Charlie Foxtrot (Book 2 of Love is War Series)

Chapter 16

"Jesus," Auden muttered as she got out of her car in her apartment building's garage. Jim had told her what Michael had said, and though he thought it was kind of funny and a little sweet, Auden wasn't so sure.

They headed over to head over to Jim's place now. It wasn't what they called "their night", but he wanted to talk to her more about what Michael had said and how they should deal with his knowledge of them. It had been that tiny slip-up of Jim touching Auden on the hip, though Michael had mentioned before that they made a handsome couple. He must have been keeping an eye on them all the same and only realized today that something was going on with that simple gesture.

Jim wasn't angry. In fact, he hated the whole cloak and dagger feel of their hiding the relationship. They may have only been dating for a month, but that didn't mean that he liked having to conceal it. He had merely wanted to give it some time before they came out officially as a couple. This was a little premature, but he was honestly okay with it.

"Come on, kitten," Jim said as he smiled over at her. He had her door open for her, ever the perfect gentleman. "No howling at the moon. I'd rather get you to purr than see your claws come out because your cousin knows about us. Michael is a decent man. He'll see that I have the best intentions with you eventually. I already told him how much I treasure you already."

She blushed prettily and smiled at him. Actually had a hard time not breaking out in a beaming grin at his words. For someone who could be so rough while fucking, he was quite soft and gentle with her when he spoke. It was a nice ballast. Usually, men who were as dominant as he in bed were just as crass outside of it.

At least, that was her opinion. She'd only had a few steady boyfriends since she'd started to date at the age of 15.

"Well, I hope he doesn't say anything to anyone yet. You did explain that we were keeping this on the downlow for now, right?" She appeared worried, but Jim knew it was not an affront to him. She was merely concerned about what Mary and Clay would think. Clay was their boss. Though it wasn't illegal or even against the rules at CBC, it was frowned upon. If people knew, they would assume that she would get special treatment because she was fucking the big boss' righthand man. With Mary, she was afraid that she would disapprove and treat Jim differently because of it. Not that Mary was prone to being rude, but she could be extremely protective of her family.

"He promised he wouldn't so long as we told Mary and Clay eventually. He knows how Marietta worries about you living alone, though, so I think if she knew that there was someone else looking out for you—even if it's little old me—she might be okay with it. I might not be her first choice as a boyfriend for you, but as they say, beggars can't be choosers."

She leaned into him before buckling her seatbelt and gave him a kiss. "Well, she didn't get to choose. I did. I happen to like my choice too. Much better than the last few."

"Last few?"

"Oh yeah. I was a real whore before you. Banged all of Ft. Lauderdale and Miami. In one weekend."

He laughed, and the car started to move forward before another vehicle cut him off by maneuvering quickly in front of him. It was some jackass in a Mercedes. He thought that was kind of funny. The area Auden lived in was by no means rich, but there were quite a few nicer vehicles parked in the area. When he thought about it, he figured they were cars that toted around drug dealers or were bought with drug money. It was common for a dealer to buy their mom or grandmother a nice car with their dough. They may have been criminals, but they took decent care of their family until they were caught and incarcerated eventually.

They listened to soothing music as they drove, and Jim started to talk about the next musical that Muse was starring in. She had started to take private vocal lessons and was going to play the role of Lily Craven, who was the ghost of Colin's mother and Archibald's dead wife.