Thief (4 page)

His dark eyes turn to me, and a chill runs down my spine. Harper attacks his mouth, but as he kisses her back, his eyes are trained on me. I pull my eyes from him, the creepy feeling settling deep inside me. I swear she picks the strangest guys. It’s clear to me from the snake tattoo running up the guy’s arm that he can’t be the kind of guy one would want to tangle with.

Don’t be so judgy, Tessa
, I scold myself. Maybe that’s why I don’t have any friends. But in all fairness, he’s what I picture when I think of a gang member, and I hope Harper doesn’t try to bring this one back to our place. Hopefully, he’ll be gone as fast as the other guys who run in and out of her life.

When she finally pulls her mouth from his, she introduces us.

“Tessa, this is Nick, my boyfriend.” Her eyes beam at me like she’s won some grand prize. Nick doesn’t seem to like that Harper just used the word ‘boyfriend,’ because I catch the tic in his jaw when she says it. But he doesn’t correct her, so maybe he doesn’t mind too much.

He reaches out to shake my hand. The snake covering his arm creeps me out, but the politeness my grandma branded into me has me reaching out to reciprocate.

“It’s nice to finally meet you.” The way he says it makes me think Harper has been talking about me to him. Like he knows more about me than he should. That creepy feeling settles deeper inside me as his hand takes mine. When our hands meet, one of his fingers slides across my wrist, and I jerk out of his hold. He smirks at me, not the least bit fazed by my behavior.

It’s like he knows he’s making me uneasy, and he likes it.

“I’m gonna get going.” I point towards the train station, making my intention clear.

“I’ll take you. Dropping Harper off anyways,” Nick offers. It wasn’t moments ago that I was ticked Harper didn’t offer me a ride, but now the train sounds so much better than being trapped in a car with this creepy guy.

“But I wanted to be alone with you.” Harper pouts up at Nick, rubbing her hand across his chest. It seems to have no effect on him as he actually bats her hand away like she’s a fly getting on his nerves.

“The train is fine,” I insist, and start to make my way in the direction of the station, but Nick grabs me by the arm in a tight hold. He must have realized he grabbed me too hard, because he immediately loosens his grip. The whole thing has my heart beating out of my chest, and I can feel a tension rise within me like someone’s eyes are on me. Not just Nick’s and Harper’s, but like everyone is watching us. I glance around. No one else is on the street.

“I insist. I want to get to know my girl’s roommate. I’m sure we’ll be seeing a lot more of each other.” I look over at Harper, whose face beams at his words. Lovely. So he plans on being around.

“Okay.” I give in, hating myself a little for not having a bit more of a backbone. Why couldn’t I be one of those badass chicks who said and did what she wanted? My grandma always said I didn't have it in me to be mean. I’m not sure if that’s a good or a bad thing. Today I’m going with bad, and I want to kick my own manners in the ass.

He releases my arm, and I make my way over to the passenger door before slipping into the back seat and pulling my purse close.

When everyone is settled in, Nick pulls away from the curb, heading towards the bank

“So you worked at the bank long?” I hear him ask, and I pull my eyes from my lap. I thought he was talking to Harper, but his dark cold eyes are trained on me in the rearview mirror.

“About three years now.”

“Haven’t you been there five?” He looks over at Harper.

“Yeah. A little over five years now.”

“And she’s your boss,” he says.

Ouch. I
am
her boss to a certain degree. I’m the teller supervisor, so it’s my job to watch over all the tellers. Harper can be a little slow at work, and she talks a little too much, but I’ve never had to reprimand her. I actually like that she’s chatty with the customers; they like that. As long as she isn’t trying to date them, I’m okay with it.

A lot of our customers seem to like her. She’s actually better at being personable than I am. It’s one of the ways I wish I could be more like her. I had secretly hoped when she moved in that she could rub off on me a little, make me come out of my shell a little more. It isn’t that I don’t like talking to people, I just usually find myself at a loss for words. I think I’m not great at the social cues in a conversation. It’s hard for me to make the dialogue bounce back and forth.

“Yeah,” she mumbles sadly, not in her normal upbeat manner.

I don’t care for the tone of Harper's voice when she utters the word. She might be a giant bitch at times—and actually inspires me to use the same tone from time to time like with the breakfast burrito incident this morning—but I know how that feels, and I don’t want her to feel that way. I don’t want anyone to feel that way.

“Harper is great. You should see her handle the customers. I wish I could handle them like her. She’s a real pro.” She turns to look at me like she can’t believe what I just said.

My eyes flash back to the mirror, and Nick’s eyes are on me again. This time I can’t read them, but luckily he pulls them away and back on to the road.

We ride the rest of the way in awkward silence, and when we finally pull up to the bank, I realize I’ve never been so happy to be at work.

“You open this place?” Nick asks, turning to look at me as we start to get out of the car.

“Today I do,” I answer as I pull myself from the car, wanting out as quickly as possible. “Thanks for the ride,” I throw over my shoulder, making my way towards the bank, leaving Harper behind with him. She’ll probably want to slobber all over his face. Seeing it the first time was more than enough for me.

I open the bank four times a week, and today is one of my days. Sam and I switch it up. I’m opening today, which means I’ll get out early, and he’ll be closing up. I get a rare Saturday off this weekend, and I plan to spend it lying around in bed. My only plans include going out with Harper tonight.

