Whatever It Takes (4 page)

Carol and Lisa gasped and released a round of affronted
hisses. Laurie bit her lip and hoped nobody would look at her. She was sure
they would know how hard she was fighting the urge to climb onto Mason’s lap
and start tasting his lips and then work her way down.

She wondered what the hell was wrong with her and where
those thoughts and urges were coming from. He was a damn drug dealer and no
matter how sexy he was or how nice he was to her, that one glaring fact
remained. It wasn’t right for someone like her to have the hots for someone
like him. Nothing could ever come from it.

Part of her hoped Trey would be firm and refuse the
agreement, and the other part of her—the part that wasn’t so hot at making good
choices—was tempted by the idea of being alone with Mason without Trey’s
interruptions. She began to sweat and her heart was pounding so loudly she
thought everyone in the room could hear it. This was a feeling she definitely
would not call lukewarm.

Trey looked angry but didn’t put up a fight. After a moment,
he nodded and then turned toward the door, stopping to put on his jacket.

“Let’s go, Laurie,” he snapped.

She was so lost in thought that his voice made her jump. She
turned to slide off the stool but Mason stepped in front of her, close enough
that if she slid any farther, her knees would make contact with his crotch. He
let his fingers touch her bare knees and for just a moment, he applied gentle
pressure, as if he were attempting to push them apart. She shivered and her
face flushed again. He pulled his phone out of his pocket and handed it to her.

“I’ll need your number so I can text you when I have the
stuff.”

Laurie let out a shaky breath and took his phone. She
entered her name and phone number before she handed it back to him. He looked
at the entry then back at her and smiled.

“Laurie Donovan, I’ll be sure to remember.”

He stepped back but offered his arm to help steady her as
she got off the stool.

Trey, Carol and Lisa were already out of the apartment.
Laurie stopped long enough to grab her jacket, intending to put it on outside
so the others didn’t leave her behind, but Mason snagged it from her.

“It’s cool out there. You should put it on before you go
out,” he suggested, holding it up for her.

She nervously turned her back to him and slipped her arms
into it, then let out a surprised gasp when he spun her around. She swayed
dizzily on her feet and he gripped her hips for a moment to steady her.

“Let’s get you zipped up here.” He smiled, crouching a
little as he connected the two ends of her zipper.

It was awkward, having a huge, sexy guy bent over, zipping
her jacket as if she was a child. She glanced out into the hallway as the
others began to descend the stairs. She was glad none of them had witnessed the
action, which she thought was both sweet and inappropriate at the same time.

His knuckles brushed one breast as he brought up the zipper,
and in response, her nipple stood at attention, poking out through the barrier
of her light jacket. Mason gazed at it for a moment and then back at her face.
A slow, sexy smile crinkled the corners of his eyes in a way that made it hard
for her to breathe.

“All done.”

He stepped away and shoved his hands in his pockets as she
backed into the hallway. Taking slow, stalking steps, he followed her to the
doorway and leaned on the jamb.

“Thank you,” she said, managing a nervous smile.

“Anytime, Angel.”

Although the words were innocent, his tone sent that crazy,
tingling sensation through her body once again. Blushing furiously, she turned
away and headed for the stairs.

She had to run in order to catch up with the others, since
none of them seemed inclined to wait for her. Watching Trey taking long, angry
strides away from the building, a sense of weariness settled over her. She had
a feeling he was irritated with her and she would be getting the cold shoulder
on the drive home. At that moment, she couldn’t muster the energy to be
concerned. If anyone had a reason to be mad, it was she. Trey claimed to care
about her yet he took her to that place and then turned his back on her while a
violent drug dealer showed an inappropriate level of interest in her.

Maybe it was time for their farce to end. Being alone wasn’t
the worst thing in the world. It was sure as hell better than faking it. No
matter what, she was not going to pick up drugs for him. She would refuse to
return. She would be strong and stand her ground but even as she had the
thought, she was picturing Mason’s green eyes and disarming smile. An instinct
she had learned to trust over the years kicked in, stabbing her brain with
panic and knowledge. Clearly, she was in trouble.

* * * * *

Mason looked down from the living room window, watching
Laurie bringing up the rear of the small group. Her friends didn’t wait for her
and she had to jog a little to catch up. He wondered why a woman like her was putting
up with that.

Thinking about her, he smiled a little, although he felt
frustrated with himself. He had never experienced such an instant and powerful
attraction to any woman before.

Laurie was pretty and had a gentle quality about her but she
wasn’t a damn supermodel. Mason couldn’t figure out what would have caused him
to have such an intense reaction to her. Something about her knocked him on his
ass and made him feel clumsy and stupid. He couldn’t put his finger on why, but
she made him crazy. Hell, he wanted to kill her boyfriend for being her
boyfriend. He wasn’t comfortable with feeling out of control like that and
wanted to shrug the emotion away, but it stuck to him.

