Cobb by Maryann Jordan
7
Josie walked to the sink and rinsed out her beer bottle. Aware of Jorge’s presence behind her, she turned and took his bottle from him. Rinsing his, she placed them into the recycle bin. Leaning against the counter, she folded her arms across her waist, the discussion of recent events making her feel exposed. “So, what now? How do you proceed?”
He leaned his large body against the opposite side, crossing one booted foot over the other, his hands resting behind him on the edge of the counter. “Now, I provide a protection detail and work with my crew back home to see if we can figure out where the money came from. That will indicate who’s behind the threats while keeping you safe.”
She rubbed her lips together, her mind a swirl of tangled thoughts.
“Hey, don’t worry.”
His words cut through the chatter in her head, and she snapped her gaze up to him. He pushed away from the counter but kept a respectable distance, not crowding her. She was glad. The last thing she needed was more muddled thoughts. A hot, gorgeous man standing in her kitchen was already out of her norm. Clearing her throat, she said, “I’m not sure how not to worry.”
“Let’s begin with the investigation side of this. I’ll go ahead and warn you that it may feel a bit invasive because while there are people that you trust, I won’t. I’ll take a look at the people who work at the clinic to see if I can discover any suspicious behaviors.”
“Why would you do that? None of the workers have that kind of money.”
“I’m just saying that sometimes there’s someone on the inside that provides information or access. I have no idea if that’s happening, but since it’s a possibility, I’ll check into it.”
Her head began to pound as she wondered how this situation was going to interfere with her life.
“Josie, I know what I’m doing. Trust me.”
A long exhalation escaped as she tried to find an ounce of calm deep inside. “Okay… so, you’ll be checking into the clinic. What else?”
“My coworkers will continue to pore over the financial reports and dig to find out who owns the companies that are hiding behind layers. Lots of ways to launder money through charities, so they’ll work that angle.” He hesitated for a moment then added, “And protection.”
She imagined suited bodyguards on TV that stuck close by, little radio earpieces stuck in their ears, glaring at anyone who came close. Very much the way Jorge looked at the gala. As much as that idea chafed, a tiny part of her wondered what it would be like to have someone as handsome as Jorge with her all the time.
“I’ll add cameras here and at the clinic to keep an eye on your vehicle and doors.”
A strange trickle of disappointment slithered through. His gaze was intense and she felt like a bug under a glass. “Oh… sure. That seems like a good idea.”
“And,” he continued, “I’ll have to stay close. I’ll be in the clinic with you during the day.”
“How are we going to explain that?”
He winked, and a smug expression curved his lips. “I’m your new bookkeeper.”
“My new bookkeeper?” she squeaked, her eyes bugging.
“Finance major. I know how to read financial reports, and with Caesar missing, you need someone. Our families are friends, and I volunteered to help out.”
She pondered his idea, nibbling on her bottom lip. “But Caesar wasn’t around every day. How will we explain that?”
“You want the finances thoroughly reviewed. Plus, since we’re dating…” His voice trailed off, but his gaze stayed steady.
“Dating.” She blew out a breath, wondering how she would ever pull off that deception.
“That’s the easiest explanation as to why I’m at the clinic all the time. It also covers if someone sees my vehicle in your driveway or we’re out together.”
“But won’t that look strange to the people I work with?”
“No, we met a couple of months ago at my father’s event. At least that’s the truth. And we can say that your father suggested that I work for you. That’s another truth.”
She nodded absentmindedly while analyzing his suggestions but couldn’t come up with a reason why it wouldn’t work—other than the fact that they’d have to pretend to be dating when they were around others. “I’m not sure people would believe that we’re actually dating.”
Something dark passed through his eyes, but she didn’t know him well enough to understand what it was.
He shrugged as though he didn’t have a care in the world. “Then we’ll just have to be good actors. I can be convincing, can you?”
“Yeah, sure. But I’m not always in the office. I make a lot of home visits.”
He nodded, seeming nonplussed. “Okay. I’ll go on the visits with you.”
Her brow scrunched. “I don’t know if that’s such a good idea, Cobb. There’s client privacy, confidentiality—”
“I’ll stay in the car.”
“Oh. Um…” She couldn’t think of anything else to say.
“Same as here.”
Now, her brows shot upward. “Here?”
“I’ll stay in my vehicle until I get a security camera on your place, so I’ll be close.”
Her breath left her lungs, and she slowly shook her head as she stared at her clenched hands.
He leaned forward, dipping so his gaze could land on hers. “What are you thinking, Josie?”
“That my simple life has suddenly gone haywire.”
He reached out, his movements tentative as he placed his hand over hers. She stared at the difference. His large and tanned. His finger pads rough. A few scars dashing across the skin. Hers pale and white and small. A strange sensation moved over her. The warmth from their connection made its way up her arm and throughout her chest. Their hands together seemed right. She knew it wasn’t true, but for a moment it was nice to pretend.
Suddenly, she looked up, shaking her head. “You can’t sleep in your vehicle outside my home.”
A door slammed shut over his face, surprising her. “Afraid of the neighbors? I’m sorry, Josie, I’ll be discreet, but until we know what the threat is against you, I’m paid to stay close to my mission.”
