He stared at me for just a moment longer with that serious gaze, and then broke out in a smile. I watched as his shoulders loosened and his breathing evened out. “Yeah, you could say that. King leaves me in charge of financing the operation so whenever we come across extra cash, I put it aside.” He paused for a moment before giving me a regretful look. “I wish I could have given you that money to bail your Dad out, but it was already promised to Brian by then.”
“You don’t have to explain yourself, Kick. And besides, you found another way to help.”
He nodded, but didn’t say anything.
“Who was that woman?” I asked quietly. I had the sense she was more than just a stranger who needed help.
“Jen is an ex of King’s. They dated a long time ago, and she left him for the asshole who nearly ended up killing her.”
I had never met King before, but he sounded like a good guy if he still looked out for an ex, as well as all these other women who needed help. “I’d like to meet King one day,” I said softly.
He smiled again. “I can organise that, baby,” he said, giving me something I had wanted for a very long time.
He’d given me a piece of himself he’d kept hidden for so long by promising to introduce me to his friend.
“Thank you,” I whispered, feeling like we’d just taken another huge step towards our future.
***
“What are you doing home alone? I thought you and Kick couldn’t get enough of each other these days,” Maree said into the phone.
I tucked the phone between my ear and my shoulder to free my hands. “We were going to spend the afternoon playing with his toys but he had to do some club work,” I said as I grabbed the ice cream out of the fridge.
“Fuck, you’re a lucky woman. What kind of toys are we talking here? And shit, it’s nine pm babe, why isn’t he back yet?”
I laughed, scooping ice cream into my mouth. “I think he meant his remote control car, shit like that,” I joked with her.
I could picture her poking her tongue at me. “Very funny, Evie.”
“Well, seriously, what kind of toys do you think he meant? Mind you, I think Kick could even make playing with a remote control car sexy.”
She sighed. “I think you’re probably right.”
“We’ll have to play another day, though. He rang about half an hour ago and said he’d be busy for a while so he’d see me tomorrow.”
“Bugger. You’ll have to play with BOB instead.”
She spoke the truth. I’d been horny all day imagining amazing sex with Kick, so I’d have to take care of that myself now. “I should video it and send it to him.”
She started coughing and spluttering. “God, you just made me almost choke on my drink. I think that’d be an awesome idea. Serves him right for cancelling on you.”
I put the lid back on the ice cream and placed the tub back in the freezer. Taking hold of my phone again, I began walking to my bedroom. “I was kidding, Maree. Whatever he’s doing obviously needs his attention and if I sent him that, he’d be so distracted.”
“I guess,” she mused, not sounding convinced, “but I’d still send it.”
“That’s cause you’re a bitch and like your men to pay when they don’t make good on promises.”
Laughing, she agreed, “Yeah, I do.”
A noise outside distracted me and caused my heart rate to spike.
Shit, was that someone out there?
“Maree, I think there’s someone outside my house. Can you stay on the phone while I go and check?”
“Fuck . . . yeah, go,” she said, her voice tinged with concern.
“Thanks,” I said as I switched the outside lights on and slid the back door open. I took a tentative step, not seeing or hearing an