I practically hid out in the office until my hard-on went down. It was surprising how turned-on she made me. I only expected to kiss her to shut her up and get her to do what I wanted her to do to.
That’s not true, a voice in my head said. You wanted her.
That was the truth. There was something about her that brought out something in me I didn’t know was there before I met her. I never had that urge before, to grab a woman and kiss her, to make her mine. It was funny, too, since all we did was fight.
But when we got along, we got along well. I liked being with her when she wasn't a bitch. And I wanted her around. I couldn’t pretend I didn’t like her being there at the clubhouse. She brought something to my life I didn’t know I was missing.
When it was safe to leave the office, I went out to the lounge. Gigi was on the sofa, eating crackers and peanut butter. When she saw me, she handed one to me. “You want one?”
“Thanks.” I grinned, taking it from her. She looked happy that I took it, happier when I ate it. It didn’t take much to make a kid happy. How come so many people were so shitty at it?
“Will I go to school tomorrow?” Erica was sitting with her, and we looked at each other.
“I don’t think so,” I said.
“Why not?” She looked so damned innocent.
“Just because. You’ll go back eventually. Jamie will help you keep up. You don’t have anything to worry about.”
“I miss my friends, though.”
“You have friends here.”
“It’s not the same.” I couldn’t argue with that.
“Soon. I promise. Hopefully this week.”
“Come on,” Erica said, smiling, trying to brighten things up. “We’ll finish cleaning up after our mess in the kitchen, and Jamie will read you a bedtime story when we go up.”
“Good night,” Gigi said, climbing off the couch. She still didn’t call me anything, I noticed. I didn’t expect her to call me Dad. But not even Lance. Nothing.
I watched her go to the kitchen and felt sort of sad. I wanted her to like being with me. It was the weirdest thing. I couldn’t have imagined I would ever feel that way.
I went back to the office, waving Flash in with me.
“What’s up?” He closed the door.
“I need to find The Scarecrow.” I watched him wince. His tanned skin got a little pale, too.
“You’re sure you wanna go looking around for him? That’s pretty dangerous stuff.”
“Since when are you afraid of dangerous stuff?” I grinned.
“Since I grew up and got a little common sense.”
“Oh, so I don’t have common sense?”
“Not right now. It sounds like you’re thinking with your dick, your heart, everything but your brain.”
“I’m not thinking with my dick.”
“You’re thinking about her.” He jerked his head upward, and I knew he meant Jamie.
“Anything but her. She’s the least of my problems.”
“Bull.”
I shrugged. “Whatever you say. Fact is, I need to find him. I need to know where Rae is. I need to be sure Gigi’s safe. That’s all I care about.”
“Are you sure about that?”
“Isn’t that enough? I mean, Jesus.”
“Oh, it’s enough. I wanna be sure the kid’s safe, too.” He sat down on the sofa, stretching out with his feet at the other end. “So what do you have in mind?”
“I don’t know yet. That’s why I’m talking to you about it.” I ran my hands through my hair, lacing my fingers behind my head.
“We know the sorta people he hangs out with,” Flash said. “And they’re all bad news.”
“Yeah, and we know where they hang out. And that’s bad news, too.” I shrugged. “What else can I do? I’ve gotta start somewhere.”
“Don’t start there. Go to Rae’s. Jamie will tell you where she lives. She went there, right? She knows where it is.”
I mulled it over. “Yeah. You’re right. I’ll start there. Maybe she’s been there lately and the neighbors saw her or something.”
“It’s worth a shot.”
I frowned. Yeah. It was worth a shot. I had the feeling I wouldn’t be lucky enough to find what I needed on the first try.
I went upstairs, where Jamie was closing the door to Gigi’s room. She gasped when she turned and saw me standing there. I held up hands up in front of my chest.
“I’m not gonna touch you or anything. Don’t worry.” She relaxed.