Chapter 8
Kourtney
I hum along to the Bluetooth speaker I set up on the shelf in my new office as I unpack all of my boxes and decorate the plain space.
Knuckles rap on my door frame, and I smile as both Reggie and Nash come into my space. Reggie looks around, smiling as he takes in everything I’ve done with the space.
“You like it?” I grin, hoping he says yes.
“It’s awesome, babe.”
Nash drops himself onto the small loveseat I have against the far wall of my office. I brought in the piece as well as a coffee table to warm the place up. I figured it would make a cute meeting area.
I met Nash a few weeks ago when we both came in to start setting up our offices. He’s a nice guy, if not a little cocky, but he means well. His wife Kara, on the other hand, is an angel sent here from literal heaven. She’s the sweetest woman I think I’ve ever met in my life. He probably walks all over her, which makes me sad to think about, but we never know what happens behind closed doors. This job has taught me that.
“To what do I owe this lovely visit?” I ask saucily as Reggie makes himself comfortable in my favorite white office chair, kicking his legs up on my desk and earning a glare from me as his dress shoes scuff against the glass.
“Nash and I were just talking, and he brought up a good point. I think that with the type of clientele that you will be attracting, it’s probably a good idea to get some security in this place.”
I swat his legs off from my desk. He drops his Prada-clad feet to the floor with a thud. “Cameras around the office, a security alarm, you know, the normal stuff.”
“The normal stuff. Jesus, Reggie. Why wouldn’t you have that stuff already? This is a nice office building but still, shit can happen even without my ‘type of clientele.’” I use air quotes for emphasis and roll my eyes. “Don’t worry about it. I’ll take care of it.”
“Don’t send a man to do a woman’s job and all that,” Nash chuckles. “That’s what my wife says, at least.”
“Get out of my office, you two. If this is how you both are going to act, I’m hiring an office manager.”
Nash shrugs like it’s not a bad idea. “My wife would do it.”
“Would she?” Reggie asks, excited at the idea of someone running this place. “We could turn this place into a real law firm.”
“So it’s a fake one now? Shit, I better call my clients and tell them sorry, but I work for a fake law firm.”
“Fuck off, Kourt.” Reggie flips me off on his way out of my office.
Sitting down behind my large iMac, I type security into the search bar and click on places near me. A place called Desert Security pops up first, with five stars on their reviews. I type the number into the phone on my desk and put it on speaker, angrily buffing the mark from Reggie’s shoe as the ringback tone fills my office.
A young man's voice comes through the speaker a few seconds later. “Desert Security. This is Riley. How can I help you?”
“Hi, Riley! My name is Kourtney, and I’m calling to set up a new service.”
“Perfect, let me just open a new document and get some information from you.”
I answer all of his questions and hang up a few minutes later, satisfied that he said someone could come out this afternoon to take a look around the office.
Owen stops by with lunch, forcing me to take a break from rearranging things in my office and kick my heels off to eat my lunch on Reggie’s office floor.
“How are you settling in, Kourt?” Owen asks before taking a large bite of his Reuben sandwich.
“Well, Meatball has only tried escaping twice, so that’s a plus, right?”
Owen chuckles. “I guess we could call it a win then. How’s everything going with that case?”
I wipe the crumbs from my face and swallow before answering. “Good for now, I guess. The judge dismissed the initial charges since there wasn’t any evidence, and oddly, the victims haven’t pushed for more. I think the prosecutor must be busy, too, because I haven’t heard from him either. But surprisingly, I’ve already gained a few more clients.”
“Kourtney, someone from the security company is here to see you,” Nash calls from the hallway.
Reggie’s eyes widen and he pushes up from his desk. “Shit, that was fast.”
“Yeah, well, don’t send a man to do a woman’s job,” I mimic Nash’s earlier words while awkwardly pushing up from the floor, grace be damned. Wiping my hands on the front of my skirt, my eyes fly up at the deep chuckle coming from the doorway of Reggie’s office.
“Oh, it’s you.”
‘Oh. It’s you?’ God, you’re so stupid, Kourtney.
“It’s me,” Tiny nods with a smirk aimed in my direction. “Were you expecting someone else?”
“I… I…” I close my eyes, willing the floor to open and swallow me whole. It isn't often I’m struck speechless or fumble over my words. Get a grip, Kourtney. I stand up straight, slipping back into my heels and forcing my eyes to his. “The only person I’m expecting today is someone from the security company.”
Tiny points to the red embroidered logo on the left pectoral of his black polo. Desert Security. The right side simply says Nathan and Owner right under it.