No doubt he wanted Ms. Laurie Donovan and he wondered if he
could convince her to give him a test drive when she came to pick up her
boyfriend’s dope. Maybe if he got her in his bed for a few hours, he could fuck
her out of his system. Then he’d feel more in control of himself and they could
both be on their way. He damn sure didn’t have the time or desire to harbor a
crush on some rich little law student, no matter how cute she was or how hard
his cock got at just the thought of her perfect, pink lips. He heard Dewayne’s
stoned ass laugh from behind Mason and he snapped back to reality.

“Damn, Mace, I thought you were gonna fuck College Boy’s
girlfriend right here in front of him.” Dewayne took another hit from his bong
before passing it to Joe. “I wonder what he’d have done.”

Joe joined in, laughing. “That kiss-ass probably woulda
offered to help you put on a condom so long as the bong kept coming ‘round to
him.”

The two men laughed and even Mason had to chuckle at the
idea. He shook his head, thinking of what a pussy Trey was, because if Laurie
were Mason’s girlfriend, he would kill any bastard for looking at her the way
he had.

“I bet he’d let you have her for a discount on his dope,”
Dewayne suggested, studying Mason through the smoky haze that hung heavy in the
room.

Mason didn’t respond and Dewayne smiled and took the bong
back from Joe, who scoffed at the idea.

“Why throw away good dope on an uptight bitch like that. I’d
go for that redhead with those big titties,” Joe said.

Mason shoved away from the window, shooting his friend a
deadly look. Joe sobered, apparently understanding the reminder that he was on
Mason’s shitlist over the girl.

Mason headed back to his bedroom, feeling the need for a
cold shower, maybe some alone time with his hand and his dick. He wondered if
Dewayne was right. Would college boy Trey let Mason have Laurie in exchange for
the drugs? He quickly dismissed the idea. He was pretty sure that offering to
accept her as payment for dope wouldn’t make her want to fuck him, and he
really wanted her to want to fuck him. Pushing away a nagging feeling that
something unimaginable was about to happen to his world, he started stripping
out of his clothes and turned the shower on all cold.

After leaving Mason’s, Laurie dropped off Carol and Lisa
then drove Trey to his frat house. He was still angry and so was she.

“So I guess we’ll have to go along with what this scumbag
says. Just try not to screw things up when you go get my stuff.”

“No,” she said as she came to a stop in front of Trey’s
house.

“What?”

“I said no. I’m not going back there for you. I would never
have gone in the first place if you hadn’t tricked me. I won’t get involved in
that kind of thing. I would lose everything I’ve worked for and I’ve worked
damn hard. I don’t want anything to do with drugs or that guy…or you for that
matter. Get out of my car.”

Trey’s eyes turned pleading and he reached for her.

“But, baby…”

“Get out.” She held herself stiffly and refused to look at
him.

He huffed and jumped out of the car, slamming the door
behind him. As soon as he was clear, she sped away, proud her crappy little
Honda didn’t sputter and die as it was prone to doing whenever she tried to gun
it.

* * * * *

The text messages began a few days later. They came so
frequently that Laurie had to set her phone to vibrate in order to keep from
being disturbed while she was studying. There was no way she’d let Trey
manipulate her into getting involved in his mess. She had her own troubles at
the moment.

Her dorm fees were due, and at a whopping four grand, she’d
had trouble coming up with the money. The housing office was kind enough to
give her extra time but the extension period was almost up. She worked with a
cleaning crew in an office building downtown, and for the last month and a half
she’d been picking up shifts as a waitress in a small, upscale bar in the
French Quarter.

Between her work schedule and classes, she was exhausted but
confident she’d be able to come up with the last four hundred dollars over the
weekend if she saved her entire check and tips.

Laurie checked the time on her phone, ignoring the
notification that she had twenty-two new messages, and shoved her books into
her bag.

As she left the library, she dug in her pocket for her car
keys. It was Friday night and she was scheduled for a shift at the bar. Her
phone buzzed in her pocket. She cursed quietly and wondered if she should
change her phone number.

Laurie was deep in thought, which was why she didn’t hear
the footsteps behind her. Only when strong hands gripped her shoulders did she
realize the danger she was in. She tried to pull away but a blow to her back
knocked the breath out of her and she fell to her hands and knees. She
struggled to pull in enough air to scream, although she was far enough away
from any building that she wasn’t sure it would do any good.

Laurie rolled to her back and finally took in a deep breath
as she struck out at her attacker. His grunt gave her a moment of satisfaction.
It was just dark enough to keep her from being able to make out any features
but it was definitely a man wearing a hoodie with the hood up to conceal his
face.

