Hot and Handy: A Small Town Romantic Suspense (Shameless Southern Nights Book 3)

by J. H. Croix

  I glowered at the man, never taking my eyes off his. “Leave. Now.”

  Without budging, he narrowed his eyes on mine. I stepped closer to him, barking the order. “Leave. Right now. Don’t come back.”

  In my periphery, I saw Phoenix’s blue eyes widen. The man stood still for another minute before throwing his hands out to his sides. “I’m leaving.”

  With a last, lingering gaze on Sadie’s loaner, he turned and walked away. Phoenix came to stand next to me as we watched him leave. He whistled under his breath. “Not a customer, I take it?”

  I shook my head, my reply curt. “He’s not.”

  “What happened?” he asked, staying by my side until we saw the man come around the building. Only then did we tear our eyes away from his back.

  It was only once he was well and truly gone that I felt my tense muscles relax. I exhaled a deep breath and took another in, letting the oxygen flow through me and extinguish the flaming anger licking the inside of my veins.

  Clasping a hand on Phoenix’s shoulder, I gave my head a quick shake. “I don’t want to talk about it. It’s a waste of breath and energy.”

  Phoenix’s gaze drifted back to the spot the man disappeared from. “Okay, if you say so. Looked intense, though. Anything I can help with?”

  I let out a dark chuckle. “Unfortunately not. It’s all part of the family stuff I mentioned the other day.”

  Phoenix tapped his index finger on his chin. “I got it. You sure you don’t want to tell me about it? Family stuff doesn’t mean people outside the family can’t help.”

  In this case, it did. I would never dream of roping anyone else into this shit. It was bad enough having Sadie on their radar because of me. I would’ve done anything to keep her out of it. Unfortunately, sharing my bed meant she was an automatic target.

  I definitely wasn’t painting a target on anyone else’s back. Phoenix was a good friend and a good guy. I knew he meant well, wanting to help. I could also see it bothered him not to know what was going on, but I couldn’t tell him.

  “Trust me, you can’t help us out on this one. We have to deal with it ourselves. Keep a look out for that guy from now on and the man from the other day. You see either of them around here, I want to know about it.”

  Phoenix sighed but then snapped his fingers to his forehead in a mock salute. “Sure thing, boss. I’ll let you know. They got names?”

  I shook my head. “Their names aren’t important. I just want to know if they’ve been around here.”

  “Okay,” he agreed, still sounding doubtful. “If there’s anything else—”

  “I’ll ask.” I grinned. “Thanks, buddy.”

  We walked inside together while Phoenix told me about the problem with a truck they were busy working on inside, the reason why he came looking for me. I followed him over to it and listened to the debate going on between him and another one of the guys.

  After I gave my input, I stayed around, but I tuned them out. The man from earlier lingered in my thoughts. My gut was blaring bad news on him. There was something about him more sinister than Ken. I kept replaying his look over at the car I was loaning Sadie and how he seemed to know much more about her than simply that she was my girlfriend.

  There was no overt threat to her. Whatever his game, it was subtle. And somehow that scared me a hundred times more. Ken was an irritation, someone I wanted to protect her from because he was potentially dangerous. This guy wasn’t only potentially dangerous, he was the real deal.

  Somehow, I had to convince her to agree to stay with me. It wouldn’t be as simple as all that, I knew. Moving in with me would mean something. If we took that step, it couldn’t be as a temporary solution.

  It would be too confusing for Emery to stay with me short-term. She would never understand why they moved out of their house to mine, only to return shortly after. It would trigger her. Sadie had explained to me how confused Emery was about her father, that there was no man in her life.

  It would be a big step for Sadie too—and for me, for that matter. I’d always lived on my own since I’d moved out of my family’s home when I went to college. I’d certainly never gotten serious enough with any woman to the point where we considered living together.

  As for Sadie, she had enough baggage with men to fill an entire baggage hold. There were so many reasons why I shouldn’t pursue moving them in yet. In addition to everything else, we’d only been together for a couple of months. Too soon to be considering living together.

  Two compelling arguments for having her move in with me were waging war in my brain, against all those telling me to leave it alone. The first was that she was in danger. It was a fact I couldn’t reason away. These men meant business. While both she and Sonny were convinced she was safe at work, neither could say they were safe at home.

  The second much more distressing reason was that I loved her. I’d come to grips with it, but the strength of my feelings for her would never cease to amaze me. I loved her with everything I had in me, and it felt like now was the right time to stop holding back. I didn’t even want to contemplate how I would feel if something ever happened to her.

  Chapter Eight

  Sadie

  “Excuse me?” I sputtered into my phone, pressing a finger against my ear to drown out any possible sounds that could’ve made me hear things incorrectly.

  My entire body went ice-cold, and the ramifications of the call washed over me as if in slow motion. I could practically see my ability to provide for my daughter being swept away by the tide.

  The supervisor at my janitorial job was sympathetic, but it didn’t mean a thing. “I’m sorry, Sadie. The evening janitorial position is being cut. The decision came from way on high. There’s nothing I can do to change things.”

