Pagan (The Henchmen MC 8)

"Sense where this is going," he said, face hard, but eyes sympathetic.

"I was overdrawn by over ten grand. And there had been fifteen in there to start with. Rent money, Benny's paycheck... it was all gone."

I had never been one for big, girly, pathetic, emotional displays in public before. But the second I realized that my card had been compromised, that someone had stolen from me, I just... lost it. The banker had to get up and go get me a box of tissues I had been blubbering so hard.

Then, when I had finally pulled it together, she had calmly, sympathetically, but matter-of-factly, informed me that the incident would need to be investigated before the bank could refund my money.

The amount of time that could possibly take?

Six months.

And then things just kept coming up. My rent got hiked just as my lease was going up. I had someone back into my bumper, the problem superficial, but would lead to rust if I didn't fix it. Then when I paid that off, there went my brakes. The pedicure chair broke and I had bought it from a manufacturer that didn't give refunds.

One thing after another.

I was in a downward spiral.

By the time I had to sell my car to make ends meet, and rent a room from an old man who was about as friendly as a feral cat, I had fallen so far that I didn't even know where up was anymore.

But still, still I managed to put some money away. I did that by cutting coupons, only eating ramen noodles, canned fruit, and frozen veggies- the stuff that was frequently on sale and cost less than a dollar a portion. Because I knew that the only way to come back from such a setback was to expand.

After ten months, when I finally got money back from the bank after a bunch of bullshit excuses for the delay, and I had also saved up a bit on my own, enough for me to pay two-thirds the rent on the space next door for the three months during construction, since it was an utter mess over there, I asked Ethan to She's Bean Around to discuss the slighted scale idea I had been sitting on. I had been sure, so sure, that it would be enticing. After all, wasn't some income better than none?

"Kennedy," Pagan said, shaking his head. "You were absolutely right. And any other man who didn't want you at his mercy, didn't want to use your desperation against you, would have jumped at it. A building sitting empty for over a fucking year, any good businessman would have jumped at it in a heartbeat."

And now I would never expand.

"They could never figure out who skimmed your card?"

I shook my head. "They said it was too random. It could have been the card reader at a store, or a reader and camera on the ATM when I went to it, or even a waitress with a skimmer at a restaurant. The cops told me that you could buy the scanner online for dirt cheap and be living large on someone else's hard-earned money forevermore. I don't even carry a card anymore. I do everything with cash. I figure this is a 'screw me once, shame on you' kind of situation."

"Fucking sucks, pet," he said, reaching out to rest his hand on my knee, giving it a squeeze. "But you're doing everything right to get back on track. You gotta be proud of yourself for that." Then, because the moment was maybe to heavy for him, for both of us, he gestured toward his plate. "Besides, if the beauty thing doesn't pan out, I think you could have a second career as a cook."

I smiled, internally agreeing that it had actually been a pretty kickass meal. It had been so long since I had cooked that a part of me was worried I had lost whatever culinary skills I had had to begin with. It was nice to know I hadn't.

"So what do you think about a quick fuck, then maybe checking out the beach? I haven't been back here much since summer started."

I smiled at that. "Sounds good."

And it was.

Actually, perfect.

He had my story, he had my body which he treated absolutely perfectly, and he had absolutely no awkwardness about the fact that he, quite literally, took me for a long walk on the beach like some cheesy romantic movie.

Then we got back, took a dip in his pool to get off the sand, which led to some stripping, making me wonder if his neighbors were of the peeping variety for a moment before he dragged me inside and fucked me hard and rough and dirty on his living room couch.

We slept.

I woke up with his hand holding my breast and his body behind me.