by Susan Stoker
“She’s a fuddy-duddy.”
“She loves you. Call her.”
“Oh, all right.”
Angel closed her eyes and rested her head back down on the cushion. Cruz had no idea if she’d do as he asked, but he hoped so. He’d done what he could. It wasn’t nearly enough.
He stepped out and closed Angel’s apartment door behind him, making sure it was locked from the inside before shutting it. Cruz went back to the van and climbed into the driver’s seat once more.
Tiny and Roach hadn’t moved. They sat in their seats, smirking at Cruz.
“She all tucked in safe and sound?”
Cruz nodded curtly. “You were pushing your luck there, Roach.”
“Pffft. That bitch was squirming in our hands. She wanted it.”
“She’s Ransom’s.”
“Yeah, for now. But he doesn’t give a shit about her except when he wants some pussy and to get her friends hooked. Once he’s done with her, she’ll need some comforting.”
“Ransom doesn’t like to share, that was bullshit.”
“Yeah, but what Ransom doesn’t know won’t hurt him. It’s not like I’m gonna bring her to the club and fuck her. Ransom has the right idea, keeping her on the side. I’ll do the same shit. Once he’s tired of her, I’ll move in. Rich fucking pussy whenever I want it. Can’t pass that up. When I’m done with her, I’ll move on to her rich-ass friends. They’re all dying for MC dick. I’m happy to oblige. Having them start coming to our parties was the best idea Ransom ever had.”
Cruz shook his head but didn’t say anything. He knew he’d never change their minds, and protesting any more would be suspicious. They’d been getting away with whatever they wanted for a long time. He vowed to protect Angel as much as he could and do whatever was necessary to prevent any of her friends from getting hooked on drugs, like Sophie had.
Cruz knew he should break things off with Mickie. Today proved that all the more. But he couldn’t. For one, she was the only bright spot in his life at the moment, and two, Cruz had a feeling Ransom was going to act on his threats against her, and he wanted to be sure she was safe from the club and all the crap that went down there. He knew it’d be a miracle if Mickie would forgive him for his role in what was happening to her sister. He knew he was treading a thin line, but Cruz wasn’t going to stop courting her. He couldn’t.
Chapter Six
Cruz pulled up in front of Mickie’s apartment and took a deep breath. She’d texted him thirty minutes ago and asked if he’d be able to help her. When he’d learned why she needed his help, he’d been furious.
Apparently Ransom was sick of Mickie butting into Angel’s business and had ordered Tick to make a statement. Thankfully Tick had only slashed her tires. It could’ve been a lot worse. Cruz had told Ransom he was keeping a close eye on Mickie, but after Angel told Ransom about how Mickie was still on her case, especially after her trip to the mall, Ransom had apparently lost whatever patience he’d been holding on to.
Cruz saw Mickie standing by her car, staring down at her phone. She looked sexy in a pair of jeans and a T-shirt. She glanced up and saw him striding toward her. She put her phone in her pocket and greeted him.
“Hey. Thanks for coming. I wasn’t sure who else to call. I mean, I have other friends, but they’re either working or busy. Not to say you weren’t doing either, but I figured—”
“I’m glad you got ahold of me. How did this happen?” he asked, gesturing to her car. Cruz could see the muscle in her jaw flex as she ground her teeth together.
“Honestly? If I had to guess, I’d say it has something to with that damn motorcycle club.”
Cruz was impressed with Mickie’s intuition, but asked anyway. “Why?”
“Because I was pissed at my sister the other day and let her have it. I tried once again to get her to see that the man she’s dating is a thug. I’m sure that conversation got passed along and this is the result.”
“That’s a pretty big leap.”
Mickie looked up at Cruz and cocked her head as she observed him silently for a moment. Finally, she said in an even tone that somehow conveyed anger, frustration, and irritation all at the same time, “I work at a car dealership, Cruz. I’m a divorced thirty-four-year-old woman who minds her own business. I don’t go clubbing. I don’t hang out on any street corners. I go to the movies with my friends; I sit at home and read books. The biggest law I’ve broken is not returning my library books on time. I might have a VHS tape that I never returned to the video store down the block that went out of business ten years ago. The only people I know who might do anything like this are connected to my sister. I irritated my sister recently, so it only follows that someone might want to get back at me.”