His full weight came down on her as she managed to let out a
scream for help. A calloused hand clamped over her mouth and she continued to
struggle. She bit down as hard as she could on his hand. The man growled and
pulled away from her.

“Bitch,” he hissed and gripped her throat.

Just as he began to put pressure against her windpipe,
Laurie heard another voice in the distance, shouting. Her attacker let go of
her throat and rose to his knees. While he was distracted, Laurie seized the
opportunity to clamp both fists together and strike the man just below the
sternum with all the strength she could muster. The man let out a painful grunt
and doubled over, holding his chest. Laurie shoved at him and used her feet to
push away from him. Only her lower legs were still trapped beneath him by the
time he recovered from her blow.

Laurie could still hear shouts approaching and apparently,
so could her attacker. He cursed quietly before he grabbed her bag and jumped
to his feet.

Laurie rose to a sitting positon just in time to see him
disappear into the darkness past the parking lot.

The middle-aged, slightly obese security guard came to a
stop beside her, breathing heavily. Sweat dripped down his face. One glance at
him told her he would not be pursuing her attacker.

“Are you hurt?” he asked.

Laurie managed a shake of her head as the full reality of
what just happened hit her. Her hands began to shake and her eyes welled up
with tears. The security officer radioed in to the guard shack for the police
and then helped her to her feet.

* * * * *

Half an hour later, Laurie sat in the security office
detailing what she could remember about her attacker to a New Orleans police
officer. When he asked her about the contents of the bag he’d taken she started
naming off items it contained, books, stationery, her laptop…and her dorm fees.
That’s when she started crying.

Over four thousand dollars—gone…just like that. Her building
had been experiencing a problem with items seemingly walking away from
different rooms lately so she’d decided to keep her money with her to protect
it. Dumbass move. She would be kicked out of her dorm and would have nowhere
else to go.

Surprisingly, only a moment later, Trey stormed into the
small building, demanding to know where his girlfriend was. When he saw her, he
put a hand over his heart and sighed before he rushed to her and threw his arms
around her in a tight hug.

“Are you okay, baby?” he whispered. “One of the guys said he
saw security escorting you in here. He said you looked hurt. What happened?”

Still crying, Laurie hugged him back. She was shocked by his
display of concern but it felt good to have someone hold and comfort her.

“Thank you for coming,” she choked out.

Trey spoke to the police and then escorted Laurie to his car
and drove her to her dorm. They sat in front of her building for a while as he
held her hand and caressed her face while she described her attack to him. He
kissed her and told her how thankful he was that she was okay.

Unfortunately, not even Trey’s unusual, concerned behavior
could take away all Laurie’s distress, and she really just wanted to be alone.

After thanking him for a ride, Laurie kissed Trey
goodnight—then she locked herself in her room and cried herself to sleep.

* * * * *

Laurie left the housing office and fought the urge to break
down sobbing as she walked back toward her dorm. She’d just been informed that
she couldn’t get another extension on her dorm fees. She’d have to either pay
the fees or be out by the weekend.

She was fighting another meltdown when Trey approached her.

“Hey, baby,” he called. He jogged up to her, only to stop
short and gaze at her face.

“What’s wrong?”

Laurie swallowed past the lump in her throat and shook her
head, continuing to walk as he fell into step with her.

“Laurie, come on,” Trey pleaded, “I’m your boyfriend…you
should be able to tell me anything.”

He put an arm around her and led her to a bench beneath a
huge oak tree. Taking a seat, he pulled her down next to him and turned her to
face him.

“Please tell me what’s the matter, baby. Maybe I can help in
some way.”

Laurie shook her head and the tears she’d been fighting
spilled over.

“You can’t help me Trey,” she insisted.

“Try me.”

“I’m about to be kicked out of my dorm. I lost all my money
for my fees when I was attacked. Four thousand dollars. I can’t get another
extension and there’s no way I can come up with that much by the weekend. I
have to be out by Sunday.”

Trey frowned and stared down at his lap.

“I’ll have nowhere to go, Trey. I don’t qualify for any
assistance or even a bed in a homeless shelter. I just…I don’t know what to
do.”

Trey stood up and began to pace, rubbing his hands over his
hair.

“Damn it, Laurie. I would give you all the money I have, if
I had any left,” he growled and shoved his hands into his pockets. “Why the
hell did I get involved in that stupid-ass drug mess? That’s where all my
money’s at. I was such a dumbass and now I can’t be there for you when you need
me. I really do deserve for you to dump me.”

Laurie clenched her fists in her lap and took deep breaths,
focusing on stopping her flow of tears.

“I know you would help if you could,” she said quietly.

She dug a tissue out of her bag and wiped her eyes.

