Shane (Mallick Brothers 1)

So yeah.

I was horny.

Shane was ridiculously attractive.

And he was looking me over.

No big deal or anything.

“You’re gonna trash talk some horny losers for a job?” he asked, that deep voice of his somehow even sexier when it was addressing me.

“Don’t try to discourage her. I can’t do the night shifts anymore. And don’t think I don’t know it was you who helped Hunter last night by getting Becca and Izzy’s hair in knots with greasy makeup all over their pillows and icing on their faces before bed.”

“You wanted us to watch them, we watched them… get all sugared up and painted like cartoon characters,” he added with a boyish smile that denoted a definite soft spot for the girls in question. “Now, got any suggestions for where I can find a girl?”

“Have you tried the corner of Fifth Street?” Fiona suggested and I heard myself snort. I lived on the crossover for Fifth Street and it wasn’t exactly a secret that some gang known as Fifth Street ran girls on that corner. Meaning prostitutes.

“You’re a pain in the ass, Fee,” he said warmly. “I’ll catch you Sunday.”

With that, he was gone.

The air seemed to return to the room and my lungs with his absence.

“My brother-in-law,” Fiona said when he was gone. “Anyway. Okay. Tomorrow night. Nine o’clock, for your trial call.”

“Sounds good to me,” I agreed, feeling a little bit of hope swell up inside, but reminded myself to not let that shit grow. Nothing good ever came of it.

“Great. We can discuss all the specifics between calls. I’ll see you tomorrow night, Lea,” she said as the mousy girl from the front desk walked up and tapped a little hesitantly on the door jamb.

Dismissed, I walked out of the building feeling a little less nervous than I had been going in. Because Fee seemed like she would be a great boss. I had only spent a couple minutes with her, but I found us to be pretty similar in temperament and ideas. And I was pretty sure I had given her a decent first impression. All I had to do was ace the call and I was in.

I stepped out onto the sidewalk to find Fiona’s brother-in-law, Shane, sitting on top of his bike right behind my car.

I don’t know where it came from, how the thought even formed in my mind that fast.

But I was opening my mouth before I even mulled it over.

“Hey,” I called, making his head snap up

“Hey baby,” he called back, giving me a smile that was meant to melt panties and I was pretty sure that mine had started dripping too.

Honestly, it was probably a stupid move. But my empty cabinets were begging me to understand the need to get inventive. Even if I got the job, I wouldn’t get a paycheck for at least another week. I couldn’t go a week without food. “I’ll be your date for your mother’s dinner,” I said and his brow started to raise, a smile toyed with his lips, before I went on, “for two-fifty.”

“Two-fifty?” he asked and there was humor in his smile. “You know, there are plenty of women who would be happy to be on my arm. For free.”

“Really?” I asked, making a show of looking around the empty street. “Where are they?”

To that, he chuckled, the sound deep and oddly sensual, as he nodded. “Alright, baby. You’re on. Sunday, five o’clock. Where can I pick you up?”

See… I was willing to take the risk of going out with him, mostly because I knew Fiona would be there and that was its own kind of safety, but I wasn’t stupid enough to let the man know where I lived.

“Right here,” I said, gesturing to where we were standing.

“Alright. But none of that silk work casual blouse bullshit, alright?”

Yeah, well, I had to agree it wasn’t my best look. “Got it,” I said, nodding.

“Your name, baby?”

“Lea,” I said, ignoring the way my belly fluttered a little at the endearment. It had been so long since I heard one.

“Shane Mallick,” he said, pushing his helmet on, turning over his bike, and peeling away.

It was the smoothest freaking exit I had ever seen outside of a movie.

With that, I got in my shitty car that I had to try to start three times before it turned over, and headed out of the industrial part of town and into the seedy part. Home sweet home.

My building was a four story one, all ugly sand-colored brick with broken fire escapes and no upkeep whatsoever. I pulled into the lot behind the building and climbed out, quickly moving away from the fence to the junkyard that was next door. It was the dominion of three huge, fierce, growling, snarling dogs whose sole existence seemed to be to scare the bejesus out of anyone who got near. The problem was that the fence between the parking lot and the junkyard was chainlink and old as dirt with that shitty green privacy plastic stuff woven into the links. But most of the plastic was chewed away and anytime one of the dogs jumped on the fence, the entire God damn thing wobbled ominously.