Shake It Up (Man of the Month 8)

Then the full scope of what Brent was suggesting hit her, and Taylor shook her head. "I can't," she blurted. "I don't want to go to the police."

Brent's brows furrowed, because obviously any sane person would be happy to go to the police. Taylor, however, did not. "He's on leave, actually. Three weeks. Take it or lose it vacation, so he took off to do some work on his house."

"Oh. It's just--"

He moved closer, so that he was right in front of her, his eyes on hers. "I know the idea of going to the police makes people nervous, so I'm giving you a pass on that with the caveat that you file a report if anything more happens. And with the caveat that you let Landon help you."

"Can't you?"

He shook his head. "I've got too much on my plate right now. Landon's painting and redoing floors, but he's tackling it slowly."

"Still, that's time-consuming. And I doubt he wants to play detective when he's on vacation from that very job." She needed to shut up, and she knew it. There was no reason to turn down Landon's help, and the only reason she was hesitating was the fact that she was attracted to him.

The corner of Brent's mouth quirked up, and she had the uncomfortable feeling that he'd read her mind. "He'll want to help you. I'm sure of it. And, hell. Maybe you can help him paint his house."

She drew in a breath, then slowly released it. "Okay. Sounds good. Thank you."

He nodded. "I'll give him a call in a bit. In the meantime, you can stay at my place tonight."

"Oh, no." She shook her head vehemently. "It'll probably all be fine, but if something bad did happen--I mean, with Faith there." She met his eyes. "No. Thank you, but no way."

For a moment, he just held her gaze. "Is there something you haven't told me?"

A chill raced down her spine. "No," she lied. "I just--she's a little girl, and I'd feel horrible if..."

She trailed off, and he nodded. "Fair enough," Brent said. "We'll get you a room at The Winston. Since Derek's about to strut his stuff across that stage, I'll get Reece to check you in, and I'll tell Derek as soon as he's done with the contest. He can give a heads-up to hotel security so they can keep an eye on your room. Just in case."

"Okay." She forced herself not to think about the dollars that were stacking up. "And Landon? I mean, Detective Ware?"

"I think Landon works just fine. I'll talk with him and explain the situation. I'll have him come by to see you in the morning. And I'll send Mina over later tonight so you have some company. Okay?"

She nodded as he checked his phone, then confirmed he had her cell number.

"You ready? We can go track down Reece and get you settled."

For just a moment, she hesitated. She didn't like being a burden. More than that, she didn't like being under a microscope. Too many secrets that had the potential of coming out.

But she also didn't like the idea of ending up dead. Or worse.

"Yeah," she said. "I'm ready."

Chapter Three

"Yo, Ware!" Matthew Herrington's voice echoed across the cavernous gym to where Detective Landon Ware was beating the shit out of a punching bag since he couldn't take his fists to Terrance Weems, a scumbag Landon had put away a year ago, and the system had kicked back out on parole. First thing Terrance did was go home and knock out his ex-wife's front teeth.

He was back in the pen, and he'd probably stay this time, but dammit, Landon had busted his ass to get the shithead locked up. To protect that poor woman whom Weems had spent years waling on. And one idiotic bureaucratic decision had destroyed all of that.

He loved his job, dammit. But there were times when the system was seriously fucked up.

"Your cell phone's ringing. Display says it's from Brent Sinclair. Want me to answer?"

"Just let it roll to voice mail," Landon said. He'd see Brent soon enough. Tonight Landon's buddy Derek was running the Man of the Month gauntlet at The Fix, just a couple of blocks away from Herrington's gym. That's what came from being in love. Derek's girlfriend was Amanda, and Amanda's best friend was in charge of the contest. Which meant that when one of the contestants had to drop out, she'd tagged Derek.

Landon assumed that Amanda had encouraged him to do it and would undoubtedly be yelling the loudest when Derek stripped off his shirt. They were a good match, Landon would give them that. But good matches were rare in his experience, and he hoped his friend appreciated what he had.

Then again, Derek had been topsy-turvy for Amanda for a while now, and the fact that she was finally all-in had Derek doing a permanent happy dance.

Which, of course, explained w