“Wait a minute.” Trey sat back down and took her hands in
his.

Laurie looked up at the excitement on his face and raised
her eyebrows. Maybe he had some genius solution to her problem.

“I know it sounds like a bad idea and I know you didn’t want
to get involved…but if you were to pick up my stuff from Mr. Fix-It, I could
recoup my money from the guys.”

She began to shake her head—no…no way in hell she could do
what he suggested—but Trey gave her hands a gentle squeeze and went on talking.

“I’ll make around fifty-five hundred. I’ll give it all to
you. Hell, you could pay your fees and get a decent laptop.”

Laurie sighed and pulled her hands from his.

“I can’t do it, Trey. What if I get caught? It will be the
end of everything I’ve worked for. They’ll throw me out of school—not to
mention I could end up in prison.”

“But, baby, if you have nowhere to live, how are you going
to stay in school? I know it’s a risk but don’t you think it’s worth it?”

Laurie bit her lip and thought hard. Trey did have a point,
but entertaining the idea or delivering drugs—even for a moment—was insane.

“Look, this guy has been in business a long time and he’s
never been busted. He knows how to be cautious and all you have to do is get
from him to me and then you can wash your hands of the whole situation and
forget all about it. I’ll never ask you to do anything like this again. Hell,
I’ll
never get involved in anything so stupid again. It will be just a one-time
thing, baby. I promise.”

Laurie weighed her options—and they both sucked. Get
involved in a drug deal or end up homeless. Trey was right…there’s no way she
could stay in school if she was living out of her car or a cardboard box in
some alley. There wasn’t even much chance of her surviving a week living that
way. New Orleans was a wonderful and unique city but that didn’t mean it didn’t
have a dark side. There was plenty of crime and violence to make it a dangerous
place…especially for a woman living on the streets.

“One time only?” she said, pressing a hand to her churning
stomach.

“One time only,” Trey assured her.

Laurie’s shoulders drooped and she gave a resigned nod.

“I’ll do it just this once, Trey, but you don’t have to give
me all the money…just enough to cover my fees. I need my room but I don’t want
to profit from this.”

Trey wrapped his arms around her and kissed her forehead.
“Whatever you want, babe.”

Laurie closed her eyes and rested her head on his shoulder.
She envisioned Mason’s handsome face and shivered as a sense of dread settled
over her.

* * * * *

Mason lit the pilot light on the old furnace and nodded when
he heard it ignite. The thing was ancient and would eventually need replaced
but he’d kept it going for the last five years with nothing more than hope,
duct tape and a little knowhow. The whole house would be a wreck if he hadn’t
spent a good amount of time and money fixing up the appliances and fixtures
that had worn out or broken.

Sometimes, James Rubin would call and ask him to fix several
things that had been in need of repair for a while. Mason thought it was
because he was lonely. The old guy didn’t have any family or friends other than
Mason.

Their arrangement worked out well for both of them. James
owned the abandoned building where Mason lived and let him live there free. In
exchange, Mason kept squatters out of the building and took care of anything
James needed fixed in his little camelback house across town. James knew how
Mason made his living and if it bothered James, the old man didn’t show it.

Today, he needed his shower and furnace worked on. Both
issues took no more than a few minutes to fix and when Mason came out of the
basement James had lunch made for the two of them. Mason thanked the old guy
and sat across from him at the small table in his kitchen.

James was a hell of a cook and Mason always looked forward
to whatever the old man was going to serve up to thank Mason for his help. They
talked easily and genuinely enjoyed each other’s company. Mason stayed and
listened to the old man for as long as James wanted to talk. It was their
ritual and James wouldn’t call again for a few months.

This time, Mason visited with James for a little over an
hour and then stopped to pick up the last of the dope Trey wanted before he
returned to his apartment. He put more effort into pulling everything together
quickly than he normally would have and was eager to see if Laurie would show
up.

He’d acted like a sex-starved psychopath when he met her and
he wouldn’t be surprised if she refused to come back. He shook his head when he
thought of how close he had been to pinning her to the wall and taking what he
wanted the instant he saw her.

Maybe she would refuse to come. Maybe college boy Trey had noticed
more than he let on and would refuse to let her show up. Mason knew there was
only one way to find out so he sent her a text message to let her know when to
come and then he waited. It took a few minutes to receive her reply, which was
one word that made him smile.

Okay.

* * * * *

Laurie continued to stare at the recent message from the
last person she wanted to see…but the one person who’d been haunting her
thoughts since they’d met. The message stated what time she should come to his
apartment. She cursed her situation as she debated whether she should go
through with it or just text him again and tell him she’d changed her mind and
then text Trey and break her agreement with him. She sighed wearily, knowing
that was impossible because without the money she could kiss law school
goodbye.