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I’m half expecting her employers to kick my ass out, but instead they exchange a knowing look and sport matching grins.
“You don’t get to decide—” Stacia starts, but Lesli cuts her off.
“Head on home. Max will cover your section. We will talk tomorrow.”
Stacia stares at the woman, slack jawed. I, however, give her a nod of thanks before scooping my woman back up into my arms and heading for the door.
I slow as we pass my table. “Gentlemen, I’m afraid we will have to pick this up at a later date.”
Dirk and company all stare in shock—can’t really say I blame them. This is clearly not the outcome any of us were expecting.
“Don’t worry,” Colton calls out after us, his tone completely flat. “I’ll find my own way home.” Shit. His fee just tripled.
As I exit, the hostess calls out with laughter in her voice, “Told you Red was a treat!”
Chapter Twenty-Five
Stacia
I stay mute as West deposits me into the passenger seat of his car, silently mulling over all of the various ways I can kill him if Buck and Lesli fire me.
The entitled little shit truly doesn’t get it. I need this job.
He comes around and flings himself down into the driver’s seat and angrily punches a knuckle into the start button.
Once we’re on the interstate, I let him fucking have it. “Do you realize you probably just cost me my job?”
He snorts but doesn’t otherwise reply.
“I’m glad this is all so amusing to you. That my life falling apart at the seams can—”
“Stop.” His voice is gentle but commanding, and for some dumb reason, I listen. “You wanna scream at me? Fine. Wanna yell at me? Fucking go for it. Or, and this is just a thought, you could set your pride aside and let me help you.”
I sweep my hands over my outfit—or lack thereof. “Pretty sure I ditched my pride when I took this job.”
“Then agreeing to let me help you shouldn’t be the humiliation you’re advertising.”
“Help how?” I ask, fully prepared to turn him down flat.
His grip on the wheel tightens to white-knuckle, but he doesn’t speak.
“Listen, pride aside, I’m not willing to take a handout for this. AJ already offered, and I turned her down, too. For starters, the amount of cash I need is astronomical. Like, more than you can legally gift in a year. So, even if you had that kind of cash—”
West cuts me off. “I do.”
The arrogance of his reply sends ice into my words. “—I wouldn’t feel comfortable being indebted to you like that.”
“Hmm,” is all he says, and it takes every ounce of my fraying willpower not to chuck my stiletto at him.
The rest of the drive to his house passes in a tense, thick silence. I can’t help the sigh of relief that escapes my lips when he pulls into the driveway; I can’t wait to hide away in the sanctuary of my room.
“Get showered and change, and then we’ll talk,” West says, ruining my escape plan.
We both exit the car. “Let’s just talk tomorrow.”
He keys in the unlock code and opens the door. “You have twenty minutes. A second over and I’ll come find you.”
I shoulder past him and stomp up the stairs, not willing to test him by arguing.
Exactly fourteen minutes later, I pad downstairs and into the kitchen dressed in a pair of sweats and a tank top, my face scrubbed free of makeup and my hair still dripping.
West slides a mug of coffee my way on the island and says, “I’ve called your work. Buck is going to send your purse and shit with Colton, and he’s going to drive your car back since he rode over with me.”
I nod and take a sip. “What happened tonight isn’t okay, West.”
“Agreed. Though, something tells me we’re not on the same page as to why. So, let’s agree to disagree.”
“Just like that? You want me to move on and be okay with the fact that your little caveman stunt probably just cost me my job?”
He scrubs his hands over his face and for the first time, I notice how stressed he looks—like the entire weight of the world is on his shoulders.
“What…what if I had a solution that could help both of us?” The pitch of his voice is soft, imploring, and I find myself nodding for him to continue. “You need money for your dad’s bond and legal counsel and for just life in general. And I need to be able to fulfill the terms of my trust. I know it’s crazy, but I really think this could solve both of our problems.”
I stare at him. “You…can’t be suggesting what I think you are.”
He sips his own coffee. “That depends on what you think I’m suggesting, Stacia.”
“For me to…to have your baby.”
West nods once. “That is exactly what I’m suggesting.”
