Chapter 7 Lia
LIA
“Lia?” Josh pulls open the door. “I was surprised to get your call.”
He scratches his head, and I hate him a little more when he does it. His hands are like model hands. Muscular, trim nails. Sexy. The guy’s so built, even his palms seem thick with muscle. As much as part of me would love to feel those hands on my body, I’m leading this conversation with my heart.
“Yeah, well, thanks for coming by.” I’ve given the dogs some chew toys so they’ll keep the distractions to a minimum. “I did some research on Florida bail laws.”
Josh nods. “And?”
“I’d like to see the backup for your claim against Leo’s house. I want to see the paperwork.”
Josh sighs and crosses his arms over his chest. His muscles flex, and I look away, steeling my resolve. I’m not here to eye-fuck the man or even to be nice to him. I’m here to save Leo’s house and my home.
“Lia, look, I know what you’re trying to do here. And it’s great, okay? But I can’t involve you in this. You don’t have any rights to the house. You’re not an owner. And even though you live there, I can’t violate my client’s privacy rights by showing you the paperwork.”
“You can’t violate your client’s rights, but you can take Leo’s house?
My home. What kind of shit is that?” I start to get heated right away with him because it is bullshit.
Pure and simple. “Maybe you can give me some advice, then? Should I be packing this week? Am I gonna be homeless in two weeks? Will Leo?” I start pacing around my shop, hoping that Josh feels like shit.
I know this isn’t his fault, but I’m sure he hasn’t been up front with Leo, and he deserves to suffer a little for it.
“No. God, no. You—” Josh looks lost, unsure what to say.
“I thought you were a professional bail agent,” I say. “You must explain this stuff to people every day. Explain it to me.”
Josh shakes his head. “Lia, this is really stuff that Leo should be handling. I’m sorry. I wish there were another way.”
“Isn’t there?” I’m not letting him get off the hook that easily. “Because I may not have experience with this stuff, but I can research.”
Josh watches me as I open my laptop.
“There is all kinds of information out there. YouTube videos, blogs, websites. In fact, the way pretty much everyone out there makes it sound, you’re the one who gets screwed if Tim doesn’t show up for that court date.”
Josh sighs but doesn’t disagree. “What’s your point in all this? Yeah, I’ll be screwed if Tim doesn’t show. But Tim has the legal right to put the house up for collateral, which means it’s a pain in the ass for me, but I don’t come out of this at a loss.”
“You might.” I lift my chin at him. “Tim owes what, like $150,000?”
Josh nods. “And fees and penalties and stuff. It could come up to quite a bit more.”
“Have you looked at the tax records for the house yet? Have you looked to see what the mortgage is?” I have not done any of those things, and honestly, for all I know, Josh could have done them.
All I do know is there’s a really good chance that all the stuff I researched is going to buy us time, even if it doesn’t get us out of this fully.
“Lia.” Josh shrugs. “None of that matters. What matters is that we find Tim so that no one has to deal with the consequences of Tim’s actions except for Tim.”
“In theory, that would be great.” I open up a local real estate office’s website. “Check these out.” I point to thirty-two houses for sale in Leo’s zip code.
Josh comes close and leans over to get a better look at the screen. His cologne overwhelms my senses, and I shake my head and hand him my laptop. I need to put some space between us. He’s the enemy, even if he smells like a sexy campfire.
“Lia, what does this have to do with Tim? Can you help me out here?” Josh lowers his voice, and for a second, I see the good guy in there. It makes me wonder why a guy like this is in this line of work at all.
“Why do you do it?” I blurt out the question before I realize how it sounds. “Why do you do this? Why does a guy like you work around people who are in trouble all day long? People running from you? People not wanting to see you come through that door?”
Josh’s face hardens.
I’ve hit a nerve. There’s something there, something buried deep that I doubt he’ll share with me, and I really don’t want him to. I don’t want to have any compassion or sympathy for this guy. He doesn’t have any for us.
Well, maybe he does. He and Leo, they knew each other when they were kids, but a job’s a job, and he’s doing his so that he comes out on top, so that he benefits.
And if that means he takes away the only stability that Leo has left in his life…
well, I can’t have compassion for that guy.
No matter what his reasons are for being in this line of work.
“We all have our reasons for doing what we do,” he tells me. He stands a little bit closer to me, and that damn campfire smell fills my nose.
