Page 83 of Fighting a Riot

“Don’t split hairs.”

“It’s no biggie for me to go to the office.”

He leaned his head on the headrest with a heavy sigh. “Fine, but Liar takes you.”

I should have let it go, but I couldn’t help but poke the bear a little more since he’d acquiesced. “Why not Andrea?”

He leaned toward me, his eyes flaring. “Because she’s so chill and eco-friendly, if the asshole caught you two, she’d probably try to talk to the bastard.”

With my sweetest smile, I said, “There is something to be said for diplomacy.”

I watched him run his long fingers through his thick hair. “Jesus.”

“I’m kidding. Liar’s bike has that nice backrest, it’ll be fine.”

“Nora,” he growled.

I rubbed his bicep. “Okay, okay. Let me soothe the beast.”

His face lit up. “That’s a great idea. Beast has a truck. That’ll work better.”

I opened my car door. “Fine. Good thing I brought extra work clothes with me last night. For the record, though, this is overkill.”

He cupped my cheek and gently turned my face toward his. “Never. Your safety is everything Elenora.”

For the next two weeks, Beast took me to and from the office. Sad to say, Beast didn’t have any great stories about Yak. Seemed he had patched-in while living in Biloxi and transferred to Jacksonville.

With his eyes on the traffic on Highway 17, he said, “Wouldn’t tell you anything even if I knew, though.”

“Why?”

He glanced at me and back to the road. “It’s his to tell, not mine.”

In the span of two weeks the only things I learned about Beast were how tight-lipped he could be, how much he loved alternative rock music, how much he loved his son A.J., and how much he hoped his old lady, Janie, would have another child.

None of that bothered me. I enjoyed hearing about Janie, and I loved not dealing with traffic.

This morning, Mia stopped by my desk not long after I sat down. “I thought you could drive while doing chemo?”

I looked up at her from my seat. “I can.”

She crossed her arms under her boobs. “Then why are you getting rides from that hot guy?”

I bit back both my smile and the info that Beast was married. “It’s just temporary.”

She arched her brow with a knowing look. “Because of the biker?”

I rolled my eyes. “It’s not your business, Mia. And really, why do you care? Looking to move on from Destin already?”

She inhaled sharply. “No, I… Never mind.”

I turned back to my report, but Mia didn’t leave.

“Seems weird you go from being engaged to two different men in two months.”

I shook my head and kept quiet.

“No response?”

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