Page 6 of My Romeo

Her black hair was piled on top of her head, with soft tendrils framing her face. She was wearing a pair of skin-tight black pants and a colorful baggy sweater over the top. She had tan boots on her feet and a huge smile on her lips.

If I weren’t suspicious as fuck about her, I would have said she was the hottest chick I had ever laid my eyes on.

You would have to be blind not to recognize her beauty.

Compass, Stretch, and Dice worked on setting up the poker table while Aero and Sloane headed down the hallway to the bedrooms, with Dove drifting behind them.

“You look pissed.” Yarder sat down next to me and nodded to Pirate behind the bar.

“Should I be?” I asked. I turned back to the bar and also nodded to Pirate. He refilled my glass and set a beer in front of Yarder.

“You were doing the right thing with that chick and the orca whale today.”

I glanced at Yarder. “You could have fooled me when you stepped in and shooed me back into the garage.”

Yarder shrugged. “I don’t want us to act differently with the cameras around, but that also doesn’t mean that we can’t try to be better.”

“You don’t make any sense,” I muttered.

“Her name was Poppy. Barely has two nickels to rub together, let alone enough to replace her whole rear end.”

I shrugged and took a drink. “I offered her a payment plan.” That had been before we even knew what was wrong with the car.

“And she took one, finally.”

“What about the loaner?” I asked. We didn’t have loaner cars.

Yarder shifted uncomfortably. “Uh, well, I gave her a ride to work, and I need to pick her up in an hour.”

“Shut up!” I bellowed. “Not only are you giving this chick a payment plan, but you’re also her chauffeur?” Yeah, that was way more than I would have offered her.

“It’s just until we get her car fixed,” Yarder grunted. “It doesn’t hurt to be nice every now and then.”

“I think you are going way above and beyond nice for a chick you don’t even know and who is probably going to default on the payment plan you set up for her.”

Yarder took a long drink. “Well, I guess I’ll deal with that if it happens. For now, she paid for the oil change, and her first payment for the new rear end isn’t due until the first.”

I was mid-drink and about to blow whiskey out of my nose. “It’s the fucking second,” I gasped. The longest I had ever seen Yarder give someone to make their first payment was however long it took to fix the car.

This chick just paid forty dollars for an oil change, and Yarder was going to let her drive out of the garage in a few days with a fixed car.

Fucking wild.

“You do this for the cameras?” I asked.

Yarder shrugged. “Sure.” He grabbed his beer and slipped off his stool. “I’m gonna hit the head, and then your ass better be at the poker table with me.”

I nodded and watched him head to the bathroom. Dove came out of the hallway and looked around the common room for a second. She pursed her lips as if she was analyzing everyone.

Dammit, if she wasn’t hot as hell.

“You in, Throttle?” Smoke called.

Dove jumped at his words and rushed over to the poker table.

Pirate set another drink in front of me with a shit-eating smile on his lips. “You gonna let that girl take everyone's money when you know that is your job?”

Did I want to spend my Friday night playing poker with Dove? No fucking way, but I also wasn’t going to let her be the one to win every hand.

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