Page 10 of Deuce

She tilted her head.“Thanks.I need my car.Even if you take me home, I want to be available if I get called to work on Monday.”

I could tell the moment reality hit home.“They can’t call me.I don’t have my phone!”

That hadn’t occurred to me, but it posed a problem.I wasn’t interested in her going to work on Monday, but she needed to be able to call for help.“I’ll have someone drop off a phone for you.There are always a few burners hanging around the club.You’ll have to get hold of your service provider and let them know you lost it so they can lock it and switch the service to the new one.They might be able to load your contacts and apps on a new one as well if you have a cloud backup.”

She sighed.“I have no idea if I have a backup in the cloud, but I’ll ask when I contact them.I want to say you’re already doing too much for me, but I really need a phone, so thanks.”

“No problem.Not every day someone throws herself at my feet.”I smiled to let her know I was teasing.“We can make sure no one is following the car and get it to you over the weekend.Shadow can sweep it to make sure there’s no tracking device on it.”

“I’m starting to feel out of my depth.Who is Shadow, and how come it sounds like those prospects are doing a lot of the work?”

“Shadow is our tech guy, and part of being a prospect is getting stuck with all the grunt work.”

“Like picking up vehicles that might be watched by dangerous guys?”

“Exactly.I doubt this George character is a match for any of the prospects.My guess is if he sees them retrieve your car, he’ll try to follow them in the hopes of finding you.If he does that, they’ll know, and they can nab him.”

She didn’t ask how.Her head was probably reeling from everything that had happened.Did she know I’d smoked the driver of the van?I didn’t know if that was George or his sidekick, not that it mattered.

“Oh.”She stared down at the table.“I really screwed up, didn’t I?”

“Absolutely not.Not your fault.You couldn’t have known these guys were lurking on that app.You were just unlucky enough to catch their attention.”When she didn’t reply, I reached out and covered her hand with mine.“I’m going to see if Rylie’s husband happened to leave a shirt here that I can borrow.Be right back.”

I slid out of the booth and strode over to the counter.“Hey, Rylie.Any chance Cyclone has a shirt laying around I can borrow?”

“I’ll see what I can find.”She disappeared into the back room and returned with a sweatshirt which looked like it had seen better days.The edges were tattered, and it had paint splattered all over the front.She knew enough not to question me as to why I only had my cut on, and why the woman with me appeared to be wearing my shirt.

I thanked her and pulled it on, walking back to Sophia.“Ready to go?”

She eyed my new wardrobe doubtfully as I pulled my cut on over it.Getting to her feet, she hesitated a moment before giving me her address.

I totally got it.After the events of the day, giving out personal details like this must seem like a really bad idea.

* * *

The ride to Sophia’s house made me want to keep rolling on down the highway.She clung to my back, with her head resting between my shoulder blades.Her arms were around my waist, her touch sending shivers down my spine, and if she had moved her hands a few inches lower, she would have discovered the extent of my attraction to her.

We stopped in front of a modest two-story house in a family friendly section of town, and Sophia sat up straight.I missed the warmth of her body pressed against me.

A cement path dissected the neatly trimmed lawn and led to the front door.Nice setup.I guided my bike into the driveway, then under the carport.Sophia slid off the bike and I dismounted, pulling off my helmet.Hanging it from the handlebars, I helped Sophia off with hers and placed it on the seat.

Sophia ran her fingers through her hair, fluffing it up from the helmet’s flattening effects.“I’ll disable the security system.”She walked over to the side door and entered a code into the electronic door lock.A blipping sound emerged, and she scurried over to the number pad and entered a code to shut off the security system.

I nodded my approval.“Is that motion activated throughout the house, or does it just register entry at the door?”

“Motion activated,” she replied.“Why?”

“If it was just attached to entry points, I’d suggest you arm it when you’re in the house but that’s not going to work with a motion activated system.”

She sighed.“No, but I will make sure to lock the doors even if I’m home.This sucks.I wish I’d never agreed to the damn date.”

“Yeah, it does suck, but hindsight is never helpful.You have to look at the bright side.”

“There’s a bright side?”

I grinned.“You met me and got to ride on an awesome motorcycle.”

I could tell she was struggling not to smile.“I suppose it is a nice bike.”

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