I resist the urge to close my eyes and drink it in because, again, he is the enemy.
“Okay, so if you’re not going to tell me why you do it, maybe you’ll explain a little bit more about how.
I told you I’ve done the research. Now explain to me what really happens.
I know there’s gotta be a way out. There’s gotta be a Plan B for Leo.
A way for you to not take the house even if we never find Tim. ”
Josh smiles at me. It’s a seductive smile, sweet, appreciative. He meets my eyes and nods at me. “Why don’t you tell me what you understand, and I’ll explain the details,” he says. “Anything you want to know, I’ll lay it out for you straight as far as I’m legally able.”
That’s a start. I’ll take it.
“I lived on the road for a while,” I tell him, “But in the past when I’ve rented apartments or rooms, it’s always been a really big pain in the ass when you have a shithead roommate. Getting somebody out under any circumstances is next to impossible.”
Josh looks at me. “Okay… And?”
“So,” I continue, “let’s just say we never find Tim. Court date comes and goes, and you get to claim the rights to Leo’s house.”
Josh smiles. “It’s not exactly claiming the rights…but yeah. I’m with you. Okay, worst-case scenario happens. Tim is in the wind, and now I have a right to the title to Leo’s house.”
“Exactly,” I say to him. “So, if I can’t get rid of a roommate who won’t pay the rent, how do you really expect to get Leo and me and three dogs out of a house in under two weeks?”
“I’m not following…” Josh says.
“That’s what I was researching,” I explain.
“As far as I understand the whole process of getting us out of the house, even if you legally have the right to do so, it’s going to take time.
There’s no way that you’re going to kick us out, claim the house, sell the house, get access to whatever money is there—assuming there’re no loans or liens against the house already.
But if you can get enough at a fair sale to cover what Tim owes…
” I point to the laptop screen. “Of all these houses in a ten-mile radius from Leo’s house, do you see any that are selling or are listed for sale for more than what Tim owes? ”
I give him a look, hoping he realizes I’ve done my homework here. Not being able to sleep last night—before I showered and Leo and I got naughty—was time I put to good use.
“What if the house sells for less than the bail?” My question is direct, with a hint of a challenge in my voice. “What, then?”
Josh nods. “Fair point.” The looks he’s giving me sizzle with heat.
But he’s not angry that I’m up in his face, challenging him about what he does for a living.
What he’s doing to Leo. To me. “You’re getting into the weeds on the details, Lia.
That’s the right thing to do.” He leans against the counter and crosses his arms over his chest.
I try again to make out the wall of dark images he has inked on his skin.
“And you’re right about the timing,” he admits.
“Realistically, the court will allow a grace period for me to find him and even for Tim to show up. And when that sort of second chance expires, then, yes, to really go through the process of taking possession of the house, putting it up for sale, resolving the outstanding bail… Yeah, it could take some time.”
I tilt my head at him. I hope, especially after all this, he doesn’t think I’m stupid. “Come on, Josh, not just some time. This kind of stuff doesn’t happen in two weeks.”
He nods once, a curt agreement. “You’ve done your homework, Lia.”
“If it takes you even six months to get the money that you need to cover what Tim owes you,” I press, “that sounds like plenty of time for Leo to find a way to get the money he needs to cover that bail. If he can do that somehow—I don’t know the financial ins and outs—but I’m only saying, it sounds to me like you’re the one in trouble, not us. ”
Josh curls his lips, and even a face that was probably meant to be a sneer looks seductive.
I need to look away, just look away, think about Leo.
My sweet roommate. My best friend. My secret lover, sure, but that’s not what this is about.
This is about the fact that he has nobody to stand up for him.
Nobody to do the research and challenge the wrongs that have been done to him.
If my going toe-to-toe with this tattooed Adonis is going to help save Leo’s house, or at least show him that someone cares enough to step up and step in, I can fight my hormones and my traitorous body and try.
“Everything about this deal has been aboveboard, Lia,” Josh says.
“I haven’t done anything to manipulate Leo, to lie to him, to misrepresent the facts.
I’m sorry that you guys are in this shitty situation.
I’m sorry Tim up and refused to honor his obligations.
But I’m in the clear here. In fact, Tim has fucked me too. ”
His words do nothing to make me feel sorry for him.