“You think your sister did this?”
Mickie rolled her eyes and put both hands on her hips. “My sister wouldn’t know the first thing about how to slash a tire…but that guy she’s dating? Yeah. I can imagine this would be his very mature way of dealing with his girlfriend being harassed by her sister.”
Cruz couldn’t help it, the grin formed on his face before he could beat it back.
“You think this is funny?”
Cruz got serious. “Your tires being slashed by someone in a motorcycle club? Absolutely, one-hundred-percent no. But you? Yeah. I’ve got to say, you’ve either had a lot of practice, or you’re a natural. That sarcastic tone conveys just a hint of snark with a bit of sassy thrown in for good measure.”
Mickie smiled for the first time. “How can I be laughing when I’m so pissed?”
“Because sometimes it’s better to laugh than to cry.”
“You’ve got that right.”
“So,” Cruz stated, getting down to business. “You got any extra tires hanging around?”
“Yeah, one. The spare.”
“Don’t think that’s gonna cut it here.”
“Didn’t think so.”
“You know you’re gonna have to replace all of them, right?”
Mickie sighed. “Yeah.”
“Can you cover it? I know you said you had some cash from your folks, but this could end up being expensive.”
“Yeah. It’s fine. Besides, it’s not like I can decide it’s not worth the cost.”
“I’m afraid you’re right.”
“Can you drive me to the shop? I’ll buy the tires and see if they’ll get a tow truck out here to get my car.”
“No problem. But I’ll be happy to bring you back here and change the tires for you.”
“I can’t ask you to do that.”
“You didn’t. I offered.”
Mickie studied Cruz for another moment. She honestly would never have contacted him if she hadn’t been desperate. She had a million things to do that she’d been putting off, and it just figured that this weekend of all weekends would be the one when Angel’s boyfriend would choose to make his point. “If you’re sure you’re not busy…”
“I’m sure.”
“Then thank you. I’d be very grateful if you could help me. But this isn’t a date.”
“What?”
“This isn’t a date,” Mickie repeated. “There are rules for dates.”
“Rules.” It wasn’t a question, but Mickie saw the smirk on Cruz’s face.
“Yes. First rule, the woman gets all dressed up so she can impress her date.” She gestured to her outfit. “I’m not dressed up and there’s no way I’m impressing anyone dressed like this. Second rule, the woman always offers to pay, to be polite. But I’m not offering—I’m paying. Period. Third rule, there’s absolutely no drama allowed on the date. I think this constitutes as drama. Hence…this isn’t a date.”
Cruz’s smile lit up his face and made him look years younger. “Deal. I’m still fixing you dinner later this week. We’ll call this a friend doing another friend a favor then…all right?”
Mickie beamed at him. “Deal.”
“Come on, friend. You’ve got some tires to purchase.”
The trip t
o the tire shop was relatively painless, except for the cost of the new tires, which was absolutely ridiculous, considering there was a good chance her sister’s boyfriend would just ruin this set as well.
On the way back to her apartment, Mickie asked, “Do you think I should make a police report? I mean, I figure you probably know more about it than I do.”
Cruz glanced at her before sighing. “If you don’t have any proof it was your sister’s boyfriend, or that he asked one of his friends to do it, I’m not sure what good it will do.”
Mickie nodded. “Yeah, that’s what I figured. I even called the main office to ask about security cameras, but they don’t have any that were pointed toward my car since it was parked at the back of the lot.”
When Cruz opened his mouth, Mickie hurried on. “I know, I know. I shouldn’t park back there, it’s not safe, but I wanted to get my steps in for the day.” At the blank look on his face, she explained further. “Steps. You know, you’re supposed to get ten thousand steps in every day to stay healthy. It’s good exercise.”
