Page 90 of Hoofin’ It

“I think it’s a fair wager. If I win, you might get what you want just because I like the way you can’t seem to remember my face is up here.” I smirked, did a final smoothing of my suit, and pocketed my wallet. I shut off my phone before slipping it inside my jacket. “One of our errands will be getting me a new phone and a new number and trashing this one. I don’t like people tapping my lines.”

“Better take the spares you have, too.”

“Good idea.” Armed with all three of my phones, I went to my front door and opened it to discover Michelle lifting her hand to knock. “How many cops is the captain going to send over today?” I complained.

“As many as it takes to get your permit number out of you, apparently.” Michelle sighed. “Just tell me no so I can go back to work.”

“Okay. No. When he presents the court-authorized warrant, he can have the permit number.”

“You’re really going to be a pain in the ass over this, aren’t you?”

I sighed. “Hasn’t it occurred to you if he’d just call the FBI and ask, he’d get the proof he wanted that the permit is legitimate?”

The way Michelle blinked and gaped at me led me to believe the thought hadn’t crossed her mind.

Marian set her hand on my lower back and peeked around me. “Is he trying to give the prosecution of the discrimination case legitimate grounds to file an addendum for harassment? If that’s his intention, could you plan your harassments for tomorrow? Our cab is going to be here soon.”

“Where are you going?” Michelle refused to look at Marian, and the woman’s rudeness both bothered and amused me.

“Errands.”

“Dressed up like that? That’s odd.”

“The loser of our bet isn’t going to like posing in white dresses all night long, either. I just thought I’d pretend to be a gentleman and wear a suit so she didn’t feel completely ridiculous while modeling a selection of white dresses for me.”

I deserved the pinch Marian gave me, although I suspected her choice of location had something to do with the snug fit of my pants.

“White dresses? What white dresses?”

I allowed myself a smile. “Take a wild guess.” In a move Dad would’ve liked, I escaped my apartment, locked the door, and tucked Marian close to my side, resting my hand on her back, guiding her with a gentle push towards the stairwell. “Don’t wait up for us, Michelle.”

Larry waited outside my building, and before Michelle could find her wits, I herded Marian into the cab and slid in after her. “I need a new phone, and Marian needs to try on a few white dresses in case someone is following us.”

With the number of unwanted visitors to my apartment, I’d be surprised if no one checked our activities.

“White dresses?”

“I’m hearing that question a lot tonight,” I muttered.

“Apparently, if I plan a successful kidnapping of his person before he can plan a successful kidnapping of my person, he has to wear suits for me every day for the rest of his life. Should he win, which he thinks he will, he’s putting me in a wedding dress before making me wear tight jeans all the time. I suspect he’s trying to prove some point, although I’ll have to do additional investigation to learn more. Since he was rather territorial when she came calling, he dropped hints he was taking me dress shopping.”

“You do look sharp in a suit, Gibby. You should just give the woman what she wants. You’ll be rolling with ladies if you dress like that all the time.”

“I don’t want to roll with all the ladies. I want to roll with a single lady, and for some reason I can’t fathom, the one I like seems willing to put up with me. I might humor her on the suits, though—or a uniform if I can convince some law enforcement agency I’m worth hiring.”

Larry chuckled. “Papa is going to be so happy. I’m sure he would be delighted to assist you with your endeavor.”

Marian nudged me in the ribs. “That Michelle woman looked like you’d punched her in the gut, Shane. How long has she liked you?”

“She doesn’t. Part of the whole lycanthrope in Chicago issue. I think she tolerates me because I didn’t give her extra work.”

“That was not the expression of a woman who tolerates you. That was the expression of a woman who just had her territory violated and is pissed off about it. She was too stupid to bite you first, so she’s just going to have to live with it.”

“Don’t I get a say in this?”

Marian glared at me. “You already did your talking with your teeth.”

I really wished I remembered that. I also wished I knew how badly I’d bitten her, what her general opinion of my biting her was, and if she’d let me do a very thorough examination of her person to investigate any bites I may or may not have inflicted. While I’d already been given a very good opportunity to investigate potential bite sites, she’d distracted me from the thought of checking for teeth marks on her tanned skin. Until she offered me a better selection of clues, I’d assume I’d bitten her and she liked it. “She can’t shoot worth a shit, Marian. That’s a deal breaker. And she didn’t give me a pair of guns and a really nice concealed carry permit. I’ve been informed that the appropriate response to that sort of gift is marriage.”