Downfall(10)

I grunted and dug out my phone, scrolling through my contacts until I landed on the information I was searching for. “I’m going to give you a number. There’s a woman who lives a few floors down from me at the Skylark. Her name is Erica. She works from home and she has a kid, a daughter who’s a little bit older than Noble. She sometimes watches a few of the other kids in the building. She’s nice and very reliable. She knows the score in the city and will keep your kid safe. I fix her car for her when it acts up, so she owes me a favor. You can give her a call if you want and see if she’s willing to help you out with Noble.”

Orley stopped walking and looked at me like I’d suddenly grown a second head. “I can’t leave her with a stranger.”

I sighed and gave my head a little shake. “So, call Erica. Hop over to her apartment for five minutes. Talk to the other moms who live in the building. There are a bunch of them. Carmen, the woman who lives across the hall from me, has lived in the Skylark for years. Both her boys hang with Erica after school when Carmen’s at the diner across the street. Go knock on her door. People are only strangers if you refuse to get to know them.” I lifted my hand and pulled my sunglasses down to give her a pointed look. “Things will be much easier for you if you learn not everyone here is the enemy. Believe it or not, some of us are here because this is where we want to be.” It wasn’t always the case, but I couldn’t imagine living anywhere else now.

She gave me a look of utter disbelief, but eventually nodded and quietly agreed to take Erica’s number from me. Frankly, it wasn’t like she had very many options.

Luckily, Noble was done being quiet and the last few blocks she kept up a steady stream of chatter, trying to explain her favorite movie, which I guessed was Star Wars if I was interpreting her rambling, slightly skewed words correctly. Apparently, she was a huge fan of Chewie. It explained why she used my name every chance she got.

When we finally got to the block where Orley left the car the night before, I was, once again, covered in sweat and needed another shower. I was acutely aware of the woman next to me. I expected her to complain about the heat and the walk… and the company. But all she did was entertain her daughter and repeatedly thank me for taking the time to look at the car, assuring me over and over again how I didn’t have to. She let it slip that she was planning on scrapping the car if I couldn’t get it started. She softly told me she didn’t have the money to get it fixed or to tow it to a garage. She watched me like she expected me to bolt after the admission, but the truth was, her words made me even more determined to get her car up and running.

When we rounded the corner, I heard Orley suck in a breath and could feel her preparing herself for the worst. It was a good bet the car would be up on cinder blocks, wheels missing, and everything else stripped down to the frame. It was good she had realistic expectations, but I was hoping against hope my city might surprise her.

“Oh my God.” She stumbled to a halt next to me and her hand landed on my arm. I was pretty sure she had no clue she was clutching me in her obvious excitement. “I can’t believe it’s still here.”

Her blue eyes were wide and there was no disguising the delight shining from them.

“Looks like your luck might be turning around.” I wasn’t going to think about how nice it felt to be part of that. “Let’s see what we can do to get you back on the road.”

I needed space because her light touch felt far better than it should.

There weren’t enough hours in the day for my skin to be buzzing and for my dick to be twitching every time she looked at me. There wasn’t enough of me to go around as it was. I couldn’t afford to lose any of the pieces I had left of myself to her, or to her kid.





Orley



I was too pragmatic to believe my luck would suddenly do a total one-eighty. But, when Solo managed to get the car started after only a few minutes of tinkering under the hood, I felt like I could actually breathe for the first time since it had crapped out the day before. If I could get around, then maybe, just maybe, I could find a job. That is, after I figured out what to do with Noble while I was out pounding the pavement. Solo muttered something about corroded battery attachments and loose connections and told me the car needed a tune-up in the worst way. I pretended to listen and promised I would take care of it as soon as possible. It was easy enough to lie to the back of his head. Not as easy when his knowing gaze, which I now knew was a deep, dark brown color, seemed to pick apart every word out of my mouth and judge every move I made. Considering the car was around four-thousand miles past due for an oil change, a tune-up was the least of what the vehicle needed. It was going to be a miracle if it kept running until I could scrounge up the funds to fix it. Fortunately, I was getting good at dealing with one crisis at a time. I was going to run the car into the ground and deal with the blowback of that decision when I had to. For now, Solo had saved the day, and once again I owed him more than a simple thank you.

Sadly, my thanks was literally the only thing I had to give to show my gratitude.

I watched with appreciative eyes as he unfolded his large body from the abyss of the engine. For such a big, broad man, he moved with a fluid grace, indicating he was very much in control of all the strength and brawn rippling enticingly under the cotton of his sweat-dampened t-shirt. I chewed on my lower lip and reminded myself how he wasn’t my type. I had no idea what to do with a guy who knew how to fix cars and toss around scary creeps on the street like it was nothing. I had no experience with someone who radiated barely contained power and solved his problems with his fists and fear.