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

one another’s pockets and grumble-grumble-grumble. It ain’t like they’ll get caught, grumble-grumble. It’s them against the people.”

I laughed and shook my head.

Boone left the grill and sat down across from us, which was when I realized he had a beer and I didn’t. What the hell?

“Your turn,” he told me. “Do Darius when he’s had a few.”

“Oooh, that’s a funny one!” Ace all but bounced in her seat.

I cleared my throat and took a deep breath, summoning my inner Ron Swanson. ’Cause that’s exactly who Darius was. This grouchy, forty-four going on eighty-four, misanthropic libertarian who claimed to hate everyone when, in reality, he’d die and kill for those he loved—and others. After all, he’d spent his life rescuing people.

“All right, all right, just hear me out,” I slurred. “Listen to what I have to say. Hear me out. Look—do I hate mankind? Yeah. But do I think they’re irredeemable? Well yeah, that too.” At that, Ace cracked up, and I used it. I grabbed her shoulder and swayed a little when I spoke. “Quit laughin’ at me. Hear me out—hear me out! Y’all just don’t listen to me. But one day, you’ll fuckin’ see. I’m right. I’m always right.”

Ace giggled madly behind her hands, her cheeks flushed, and Boone merely grinned at me.

Truth be told, I was expecting laughter. My impression was spot-on!

Then I felt the slightest breeze brush against my neck, and my body reacted as if a hurricane had just wrecking-balled its way through Nevada. I tensed up in my seat, warning bells went off, and I stared at Boone just as he flicked a glance somewhere behind me.

Fuck.

I swallowed. “He’s behind me, isn’t he?”

Boone’s grin widened, and he took a swig of his beer.

Shit, shit, shit.

“Heh.” I shifted in my seat to peer behind me, and sure enough, I was fucked. Mom and Darius stood in the doorway, Darius with an unreadable expression—which was his forte—one kid on his hip and another plastered to his side. “Hey, Darius. Long time, no see.”

Jayden, the eldest boy, looked to be around Ace’s age, and he was smirking a little. He stuck to Darius but didn’t strike me as shy, unlike the younger boy. Justin. He was about four and presumably autistic, according to Ma. He had noise-canceling headphones on.

“Let me know when the Casey impressions begin,” Darius drawled, walking farther out on the patio. “All I gotta do is cram a Pop-Tart in my mouth and mimic the vernacular of a ’90s Valley girl.”

“Oh!” What the fuck! I shot up from my seat. “That’s a big word for the Chuck Norris of Washington.”

He let out a laugh. “Being called Chuck Norris ain’t an insult.”

I scoffed and gnashed my teeth. I wanted to be a good host and not scare the youngest boy, so I put a lid on my box of stellar comebacks. “You know what? I won’t resort to childish games. That’s beneath me.”

That made pretty much everyone laugh.

Assholes, all of them.

Darius grinned and extended his hand. “Good to see you, kid.”

Yeah, yeah. “You too,” I grumbled and shook his hand.

Mom took over from there, running introductions of everyone at the same time as she ordered Boone and me to move out the table so everyone would have room to sit. Ace got to hug her “wicked cool” Uncle Darius, who had changed a lot from last year. He’d always had a spare moment for Ace, but having kids of his own now had softened him a bit. The two boys—and possibly the guy he was with—had smoothed some of the harder edges. It was nice.

While I grabbed an extra chair from the shed, Boone deemed the grill ready and began putting burgers and hot dogs on there.

I noticed Jayden eyeing the community pool nearby, and I encouraged Ace to show the boy around.

“Stay where we can see you,” I said.

Jayden flicked a quick glance at Darius, who gave him a nod and sat down with Justin on his lap. Then the two eldest kids were gone, and I asked Mom if she wanted help bringing shit out.

“No, no. You catch up with Darius.” She couldn’t help herself; she had to hug the man again. “It’s so good to have you here, honey. How are all your brothers and sisters?”

“Busting my chops as always.” He smiled.

Mom laughed and gave his shoulder an “oh, you” swat before returning inside.

“So you’re renting a house in Henderson?” I asked. “That’s what Willow mentioned.”

Darius inclined his head. “I’ll keep the boys with me till the others arrive, and then your ma will take over.”

Yeah, Mom already had plans for them.

“I take it Boone and I are on a need-to-know basis?” I had to admit, I was curious about the size of this operation.

“Unless you wanna join in,” he replied with a wry smirk.

I chuckled and showed my palms. “You know, I’m good. It’s been one hell of a month already.”

“Hear, hear,” Boone said.

“It’s for the best,” Darius agreed. “Y’all have done enough.” He paused. “Willow sends her gratitude. You’ve made her work a lot easier. I swear, every time she received a message from you, she got excited.”

That was good enough for me. That, and whatever we would get our hands on in AJ’s house.

“Anytime.” I meant that. This job had been fun. “I gotta ask, though. Who funds you guys? Whatever you’re gonna do can’t be cheap.”

He shrugged and peered down at Justin. The boy was visibly tired and more focused on fiddling with the buttons on Darius’s open shirt. The tee he wore underneath was from his restaurant. Quinn’s Fish Camp.

“Partly savings,” he answered absently. “An old friend is funding too.”

Either way, they were paying for this themselves? That was insane.

“Then we’ll split the profit,” I decided. “Trust, there’ll be plenty.”

But Darius shook his head. “I appreciate it, but we’re not doing this for money. We just wanna wash our hands of everything once it’s over.”

I hummed. I wouldn’t push it—for now.

Mom came out with beers, juice boxes, and