Spectacular Rascal: A Sexy Flirty Dirty Standalone Romance (18 page)

The thought of Cat in the witness protection program, forced to give up the career she’s worked so hard for, and to hide from all the people she loves, makes me feel like I’ve swallowed something rotten. To say I’m grateful when Bash says—

“No one’s going into witness protection. Nico and his people will be warming cots in prison by the end of the week.”

—is an understatement.

“You’re serious,” I say, throat tight with hope. “They have enough to put him away?”

“For life and then some,” Bash confirms, making the tension behind my ribs release with a spasm of relief that’s almost painful. “Lipman said that come Friday morning Cat should have nothing to worry about. He wouldn’t share the specifics on when the raid or whatever is going down, but he promised me that as long as Cat stays away from her ex for another forty-eight hours or so, she’ll be in the clear. He’s waiting for your call to give you instructions on where to take her. He’s going to get her set up in a safe house with an armed guard to wait this out.”

“Thank God.” I let out a rush of breath. “She’ll be so relieved. This feels like waking up from a nightmare for me, and I’ve only been in Crazyville for a day.”

“Good. I’m glad,” Bash says. “But speaking of Crazyville, Lip said he thinks you should lay low for a while, too, since you might be on Nico’s radar. He offered to put you up at the safe house, but if you want to wait it out at my place, feel free. I can go stay with Penny so you’ll have the entire apartment to yourself. I’ve got a security system and Bob downstairs manning the desk to keep you safe.”

Penny says something in the background that I can’t understand, to which Bash replies. “No, he’s not a slacker. Bob’s great. He won’t let anyone up who’s not on the list.” Penny murmurs again, and Bash grunts. “You slipped by him with a mixture of diabolical cuteness and boobs. Bad guys who work for the mob are not known for either cuteness or boobs.”

“Thanks for the apartment offer,” I say, wisely not commenting on Penny’s cuteness or her boobs. “But if Cat doesn’t want me to stay at the safe house with her until Friday, I may get out of town for a while.” I glance over my shoulder, making sure I’m still alone and the Fearsome Fang is asleep. Luckily, both things are still true. “I feel like I could use some time to think.”

“Oh, yeah? To think about what?”

I stretch my head to one side, wincing as my sore shoulder sends a flash of pain shooting up my neck. “You know, just…life.”

“Life. Yeah. That’s a good thing to think about. And maybe think about how much it sucks to turn off your phone and blow off your friends when they’re worried about you. That’s a good thing to think about.”

“This from the guy who blew me off for most of the past two months?”

“Do as I say, not as I do,” Bash says. “Besides, you’re supposed to be the levelheaded one. That’s the arrangement we made in fifth grade, and you know I don’t embrace change.”

I hum low in my throat, a sound that’s echoed from the bundled up pup on the counter behind me. I turn to see Fang squirming beneath her towel. “I’ve got to go. The dog is waking up.”

“Okay. Call me when you decide what you’re doing,” Bash says. “And erase my texts from yesterday. I’ll erase yours, too, and we can start our bromance fresh, with no fuck-yous in it.”

“I’ll call,” I promise and hang up.

No way am I deleting any of his texts, though. I’m saving them for evidence in case I need to talk him into taking an anger management class. Though, now that Penny’s back, I doubt I’ll be seeing as much of Bash’s cranky side. He’s a better man with her in his life.

It makes me wonder how I would change if I had someone like Penny, someone who brought out the best in me and muted the worst.

As I uncover Fifi, who greets me with a sleepy tail wag and a few exploratory licks of my hand, I have a feeling I might like that person—like him better than the man I’ve been lately, a man who has mastered excusing his own bullshit and running away while standing perfectly still.

“Come here, Ferocious. What a good girl you are.” I lift the wiggling dog into my arms, smiling as she nuzzles closer to my chest and her tail wags faster. “Yes, you’re a good girl. Such a good girl. Who’s the sweetest dog I know?”

“I think you win that award,” a feminine voice says from behind me. “Hands down.”

