Cuffed For Love

“You okay?”

She sniffs but nods. “Just a bad date. I’ve had a run of them lately.”

“Sorry.” I heft the garbage bag over my shoulder. “Why don’t you go inside? I’ll wait to make sure he doesn’t come back.”

“Don’t worry about it. Joy’s waiting up for me.”

I grimace. “Actually, she’s sleeping upstairs.” I jerk my thumb toward my own house.

Cece’s eyebrows shoot upward. “Already? I didn’t think Joy would cave like that. She’s way more—You know what? Let me just shut up. Night, Dane, and if you hurt her, I’ll be carrying your balls around in my purse.” Cece scampers up the porch and dashes inside before I can press her.

She’s way too what? Conservative? Shy? I guess that fits, though, given that all Joy is ready to do is take off her shirt and dry hump. I toss the trash away and get ready to head back inside. We’ll see what the morning brings. I’d like to have a little taste of her cunt for breakfast.

My plan to crawl into bed next to Joy is thwarted by a text from Tony, one of the bail bondsmen I work with.

Him: had a no show skip is at Club Tango shouldn’t be a hassle woman 5’2” 140 lb 45 yo she was charged w class d felony UDW

Me: Use of a deadly weapon? That doesn’t sound like a no hassle pick up

Him: beer bottle bar brawl w another woman nothing big

He sends a picture of a bottle blonde whose hair is teased out twice the size of her head. She’s scowling at the deputy taking the mug shot. Women are actually a little challenging because you can’t really lay hands on them like you can a man. You have to kind of corral them, herd them like cattle into your truck instead of punching them across the jaw and hauling their carcass out over your shoulder.

But she’s small and so I should be able to finesse this quickly and be back before Joy wakes up. I text back an affirmative and go inside to gear up. Joy’s still sleeping, her arms curved around a pillow. I growl under my breath. That should be me and not a damn sack of feathers. I give myself a little shake. Am I really jealous of a pillow? I’ve got it bad.

After tucking my gun into my shoulder holster and grabbing a pair of socks, I make for the door as quietly as possible.

“Going somewhere?” a sleepy voice asks.

I turn toward the bed. “Didn’t mean to wake you, sweets.”

She pushes upright and swipes a hank of hair out of her eyes. I clench my jaw as the desire to pounce on her sweeps through my system. I finger the phone in my pocket. There are other skip tracers in this county. I can let this one go. “You didn’t. Not really. I need to go home and wait for Cece.”

“She’s home. I saw her when I was cleaning up your front porch.”

“Oh. That’s good. Did she say how her date went?”

“Wasn’t good, I don’t think.” The memory of the Dodge barely making a rolling stop before disgorging Cece runs through my mind.

Joy swings her feet out of the bed. “I should go home. She’ll need someone to talk to.”

I bite my tongue to keep from telling her to get back where she belongs. “All right, but when I get back, I’ll stop over, so maybe you should give me a key so I don’t wake you up.”

Joy gives me a once-over, taking in my clothes, gun, and socks in hand. “Are you going somewhere?”

“Got a job.”

“Tonight? This late?” She looks for a clock.

“It’s nearing midnight, and yeah, the skip is at a bar.”

“Can I go? Actually”—she fumbles for her phone—“let me see if Cece’s awake. We can both go. It’ll be a good distraction for her. Maybe I could film it? That would be some cool content for my feed.”

“Ahh…I don’t know whether that’s legal.” I scratch my head.

“You’re going to a public place, right?”

“Yeah, Club Tango.”

“If it’s a public place, I can film it. Wait for me. I’ll be a sec. Hey, you’re awake,” she chirps into the phone. I back up to the bed and sit down to pull my socks on. By the time I’m done, Joy’s dressed and ready to go. “Cece will meet us outside.”

If it was a man, I wouldn’t take them, but I figure that having these two along with me might help convince the skip to get into my truck without an argument. The bar is noisy as hell and twice as dark. Neon lights flash intermittently. I show the photo to the girls.

“Should we split up?” Joy suggests.

“No.” I don’t want anyone rubbing up against Joy. I draw her to my side. “Stick close to me.”

“Okay.” She gestures for Cece to come over.