The Job (Auctioned) by Cara Dee (highly illogical behavior txt) 📕

I grinned and added another slice of cheddar. He had a point. I was on board with the plain buns without sesame seeds—I preferred those too—but the rest was just gross. Four slices of cheese, relish, and barbecue sauce. Or a Paisley Special, as we called it.

“We’re alone, by the way,” Ma filled in with. “You said you wanted to talk to me about something when she wasn’t here.”

Oh right. Now was as good a time as any, and it wouldn’t take long.

“What’s your schedule like these days?” I asked. “Your hours still flexible?”

She furrowed her brow. “Well, sure. Do you need me to watch Ace more?”

“Not just Ace,” Boone replied. “Darius is coming to town soon, and he’s bringing his sons.”

I let him do the talking, partly because I was still mind-blown. Our recluse of a cousin, this badass former PMC who hated humanity and had always rejected the notion of kids, had switched teams and shacked up with a dude, and they had adopted two boys together.

I listened on one ear as Boone gave Mom the need-to-know level of details about Darius coming to town, and by the time I had made two burgers for myself, I wondered what was taking Ace so long.

“Get a move on, Paisley!” I hollered. “Your food’s gonna get cold.”

“I’m trying to decide!” she yelled back. “Would you say we have a ‘Semi-Charmed Life’?”

I chuckled, biting into my burger.

Seconds later, music poured out from my car, followed by the door slamming shut and the alarm being activated. Around the same time, Ma was telling us that, of course, she’d be happy to watch Darius’s kids, and the crease between her eyebrows told me she had questions. Many of them.

She was generally good at butting out—mainly ’cause she didn’t wanna know—but she had limits, and this involved family. So I had to nip something in the bud.

“You can’t call Aunt Mary about this,” I said.

Her stare grew tight. “Why not? You’re up to something big, aren’t you?”

What a travesty that we couldn’t respond, because Ace hopped up the porch steps and rejoined us.

This was a bad night to catch a sudden bout of insomnia.

I rolled onto my back and slipped my hands underneath my head, and I tried to match my breathing with Boone’s. It usually soothed me. Never had I heard the fucker snore. He slept peacefully on his stomach, his back rising and falling with long, deep breaths.

I blinked drowsily and aimed my stare at the ceiling instead. Maybe I should buy curtains. Whenever someone moved outside, a carport or porch lit up.

The AC hummed steadily. In the bathroom, the faucet dripped every ten or eleven seconds. The fridge and freezer buzzed. Crickets competed to see who could piss me off first. Every now and then, a car drove past outside.

For as rambunctious as Boone and I had always been, we’d grown up chasing moments of silence, too. It’d started as soon as we got our driver’s licenses. We’d drive straight out into the desert sometimes and just listen to nothing.

Some of my favorite memories were from when Boone had bought and repaired his first truck. Mom would pack us sandwiches and sodas, and we’d head out to sleep under the stars. Just the two of us in the bed of the truck. We’d lie there in our sleeping bags, passing a joint between us, and, for the most part, be absolutely quiet.

I missed that.

Sharing silence with someone could be incredibly intimate. At least for me.

I released a breath and scrubbed my hands over my face.

Sleep, goddammit. Sleep.

Big day tomorrow. Important day. Nothing was allowed to go wrong. I wasn’t the slightest bit worried about breaking in to the hospitality guy’s apartment next week, but this…? Fuck. AJ Lange liked his security.

Boone shifted next to me, causing the sheet to ride down when he twisted it around his leg. “Go to sleep, little brother.”

Oh.

“I’m trying,” I murmured. “Did I wake you?” I couldn’t have.

“I don’t know.” He yawned and stretched out, then pushed himself up a bit on his elbow. “Maybe. I can sense when you’re restless.”

I scratched my jaw. My turn to need a trim soon. Boone had trimmed his this week. A little, anyway.

“I miss silence,” I admitted.

He hummed quietly and moved closer. “We could go camping when all this is over.”

I nodded and tilted my head to him. “Yeah. Sounds good.” With him so close, I had to pull him in for a kiss.

He smiled faintly, his lips moving against mine with sleepy seductiveness. “Something else botherin’ you? Something about tomorrow?”

“Nothing beyond regular jitters.” I squirmed my way into his embrace and turned his arm into my pillow.

It was probably ridiculous, but it really felt like a dream come true every time he squeezed the shit out of me in one of his strong hugs. Having his big arms around me, being the center of his attention, eased the unrest within me.

There was no word that could do justice to how much I loved him.

“I wanna tell Mom about us soon,” Boone murmured hesitantly.

I peered up at him and found him looking at me in a way he’d done before. He was waiting for direction and approval. He wanted to know what I thought.

“We will.” I brushed the pad of my thumb over his bottom lip. “Soon as this job’s done—and once you’ve decided what you want us to tell her.” I elaborated when I saw his brow furrowing. “We haven’t established a relationship. I don’t know exactly what it is you want. A regular relationship? You want us to show up at a game or recital hand in hand? Or do you want something more discreet?”

That made him frown. “I sure as fuck don’t wanna hide. I thought we were on the same page and wanted the couple shit.”

I chuckled and kissed him quickly. “I’m on that page. Just had to make sure you were on it too.”

He hummed into the