It’s actually something I’ve never done. Twenty-two and I’ve never even seen the inside of a club. I have a feeling it won’t really be my thing, but I’m excited to do it anyways. Just to see. Stepping out of my normal routine and opening myself up to the possibility of new things.

I slip my key into the lock and enter the bank. I enter the codes to deactivate the alarms and get started on opening. Harper joins me about ten minutes later with a happy smile plastered across her face.

“Isn’t he hot?” She wiggles her eyebrows before she starts freshening up her lipstick. The first round, I’m guessing, she left behind on Nick.

“He’s cute.” I bite the inside of my cheek. Cute. I can’t imagine anyone in their life called that Nick guy cute.

Harper laughs at my choice of words, and I can’t help but join her.

“He’s coming with us tonight. Maybe he’ll bring a friend for you.”

“I’m not—”

“Come on. Don’t be such a prude,” she shouts back, cutting off my words.

“I can find a guy on my own.” Maybe. I keep the last word to myself.

“I’ve never seen you with a guy, like, ever. Do you even date?” She eyes me up and down before her blue eyes get big. “Are you a fucking virgin?”

“Hush!” I snap, my face turning red once again.

“Calm down! It’s just us right now. No one’s even here yet.”

Still, I feel embarrassed about the fact that I’m still a virgin at my age. Life’s been busy, and dating and men just haven’t been on my radar.

“Don’t worry, I’m sure we can find someone to pop that thing.” She says it like I’m some kind of charity case.

Great. The prospect of tonight just keeps getting better and better.

Chapter 4

Sean

I
wait around the corner, parked in my Chevelle, watching as Nick pulls out of the bank parking lot. He sees me in the shadows and raises his chin in an indication to follow him. I put the car in drive and follow him a few blocks up before he pulls over. As soon as my wheels stop, I’m out of the car and at his door.

He’s standing when I reach him, and I shove him against his Eurotrash Audi.

“Mind telling me what the fuck that was about?” I push his shoulder, and he falls back against his car, raising his hands up.

“Whoa, whoa, whoa. Easy, Sparrow. I thought we were on the same team. No need to get your panties in a wad.” He’s got a stupid grin on his face, like he has no clue why I’m mad. He knows I was watching him earlier, and that’s why he loosened his grip on Tessa.

It takes everything in me to keep from beating the shit out of this asshole. “I thought Heavy said she was my target.” I need to play it cool, but after seeing him put his hands on my sweet angel, I’m holding on by a thin thread. No part of him should ever touch her. I hated that they were even close enough to breathe the same air. Too much darkness is seeping in on her, and I feel like I’m losing control. This isn't how this was supposed to go. “You trying to fuck that up by scaring off the mark? You saw how she reacted to you,” I press, wanting him to stay the fuck away from her.

“Calm down. I wasn’t scaring anyone. For your information, I’ve seen her roommate Harper down at Coco’s a few times. She’s been trying to climb my dick for a while, so I let her. Clingy bitch, though. I had to let her suck me off before I left the parking lot.” He reaches down, rubbing his crotch, and I make a mental note to leave some STD brochures where Harper can find them. “When I found out who she was living with, I thought we could kill two birds with one stone.”

He gives me a cocky smile, like he’s somehow coming in to save the day instead of fucking everything up. And I sure as fuck don’t believe in his little coincidence. “You’re close to screwing us all on this deal, not just the blonde. Do us all a fucking favor and stick to your side of the plan, while I stick to mine. Stay clear of Tessa. She’s not your concern.”

He adjusts his shirt and goes to open his car door. “You’re right, Sparrow, I think we should all stick to what we’re good at. You do your thing with the fat chick, and I’ll take care of the roommate. I don’t mind getting some easy pussy while I wait out these last few days.”

He gets into his car, but before I can walk away, he rolls his window down.

“Just remember, Sparrow. You’re not the only one who likes to watch.” With that, he pulls away from the curb, leaving me standing there in the street.

Clenching my fists, I stomp back to my car and get behind the wheel. I punch the steering wheel and try to get out some of my frustrations, attempting to calm my rage at seeing Nick with Tessa.

Putting the Chevelle in gear, I take off. I need to drive and clear my head before I go and see Tessa. I’m getting in too deep with this shit, and I need some space.

Taking a right, I drive a few blocks up to Sal’s. Pulling in at the back of the building, I park and go in the back alley entrance. The place is dark, and nobody is here yet because it’s before noon.

I walk down the hallway and make my way to the bar. Sal is standing there with his back to me, removing the upside down barstools from the bar top and setting them down.

He’s a big bastard at almost seven feet with dark black skin and even darker eyes. He doesn’t turn around when I approach, but nothing ever takes him by surprise.

“Didn’t think my bird would come see me so soon today.” His words are thick with his Cajun accent, a remnant of his Louisiana upbringing.

“I needed to clear my head.”

He turns around at my voice, opening his big arms and taking me in for a hug. He’s like a father to me, and though I don’t get to see him like I should, he always welcomes me home.

Letting me go, he moves over to one of the stools, taking a seat and patting the other one for me to join him. “Who is she?”

His smile is infectious, and it’s enough to shake off my dark mood. I smile right along with him and take the seat next to him.

“She’s my Tessa.”

“Does she know it yet?” He raises an eyebrow, and I’m always amazed at what he sees. He knows things before I say them, and he makes me feel like he can read minds.

“Not yet. But there are some complications.”