He and Quinten had stayed up late the night before and finished painting the bedroom and bathroom. The tile guys had arrived early that morning to work on the shower enclosure and the floor tile in the bathroom, now that the newer, much larger spa bathtub had been installed. When he’d called Wes, his friend had told him that although he planned to tack an “asshole surcharge” on his bill, they were running ahead of schedule and the custom bed and the rest of the furniture were almost ready. When she saw their place, Camilla O’Neal wouldn’t know what hit her.
Just then, Jake Redman and Gil James slid into seats at the bar. Jake made eye contact with Camilla as she placed paper napkins in front of them, ready to take their drink orders. “Camilla, you drive a white Camaro, right? Used to be Juliana Peterson’s?”
“Yeah, I bought it from her when Will came along because the backseat’s too difficult to reach for an infant car seat. Why?” Her tone had risen as she spoke. Ben knew that car was her precious baby. Protective instincts flared within him as worry clouded her features.
Gil let out a sigh as Jake replied, “Sweet cheeks, someone’s slashed your tires. All four of ’em. Right out there in the front parking lot.”
“Well, fuck a duck!” Judging by the deepening color of her cheeks and the way she slapped a palm over her mouth, she hadn’t planned to say it quite that loud. “Shit! That’s money out of my savings.”
Quinten poked his head out of Ben’s office at that exchange. “What’s the matter?”
Ben reached in his office for her coat and said, “Let’s go take a look, sugar. Insurance might cover it.” He motioned for Quinten to come with them.
“Not on a used car,” she replied, her eyes searching his, a dumbfounded look on her face as he held the coat for her. He realized too late that he’d let an endearment slip out. He’d thought it often enough but he’d never called her “sugar” out loud.
What the hell. Can’t take it back.
Maybe all his well-laid plans were coming to an avalanche but he didn’t care. She glanced back at him one more time as he helped her slip into the coat.
All four men went out to the parking lot with Camilla to inspect the damage. There sat her car on its pretty rims, tires slashed. Camilla’s brows drew together and she let out a disgruntled nonverbal growl. Ben wanted nothing more than to hold her when her lower lip pooched out. Why someone would risk getting caught doing something so senseless in the front parking lot was beyond him.
She let out a sigh and turned around. “I guess I’d better make some calls.”
Ben said, “I have a friend at Torvel’s. I’ll give him a call.”
As they returned to the club, Quinten said, “I’ll let Hank Stinson know about this. Crazy stuff has been happening in Divine lately. We should check the security camera footage.”
Unfortunately, her car was blocked by another larger vehicle during the time when the vandal did the deed, so the security footage wasn’t much help. Torvel’s Tire Center was closed, but when Ben called one of the guys who worked there, he promised to bring four tires and install them at The Dancing Pony for her first thing in the morning.
Camilla checked in with them in the office, in between customers, and Ben said, “You and Quinten were scheduled for the same hours tonight. When your shift is over, he’s going to take you home and stay with you.”
“Why?” she asked as she stood in the doorway of his office.
Because we know you’re not quite ready to stay with us. “Because we’re worried about why someone would do that. We don’t know if it was random or if someone targeted you purposely.” What if it was someone who knew her from her previous job, trying to place her in a vulnerable position? Leaving her stranded and helpless. Crazier stuff happened all the time, even in a quiet town like Divine. It wasn’t happening on his watch.
“You think someone would do that to me on purpose?”
“I don’t know. Which is why we want to play it safe. I’ll be over after we close The Pony down for the night.” No way was he leaving her alone. His instincts were telling him that was a bad idea.
“You too? I don’t think that’s really necess—”
“We won’t get in the way. Look at it like this. You’ll need a ride in the morning anyway. We don’t have any appointments until later in the morning so we can take you wherever you need to go.”
Her cheeks took on a rosy hue and she sighed. “Well…all right. But I don’t think it’s necessary. I can find a ride—”