Page 16 of Snagged By Hook

It was kind of hot.

“I wouldn’t ask it of you. This is help with no strings attached. Besides…” He opened the door and helped her into the truck. Before he shut the door, he leaned in. “A night in your bed would be worth more than a Corolla.” He smiled at her simmering ire and closed the door.

The drive to his place wasn’t that far. There was little or no conversation from Nova, at least not directed at him, but June was a chatterbox. She asked about every single tattoo she could see.

“But why do you have all those music notes?” She traced one, then another, with her little fingers. Hook jerked the wheel, and the rapid thumping of the tires on reflectors was like a pulse that was beating too fast.

No one. Absolutely no one in his life ever noticed that little detail. Most of the ink he sported had a hidden note. Either in ink or the relief, but they were so small and subtle, kind of like looking for the Playboy Bunny on the cover of the magazines from back in the day.

“Well?” she prompted impatiently. Hook didn’t know what to say. He had the answer, of course, but did he want to share it?

Luckily, he didn’t have to.

“We’re here.” He jumped out like his ass was on fire. Holding out his hand, June hopped down with his assistance. Nova got out on the other side, holding her bag and those damn cookies that filled the cab with the scent of vanilla and had his stomach growling. He grabbed the backpack June left on the seat and led them to his door.

After unlocking the door, he went inside to punch in the alarm code, with June rushing past him and Nova cautiously trailing in.

Nervousness overcame him for some reason. It wasn’t like he hadn’t had people over, even company that slept over, but it wasdifferent. He rubbed his palm across the back of his neck. “As you can see, this is the kitchen. It’s pretty well stocked, but if there is something you want that we don’t have, let me know.”

We?There wasn’t a we. Just a him and them. He soldiered on as if he hadn’t just said we.

“Living room.” He pointed to where Nova stood staring at the compilation of pictures that took up almost an entire wall.

“Bedrooms and bathrooms are through there.” He strode over to the pass-through to the rest of his small apartment. “One at each end of the hall, and laundry is just there.” He pointed—with the hand not still holding a purple and black character backpack—to the accordion doors. “It’s just a laundry closet, but it does the job.”

For the first time, he thought of how ordinary his apartment was. Not that he thought either of them would judge him, but somewhere deep in his soul, he wished he had more to offer.

The thought of them possibly ending up homeless made him nauseous. And letting his mind entertain the possible predators that could befall the sweet little girl—hell, both of them, if that happened—had him on the verge of emptying his stomach.

“Where do I sleep, Jeremy?” Hook’s heart hitched when she said his name.

“Right down there, Flower.” He indicated the smaller room at one end of the hall. As she passed by him, she turned back and gave him a hug before taking her backpack and sprinting down the hall.

Nova still stood, transfixed, staring at his photos. So much so that when he spoke from behind her, she jumped.

“Sorry.”

“Who took these? The subject matter is just…so very human, even though there are very few faces in them.” He liked the breathless quality her voice had taken on. It made hisimagination wander to other situations that could make her sound that way.

Wait, what had she asked?

“Um, they’re mine.”

“I know that, they’re on your wall, but…” She turned to him finally, and he was as transfixed by her as she’d been earlier by his pictures. “Wow. You mean you took those?”

“Yeah. All but that one.” He pointed to a small black-and-white photo with a large, battered wooden frame. It was an extreme close-up of a partial male hand holding…something.

“What’s the story behind it? How did it end up here among the ones you took?”

“I don’t know the story behind the picture itself, but it ended up here when I got my own place. My brothers came over to help me move in, and Virus saw mine as I was hanging them. Next time he was over, he added it to my wall and said my collection could use a ray of sun. I didn’t get it then, I mean, there’s no sun in the picture. It’s intriguing, but I still don’t get it. Obviously it means something to him, so…” He trailed off with the implied meaning that it means something to him too.

“Well, they’re amazing.” Shyly and barely above a whisper, she added, “And so are you.”

Hook could do a lot of things, taking compliments well was not one of them. “Um, let me show you my bedroom.” He grabbed her bag and turned.

“I’ll sleep with June.”

“That’s never gonna work. That bed is too small for an adult, much less two people.”

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