He gestured to the truck. “I’ll go lock up and wait for you.”
That was my cue to go, and after looking both ways, I crossed the street and power walked to the house. The door was still standing wide open, and I went inside. Without, I might add, closing or locking it.
Which was a huge accomplishment.
When I was home alone, doors got locked. Windows were checked to make sure they were locked as well. Blinds were pulled. The bathroom was locked when I was inside it. Clothes were set out on the bathroom counter.
Basically, if it had a way to be locked, I locked it. It didn’t matter how long I was going to be inside of it.
I left nothing to chance.
Nothing.
Not after what had happened to me.
I was super careful and always tried to pay attention to my surroundings.
So yes, leaving that door open was huge.
But I knew that with Tobias there, he’d make sure nothing happened.
And when I came out thirteen minutes later, it was to find Tobias leaning against the front porch beams. Not in the truck where he said he’d be waiting.
Always watching out for me, I thought.
“Ready!”
He grunted and pushed off the pillar, gesturing to his truck.
I started down the steps, but not before I locked the door and checked to make sure it was.
He watched me, not missing a thing.
“Ready when you are,” he rumbled.
***
“Not this one.” Tobias shook his head. “The outdoor lights don’t work. There are no security doors to ensure no one unauthorized gets in, and you don’t have an assigned parking space. That means anyone could park in front of your apartment, and you’d be stuck out there in the boonies walking across a dark fucking parking lot when you got off of work.”
“How do you know I even have a job?” I challenged.
He gave me a look.
“Tommy Tom’s in the MC with me. I knew the moment you were offered a job. Maybe even before you did,” he said.
My lips twitched.
“Hmmph,” I grumped. “Well, we’ve already looked at four complexes, and there’s only one left. If we don’t like that one, what the hell am I supposed to do?”
He looked at me, likely gauging whether I would take what he had to say next the right way. I saw the moment he decided ‘fuck it.’
“I have a guest house,” he offered.
I automatically started to shake my head.
“Negative,” I said. “I’m not moving into your place. I’m trying to get away from the crutch, not swap the crutch for the cane.”
He snorted, tossing me a sideways glance.
“The offer stands if you ever need it,” he promised. “Now let’s go look at this last place. I have roughly an hour and a half before I have to go.”
“Where are you going?”
He turned to stare at me.
“The travel agent,” he answered. “Do you want to go?”
I hesitated, and he grinned. “Come on. You told me you’d go. I guess you should at least have a say so in where our room is.”
I stared at him.
“Okay,” I blurted.
He didn’t gloat. Didn’t laugh. Didn’t wink.
Nothing. He just walked out of what might have been the shittiest apartment complex in the city and held the door open for me to follow.
My eyes strayed to his sexy ass, and I cursed myself when he caught me staring.
His mouth didn’t open, but his eyes said all they needed to. He enjoyed catching me appreciating him.
Duly noted.
Chapter 5
I hate it when I see an old person and realize we went to high school together.
-Things Tobias doesn’t like to think about
Tobias
“You can come in and take a load off while I go change my clothes,” I grumbled, ripping my brother’s shirt off my body and tossing it in the general direction of the laundry room before continuing on to my room.
Those little fuckers at the last apartment complex better be glad that they were only kids, or I would’ve unleashed holy hell on them.
I fucking hated wearing wet clothes.
I did it enough while at work. I didn’t want to do it on my days off.
Her laugh followed me into the bedroom, and I had to suppress the urge to laugh with her.
The last apartment we’d gone to, I had to admit, was actually a good one.
It was a newer construction right off the interstate and had excellent security. It had a clean and modern feel to it that the other apartments didn’t have.
Although this particular complex was at least a hundred and fifty dollars a month more than the other places I’d checked out with her today, I had a feeling that she was going to do it.
The building itself was fantastic.
From a cop’s perspective, this place was perfect for a single woman.
A gate surrounding the entire complex. Lots of lighting in the parking lot as well as through all of the hallways that led to the different apartments.
Then there were the steel reinforced door jams along with a security system that each individual apartment had.
However, the apartment’s security system was an extra fifteen dollars a month.
I’d gladly pay that for her, though, just to ensure that she had that peace of mind that she deserved.
I’d seen the way she’d taken in the security. I’d also listened as she asked question after question about who was allowed in, how the visitor situation worked, and what the response rate was for the fire department as well as the police.
The thing that made me think she was going to take this place? The fact that there were kids around.
The same kids who’d shot me from a third floor balcony with water pistols, and continued to do so while I walked to my bike and backed out.
Shaking my head at the memory, I pulled my gun from the holster at the small of my back and placed it on the bed before shucking my pants.
Thinking it was best to go ahead and change completely, I walked to the dresser and dropped my underwear just as I heard a gasp from the door.
“Jesus, Lord have mercy,” Audrey said. “I’m so sorry.”
I turned to find her standing in my doorway, her hands covering her eyes as she tried to back out of the door.
The thing was that she was standing sideways, so all she kept doing was backing into the wall, and then ended up even further inside the room instead of closer to getting out of it.
“Hold on,” I laughed at the way she bounced. “I’ll get some clothes on and then you can open your eyes.”
“I thought you were just changing your shirt, or I wouldn’t have followed you in here.”
Grinning, I moved slowly—more slowly than I normally would have—and stepped into my boxer briefs.
The moment they were up over my semi-erect cock, I reached for the first pair of jeans that were on top of my dresser and stepped into those as well.
“I’m decent,” I said once I had them over my hips.
Keeping my eye on her, I buttoned up my pants and then zipped up the zipper.
“I only saw your butt,” she said. “I’m sorry.”
Grinning, I reached for the shirt that was in a pile next to my pants and shrugged that on, too.
“I like that t-shirt,” she said, eyeing it.
I looked down at it and grinned.
“I was a soccer player in high school,” I told her.