Page 58 of Love vs The Ooze Monster!
“Or a daughter. It works for both.”
“I’d prefer a daughter, actually. That turned out pretty great for your dad. I got a feeling it’ll be great for me, too.”
She opened one eye. “Boys aren’t so bad. Even the very difficult ones, like my business partner, have their moments.”
“Just hope our kids don’t take after me. I was a delinquent.”
“You’re still a delinquent.” She assured him around a yawn. “But I would be fine with our children taking after you. You’re capable and loving and smart and…”
He cut her off in surprise. “You really think I’m smart?”
“Of course!”
Boyd had never considered himself particularly intelligent, but Mabel sounded certain and she was the brightest person he knew. Her faith was enough to have him reassessing himself. “I guess Idohave my moments.”
“You do.” She teased. “Hiring me, for instance. That was a stroke of genius.”
“True enough.” He cuddled her closer. “I’m never going to be an educated guy, though.”
“A diploma is just a piece of paper. Whether or not you choose to continue with formal schooling, look at how much you’ve already achieved. Why, you’re the most successful criminal in Volstead.” She kissed his chin. “Next to me, anyway.”
Boyd chuckled, adoring the woman. “Most delinquents secretly pine for the pretty high-achievers, sitting in the front row. We need them to whip us into shape.” He wanted to erase her doubts about her looks, the same way she’d eased his worries about his intelligence. “And you are the prettiest high-achiever this delinquent ever saw. That’s the God’s honest truth.”
She met his eyes, again, searching them.
He stared back, knowing he was completely right.
Her mouth curved, when she saw nothing but conviction in his gaze. “You really are The One, Mr. Cassiday.”
He kissed her forehead. “Never been a doubt in my mind, Miss Harrison.”
“Mrs.Cassiday.” She corrected primly. “Come Tuesday, anyway.”
Desire came roaring back so fast, it was like mainlining an aphrodisiac. “Mrs. Cassiday.” He repeated, savoring the sound of his name linked to her. He got to his feet, cradling her against his chest. “We have to go.”
“Go where?” She gripped his shoulders, blinking in surprise.
“Another room. Pick the next one you want me to heck you raw in, so we can knock it off the list. Right now.”
Chapter Seventeen
Zotzed: Killed stone-ass dead
Rico had nearly been zotzed!
Boyd’s bullet had grazed his arm, leaving a bleeding, throbbing, angry mess. A year before, he never would have believed that his boss would try to kill him. The two of them had been friends for years! Sure, Boyd was an uneducated lout, but Rico had been passingly fond of the guy.
Then, Miss Mabel Harrison arrived.
Prior to her, the Cassiday organization had been less successful, but they’d still been making plenty of money. So much money, in fact, that some could go missing and no one would even notice. Rico had gotten used to supplementing his income by skimming a few bucks here and there. Sometimes more. Sometimesa lotmore.
He loved playing the ponies, but even he could admit that they didn’t always love him back. He lost most of the time. Was that such a crime? He occasionally needed extra cash to cover his debts. It wasn’t like Boyd was hard up for dough. Rico had been able to keep his own head above water and his dumb boss had never been the wiser.
Everything had beenfine, until Mabel ruined it. That plain little harridan, with her no nonsense glasses and her neat columns of numbers, kept track of every dime that came into Cassiday’s business. From the first moment he’d seen her, Rico had known she was trouble.
Mabel’s judgmental expression reminded him of his Aunt Aggie, who’d never let him get away with a single thing as a kid. That old bitch had delighted in catching his lies. Ratting Rico out to his bastard father, whenever she noticed some cash missing from her purse. The beatings his dad gave him afterwards were all onherhead. Old Aggie had given him a lifelong hatred of smart, suspicious spinsters.
Rico hadn’t dared to take even a penny of Boyd’s money, once Mabel was hired. He felt like her strange golden eyes could see right through him. Judging him. Instead, he’d focused on getting rid of that damn adding machine of a broad. Joining up with Sylvester made sense, because they both wanted the same thing: Mabelgonefrom the docks.
