Page 23
TWELVE
IRIS
“You’ve got to be shitting me.” I groaned, dropping my head back and squeezing my eyes closed as the sunshine washed over my face. I’d hoped it would clear some of the tension away, but the instant I looked back to that worthless scrap of rubber that once resembled a tire, it all came rushing back.
I wasn’t sure what the hell I’d done to earn karma’s wrath so strongly, but the bitch seriously had it out for me lately. More specifically, since my night with North. A week and a half of bad luck and annoyance at every turn. I’d burned through so much sage, our house stunk with it, and even my mother was becoming concerned about my energy (or as she said, the negative vibes rolling off me).
I’d reached for her tarot deck this morning and she’d smacked my hand away. “No way, missy. I don’t want your bad juju all over these things, thank you very much.” It might have been laughable if it weren’t true.
I thought things were finally starting to look up after my showing with a sweet young couple who were looking to start their lives together. They might not have been the whale Matthew Wilkes was, but they were lovely people, and I wanted to make this whole process as pleasant for them as possible.
Unfortunately, after staying behind to clean up from their latest showing, I walked outside to find both tires on my passenger side flat as a damn pancake. I didn’t know what I ran over to cause the damage, but it couldn’t have been small.
With a beleaguered sigh, I reached into my purse and pulled out my phone. There were multiple garages in town, most of them with their own tow trucks, but in Ashland, there was only one garage I really trusted.
“Yo. You got Rake.”
Being so close with Dakota and Lennon, I’d become familiar with a few of the members of the Iron Wraiths. I’d seen Rake around the bar or at a couple of the club parties I’d attended with my girls, but we hadn’t spoken more than a handful of words to each other. From what I could tell, he wasn’t an overly vocal guy. Lennon described him as being a man of few words, but those words were usually worth listening to.
“Hi. This is Iris Maxwell—”
His voice came through again, his tone containing a little more pep this time as he asked, “Cute as hell redhead always running around with Snow White and Little Riley?”
It took me a second to recall those were the nicknames the guys in the club used for Lennon and Dakota. “Uh . . . yes?”
The chuckle that came through the line next was low and husky in a shiver-inducing kind of way. “You don’t sound sure of that answer, gorgeous.”
Well, that sure was nice.
Despite being all by myself, I felt heat hit my cheeks at the way he referred to me as cute and gorgeous in the span of a few seconds.
“Unless Lennon has another friend with red hair, I think I’m the one you’re talking about.”
“You are.”
My chin jerked back in surprise. “How can you be so sure?”
“’Cause the one I’m talking about is cute in the kind of way she doesn’t realize she’s cute as hell. Way you’re questioning it, you’re definitely cute.”
Talk about nice! In thirty seconds, the man had managed to wipe off a week and a half’s worth of frustration. “Th-thanks.” I squeezed my eyes closed at the unfortunate stutter that never failed to pop up whenever I was flustered.
“Yeah. Cute as fuck. What can I do for you, sweetheart?”
“I was showing a house and just came outside to find both of my passenger-side tires flat. I was wondering if I could get a tow.”
“I got you. Give me the address and I’ll get a truck out there ASAP.”
I heaved out a heavy sigh of relief and spouted off the address. “Thanks a lot, Rake. I appreciate the help.”
“Don’t mention it. Be there in fifteen. You got somewhere safe to wait out ‘til I get there?”
“Oh, this is a safe neighborhood—”
“Every where’s safe until it’s not, sweetheart. So I ask again; you got somewhere to wait?”
I pulled my lip between my teeth and bit down as I looked back at the vacant house. “Yeah, I can go back inside while I wait.”
“Good deal, gorgeous. Do that for me and I’ll get on the road. See you in a few.”