“It might be good exercise, but it’s not safe,” Cruz returned.
“Obviously,” Mickie grumbled. “But now I’ll park nearer to my building because the lady in the office said the cameras are pointing at the buildings, and the cars that are nearest to them are on the tapes.”
He nodded, satisfied with her answer.
As they pulled back into the lot of the apartment complex, Mickie pointed out unnecessarily, “At least you have room to work out here. If I’d parked closer you would’ve had to work around the other vehicles in the lot.”
Cruz didn’t answer, merely shook his head in mock exasperation. He popped his trunk and hefted out one of the tires, leaning it against the car. He got the jack out of the back and went to work on the first tire.
Cruz worked quickly and efficiently. It was warm out, as it usually was in Texas, but he showed no discomfort. He removed the lug nuts and jacked up the car. Before she knew it, the first tire was on her car and Cruz had moved to the second one.
“Can you talk and work?”
Cruz looked up briefly at that, surprised. “Yeah, why wouldn’t I be able to?”
Mickie shrugged. “I don’t know. My ex could never do two things at once. He had to concentrate on one thing at a time.” She saw Cruz’s lips twitch, but her opinion of him grew when he declined to comment on what would’ve been a great opening for a sexual innuendo.
“I can talk while I do this, Mickie. No problem.”
“I just figured, even though this isn’t a date, that maybe we could still get to know each other better. How’d you learn to change a tire so quickly?”
“My dad taught me when I was around ten. We were driving across the country, moving to somewhere, I forget where now, but the tire on the car blew out on the highway. He stayed calm and pulled over on the side of the road. He got my stepmom out and safely out of the way, then he walked me through how to change the tire.”
“Have you had much practice? It doesn’t seem the kind of thing you’d do all the time, but you’re obviously very good at it.”
Cruz looked up at Mickie. She was sitting next to him, watching his hands as he worked on the tire. He’d never had a woman sit next to him when he changed their tire. Usually they were either inside a building or standing well away from him. She was refreshingly different from any other woman he’d met.
“Dad made sure I didn’t forget. One day I went outside to go to school, and he’d taken one of my tires completely off my car. I remember I was so mad, but he simply shrugged and told me that tires didn’t need changing only on the weekends when nothing else was going on. I needed to learn how to change it as fast as I could.”
“Were you late for school?”
“Twenty minutes. Missed a quiz too.”
Mickie smiled at him. “You’ve gotten faster at it.”
They moved to the other side of the car so he could start on the third tire.
“Yeah. Anytime anyone in the neighborhood needed a tire changed, I got roped into it. It was annoying as all get-out at the time, but I’m grateful to him now.”
“Me too.”
“You want to learn?”
“Yes.” Mickie’s answer was quick and eager and Cruz couldn’t help the chuckle that escaped.
“Cool. Watch me on this one and you can do the last one on your own.”
“Can I ask something else?”
“Sure.”
“How come you didn’t become a cop when you graduated if you really wanted to help people?”
If Cruz had been eating or drinking anything he probably would’ve spit it out at her question, but other than a slight pause in what he was doing, he was proud of his non-reaction. “I didn’t want to write tickets for people speeding and I didn’t like all the politics that go on in police departments.” It wasn’t a lie. He’d thought about joining the force, but decided the FBI appealed much more to him in the long run.
Cruz knew he needed to turn the questioning around before she asked him something he’d have to outright lie about. “What’s your favorite dessert?”
“What?”
“You asked a question, I get to as well…don’t I?”
“Yeah. Of course. I just didn’t expect that. My favorite dessert? I’d have to say cookie dough.”
“Just the dough? Not the cookie itself?”
“Nope. I buy the bags of the ready-made cookies from the freezer section. You know, the little frozen blobs you’re supposed to stick on a cookie sheet and cook? Yeah, I eat them raw. They’re so yummy.”
Mickie looked at Cruz. He’d stopped tightening the lug nuts on the tire and was looking at her in a way she couldn’t decipher.
