Page 95 of Player For Hire

Things were falling into place, but I could also feel the tension filling her body. It was fear talking, but she was also a realist.

Logistics were just a part of Naomi, like her golden red hair and summer blue eyes.

I eased away from her and stood, then I held my hand out to her. “Come home with me. I think we both deserve a good, long rest.”

She took my hand and let me drag her to her feet. “I’m suddenly very wiped out. I can’t imagine why.”

I laughed. “No reason at all. Besides, I don’t sleep right without you with me.”

Her fingers tightened in my hand. “Colder…I?—”

I kissed her quiet. I wasn’t exactly sure where that sentence was going, and I didn’t want to break the spell tonight. Naomi liked to think things through, and I’d tossed a bunch of shit at her tonight.

The booze might have made my lips a little loose, but I meant what I’d said to her. In my mind, she was my forever.

I was stupid in love with her.

I was the one who didn’t want to think about logistics tonight.

“Come home with me.”

She nodded. “Okay.”

We didn’t speak on the way down the hallway, nor when I drew her into the darkness of my place. I left us in shadows.

It didn’t seem the time for a bright light anymore. The moonlight beaming through my skylight was enough.

It was slower this time. Her soft sighs evened me out and the earlier urgency melted away as we simply felt our way through a languid loving.

I reached for her another time before dawn, and we were just as quiet.

Things left unsaid were just as heavy as the words at this point.

I woke a few hours after sunrise and kissed her shoulder before I left her for a run. Instead of my usual loop toward Garden and Hyde, I took a left and headed for the speakeasy.

It was a little longer than my usual run, but the burn of my muscles cleared my head. The building was starker in the morning. Work was being done on one of the storefronts by a few guys from Gideon Gets It Done’s crew.

They were a staple around Kensington Square and Crescent Cove.

I didn’t want to get in the way, but seeing the goal in the daylight made it a bit more real. The building already stood out from the more modern and sturdy brick buildings. Like a tiny piece of history carved out of the block.

Part of me wondered if I’d imagined the meeting with Callahan.

I’d been more than ready to take over part of Lonegan’s, but my managing this place felt like a new beginning. Something I could build on and put my energy into it.

I’d never wanted my own place. Mostly because nothing had ever truly felt important enough for me to build on.

But this place…

Something about it felt right. The neighborhood and the slick city melded into one. I wished Cal hadn’t asked me to keep it under wraps. The first thing I’d wanted to do was show it to Naomi.

To show her that I had as many aspirations as she did.

Maybe if I talked to Cal, he’d give me the go ahead for her party. The Heights was the perfect blend of future clientele and money for a place like Velvet Noir.

I needed more details on the timeline. I pulled out my phone and texted Cal to see if we could talk later today.

I had a lot of damn questions.