BAKER (Devil's Disciples Book 1)(47)

I noticed there were two other guys standing behind him, both of which were grinning. After making note that they were all three wearing the same khaki pants outfits, I looked at the former Verizon rep. “Yes, I am. How can I help you?”

“Well.” He lowered his clipboard. “Michael’s and Jerome’s have partnered together in a Christmas Season Giveaway. They’ve picked two winners from credit card receipts of purchases prior to last Monday. You’re winner number two.”

I’d never won anything in my life. “Michael’s?” I asked excitedly. “Like Michael’s the craft store?”

He looked at the two men, and then at me. “Yes, ma’am.”

“I was picked as the winner?”

“One of two, yes.”

“Oh. Wow.”

I felt like inviting them in to celebrate, but knew it wasn’t a good idea. While the two boyish looking men behind him rocked back and forth on the balls of their feet, I asked the inevitable.

“What did I win?”

“Your choice.” He reached in his pocket and pulled out a wad of credit cards. “Either twenty-five hundred dollars in gift certificates from Michael’s, or a truckload of furniture from Jerome’s.”

I felt faint. “Furniture?” I asked, my voice cracking from the emotion. “Like, home furnishings?”

“Yes, ma’am.”

“How big of a truckload?”

“A big truck, ma’am.”

I pushed my door open and gestured inside. “Look in there.”

He glanced over my shoulder and chuckled. “Moving out?”

“Pretty sad, huh?”

He chuckled. “So sad.”

“I know, right?” I couldn’t believe my luck. It would be so cool to go into Michael’s on a shopping spree, buy I needed furniture worse than I needed anything. “I’ll uhhm.” I swallowed hard. “I’ll take the furniture.”

“If you’d like to follow us down, you can have a look in the truck.”

I glanced at the other two men, and then at him. “You’re for real?”

He turned around. The back of his little brown jacket had a Jerome’s patch sewn to it. It looked pretty legit.

“If you guys try anything, there’s security cameras outside. They’ll have you arrested before you get on the freeway.”

“We’re just delivering furniture, ma’am.”

“Okay,” I said. “Let’s go look.”

While they rode the elevator, I took the stairs two at a time, all the way to the first floor. Out of breath, and excited beyond comprehension, I shoved the front door open.

The three men were standing on the sidewalk. Along the curb, for nearly the entire length of the building, a Jerome’s truck was parked.

My eyes went wide. “That’s a big truck,” I exclaimed.

“Want to have a look?” he asked.

I rushed to the back of the truck and waited to see what type of seasonal offerings Jerome’s had in store for me.

Verizon man unlatched the door and shoved it upward.

Oh. My God.

I covered my mouth and tried not to scream. There was a dining table, end tables, a bedroom set, mattresses, several couches and chairs that were covered in plastic, and countless other furnishings.

I lowered my hands. “Holy crap.”

“Well?”

“I’d uhhm.” As much as I wanted furniture, I really needed a bed. I was sleeping on an old twin bed that was in my guest bedroom. It was cheap, hard, and impossible to sleep on. If the day ever came that Baker slept over, he wouldn’t even be able to fit in it.

“I’d like to have the bed, please.”

“Is that all?”

“Can I have more?”

He waved his arm toward the open truck. “Maybe you didn’t understand. This is all yours. Whatever you don’t take, we’ll delivering to the Goodwill.”

“Oh wow. Okay. Well. If I actually won it, you just as well deliver it up there.”

Two hours later, I followed the men downstairs and gave each of them a tip. “I’m sorry. I’m kind of strapped for cash right now, but I hope this helps,” I said, handing each of them a twenty-dollar bill.

Verizon folded it and put it in the pocket of his little brown pants. “Thank you.”

I waved as they drove away, and then turned toward the building. Above me, a glow from the second story of Baker’s building caught my attention. It struck me as odd, because that particular floor had always been dark.

In the window, Baker silhouette darkened the otherwise bright windows.

I waved.

His shadow waved in return.

Giddy to jump on my new bed, I waved one more time, and then rushed up the stairs to my newly furnished apartment.

When I opened the door and looked inside, my heart filled with gratitude. It was the first day since the bank had been robbed that I felt like my life was in order.

It was going to be twenty-four hours before Baker picked me up for our date. I couldn’t wait to see the look on his face when he found out I won the Christmas Season Giveaway.





THIRTY - Baker





I hadn’t been on a date since I was nineteen. A blowjob attempt from a girl who had more teeth than a Mako Shark made that night disastrous enough that I had yet to go on another.