“She made me start carrying, too,” Six grumbled as she pointed to her boobs. “But she said I’m allowed to carry in my boobs.”
“Under your boobs, Six.” Beckham grinned. “But yes, but, um, I’m sorry to say this Swayze, but your boobs aren’t quite bit enough for a holster there.”
I rolled my eyes.
“I can take honest criticism,” I told her. “And this works great for me, regardless.”
“I’d also like to tell you that I watched your trial live last week. The one that you defended that guy over Zoom. It was the best thing ever. I felt like I was watching a real crime drama while I was working in the office last week.”
I grinned.
Last week I’d defended a man from my bed.
I’d won, too.
“Thanks.” I smiled. “I’m ready as soon as I get my gun.”
They waited by the door for me as I retrieved it, placed it in the holster around my waist, and then headed back toward them.
“I can’t wait to drive,” I grumbled as we took the stairs.
Stairs that I could now take on my own, thank God.
For the last few weeks, on the off chance that Trick allowed me to leave the house, he would carry me up and down them and to my car.
It was sweet at first.
Now it was just annoying.
I wanted my life back.
My life that had been freakin’ sweet before all this mess had happened.
Though spending the last few weeks with Trick had made me feel even closer to him, I was getting stir crazy. I was most assuredly tired of this building, and since Trick’s place was even less handicap accessible than mine was, I couldn’t even go to his place for a change in scenery.
“What does it mean,” I said five minutes later when I had finished maneuvering myself into the smaller car they had driven, “when a man says ‘I want to look at houses’?”
Six’s brows raised, but it was Beckham who answered.
“It means that he wants to get married, plant some babies in you, and put those babies in a house that y’all pick out together.” Beckham grinned. “I would suggest finding a house that’s much bigger than you need. Just telling you from experience, moving while you also have a very small child is incredibly hard.”
Beckham would know. She’d done it quite a few times over the last couple of months. First her move from Montana to Souls Chapel. Then her move from a duplex to an actual house.
“After this we can run by a few,” Six suggested. “I know some that are for sale.”
“Me, too,” Beckham clapped. “There’s one place that Trouper and I looked at. It’s very nice, but the problem was they wanted way too much for it. Though since then, after realizing that their asking price was too steep, they’ve dropped it to a respectable price. I can take you by there if you want? After lunch?”
I was all but bursting at the seams.
That sounded so, so good.
I loved Trick and all. I mean, on a scale of one to I’d give up chocolate forever for him, he was at a seventy-two. That meant that I’d give up absolutely anything for him.
Not that he’d ever ask me to.
The man would give up the world for me. Just like he’d done once before already.
Regardless of how I felt for Trick, though, there was just something about getting out of the house without his overprotective self hanging over me, suffocating my joy, that made me want to scream.
“I’d love it,” I admitted. “I have to text Trick where I’m going, though. I planned to sneak downstairs to work. He would’ve been mad about that, so I can only imagine what his reaction would be to me not telling him that I was planning on leaving my ‘safe apartment’ altogether. It’s better to just tell him.”
“It’s better to ask forgiveness than permission,” Six disagreed.
Beckham’s lips twitched. “She’s right. There are times where I will play to Trouper’s need to protect me constantly, but this time is different. We’re with you. I’m fully trained to take care of you. And Six isn’t so bad herself. You stick with us, you’re golden.”
Six fist-pumped the air. “I’m scrappy. I’ll totally go for the ankles. Just take the nearest thing and smash them to pieces so they can’t follow us when we run.”
The imagery there…
“Okay,” I said. “But I’m totally blaming y’all when he finds out.”
They both gave thumbs up. “We’re okay with that. If he finds out at all.”
“Well,” I said. “About that. I was hoping you’d take me to a store. It’s owned by a trendy chick that has a lot of clothing in her store that I’ve been wanting to stop at. She also has lingerie and other things.”
“Other things,” Beckham said. “Are we talking about Harlequin Boutique?”