“Agreed,” said Colton. His eyes, which were so much like his brother’s, met mine. “This is serious, Roxy.”
“I know. Not like I don’t think it is. Trust me.”
Reece arched a brow. “Then you will have no problem with the fact you can’t stay at your apartment. Not until we find out who is behind this.”
I opened my mouth.
“The only way that apartment is safe for you is if we nail those windows shut, which would be a stupid as fuck idea,” Reece explained. “And if there’s a fire, you’re screwed if you’re in one of the bedrooms and trapped.”
“What about a security system?” I asked, glancing between the brothers. “They aren’t as expensive as before.”
“You’re right on the monthly charges, but the install and all the window and door sensors is where they get you,” Colton advised.
Frustrated, I twisted toward Reece, my eyes wide. “I cannot be run out of my home, Reece. I can’t deal with that.”
His jaw clenched. “You’re going to have to deal with it, babe. I want you safe. I’m not going to argue about it. It’ll be temporary. We know a guy who can probably cut us a deal on the install.”
Colton nodded. “He’s a city cop down in Philadelphia. I know he’ll do it. He owes us, but it may take a week or two. We’ll be on his schedule and I know for sure he’s got his kid next weekend.”
Beggars can’t be choosers. “Okay. I guess I can stay with Katie or my parents until then.”
Reece tilted his head to the side. “Babe, you can stay with me. Nope, I can see your head working and your mouth is about to start working—”
My eyes narrowed.
“—You’ll be safe here. No doubt about that, and I’m sure you’d rather be here than with your parents or Katie, because both of them live a hell of a lot further away from Mona’s.” He grinned at me. “Plus, I’m just better company.”
“Debatable,” muttered Colton.
That went ignored. “And I’ll be more fun,” Reece added.
Pink crept across my cheeks as I bit down on my lip, looking away. I totally got what he meant. Yeah, he’d be a hell of a lot more fun, but . . .
“Can you give us a moment?” Reece said to his brother.
“Sure.” Colton sighed as he stood. “I’ve got to be going anyway. As soon as we hear anything back on your phone or learn anything else, you two will be the first to know.” He started for the door, then stopped and looked at me. “You should stay with my brother. I’m not saying that because he’s good company. He leaves wet towels on the floor, but I’ll sleep better knowing you are with him.”
As Colton left, I glanced at Reece. “You leave wet towels on the floor?”
He actually looked sheepish. “Maybe. Sometimes.”
I cocked a brow.
“Okay. After every shower, but for you, I’ll pick up the towels,” he offered.
“I don’t know. Wet towels are gross.”
He chuckled, but the humor fled when his eyes met mine. “I know it seems like a huge step with you staying with me, but it’s temporary, babe.”
I got that, but staying with him felt like a slippery slope into . . . well, a lot of things. I was all about starting over with him. I was all about the friendship and the sex. I was even cool with dating him, but I wanted to keep all the chambers of my heart out of it, because I knew . . .
I knew I could lose him and that terrified me.
But he was right. Staying with my parents would be a major pain and staying with Katie would probably be a train wreck of crazy. The fun kind, but also the kind where you ended the night with a trip to jail.
God, I was stupid, but I found myself nodding nonetheless.
I managed to hold off on telling my parents what was going on, which was great news. I knew they’d freak, rightfully so, but I also had a long shift ahead of me and way too much going on in my head. Since I had to get to the bar and Reece needed to work, we really didn’t have time for that conversation, so that meant that was how I’d be spending my Sunday. With my car still over at my apartment, Reece drove me to work in his car.
And that was different.
Not including my brothers, I’d never been driven to work by a guy before. Getting out of the car had also been a new experience for me. I’d wiggled my fingers at Reece and thanked him.
That hadn’t been sufficient.
“Whoa.” He’d caught my arm before I could step out of the truck. “Where do you think you’re going?”
“Um? To work?”
“Not like that.”
Confused, I’d opened my mouth to ask for a little more detail, but then he’d tugged me toward me. “We don’t say good-bye to one another,” he’d claimed. “We kiss.”
And we did.
He’d tilted his head, lining up his mouth with mine. A heartbeat full of sweet anticipation had passed and then he brushed his lips across mine. Sweet and quick, I had thought that was all, but I’d been mistaken. Then he really kissed me, hot and rough. The kiss sent my blood boiling and blistered my skin. He kissed me like he thought he might never be able to do it again, and that kiss left me drowning in Reece, in his taste and in his warmth.
I’d stumbled out of that truck and walked into Mona’s in a daze. Hours later, and my lips were still tingling from that scorching kiss.
Working tonight was definitely a lot different from the previous couple of days. My chatting with customers came more easily, my smiles became more sincere, and that meant my tips were through the roof.
Which was great, since it looked like I’d be adding another monthly bill to the expense list. It sucked but was necessary.
During a lull in customers, Nick pulled me to the back of the bar, in front of the displayed bottles. “Hey, I wanted to make sure you’re not staying at your place tonight.”
“I’m not,” I assured him.
His expression was unreadable. “Reece’s?”
“How did you guess?”
He shot me a bland look. Totally read that. “I’m psychic. Instead of falling off a stripper pole, I hit my head on a liquor bottle.”
Laughing, I smacked his arm. “Shut up.”
His lips twitched. “Seriously. I’m glad to hear you’re not staying there.” He glanced at the customers sitting at the bar. “You doing okay?”
Truthfully, I wasn’t allowing myself to think about the fact I had a legit stalker. If I let myself focus on it, I’d drive myself crazy. I’d end up rocking in a corner. “Yeah,” I told him. “I’m okay as I can be.”