Wild Dirty Secret(83)
I woke up ten minutes before the alarm was set to go off. Stumbling out of bed, I rinsed my face and went outside to the sitting area of the suite. The only one there was Jeff. He stood at the window, staring out with a brooding expression. I wondered if he was nervous about what we were going to do.
He turned when I came out. “Hey.”
“Hey back. Couldn’t sleep?”
His expression was sheepish. “Maybe Rico was right about the caffeine.”
I laughed, heading to the minibar. “Oh man, you guys drank all the water.”
“Well, you scared us with that stuff about dirty glasses.” He lifted the bottle he held, cap gone but mostly full. “Here, I’m good. You can have the last one.”
“Thanks, Jeff.” I took a drink. “You’re a gentleman.”
He blushed pink. Endearing, despite the fake tough-guy act. Men with earrings always acted like they were great lovers, although they knew they really weren’t. But hey, who was I to judge? We were all overcompensating for something.
He joined me at the table. “What about you—nervous?”
“I guess it hasn’t sunk in yet. Feels kind of surreal. I mean, if things go well, I might be free of him by this time tomorrow. And if things don’t go right…” I shuddered. “Probably best not to think about that.”
“I know Luke’s going to do everything he can to keep you safe.”
I took a swig. “What if it’s him I’m worried about?”
“Don’t. He tends to land on his feet.”
“You’ve known him a long time, then?”
“Forever,” he said. “Since we were kids.”
If they’d known each other since they were kids, then that meant he’d seen Luke’s hard life. It meant Jeff probably had a story of his own. In fact, if they’d both been on the street together… “You weren’t a…”
“A rent boy?” He snorted. “Not likely. I don’t have the face for it, even if I… Well, no. I did other stuff to get by. Mostly beating up anyone who got in our way. We all had our parts to play.”
I considered that. “So what can you tell me about Luke? Besides the feet-landing thing.” Jeff looked away, far into the distance, though I couldn’t tell whether it was the past or the future.
“He’s a good guy. I mean, a really good guy. If you ever feel like you need to doubt him, you don’t have to.”
“Hmm. This sounds like the beginnings of another intentions speech.”
“A what?” he asked blankly.
“Both Rico and Major gave me one. What are your intentions where Luke is concerned? Don’t hurt him, or you answer to us. That sort of thing.”
Jeff chuckled. “Luke’s a big boy. If he’s with you, I’m sure it’s because he wants to be.” He shrugged. “I gave up trying to control the future a long time ago.”
“I hear that. Sometimes you just gotta ride it out.”
He granted me a half smile, making him look boyish. “Pun intended?”
“Always.” I tilted the water bottle to offer the last inch. When he shook his head, I inclined my head in thanks. “To riding it out,” I said in a toast before downing the rest.
Luke came out of the bedroom and yawned. “Are you corrupting Jeff too?”
“Hardly.” I went over and curved against his side. “I’ve been on my best behavior.”
“See now, I wasn’t even worried until you said that.”
I started to laugh, but it became a little watery. I turned my face into his shirt, and he hugged me back.
Chapter Five
The crunch of gravel sounded loud in my ears. The men had earpieces, but they weren’t made for smaller ears, nor was I familiar with using them.
Besides, as Luke was fond of telling me, my job was to stay near him. Stay near Luke. Boy, had he drilled that into my head. Stay near Luke, and if something went wrong, stay near Major. I suppose the other guys came next in the “stay near” directive. But if things got that bad, I was probably fucked anyway. That part Luke hadn’t said, but it had been in the grim set of his mouth, the veiled look in his eyes when he’d asked me one more time to stay back.
He couldn’t have made me. I was tired of running. Like Marguerite had said, I ended up hurt either way. At least this time, I had a shot. Make it count.
Luke and Major were stuck with me, while the other two men circled around. There were several parts of the plan referred to as redundancy, and I chose not to overanalyze situations where we might need that. I would be fine, and more importantly, Luke would be fine. One day this would all just be a funny story that we never, ever told anyone.