so much as touches you, you scream and shout for help and one of us will come running.”
“Like you’re touching me now?”
He pulled his hands back. “Sorry.”
She turned and he was happy to see a smile on her face. “Now I know how to get to you, Miles. You’re a sucker for a down-on-her-luck girl.”
Was she flirting with him? “I’m a down-on-my-luck guy. I guess like attracts like.”
She studied him for a moment and he wished he’d shaved. He was a little scruffy. He really wasn’t kidding about being down on his luck. “Why did you show up today? You weren’t taking out the trash and you don’t smoke.”
He thought about lying and then decided not to go that way. “I was looking for you.”
“Why?”
“I wanted to talk to you. I heard a rumor.”
Her jaw went tight. “Really?”
He didn’t like the militant light in her eyes, but he plowed ahead anyway. “Yeah, are you living in your car?”
She waved that off with a laugh. “Oh, that. Yes. I can’t afford a place close to work yet. I’ll find something in a couple of weeks.”
He didn’t understand her. She was acting like homelessness was a nothing problem she would deal with later. “It’s dangerous.”
“No more so than anywhere else. I wasn’t exactly safe here at work earlier. At least I can lock the doors. And the horn makes a really good deterrent. Not to mention my LifeHammer. Sounds silly. It’s really supposed to be for breaking a window if your car goes underwater. Not surprisingly, it also works on car thieves and pushy drug dealers.”
She was going to give him a heart attack. “You took a hammer to a guy trying to jack your car?”
One shoulder shrugged and she went back to sweeping. “Yeah. After I brought that sucker down on his hand, he decided to try again elsewhere. And the drug dealer was actually kind of nice. I mean in the beginning. He was just getting started and his sales pitch needed work. Then he tried to rob me and he met my life hammer, too.”
He opened his mouth but nothing came out. What was he supposed to say to that?
She kept on. “I would have called the cops, but I don’t exactly have a cell. It’s sweet of you to tell me how to protect myself. Oddly, most guys who intend to harm me don’t give me lectures on protecting myself.”
The rain was starting to come down hard, beating against the rooftop. He finally managed to find some proper words. “You can’t stay in your car.”
“Sure I can.”
His first instinct was to tell her what she was going to do, but he had to wonder if she would come after him with that hammer. The woman in front of him was a far cry from the one who hadn’t screamed out when Timothy cornered her. He was smart enough to understand. She was comfortable with him. She could joke because she didn’t believe he would hurt her. If he applied some pressure, intimidated her, he would likely get her to do what he wanted. And that would make him one more asshole who used her. “It makes me nervous. Especially on a night like this. Maybe you could stay in Sean’s office tonight?”
He would sleep on the floor. He hadn’t been joking. He’d slept in much worse places. Hell, no one was shooting at him. He called it a win.
“You think you should drive home in this mess?” She peeked out through the blinds.
“I don’t have a car. I take the train. Station’s right down the street.” He would rather stay with her, but now that he thought about it, she might be uncomfortable with that. If he was leaving, he would have to be fast though. DART didn’t run all night. He could call Adam, but he felt like an idiot calling his big brother to pick him up from work. He was thirty years old. He’d been driving since he was sixteen.
He couldn’t work the gas pedal anymore and getting a vehicle fitted for him would cost more money than he had.
She perked up. “I have a car. I can totally give you a ride. And the good news is if we find ourselves in high water, I can also smash through the windshield.”
“You are entirely too invested in that hammer.”
She chuckled. “Maybe. I’m really okay, Miles. Despite the idiocy of this afternoon, I’ve been taking care of myself for a long time. It’s not the first