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

Face flushing hotter, I turn to see Shane and Cat standing in the doorway to the bedroom watching me get my puppy-talk on with Fang.

Thank God I didn’t use the baby voice. I haven’t talked to a dog—or a baby—like that in my life. But with my luck lately, the first time would be in front of two women perfectly capable of eviscerating me with their sharp tongues and sharper minds.

But Shane and Cat look more touched than mocking, proving just how glad we all are to see Fang awake and seemingly no worse for wear.

“Seriously,” Shane continues, interlacing her fingers beneath her chin. “You two are so sweet I think my ovaries just exploded.” She elbows Cat gently in the ribs. “What about you?”

“My ovaries are still intact. For now.” Cat’s eyes meet mine in a long, searching look before she blinks and drops her gaze to the ground.

Shane sighs wistfully. “Well, big men holding tiny dogs are my personal ovary kryptonite. And Aidan is on my good list from here on out. I’ll get Fifi some water and examine her again, but from the look in those sweet eyes, I think someone is on her way to being as good as new.”

“Thank goodness.” Cat crosses the room toward me, her attention fixed on Fang. “I am so excited to hold this little girl.” She reaches for the dog with a soft, cooing sound that might be
my
personal kryptonite. There’s something completely compelling about seeing one of the toughest people I know melt into a love puddle over her fur baby. “How are you Feefs? How are you feeling, sweet thing?”

Fang goes eagerly into her mistress’s arms, lifting her face to lick Cat’s cheek like it’s her job, something I make a note to remember later. I love dogs as much as the next man, but I don’t want to get Fang’s sloppy seconds.

I’ll kiss Cat’s other cheek. Or her mouth. Or any other part of her body she’ll let me get my lips on.

I don’t want this to be good-bye. I want to stay with her, make up for letting her down, and convince her to melt a little with me, too. I know I’m not as cute as Fifi, but I care about Cat, and I’d like to get back to that place we found while we were naked together last night, that place where it felt like everything I needed was right there in my arms.

Maybe spending a few days holed up together hiding from their world is the perfect way to show her that she doesn’t have to hide when she’s with me.

“Thanks.” I nod to Shane as she sets two pill bottles onto the counter next to me. I share the good news about the sting that will close down Nico’s organization and Lipman’s offer to provide protection, then add in a casual tone, “I’d like to come with you to the safe house, if that’s all right. You know, stay on duty until we get word that Nico and his people are no longer a threat.”

“I would love that,” Cat says, the relief on her face making her look like she shed a couple hundred pounds of nasty mobster from her shoulders. “If I were going to go to the safe house, you could absolutely come. But I’m not.”

Her bright smile confuses me for a moment. I experience the odd sensation of smiling with half my face while frowning with the other before I process what she’s said. “What do you mean you’re not going to go?” I ask, frown taking over.

“She’s going to stay here with me, instead,” Shane supplies as she bustles around, fetching a dog dish from beneath the sink. “And we’re going to stay in PJs until Friday and order tons of takeout and watch all the romantic comedies and—”

“I can’t stay with you, either.” Cat kisses Fifi’s head, her next words muffled against the dog’s fur. “I would never put you at risk like that. I wouldn’t have come here this morning if it hadn’t been a puppy-related emergency. I just had no idea where else to go to find a vet at six in the morning.”

Shane props a hand on her hip with a frown, but before she can give Cat a piece of her mind, I jump in. “You
are
going to the safe house. I’m not risking your life again.”

“I am
not
,” Cat insists in a calm voice that is somehow more infuriating than her pissed-off one.

Anger tightens my face. “Yes. You are.”

“No, Aidan. I’m not.” She looks up, meeting my gaze with her signature “I’ll do what I damned well please” glare. “I know all about those death traps. Most of the city’s safe ‘houses’ are actually nasty old hotels infested with bed bugs and black mold. The NYPD arranges for a floor to be set aside for their use and then sticks a single guard at one end of the hall.” She holds up an emphatic finger. “One guard.
One
to watch out for all ten or twenty traumatized people in protective custody at a given time.”

