Page 49 of Boss Me Around

“Stop it, Unger,” Norman says as Gage helps me up.

“This isn’t what we agreed to,” Gage says, keeping his arm around my waist as I find my balance. “Let the girl go and get out of here. We won’t call the cops until you’ve got a head start.”

“You’re not giving the orders here, old man,” Unger says, advancing upon Starling as she backs slowly toward the door. “I am. And my boys will be here in ten minutes to pick up the cargo. We’ll see what we decide to do with you then. If you wise up and help out, maybe you get to live. If not…maybe you don’t.” His tongue slips out across his bottom lip. “Either way, this little porn star is coming with us. I’d like to make some more movies with her. Good ones, this time. Without any dumb costumes.”

“No, I insist on costumes,” Starling says, the slight tremor in her voice the only sign that she’s starting to lose her cool. “I’m a costume girl. Can’t get into the mood without one. I’m also going to need snacks, my flattening iron, and my emotional support skunk.”

“Is she weird or soft in the head, Chris?” Unger asks without glancing my way. “I can’t tell, but I wouldn’t put it past you to fuck a dummy.”

“And I wouldn’t put it past you to fuck a skunk,” Starling says. “But I think the skunk is probably going to fuck you up first.”

Unger snorts. “What?”

“My skunk. It hates slimy, thieving bigots and doesn’t like you one little bit.” Starling points behind him, drawing my attention to the little black-and-white striped hero toddling in from the office to save the day, snorting and chirping up a storm as she bounces toward Unger’s feet.

God only knows how Bella got back there—the only way in would be through the window I know I closed and locked—but I’ve never been more grateful for her escape artist skills.

Unger turns to look over his shoulder, the shock of seeing an actual skunk in the room throwing him off guard for a moment. A moment is all Starling needs to swing her gym bag over her head and down on his arm, knocking the knife from his hand.

A second later, Norman has tackled him to the ground.

“I’m subduing him!” he shouts as the two equally matched men grapple on the ground. “See! I don’t deserve to go to prison!”

I move toward the scuffle, joined by Gage. In just a few seconds, we have Unger pinned to the cold concrete, his hands wrenched behind his back. Leaning down to his face, I whisper, “If you had hurt her, I would have ripped your spleen out through your nose.” I dig my knee into the small of his back. He yelps and I smile. “But since you didn’t, I’ll settle for bruising your kidney.”

Bella, who’s still stomping and grumping just a foot or so from Unger’s face lets out a squeak that sounds like she’s agreeing with me. “Good girl, Bella,” I say. “But you can stand down. We’ve got him.”

Norman clears his throat. “You know that skunk? Is she going to spray us?”

“No, she’s a good girl,” I say, holding out a hand to Bella as Gage takes my place holding Unger down.

“She’s a warrior princess,” Starling says, appearing at my elbow to help me up and guide Bella against my chest. Then she throws her arms around both of us. “I’m so glad you’re okay. Don’t ever run off to avenge our leaked sex tape or fight bad guys without me again.”

Leaning my cheek against the top of her head, I say, “I didn’t think I was fighting bad guys tonight. But absolutely, I promise. You’re a cool head in a crisis, woman.”

“It’s my PR training,” she says, sighing against my shoulder. “I wasn’t as cool as I looked, though. Especially when I first peeked through the window and saw you passed out on the bed. If he’d hurt you, I would have pulled his spleen out through his nostrils, too.”

“I believe it,” I murmur. “How did you get Bella into the office? Did you slip her through the window in there?”

Starling pulls back from the embrace, smiling up at me before she strokes Bella’s head. “No, I left her in a locked kennel in the locked car. She’s just a magical creature. Bars and doors have no power over her enchanted skunkness. I think we should give up on the crate and let her roam free around the house. She’s clearly going to go where she wants to go anyway.” She looks up at me again, her expression sobering as she adds, “And by ‘the house,’ I mean our house. I’ve decided we should live together.”

My lips quirk. “Oh, you have, have you?”

“Yes,” she says, her gaze not wavering from mine. “Turns out, seeing you in trouble really brings out my feels. And my feels are that I like you, Chris. I more than like you. You’re one of my favorite people and my best friend and I really don’t want this to have an expiration date.”

Throat tight, I lift a hand to cup her face. “Well, since I’ve been in love with you since sometime in July, I guess moving in together sounds pretty good.”

She blinks, her eyes shining as she asks, “You have? Really? You love me?”

I take a beat to set Bella down. Standing, I pull Starling close again as I say, “That’s why I didn’t want to do the mentor thing. I was already in way too deep for that. Though, at that point, I was still doing a decent job of being in denial about it.”

“But you’re not in denial anymore?” she whispers.

“Not even close. I’m crazy about you, princess, and I want to make this work. I’ll turn down the Warm Hearts job and stay here. With you.”

Her eyes go wide. “You don’t have to. I know how excited you were about that opportunity. You could commute. Or we could do long-distance for a while, while I look for a job in Minneapolis.”

I shake my head. “Nope. You love it here. You belong here. And as much as I like to deny it sometimes…I do, too.” I shrug. “Besides, long distance is the worst. I don’t want to be far away from you. I want to give this a real shot, me and you and Bella and Kyle.”

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