  My mind raced. I refused to accept that the rug could be ripped from underneath me with such a swift yank. “Are there any other openings for part-time night work? I’m willing to take anything you can offer. Anything.”

  Desperation clung to my words, but I was truly frantic. My rent was due soon, and every dollar I made mattered to me. Every shift’s income was already allocated to our expenses before the month even started. I couldn’t lose my job. If the janitorial position was being cut, they had to have something else for me.

  The crinkling of paper came over the line as the supervisor paged through something. She was quiet for a long time. With each passing second, my hopes climbed and then dipped again when I heard another page being turned over without good news.

  Finally, she sighed. “We don’t have any openings at the moment. I’m sorry. We might have some possible temp work for you in the future, but there’s nothing available now.”

  Fuck. How was this possible? They didn’t even need me to come back in for one last shift. Like that, I was out of a second job. Effective immediately.

  Fighting off tears, I spoke past the lump of despair in my throat. “Thank you. I’d appreciate anything you can offer me. Please keep me in mind in the future.”

  “We’ll give you a call if something opens up,” the supervisor assured me before ending the call.

  I leaned my forehead against the rough brick wall in the alley behind the diner. I only had ten minutes for my break, and I was almost due back inside to carry on with my shift. The brick was going to leave an indentation on my skin, but I didn’t care. The scrape of it on my forehead was enough to keep me from floating away on a cloud of disbelief and despair.

  The alley smelled like old oil, the air stale with faint notes of urine, but I breathed in deeply a few times anyway. The smell now signified my only job. How did this happen?

  Tears kept trying to fall, but I blinked them back. I had to pull myself together. Now more than ever, I couldn’t afford to have a customer complain about me. I had to get back inside on time and serve my customers with a happier attitude than ever before.

  I barely managed to pull myself together, and it was only because I had to. With a few more deep breat
hs, I swallowed back the tears and smoothed out my uniform. I had to get through my shift, and then I would figure out what I would do about my situation.

  With all the stuff going on with Evan’s father and all the snooping I did at the firm, I wondered if Ken was behind my job getting cut. It wasn’t impossible. There was a behind-the-scenes investigation into him by the police and the GBI.

  If they used any of the information I got for them, and he suspected they’d gotten it from an inside source, it wasn’t a leap for him to assume I was that source. I’d volunteered to be.

  I didn’t regret my decision to help with the investigation. Men like Ken were corrupt scum, and I would do whatever it took to get them off the street if I could. Yet I hadn’t considered it might mean losing my job. If I had, I might’ve had some kind of backup plan in place.

  Rolling my head back, I looked up at the sliver of sky visible between the diner and the dry cleaners next door. When bad stuff happened, it always felt to me like the weather should reflect it. No one wanted to get fired when the sky was robin’s egg blue and the sun was shining.

  It just didn’t work. I expected there to be hail and thunder and lightning to commiserate with the storm I was facing in my life, but there wasn’t so much as a single cloud visible in that tiny sliver of sky. It was so unfair. There was even a bird chirping somewhere and several others soaring lazily overhead.

  Sighing, I tugged on my shirt again and walked up the three red steps into the diner. I squared my shoulders, digging deep to find the willpower to make it through my shift.

  It worked only so long to remind myself I’d been through much harder times in life and could pull through. With every passing second, the weight of keeping a roof over my child’s head and food in her belly settled heavier and heavier on my shoulders. Never mind having to keep her in school.

  By the time my shift was done, I was emotionally drained from all the fake smiling and holding back tears. The car Evan had loaned to me was parked on the far end of the lot. I hurried to it, collapsing onto its soft seat when my knees were going to give in under me. There was such heaviness weighing me down, I didn’t think I’d be able to stand up again if I tried.

  I didn’t know how much more I could take, yet I had to take whatever else life threw at me. Emery and I both depended on it. I couldn’t give up, couldn’t give in. Winding my fingers around the top of the steering wheel, I let my head fall forward to rest between my hands.

  I was so screwed. Worse than screwed. I was well and truly fucked. I gave myself a minute for it to sink in how fucked I was and then rummaged around for the keys of my borrowed car.

  Starting the car, I realized he had been vague the other day about when my own car would be fixed. Worry unfurled itself inside me like a living thing.

  If there was something major wrong with it, I didn’t even know how I was going to pay for the stuff Evan already told me was broken. Anything more and they might as well keep the car for scrap metal. There was no way I would be able to afford to pay for its repairs.

  I didn’t have time to dwell on it, though. Defeat sat heavy in my heart, but I ignored it for now. I had a little girl to collect from school and a best friend-slash-babysitter I had to call. Apparently, I wouldn’t need her to babysit Emery at night for the foreseeable future.

  At least I would get to spend some more time with my baby, but we would probably have to do it out on the streets. A bitter laugh escaped. After everything I’d been through, this is how I was going to end up on the streets. It was ironic.

  Geez. Tone down the self-pity, my inner optimist berated. It’ll all work out.

  Strangely, I believed it would. I just didn’t see how yet. Until it did work out, I was going to have to make some plans to see us through. First things first, though, I had to call Lori.