“Oh.”
“Oh,” he smirks again.
After a few awkward seconds and someone clearing their throat behind me, I snap out of my momentary stupor and smile up at Tiny, who, funnily, if I haven’t realized before, is absolutely not Tiny in any shape or form.
“Right. We can go to my office.”
I’m painfully aware of his large form following behind me, and as soon as we enter my office, I curse myself for putting off bringing in the armchair to go with the loveseat. We are forced to sit next to each other unless I want to be an absolute fucking weirdo and sit in my chair all the way on the other side of the large office.
“So, you called for a system install?” Tiny starts, sitting as all men seem to with legs spread wide and one arm stretched across the back of the loveseat.
“Reggie and Nash thought it would be a good idea considering the type of services I offer.”
“To criminals,” Tiny offers nonchalantly.
The way he says it sends a shiver racking down my spine. “Yes.”
He nods, looking around the space. “Do you want cameras set up inside your office?”
“Preferably.”
His eyes squint. “Won’t your clients be opposed to that? You know, confidential confessions and all that?”
“Is there a way to make the cameras inside my office invisible? Sometimes, being able to watch back meetings helps me with little details I could have missed.”
“I can make anything practically invisible.”
I smile up at him and nod. “Reggie wants an alarm installed, and he also mentioned a panic button of sorts.”
His left eyebrow lifts slightly. “You want a panic button? Where? In here?”
“In here, the front desk, maybe even one in each of their offices too.”
“Damn, honey. What kind of clients are you anticipating bringing in here?”
The way the endearment flows off his tongue sends a shiver over my skin. “You can never be too careful, right?”
“Well, I guess if they are really dangerous, you’re going to be meeting them in jail right?”
I let out a laugh. “You’d be surprised how crazy disgruntled family members can get when things don’t go the way they were anticipating.”
His features harden. “You've been hurt before?”
I wave off his concern. “My dad has been a criminal defense attorney since before I was born. He’s received enough threats that I know not to be naive.”
Tiny nods, the scowl still not leaving his face.
“Alarm, cameras, panic button–, I can do all that. Do you have a system installed at home?”
“No. I just moved here, and the house I bought is a new build.”
“I’ll be over this weekend to set that up.”
My eyes widen. “No, that’s alright, we just need it here.”
“Honey, you just said that people threatened your dad, and from what you’ve said, I’m willing to venture it was on a pretty regular basis. You need at least an alarm at your house.”
I roll my eyes. “Fine,” I concede. In an attempt to buy some time and compose myself, I grab my nearby water bottle and take a drink.
“Good girl.”
I choke over the small sip of water in my mouth, blindsided by his remark.
“Sorry.”
He smirks as he pats my back.
“It’s fine,” I reply, wiping my mouth as I work on regaining my composure. He locks eyes with me, and we both freeze.
My phone rings, and Emma’s self-selected Milkshake ringtone blaring from my desk causes me to blush as the tension between us shatters.
The ringtone is hilarious, considering how innocent Emma is. Her beautiful face takes up my entire screen, and I hold a finger up to Tiny while hitting accept on the screen. “Hi, Em.”
I watch as Tiny gets comfortable on my couch and scuff the toe of my heel against the soft carpet beneath my desk.
“Kourtney! Daddy found me the sweetest little apartment in Desert Rose. He wants to know if there’s any way you could go take a peek at it before he pays the deposit.”
“Oh, thank God! I can’t wait for you to get here, I’m going crazy without you.”
“I’m sure you’re doing just fine.”
“No, Em. You have no clue how much I need you here.”
“I’m going to email you the listing, and Daddy says as soon as we hear back from you, he will get things rolling so I can be on my way!”
I let out a soft laugh. I didn’t really realize how much I utilized my assistant until I moved here and had to do everything from scratch. It’s the simple things, like finding a phone number for someone when I’m in the thick of research, that showed me I really need Emma back and underappreciated having her available at my beck and call.
“Alright, hon, I’ll go check it out and let you know ASAP.”
Emma blows three kissing noises through the phone and hangs up with a small squeal in excitement. Dropping my phone back to the desk, I look up to find Tiny sitting up, his inquisitive stare settled on me.
“What?”
“You moved all the way here and left your boyfriend at home?”
My brows furrow in confusion. He nods towards my phone, and realization dawns on me. “Oh,” I shake my head with a small laugh. “That was Emma. My assistant.”
Tiny’s face relaxes a little, and his body language shifts to casual once again. “You’re pretty close with your assistant?”