“What?”
“I was going to do my best to impress you by making sure I had whatever you told me was your favorite on hand later this week. But I’m not sure putting frozen cookie dough blobs on a plate is all that impressive.”
Mickie couldn’t help the giggles that exploded out of her mouth at the look on Cruz’s face. And that only made her giggle harder. She held her stomach and giggled until tears rolled out of her eyes. Finally, when she had a bit more control, she choked out, “I’m so sorry, Cruz, but if you could only see your face… If it makes you feel better, I also like brownies.”
One of Cruz’s hands reached for her, but stopped short of actually touching her.
Cruz looked down at his filthy hands and resisted brushing away the wetness on her cheek. Watching as she’d laughed herself silly at his expense should’ve irritated him, but instead he found himself wanting to make her laugh again so he could see her unabashed zeal for life. He didn’t often see that kind of pure joy in his line of work.
“I admit it wasn’t what I was expecting, but I’ll see what I can do to make sure I’ve got something you’ll enjoy for dessert next week.” He hadn’t meant his words to be a sexual innuendo, but when Mickie started giggling again, he simply shook his head. God, she was funny.
“Come on, I’m done with this one, you ready to give it a try?” Cruz held a hand out to her and helped Mickie to her feet.
“I’m game if you are, but I can’t promise to be as quick at it as you.”
“Practice makes perfect.”
“Let’s hope I won’t need to practice again anytime soon,” Mickie mumbled as she stood and reached for the tire wrench. “Let’s do this then.”
Twenty minutes and lots of swear words later, Mickie’s car had four bright and shiny new tires on it. Mickie was dirty and sweaty, but strangely enough, she’d actually had a good time. She felt good about finally learning how to change a tire, and Cruz had been very patient with her as she’d asked a million questions while changing the last tire.
“Thanks for coming over today. I appreciate it.”
“Anytime. I mean that, Mickie. If you need anything, you can call me.”
She nodded and then asked a bit uncertainly, “Are we still on for Friday?” She wan
ted to see him again, enjoyed being around him, but she felt like she’d forced him into helping her today and didn’t want to presume he wanted to spend any more time with her.
“Absolutely. I’m looking forward to it.”
“Me too.”
“Are you good here now? I hate to say it, but I have to get going,” Cruz told her.
“Yeah, I’m good. Again, I do appreciate your help.”
“No problem. I’ll talk to you later. Okay?”
Mickie nodded and watched as Cruz climbed into his car and waved once, then drove away. She was looking forward to dinner, even though she tried not to get her hopes up for anything. It was one thing to spend a few hours together hanging out like friends would, it was another thing altogether to get together with the expectation of seeing if a relationship was possible.
* * *
Cruz entered his apartment and went straight to his kitchen where he washed his hands, scrubbing off the dirt and grease from Mickie’s tires. He then headed into his small living room and sat on the couch. He let out a breath, rested his head on the cushion behind him and thought about the afternoon.
He liked Mickie. Oh, he’d thought she was nice after their dinner the other day, but seeing her today made him look at her in a new way. She wasn’t afraid to laugh at herself…or him. She’d dealt with the stress of having her tires slashed and having to pay for four new ones without any drama. She was genuinely interested in learning how to do something new. And perhaps more importantly, she was down to earth and seemed very easygoing.
He loved those traits in Mackenzie, his friend Dax’s girlfriend, but never thought he’d be able to find a woman like her. But watching as Mickie giggled, and the fact that she didn’t care that she was sitting on the ground in the middle of a parking lot, made his interest in her notch up a level.
His plan had been to make sure she was safe from Ransom and the rest of the motorcycle club, and while he’d still be keeping her from harm, now he was interested in her for another reason as well. Knowing if she ever found out why he’d originally spoken to her in the café, that all he wanted to do was keep her safe until his undercover mission was completed, he’d probably lose any opportunity to have anything long-term with her, he still made the decision right then and there to do whatever he could to get to know her better.