  “Hey, Sadie. Is everything okay? I haven’t picked Em up yet,” she said when she answered. “There’s still about twenty minutes or so before I have to leave.”

  “No. I know. That’s why I’m calling now, actually. You don’t need to worry about picking her up.” My voice wobbled. I prayed Lori missed it, but she hadn’t. “I’m on my way to pick her up now. You don’t need to watch her tonight either.”

  “Are you okay?” she asked. I could hear the alarm in her voice. “What’s happened?”

  I sniffled. It was harder keeping the tears back once I could hear her concern. I felt a little like Emery did when she was hurt. Everything was fine until she saw me and then the waterworks started.

  “The supervisor from my cleaning job called. They cut my job,” I admitted. Speaking the words made the situation all too real again. I got fired.

  “Oh my God! I’m so sorry, Sadie. Did they tell you why?” Lori sounded gutted on my behalf. She knew how much each of my jobs meant to me because she knew how tight my budget was.

  “They said they had to cut the position and would keep me in mind for any openings.” Which they wouldn’t do if Ken were behind it as I suspected he was. They clearly didn’t want me in the building. “She said they’d call if a temp job came up, too, but they don’t have anything at the moment.”

  Lori responded sympathetically. “If there’s anything I can do, please tell me. I’ll help however I can.”

  “Thanks. You’re a lifesaver.” Lori was the only person aside from myself I’d ever counted on. She watched Emery for me whenever she could and worked odd jobs between her freelancing.

  If I asked, Lori would give me the shirt on her back. She was that kind of person, but I knew she was barely getting by as it was. Financially, her screws were as tight as mine.

  What I needed was money, but Lori didn’t have that. She sighed as if she could hear my thoughts. “If you need me, call me.”

  “I will,” I promised. “Thanks again.”

  The cool thing about the loaner car was that it had a feature allowing my phone to connect to it, so I could talk hands-free. It was a tiny silver lining, but it was the only one I could find right now. Evan had set it up for me when he brought the car to the diner. Most people were probably used to having that in their cars by now, but mine was so old, it didn’t have any of those options.

  By the time I hung up with Lori, I was at the school. Emery was waiting for Lori at the gate along with a teacher and a couple of other kids. She didn’t know the car, so I had a few minutes to collect myself before I went to get her.

  Be strong, Sadie. I told myself, practicing my brave face in the rearview mirror. It sucked, but at least I wasn’t crying anymore. Wiping the last remnants of tears from the corners of my eyes, I sucked it up and got out of the car. Wherever I went from here, I had to get Emery first.

  Chapter Nine

  Evan

  Humming along to a song playing on my radio, I turned onto the street where Ken’s building was. It was like the man was everywhere suddenly. Popping in at the shop, going to see my brother, in my head, and at my girl’s work. As if that wasn’t bad enough, I drove by his damned building on my way home every night because it also happened to be the most direct route from the shop to my house.

  I’d tried bypassing it for a while, but it felt like a cowardly thing to do, so I went back to taking my usual route. I didn’t pay much attention to the building, but when I drove past it, I didn’t see the car I loaned Sadie.

  Curious, I slowed down and took a long look around the parking lot. It wasn’t there. The clock on my dashboard told me she was supposed to have started her cleaning job here thirty minutes ago. Frowning, I wondered where she was.

  The image of finding her stranded on the side of the road the other night swam into my head, and then I remembered the creepy fucker who came by the shop and the way he looked at the car, and my heart kicked into overdrive.

  Worry overwhelmed me. Sadie was a dedicated worker. If she wasn’t here, there was a reason. At risk of sounding like I’d been checking up on her by driving by, I scrolled through my phone for her number and hit the call button.

&
nbsp; I didn’t give a fuck what it looked like. I could explain after I knew she was okay. My chest nearly exploded with relief when she answered, and then I heard how she sounded. Something was definitely wrong.

  “Hey, Evan,” she said, weariness thick in her voice.

  “Hey. Is everything okay?”

  “Why?” she asked cautiously.

  Taking a deep breath, I took the plunge that may or may not make her think I was stalking her. “I was driving past Ken’s building on my way home, and I noticed the car wasn’t here. Are you okay? It didn’t break down, did it?”

  She sighed, taking a beat longer than usual to respond. “It’s fine. I’m fine. The car’s not there because I’m not there. I’m at home.”

  “Oh.”

  Lowering her voice, she said. “My job there got cut. They didn’t even want me to come in for a last shift.”

  Realization hit me in the gut. That was why she sounded so tired and defeated. She’d lost her job. I knew how adamant she was to keep it, and she couldn’t afford to be without it. “I’ll be right over if that’s okay? I’d like to stop by.”

  “Sure,” she said listlessly. She didn’t sound like herself at all. I heard Emery chattering in the background, but Sadie didn’t talk back to her while on the phone with me as she usually did. There was no laughter, no giggling, and not a scrap of light or happiness in her voice.

  “I’ll be right there, Sadie. Give me five minutes.” It wouldn’t matter how long it took me to get there. Her situation would still be the same, but I didn’t want her to feel like she was alone in this. She must be terrified, and I wanted her to know I would be there by her side as soon as I could be.