I nod. “Emma is a gem. She’s a little young, but she’s the best assistant I’ve ever had. She’s planning on moving here for me.”
His eyebrows rise in surprise. “That’s dedication. You must be good to work for.”
“I don’t scream at her, and if I send her for coffee, I buy her some too.” I shrug with a small laugh.
“You hiring? Those sound like perfect working conditions.”
I roll my eyes at him. “And what would your people say about you? Are you good to work for, Mr. Owner of Desert Security?”
“I like to think so, but I can be a bit of a grouchy asshole when I’m in the middle of a mission.”
“Mission?”
“We do more than just Cameras and alarms, honey.”
“Like what?”
“We offer personal security, cyber security, and dabble in some things that people don’t really feel comfortable going to the authorities with. Some people feel like we will protect them better.”
“Oh, wow.”
He nods, running his large hand along the back of his neck. “What are you checking out for her?”
“What? Oh!” I pick my phone back up and open the listing Emma sent me. “Emma’s dad found an apartment for her and he wants me to go check it out in person before giving the deposit.”
“Let’s see,” Tiny holds his hand out, motioning for my phone. I hand it over with the listing open on the screen.
Tiny chuckles as his thumb slides along the screen.
“What? You know the place? Is it a bust?” I ask nervously. Taking my place on the couch next to him, looking over his shoulder as he flips through the pictures of the cute little apartment.
“These are our apartments.”
“Oh?”
“The club owns the whole stripmall these are built over. We just bought this one last year and finished the remodels in all the apartments a couple weeks ago. This one is over Pebbles’ dance studio.”
“Are they new?”
“I mean, they might as well be. We essentially gutted the entire building. There’s a daycare, dance studio, a gym, and a few empty storefronts.”
“Can you take me to see them?”
“Now?” his brows rise.
I look around at my office, content with what I’ve gotten done so far, and nod.
“Sure.” Tiny pushes to his full height, looking surprised. I follow suit, and now that I’m standing right up next to him, I can tell just how tall he is.
Even with my four-inch Tom Ford heels giving me height, the top of my head barely reaches his chin.
“How tall are you?” I blurt.
He huffs out a chuckle and turns to me, watching me intently as I move over to my desk and put everything into my purse. “6’6.”
“Holy shit.”
“How tall are you without those things?” He nods down to my heels.
“A whopping 5’6.”
“That’s why you wear the heels all the time?”
I look down at one of my favorite pairs of shoes, lifting my foot and waving it around. “That, and they’re cute. Heels make me happy.”
“Me fucking too, babe,” he mutters just quiet enough so that I barely hear him.
“What was that?” I ask snarkily, letting him know I heard him but want him to repeat it.
“You heard me. Heels are sexy as fuck. Especially those,” he points down with both pointer fingers and I watch in amusement as his bottom lip disappears beneath his top teeth. He looks up, waggling his eyebrows at me flirtatiously.
“Alright, Romeo, take me to these apartments.”
After saying bye to Reggie, Owen, and Nash, Tiny holds the door open for me, and I follow him out. His bike is parked against the curb right next to my Range Rover. “Is it customary to park everywhere backed into the curb like that?” I nod towards his bike, sliding my large Quay sunglasses over my face.
He follows suit with his own glasses and smiles. “Easier take off. Follow behind me. It’s only a few blocks from here.”
It’s a chillier day today, so I’m thankful for the reprieve of my car on my bare legs. Tiny wasn’t lying. The drive to the strip only takes approximately seven minutes. Jesus. Everything in this town is the same distance away. So many people, but such a small town. I pull into an open parking space next to his bike and laugh to myself as I realize he pulled in once again, facing away from the building.
“Do you have keys?” I ask after he opens my door for me, holding his hand out for me to take. I appreciate the gesture, and it doesn’t escape my notice that he holds onto my hand and leads me toward the door under the large dance studio sign.
“Pebbles has them. Ghost decided that whatever business is below the apartment, that business will get the profits from the apartment.”
“That’s actually really cool.”
“Ghost can be a pretty nice guy. Don’t tell him I said that, though. I’ll deny it,” he winks.
He lets go of my hand to hold the door open for me, but as soon as we both pass through, he places his hand against the small of my back to guide me down a hallway past a few rooms where different music pours out from behind the doors.
“Pebbles just had twins a week ago, so her assistant has been running the place. I texted her before coming over, and she told me where to find the keys in her office.”
I wait just inside the beautifully decorated office while Tiny rounds the large white desk and pulls the key set from a drawer. He holds them up and jingles them at me.
