“You sure?” She looked at him curiously.
“I think I can tell whether I’m okay or not, Miss Granger,” he snapped angrily at her, hoping to deflect what he was feeling.
It worked. Her face immediately dropped.
“Sorry, I just thought . . .” She stopped talking and looked away. His stomach tightened even more.
When the wheel was finally fixed, they got back into the car in total silence and drove to her house. They hadn’t said a word since he’d snapped at her. They pulled up to her place and climbed out. He took the bike out of the trunk and started wheeling it in the direction of the building. Doris placed her hands on the handlebars and stopped him.
“It’s okay, I’ve got it,” she said, trying to pull the bike away from him.
“It’s fine. It’s heavy and hard to wheel.” He pulled the bike back.
“You have dinner,” she said, exerting more pressure on the bike.
“I insist. OKAY!” he snapped again and jerked it away from her.
“Fine,” she said. “But it’s a long walk up those stairs.”
He looked up at the building and suddenly realized what he’d just insisted on doing. No doubt he’d be drenched in sweat and almost dead by the end of it. But he was determined not to give in. He couldn’t now, since he’d been so adamant about doing it. They walked for a while and then Doris stopped and turned to him.
“It’s your lucky day,” she said.
“What?” He looked at her. She was pointing at someone.
“It’shisbike,” she said, walking towards him.
His mouth fell open. She’d borrowed a bike fromthat. . .
The man stood well over six feet tall. He also looked like he was about 600 pounds of pure, bulging muscle. His neck looked weighted down by all the gold chains he was wearing.How the hell did he even keep his head up? And when he smiled, Ryan thought he might be blinded by the reflection of the light bouncing off his golden grille. Doris walked all the way up to him and Ryan ran to keep up. He didn’t like the idea of her standing alone with this man who was clearlynotan upstanding citizen who paid his taxes.
“I’ve got your bike.” She gestured to it and the man took a step forward.
How did he even ride a bike like this? For someone his size, surely it was impossible. The man, whose name was “Little Mike”, flashed them both a golden grin and then took the bike from Ryan. He hated to admit it, because nothing intimidated him, but this man chilled him to the bone.
“Thanks for bringing it back,” Little Mike said, casting his attention back on Doris. Ryan didn’t like the way he was looking at her. And then, the man slowly extended his hand towards her. “The bike rental?”
“Huh?” Doris looked panicked. “I didn’t know I had to pay rental for it, uh . . . I don’t have any money for you, sorry . . . I didn’t know.”
“Nothing is free in this world.” Little Mike sounded intimidating. “But maybe there’s another way you can pay me back?” His voice took on a sly, creepy tone.
“How?” she asked. God, was she that naive?
“Well, I need someone to clean my flat, maybe you could come by and wash my dishes tomorrow night.” The man smiled again, and Ryan knew that washing dishes was definitely code for something else.
“No, she won’t be cleaning anyone’s dishes,” Ryan said firmly. “How much is the rental?’ he asked, turning his attention to the man in front of him. The man had a bright mop of white hair and the most piercing blue eyes, which only seemed to add to his intimidating appearance.
“You don’t have to do—” Doris objected, but he ignored her.
“How much is the rental?” he asked, louder this time.
The man eyed him up and down. “Two hundred,” he said.
“Fine,” Ryan reached into his wallet. He had a lot more than R200 in it. He paused and looked back up at the man. “Two hundred for the rental, and I’ll give you an extra hundred because it came back late.” He pulled the money out and held it out for Mike.
The man took a step closer, and he swore he could feel the ground shake beneath them. He reached out his hand and took the money.God, it was like a fucking bear’s paw.
“I hope that gets her out of any domestic duties,” he said, using his firmest tone. It wasn’t a question, though.
