Renley
Thank you,
You deserve it all.
He simply stared down at it, feeling undeserving.
He hadn’t done anything out of the ordinary for him—she would’ve been treated the same even if she weren’t paying him for it.
Shaking away the thoughts, he filled his truck and hightailed it back to Shannon’s.
He’d been one of the only friends who’d stuck around after he was released from jail.
Not that he’d had a large circle beforehand. Gambling had taken that away from him.
“The money I owe you.”
“I see that. Where the hell did you get it from?”
“Fucking take it, Shan.”
“Not unless you tell me where your broke ass got it from. And you better tell the truth cause if I don’t believe you, you’re back to sleeping in your truck.”
Renley clenched his jaw and ground his teeth.
“That was the deal, Renley,” Shannon continued. “You stay away from shady shit, and you can stay here as long as you need to.”
He collapsed onto the couch next to his friend, scrubbing a hand over his face. “A woman paid me to keep her company for a few hours.”
Shannon muted the TV and—ever so slowly—turned to face him. “You what ?”
“I’m not proud of it, don’t make me repeat it.”
“And here I was thinking I didn’t need to include prostitution to the list of shady things you shouldn’t be doing.”
“Can you please just take the money?”
“Why did you do that? You have a job interview next week !”
“Because like you just mentioned I’m broke now . Even if I get that job I wouldn’t get paid for a while. I barely had enough gas to get to that hotel.”
“I would have given it to you.”
“I know.” Renley let out a frustrated sigh, unable to look at his friend. “But you’ve done enough already.”
“And I’ll continue to do it as long as I know you’re doing your best.”
“It’s been three months since I got out and still haven’t gotten a job.”
“That doesn’t mean you result to turning yourself out. You are aware that’s illegal, right?”
He gulped, the gooey feeling that had lingered since the hotel quickly fading. “I know.”
“I should kick you out.”
“Fine, I’ll pack my shit and leave,” he growled, leaping to his feet.
Shannon snatched an arm to stop Renley in his tracks. “I said I should . But I won’t because I know you meant well and I’m even more certain I know you won’t do it again, right?”
“I won’t.”
“Good, now grab yourself dinner and come sit with me.”
Embarrassed and ashamed, he did as he was told. With a full plate, he returned to the couch.
“So, what kind of kinky shit did you do?” Shannon asked once the first plate was devoured.
“Nothing kinky. She just wanted someone to spend a few hours with.”
“But you did have sex?”
“Yes.”
“And got paid for it. Lucky you. Was she at least pretty?”
“Gorgeous.”
“Jackpot.” Then with a serious tone, he added, “Don’t even think about doing it again. You can get into some serious trouble.”
“I know.”
An hour later, he pulled the blanket over himself and tried to get as comfortable on the couch as he could. He loved Shannon for being his voice of reason, but after his enjoyable evening, his words had left a bitter taste in his mouth.
A week later, he tried to disguise his nerves as he stepped into the office of Harris & Gomez Construction.
He’d worked in construction before, but once employers found out about his charges, they turned him away.
With damp palms he stepped up to the reception desk, flashing the woman there a dazzling smile.
“Can I help you, sir?” the young brunette asked.
“Renley Taylor—I have an appointment with Mr. Gomez.”
“I’ll let him know you’re here.” She picked up her phone, pressed a button, and waited for the call to connect. “Your ten o'clock appointment is here.”
She’d barely hung up the phone when a man in his late forties pushed through a set of frosted glass doors. He stepped forward with a smile, taking Renley’s hand in a firm handshake. “Mr. Taylor?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Jeronimo Gomez. Nice to meet you.” He followed the man into his office and took a seat opposite of him. “I’m someone who likes to get straight to the point. I saw you’ve worked in construction before, the only concern I have is your gap in employment.”
Fuck.
“So, I need to know if that was a one-time thing of youth, or if you’re going to give me trouble.”
That was new. Renley swallowed hard. “I won’t give you any trouble.”
“Good enough for me. Just know that if you go back on that, I know a lot of people in the business.”
“Yes, sir.”
“Perfect. How soon can you start?”
“Right away.”
“Even better. Let me see if my boss is around to meet you.” He gave him a wink and picked up the phone on his desk. “Do you have a moment to meet my new hire?” A chuckle and a grin later, he stood and indicated for Renley to follow.
Mind spinning, Renley walked after his new boss to another office. He stepped in…
And froze.
He found himself staring into a pair of familiar green eyes, and being met with a smile he knew in a very intimate way.
No!
“Mr. Taylor, this is Eveline Harris, my business partner.”
Shit. The universe clearly had it out for Renley Taylor.
“But by the looks of things, I don’t have to introduce the two of you.”
“We’ve met—briefly.” Her tone was surprisingly amused. “I assume you’d like me to do his paperwork for you?” she asked Mr. Gomez.
“You were rather displeased with my administrative skills last time.”
Her airy, bubbly laugh filled the office. “Yes. Yes, I was.”
“Well, I’ll let you two be.” With another handshake, Mr. Gomez was gone.
The door fell shut behind him silently. Eveline pulled a stack of papers out of some drawers behind her. “Come sit.”
He did, staring at her and trying to figure out her tone. She clearly wasn’t upset, but that could very well be a facade. “I didn’t know,” he defended.
“Does it change your mind about working here?”
Did it? No, because he needed the job.
“Jeronimo keeps tabs on the construction sites while I do most of the admin work. You probably won’t see me that often.”
“You wouldn’t mind?”
“Are you going to tell anyone how we know each other?”
“No.”
“Good. I would rather not be the latest piece of gossip around here.” He met her eyes. There was something sad within them, even pleading—but it was gone before he could address it. She shoved the stack of papers in his direction. “It’s up to you. You don’t have to decide right away.”
He glanced down at the papers, the top being on official company stationery—a contract.
“That’s the work and non-disclosure agreement.
We have some high-profile clients, so we don’t allow our employees to discuss anything about the building sites or about the people who own them or live there.
There’s also an application for the health insurance we offer and an agreement on how you would like to handle overtime.
We have found that offering the overtime as PTO is rather popular, but you can always have it paid out regularly.
We just ask that you choose one or the other—you can switch them up, just not too much. ”
“I can take off my overtime?”
She shrugged and grinned. “I spent some time in Europe. That option is something everyone seems to love.”
“How old are you?” He blurted out his question before he could stop himself. Renley clapped a hand over his mouth. “Shit, sorry.”
“Thirty-four,” Eveline answered without hesitation.
He only stared at her, hardly able to keep his jaw from hitting the floor. There was no way she was that much older than him. Then again, people likely thought he was older than twenty-five. “You don’t look it.”
Pink cheeks pushed into a grateful smile. “Thank you.”
He snatched the contract sitting in front of him. “I would like to work for you.”
“Once you sign the work agreement, I’ll make sure you get your work gear.”
“My gear?”
“Yeah, safety boots, some clothes, you know...”
“You provide that?”
She gave him another wholesome smile. “Yes.”
Renley filled out the agreement, then scribbled a sloppy signature across the bottom. Eveline patiently waited until he was finished before jetting off to make copies of them. She filed away one stack, and handed him the other, adding two sticky notes with an address on each.
“That’s where you can get your work clothes, and the other is your first assignment. Can you start tomorrow, or do you need an extra day?”
“Tomorrow is fine.”
“I’ll make sure Jeronimo meets you there at seven.”
He collected all the information and stood, with the cloud of surrealness still fogging his mind. “Thank you.”
When she only smiled at him, Renley turned and left.