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"I'm sure you won't come across it, but if you do please buy it. I'd love to get it back. And in the meantime, if you find a good deal on one that's better than this, get it and hold onto it. I'll find a way to buy it from you."
"By selling drugs?"
"No, Claire, I don't sell drugs."
"Well, you were definitely doing them."
He looked at her. "Yeah, I know."
She shrugged. "Are you going to go back to doing them again?" she asked.
"Are you visiting from the church? Or are you just trying to keep tabs on who's staying up here? Your grandma told me there have been others in my situation living here before me."
"Usually they're running from someone else and not their own choices."
"Wow, you are from the church."
"No, I'm not. I'm looking out for my family. I actually own an apartment in this building and I don’t want any of us…"
"Any of us what?" he asked when she trailed off.
"I'm just talking to you," she said. "Getting to know you."
He was quiet for a long moment before he spoke again. "Thank you," he said. "For the clothes. But why do you come take a shower in here if you live in this building?"
"I don't live here. I own an apartment—it was a family real estate thing and my dad gave it to me when I graduated college."
"You graduated college?" he asked. He hadn't even graduated high school.
Claire was the most beautiful woman Logan had ever seen. She was a golden angel, sitting in the one ray of light that came in through the window. She was older than him and utterly untouchable.
She shrugged. "My parents signed me up for a special high school. I finished that with an associate's degree and then I took college classes full-time, so I finished early. I work at the diner part-time, but I'm focused on starting my business right now. Every cent I make goes to that, including the rent from the apartment in this building. So, yes, I technically own an apartment, but I don't live here. I can't go use the shower. My tenant wouldn't appreciate that. He's the quiet type."
"I think just about any type would appreciate someone like you taking a shower in their apartment."
She shot him a glare, and he grinned innocently.
"Hey, I honestly wasn't planning on looking if that makes you feel any better. I don’t expect you to trust me, but I wouldn't have looked."
"Well, that's fine, but I'm not taking a shower with you in here, anyway. And I don't even need a shower right now. It's ten in the morning. I'm clean. I just came from my house."
"Did you just come up here to give me these clothes?" he asked.
"That's why I came upstairs, but I came to the building to work. I'm about to work the lunch shift downstairs."
"I'm going to do some busking once I can trust myself to get out, but I'll need a job before then. Something close by. Something with a bunch of old people where I won't get into trouble."
"What about Mister Washington's?"
"I’m not sure what that is."
"It's an appliance store. I'm sure he has something you can do, fixing things or lifting things or whatever. The Washingtons come into the diner all the time, and I know they're always looking for good help."
Chapter 4
Logan Lacey
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