I’m about to assure her that I’ll pull strings with my friend on the force to get her booked into the least disgusting safe house available, but she’s not finished with her rant.

“And ninety percent of the guards are new recruits so green they spend most of their time flirting with the housekeeping staff or fucking around on their phones,” she says, rolling her eyes. “Meanwhile, the people they’re supposed to be watching out for overdose in their rooms or go out for pizza and never come back or get tracked down by the creeps who sent them into protective custody in the first place.”

Shane huffs. “Now, Cat, please, they can’t all—”

“Yes, they can,” Cat says, cutting her off. “I’ve visited clients at these places for my pro bono work. They’re gross, unhealthy, and, most importantly, dangerous. If Petey could disarm my security system and drug my dog without waking Aidan or me up until he was already in the house, he’ll take out a baby policeman before he can look up from his copy of Busty Boobies Monthly.”

Shane’s mouth flattens into a thin line. “Doubtful. Men glance up pretty damned fast when they’re looking at porn while they’re supposed to be working.” Her words are flippant, but her tone is strained, and when she turns to me, it’s clear she’s as concerned as I am. “Talk to her, Aidan. Tell her that holing up in a safe house with a hunky, tattooed man who gave her the best sexing of her entire life is where she needs to be.”

“Shane, you promised!” Cat barks, inspiring a hoarse yip of outrage from Fifi, who apparently agrees that everyone should back off and let Cat do as she damned well pleases.

“Quiet.” I point a finger at Fang. “You haven’t been awake long enough to weigh in on this situation.”

“Yeah,” Shane says, wagging her own finger at the dog. “And you’re not old enough to be hearing about your mama’s sex life. Cover your ears.”

“And you, behave.” I shift my finger to point at Shane. “No more talk about what Cat and I have done or will do when we’re alone behind closed doors. Believe it or not, we’re both private people, and embarrassing us isn’t helping anything right now.”

Shane bites her lip, looking legitimately penitent. “I’m sorry. Teasing is the way I handle stress. And I’m really stressed. I don’t want to lose my best friend because she’s too stubborn to let you help her stay alive until Friday.”

“I’m not stubborn,” Cat says, inspiring twin “yeah, right” sounds from Shane and me. “I’m not!” she insists. “I’m willing to let Aidan help me stay alive until Friday morning, just not at a safe house or a friend’s house. Maybe we could get a hotel or something?”

“Lip isn’t going to like this.” I bring my hand to my chin, scratching at my beard as my wheels begin to turn. “Or Bash either, but…I may have an idea.”

“What’s that?” Cat puts Fifi down on the island as Shane sets out a dish of water. The dog hurries over and daintily dips her head to drink.

“Why don’t we get out of the city for a few days?” I say, thinking of my stepmother’s text, offering the use of one of her cottages. “Go somewhere Nico won’t expect you to go.”

Red’s eyes light up. “You mean a road trip? You know I love a road trip.”

“A short road trip,” I clarify. “Just five or six hours.”

Cat bounces lightly on her toes, apparently just the thought of being on the road infusing her with a shot of energy. “Five or six hours is more than enough time to eat an entire package of Red Vines and overdose on Dr Pepper. And where do we end up at the end of this journey?”

“I was thinking my parents’ place in the Finger Lakes.” I smile as Fang finishes her drink and comes to sniff my hand instead of Cat’s. “My stepmother owns a winery and bed and breakfast. She uses her maiden name, so on the off-chance Nico figures out who I am and starts looking for family connections, there’s no way he’ll trace me to Julie. We should be safe lying low there for a few days, and I know she’d be thrilled to meet you. I used to talk about you a lot back when I was on break from college.”

Cat’s eyes narrow on Fifi as her lips press thoughtfully together. “This is an excellent plan, but I think Fang should stay here with Aunt Shane. If that’s okay with you, Shane.”

“Of course it is,” Shane says, clapping her hands lightly together.

“But I thought you couldn’t have pets in the building.” I rub my new best friend behind the ears until her tongue lolls out of one side of her mouth. “It’s no problem to take Fang with us. My parents love dogs and I—”