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"I think she's got someone else to support. She doesn't say much. She mostly keeps to herself. Most of the other girls like to make extra money giving out favors to the customers, but she sticks to her dance routine. Frankly, that's all she needs to do. I think she's raking in as much as the other girls without offering any extras."
"Good for her. It's good of you to give her some more hours." I drank back the rest of my beer and paid Rocky. "Guess I'll call it quits for now. I'm on my motorcycle."
"See you around," Rocky said as I headed out.
Shay was leaning into her car rummaging for something in the backseat. The car was small and cramped with her things. It didn't seem like there was even room enough for her to push the seat back and rest, let alone get a night's sleep.
"Bingo," she cheered as she emerged triumphantly with a Chapstick. She stretched her mouth into an O and spread the salve over her lips. I'd never been so fucking turned on watching someone smear on lip balm.
She waved. "Have a nice day." Her deep, honeyed voice made me climb back off the bike. I had no real clue what the hell I was doing, but I walked over to her. A breeze pushed her bangs into a flutter over her dark brown eyes.
"I can't help but notice that you seem to be living in your car."
Her cheeks darkened. "Yes, car bunking. It's all the new rage. I've temporarily lost my housing. You don't happen to know of a cheap room for rent? Cheap being the key word."
"I wish I did, but yeah, cheap isn't easy around here. Southern California, the land of perpetual sunshine and costly living expenses."
"I'd settle for more clouds if it meant paying less for rent." She slammed shut the car door. "Guess I better get back to the stockroom." She sidled past me and looked admiringly at my bike as she headed back to the bar. "This looks fun. Be careful out there. Those California drivers are lunatics."
"Thanks, I will." I watched her disappear around the corner to the side door. I stared into the chaos of clutter in her car. She was living out of the backseat, but she was still smiling.
I headed back to my bike and picked the helmet up off the seat. I lifted it to pull on over my head, but then stopped. It was crazy. The whole idea was fucking nuts but then nuts ran in the family. I set the helmet back on the seat and headed to the side door of the bar.
I still hadn't formulated what my proposal would be as I reached the open door. I stopped at the doorway and looked inside. I couldn't see Shay. Finding the stockroom vacant felt a bit like a warning. Turn back around and head home, Archer. This was a stupid idea.
But before I could talk myself into turning away, Shay stepped out from behind a stack of wine crates. Her eyes rounded with surprise when she realized someone was standing in the doorway.
"Oh, it's you," she said with some relief. I instantly wondered if she was worried about her ex showing up to hassle her. "Did you need to talk to Rocky?"
"Actually no, I wanted to talk to you." I wasn't thrilled by her reaction but then I couldn't blame her for being hesitant. I was, after all, standing like a creepy stalker in the doorway. It seemed not all women were ready to throw themselves into my arms, I thought wryly.
She wiped her hands off on her jeans. "Did you think of a room for rent?"
"No." I decided not to step inside and lingered in the doorway. "Well yes, sort of. I know a place you can stay for free. At least temporarily until you find a place of your own." And until I've finished my insane withdrawal from women plan, I added inside my head. "I've got a proposal for you which I think will benefit both of us. I want you to stay at my beach house in Malibu."
Her face lit up. "Do you need me to house sit? I'll do it for free because as you saw, I'm living in my car. I'm very good at house sitting. I promise all of your plants will still be alive when you get back. Especially if they are succulents or cacti, I'm exceptionally good at not killing plants that prefer to be ignored."
"Actually, you won't need to worry about plants or taking care of the house because I'll be there."
Her smooth dark brow disappeared under the curtain of white bangs. "I don't understand." Something seemed to dawn on her, and she took a step back.
"You're safe. I'm not going to touch you, now, or when you move into my house. In fact, that's the whole point. It's far too complicated to tell you in a quick chat, but here's the deal. You need a place to live until you find a new apartment, and I have a room in my house. A very nice room and a luxury bathroom goes with it. You'll have free access to the entire house, the pool, the private beach—"
