station. “Guess you’ll have to find room for it then.”

She let out a frustrated growl.

“Come on now,” I replied. “It’s not so bad. There’s even an apple pie from the bakery in there. I figured you could tell your Grams she made it.”

A short laugh came through. “One afternoon with her, and you know all my secrets to handling her.”

She was pretty damn great with her grandmother. I’d not wanted to be impressed, but I had been. If she was involved in this shit, I didn’t think I could let her go down with them. That old lady needed her. Now, as for the son of a bitch I was about to get out of jail? They both could do without him. But unfortunately, we needed him free to fuck up so we could see who was behind the laced drugs.

“I’m a quick learner,” I told her.

“Someone else is at the door,” she said, sounding slightly miffed.

I heard her open it, and then a man spoke—the same one I’d talked to, who had changed her tires, then put it on his trailer to bring to her. She asked him who he was, and I wanted to laugh. He ignored the question and left her the keys, then told her to have a good day.

With the click of her door, I waited for her to say something first.

“My Vespa arrived. It miraculously has new tires and was dropped off, all free of charge. How odd,” she drawled.

“Seems you’ve got luck on your side today,” I told her. Although I felt a little guilty since we had been behind everything that had gone wrong today.

“Thank you,” she said, sounding almost pained.

I chuckled. “You’re welcome.”

“Whenever you want that date, just let me know.”

Even if this was a job, my ego was feeling slightly bruised. She hadn’t been this accommodating before I righted all her wrongs today.

“I didn’t do all this for a date. Sure, I’d come to see you, hoping to charm you, but as for all the other things, I wanted to help. I like you, Royal, but my pride is still intact. If you are agreeing to this because you feel like you owe me, then don’t. Just accept it as help from a friend.”

My dad would probably slam me against the wall while holding me by my throat if he heard me right now. But he wasn’t here, and I had to make sure she was going to go out with me because some part of her wanted to. Even if in the end, it didn’t matter one fuck what she felt or wanted.

“My not wanting to go out with you wasn’t about you. Look at yourself. I told you, I tried dating out of my league, and it didn’t end well.”

The sincerity in her tone made my chest tighten. She was probably full of bullshit right now. The woman had a mirror. She could see herself. She had to know guys drooled all over her. But that speech was pretty damn convincing.

“Like I said, he was a boy. I’m a man. I want to get to know you. Spend time with you. As for leagues, no one is out of yours. Wealth doesn’t measure a person’s self-worth.”

A small, breathy sigh came over the line. “Okay. Yeah. I’d like that too. Although I can’t believe that you’d still feel like this after what you witnessed today.”

It’s a game, Sebastian. Play it. Don’t get hustled by the hustler.

“I’ll pick you up tomorrow night at seven. Is that okay?”

“Oh, uh, my dad. He’s not here, and I can’t leave Grams.”

He’d be there. But I wasn’t trusting that bastard with her Grams either. If there was anyone I did feel protective over in that house, it was the grandmother.

“Let me handle that. Just be ready at seven.”

“What do you mean, you’ll handle it?”

“Do you trust me?” That was a bit of a gamble. My dad’s plan today had set this in motion—the winning her over—but I wasn’t sure it was enough.

“Yeah, I guess I do.”

Grinning, I stood back up and headed for the door of the police station. “Tomorrow night at seven. Wear something short.”

She laughed. “Okay.”

“Bye, Ace,” I said.

“Bye.”

Ending the call, I opened the door to the station and walked inside.

The officer up front recognized me and motioned for me to come around the desk. “You sure you want this ornery bastard?” he asked.

I hadn’t made the call; my father had. I’d been too busy getting everything else handled for Royal.

“Unfortunately,” I told him. “It’s for his daughter.”

He smirked. “Ah, yeah. I’ve seen her. She’s been in here to get him before. Knockout and hard to forget.”

“Yeah,” I agreed.

“Makes more sense now.”

I bet it did. I was sure he’d hit on her when she was in here before. She got fucking hit on all the time. The bullshit about being out of her league was something she used to make a man think she didn’t know she was beautiful. Well, I wasn’t the dumbass who had written that song. A gorgeous woman knew she was gorgeous, and she knew the power that came with it.

“Someone’s here to get you out, Vin,” the cop said as he unlocked the cell.

I watched as the asshole looked at me.

“About time,” he said, standing up. “Who are you?”

“A friend of your daughter’s.”

His gaze narrowed. “Where is she at? Sending some man to come get me. Mean little fucker, that one.”

Okay, so Royal might be a lot of things that were questionable, but this was her father. He felt it was okay to call his daughter a fucker. I tensed, ready to knock him back down with my fist.

“You can’t be talking about Royal. Maybe I got the wrong guy. Because the woman I am referring to is at home, taking care of your mother.”

His eyes widened slightly as I took a step toward him, not trying to hide the disgust or anger in my tone or expression.

“You got the right guy. I didn’t mean nothing by it. Just joking a bit. Course she’s taking care of her Grams. She’s a good girl.” Unlike his daughter, he was a terrible fucking liar.

“Come on, before I change my mind,” I told him, then turned to stalk back out the way I had entered.

“Who are you?” he asked. “Did you pay for this? ’Cause we ain’t got the money to pay you back. She didn’t promise you we would, did she?”

I hadn’t paid shit. He was here because of a call my father had made.

“Why don’t you shut up, Vin, before you are back in there and I have to listen to you bitch all night?” the cop snarled at him.

I didn’t look at him until we reached the exit, and then I shoved open the door and turned to him.

“No one owes me anything,” I told him.

He nodded and studied me before walking out past me out the door. “You a friend of Merce then?”

I shook my head. “I’m a friend of Royal’s.”

The truck pulled up, and I walked over and jerked the door open.

“Get inside,” I told him.

“Who is that?” he asked, his eyes shifting from Wells to me.

“A friend. He’s taking you home. Now, get in the goddamn truck,” I ordered.

He climbed inside. “Ain’t no need to be rude. I can walk back, you know.”

But he wasn’t walking. He was getting inside.

I slammed the door, then headed for my car. Tomorrow night’s date had to be planned, and it needed to be one she couldn’t stop thinking about. I had an idea, but I should run it by a woman. Pulling my phone out of my pocket, I dialed Storm’s number.

“Yeah?” he barked into the phone.

“I need Briar’s help.”

“With what?” The possessive tone was amusing.

“Planning my date.”

“With the Shelton girl?”

“Yep.”

He groaned. “Fine. Come to the house.”

“On my way,” I replied, then hung up.

I’d probably just interrupted some kinky-sex shit they were doing, but he had about thirty minutes before I got there. They could wrap it up.