“The apartment entrance is off the back. There’s a separate parking lot, so we can either move our cars or we can just walk around the side.”
“Walking’s fine.”
I guess I didn’t take into consideration the fact that I’m wearing the skinniest stiletto heel to date and that we’d be walking through grass to get around the building, but Tiny takes the opportunity to put his arm around my waist to hold me upright. It’s not like I’m going to complain about his muscular arm keeping me from breaking an ankle or falling flat on my face. When his hand squeezes roughly into my flesh, a delicious tingle runs straight to my core, and I have to fight to hold in a whimper.
Still holding onto my waist, he leads me up a well-lit cement staircase to the second floor.
I look around and am highly impressed with the outside area. The ‘parking lot,’ as he called it, is just a row of parking spaces lining the entire back of the building. It’s actually a large L, and the dance studio is at the closest end to the main road, making the apartment an end unit. Emma will only have to deal with one neighbor, which is pretty damn sweet for apartment living. Even better yet, it’s only a two-story building, so no one is above her to make noise.
Tiny unlocks the deadbolt and pushes the door open. He immediately moves over to the security alarm and punches in a number to stop it from blaring. I wince at the sound, and he apologizes. “We can control the volume on them.”
“Good, because I don’t think I want that going off like that every time I enter my house.”
Tiny smiles back at me and waves his arm out, gesturing to the open space.
I follow behind him to each room and smile wide, knowing that it’s perfect for Emma. But instead of telling her, I pull out my phone and FaceTime her. Her smile lights up the entire screen as I show her everything that Tiny has shown me.
When I flip the camera back around to show her something else, I don’t even realize that Tiny is in the frame until I hear a little gasp, and Emma’s voice lowers into a whisper. “Who the heck is that beefcake?”
Tiny, who I’m now starting to realize is a little bit of a goofball, jumps right into the frame and smiles, waving at the camera. “Hi Emma, I’m Tiny. Even though you whispered, you’re still on speaker, and I heard you.”
Emma groans, and I watch as she slaps her hand across her face and she starts fiddling with her daisy necklace. I chuckle at her and wink. “Tell Daddy Nelson to send the deposit, babe. Cause I need you here like yesterday.”
Emma’s smile returns and she lets out an excited squeak. “Going now. See you soon! Bye!”
Emma clicks off, and I drop my phone into my purse.
“Beefcake, huh? That’s a new one.” I roll my eyes at him and point him to the door.
“Let’s go.”
Once back outside, it doesn't surprise me that Tiny takes my waist again and guides me across the grass. This time, though, he doesn’t let go of me until we get to my car.
Just as I’m about to thank him for showing me the apartment and helping with security, he surprises me by backing me into my car door. Using his finger to tuck a wayward curl behind my ear, he lowers his voice, causing a shiver to tingle up my spine. “What are you doing tonight?”
I’m shocked, speechless at the position he holds me in. But I’m not disturbed, not even in the slightest. His large body pressed against mine is sending all of my nerve endings and thoughts haywire. One hand rests at my hip while his other forearm rests on the car above my head, creating a cage around my body.
“Uhm,” I force a swallow and pretend like I’m thinking of plans I could have had. Let's face it– it’s a Wednesday night in a town I'm not all too familiar with yet. My only plans were curling up on the couch with Meatball and a glass of wine. “I don’t have any plans.”
“I know it’s unconventional, but the club always goes to The Castle every Wednesday night. Would you wanna come with me?”
I don’t know what The Castle is, and I’m not entirely sure why it could be unconventional, but the flutters rolling through my stomach from his hard body pressed against mine cloud any judgment I could've had.
“Sure,” I say, my eyes flipping between his espresso-tinted gaze and his full lips, which seem to be getting closer and closer by the second.
Just when I think he’s about to press his lips to mine, a car horn blares in the parking lot a few rows over. I jump and Tiny lets out a groan of frustration at the interruption. Instead of kissing me, Tiny leans forward and takes my bottom lip between his teeth, nipping at the plump tissue before backing away.
“I’ll pick you up at 8.”
“You don’t even know where I live,” I call to his retreating form.
“Honey, there isn’t a damn thing about Desert Rose that I don't know.”
I smile and shake my head in exasperation at his confidence as he throws his leg over his bike.
Once he starts the engine, he turns his head and looks at me as if he’s waiting for me to join him. I roll my eyes when I realize that is exactly what he’s doing. He doesn’t move an inch until I’m in my car and pulling out of the parking lot. Only then does he guide his bike away.