Page 27 of Sterling Heat

Knox is certainly making the rounds for information.

“You got a thing for my employee?” Knox isn’t really one to sniff around. I’m not certain if he even has sex. His ex-wife did a number on him, and he’s been a lone sailor for a while. Plus, his heart once belonged to someone else, and I don’t think he’s ever gotten over her.

“I stopped in for a coffee and she told me you were getting a roommate. And no, I don’t have a thing for Rena. She has the hots for her boss.”

“I’m her boss,” I retort.

“You can’t really be that dense, can you?” Stone scoffs.

I hate when he puts me down. He doesn’t outright call me stupid, he just says I don’t have common sense. Or at least, he used to say that to me when I was younger. I was a reactor. I wanted to get shit done.

It’s how I ended up selling drugs.

It’s how I ended up using them.

It’s how I killed a man.

“Rena doesn’t have a crush on me.” Rena and I have shared stories but that doesn’t make us a private Narcotics Anonymous team, where confessions occurred, and encouragement reigned. I don’t even consider her a friend but a colleague. I’d given her a second chance because she’d been honest with me. She is a recovering addict. There’s nothing else between us.

“It’s more than a crush. It’s like you are peanut butter and she wants to be the two pieces of bread smooshing you together.” Knox presses his hands together like he’s mashing something between them.

“That’s . . . graphic,” Stone chokes before sipping his beer.

“You’re nuts.” I toss a French fry at him. He laughs as it hits his chest.

“So, she . . . Enya . . . is living with you now,” Stone’s serious tone brings us back to my situation.

“She’s just staying for a little while. Two weeks. Then she’s moving into a house she bought on outskirts of town.” I hold my breath knowing what question is coming next.

“Which house?”

“The old Wallace place.”

Knox’s forehead lifts so high his baseball cap shifts. “I’m doing a brick patio at that house. I didn’t know it belonged to her.” Knox is a fireman first; bricklayer second.

Stone remains eerily quiet, knowing what happened in that house. “Have you seen the place?”

I lower my head, shaking it. “You know I try to avoid going in that direction if I can.”

“Gonna get real hard to avoid when your girl lives there,” Knox says, softening his teasing tone.

“She’s not my girl.” Defensive, almost angry, I glare at Knox. Even if she was my girl, I couldn’t visit that house.

Stone holds up a hand. “Okay. So, Enya . . .” He looks at me. “Her car was towed to Perry’s.”

“Can you get it out?” I ask.

“She has three parking tickets.”

“She had a baby, Stone. In my bakery,” I remind him.

“Yeah, okay. Let me see what I can do. In the meantime, call Perry and tell him I said to let the car go. He owes me from poker the other night. I can call it even by him releasing her car.”

When Stone shows he has a shred of humanity in him, it can really irk me. But despite his scowls and glares, he really is a good guy.

Chapter 9

[Enya]