Page 37 of Bad Boy in Her Bed

Since then, he had a strict no-client-fucking policy.

Unfortunately, his silence on the incident meant the woman’s friends figured he was an ideal fling, a reckless roll in the hay who wouldn’t out their little secret before they hit the PTA meetings.

What none of them understood was that it was himself he was protecting.

He was a lot of things, but homewrecker wasn’t one of them.

His cell buzzed on the counter and he glanced over, setting his tattoo gun down and snapping his gloves off before answering.“Hey, babydoll.”

“Babydoll,” Jocelyn echoed.“Ah.Overly eager client there?”

“You got it.”

He could hear the sound of papers rustling in the background as she spoke.“When are you done there?I need you.”

Spinning his stool to give himself the illusion of privacy, he lowered the volume of his voice.“What’s the likelihood you’re saying that for a reason other than your spreadsheets?”

“Zero.”When he grunted his disappointment, she amended her response.“Zero until I’m off the clock at six.”

He grinned like an idiot.“And at six?”

“Hundred percent chance I’ll be aiming for a repeat of last night.”

“I’ll be there by three,” he promised, before he said his goodbyes and turned back to find his client scowling at him.“Sorry,” he said, sliding his phone back to the counter and tugging on fresh gloves.“Okay, Elaina, let’s get this done so you can show it off.”

*

Jocelyn sipped ather tea while Birch flipped through the invoices she’d flagged.

“Jay, Marcus, Sean, and Becca,” he muttered, the names obviously meaning something to him as he went back through the pile and removed a few more to examine.“I know for a fact Becca doesn’t have anywhere near enough ink on her to justify these prices.”When she leveled him with a flat stare, he wrinkled his nose.“She lives across the street from me, and she mows the lawn in her bikini.Grey is terrified of her.”

Oddly satisfied with his response, she tapped the pile of papers in his hand.“What about the others?”

“Marcus is covered but comes to me exclusively.And he isn’t a piercing guy.Sean is too cheap to pay for any piece costing more than two hundred.And Jay is a fainter.None of these guys have gotten thousands of dollars of work done in the past year.This doesn’t make any sense.”

Setting her cup down, she clasped her hands and leaned forward, closing the distance between them.“What are they buying off of Ryder then?Because every one of these matches with deposits.Legitimate deposits.And shortly after each is a withdrawal for a contractor.”She placed a stack of bills in front of him.“Everyone is a John Doe type name.Dale Smith.Tom Adams.Acme Enterprises.”

Birch closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose.“Holy fuck, Jocelyn.He’s dealing out of the shop.”Shaking his head, he exhaled and looked over at her.“The only thing Sean, Marcus, Becca, and Jay have in common is addiction.He’s selling drugs out of our fucking business.”He got to his feet and began pacing.His muscles were visibly knotting in his shoulders as she sat there dumbfounded at her own inability to see the forest for the trees.“The packages, the late-night deliveries, his insistence on staying open until ten when every other place in town is shut down by seven or eight.Why the fuck didn’t I see it?”

“Because you weren’t looking for it,” she said, meeting him as he crossed the hotel floor and placing her hands on his chest.“Birch, I do this for a living, and it didn’t dawn on me.But remember, we don’t know for sure.And until we do, you need to keep your cool.”

Although he stayed in place, she could see the walls slamming up around him.“Right,” he agreed, not looking at her.“Until I know for sure.”

She slid her hands up to his neck, gently using her thumbs to tilt his head toward her.“You’re doing it,” she said, forcing him to see her.“Every time we find something new, you go straight into survival mode.I can actually see it happening.”

His jaw twitched, and his eyes hardened.“What do you even know about survival, Jocelyn?Did your dad ever use your head to put holes in the wall?How many times did you hide your younger brothers in a closet so you’d be the one he saw when he stumbled home drunk, not them?Have you ever seen your brother’s arm get snapped for eating an extra bowl of cereal?”

Horrified, she couldn’t respond.She couldn’t even begin to process what he was saying.

Backing away from her, he walked to the door and yanked his shoes on.“Every fucking step forward I take, something or someone is there to shove me right the fuck back down.So yeah, Jocelyn, I’m in survival mode.It’s the only thing that’s gotten me, River, and Grey where we are, and I’m not going to sit on my ass pretending everything’s going to turn out fine while the cops are kicking my fucking door in.”

*

Birch sat inhis truck in the dark, using his phone to record Jay as he slunk into Serpent’s Tongue.From this vantage point he couldn’t see inside, so his imagination filled in the blanks during the few minutes it took for Jay to leave with his hands shoved deep into the pockets of his tattered jean jacket.

With a sigh, he rewatched the video of Jay going into Serpent’s Tongue to meet up with his traitor of a partner, then deleted it.A grainy image of a loyal client stopping by during business hours was worthless.He needed more.

Piece by piece, the past three years were beginning to connect in his head.Clients he knew he’d scheduled to see Ryder for evening appointments were unmarked months later when they came in for work.People frequently called for his partner’s schedule, the nervousness in their voices nothing of note until now.

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