The reminder that he was here because her father paid him jolted through her, freezing out the warmth that had settled around her heart. His sudden irritation made no sense to her, but she refused to let him call all the shots. “Neighbors? Who cares about the neighbors? But staying in your vehicle is ridiculous when there’s room here.”
He blinked slowly, mirroring her expression with a now-lowered brow. “Here?”
Snorting, she waved her hand around. “You did a walk-through. You know there’s another empty bedroom and there’s a bathroom just across the hall. Why would you sleep in the car when staying here makes more sense? You’d be closer to your mission.” She hated the slight sneer in her voice but hated even more knowing she was just a job.
“You want me to stay here, in your home?”
Huffing, she glared. “Jesus, Jorge, is that such a bad suggestion? You might hate the idea, but for someone who’s supposed to be so great at protection, it seems like the best plan. But hey, if you can’t stand the thought of being that close to me, stay in your big-ass SUV.” She blinked back the sting of tears threatening to fall. “I’m heading to bed. You can make yourself at home or not. Your call. Be ready to leave for work at seven-thirty in the morning. We’ll stop by my office, and then I’ll do home visits for the rest of the day.”
With that, she walked away, determined to not look over her shoulder to expose the tears that pricked the back of her eyes. Closing her bedroom door with a resounding click, she sucked in a ragged breath. She leaned her back against the door for a moment, working to squelch the heat that blazed across her face. Finally, swallowing deeply, she pushed off the door and held her head high as she stomped into the bathroom, mumbling to herself. “Whatever! It’s not the first time a gorgeous guy walked away.”
She remembered high school taunts… bookworm, nerd, geek, plain, boring. She sucked in a quick breath, blanking her mind from the adolescent rabbit hole everyone occasionally falls into.
But standing in front of the mirror, she sucked in her lips and stared at the reflection, acknowledging the sting of rejection was just as prickly for an adult as for an adolescent. Giving her head a quick shake, she flipped off the light.
* * *
Cobb stood in the kitchen, staring at Josie as she disappeared down the hall and into her bedroom, the door closing resolutely. He blinked, then jerked his chin back. What the hell just happened? He had been pleased ever since she invited him to her home for dinner. They had talked about the case and the threat. She seemed at ease with him once they sat on the roof. Then she intimated no one would believe they were dating… fuckin’ hell, not that again. Then she suddenly became angry when he mentioned sleeping in his vehicle. Hell, she’s the one who said I wasn’t her type.
She was twisting him in knots, but he had a mission to do. And I’m fucking going to do it even if she’s hot and cold. She doesn’t have to like me… just work with me so I can keep her safe.
In the middle of his internal rant, he felt something brush against his leg and looked down at the black, sleek, green-eyed cat rubbing against his legs. Reaching down, he ran his hand along her back, finding the fur to be as silky as it appeared. “Melon, I keep fucking things up with your mistress. Think you can put in a good word for me?”
The cat simply stared up at him, not blinking. He had no doubt the feline was saying, “Keep your shit together, man, so that Josie won’t get so mad she forgets to feed me.”
He was sure Josie never forgot to feed her cat. Me? I may have just had the last meal she’ll want to share. He only pondered where to sleep for a moment, deciding to take her up on her offer. Going out to his vehicle, he grabbed his bag from the back seat and scanned the area. There was no activity on her street, nothing suspicious. Once inside, he bolted her door, checked the windows and other doors, then flipped out the lights in the kitchen and living room. One of the bedrooms was used for extra storage, several boxes piled up, a few pieces of disassembled furniture next to the wall, and a treadmill. The room closest to hers held a queen-size bed, chest of drawers, and comfortable chair with a reading lamp next to it.
He set his bag on the bed, then walked across the hall to the guest bathroom. While he’d gone out to his car, she had laid clean towels on the vanity. Even angry, she’s polite. He showered quickly, pulled on a pair of loose-fitting running shorts, and headed back to the bedroom. He left the door open, placed his weapon onto the nightstand, and crawled into bed. He’d slept in a lot of places all over the world, from five-star hotels down to sleeping on dirt and rocks out in the cold. But right now, he found sleep was hard to come by with images of the beautiful woman in the next room running through his mind. She might not like me, but I’ll keep her safe.
Sleep finally claimed him, and when he woke, it was with a cat on his bed, staring at him. Mumbling, “I don’t feed you,” he climbed out of bed and into the bathroom.
After a quick shower and dressing, he found Josie at the kitchen counter, shoveling in cereal while coffee dripped into a mug. “Hey,” she mumbled, then swallowed. “Good morning. I’ve got some coffee ready, so that’s for you. I hope you don’t mind cereal for breakfast.”
He had meant to rise before her, but the comfortable bed had eventually lulled him into a deep sleep. “No, cereal’s good.” He turned to the counter to see a box of Loopy Rings. Glancing at the red tint of her milk, it was easy to see she was a sugar-cereal kind of girl. He hadn’t had kid’s cereal in years but wasn’t about to turn it down.
While he ate, she finished and rinsed her bowl before turning toward him. “Listen, Jorge. I owe you an apology.”
Her hands twisted as they clasped together, a telling motion he now recognized. He started to object but she kept on talking.
“I’m sorry I was so prickly last night. I overreacted. Chalk it up to being tired, frustrated, a little scared, overwhelmed, out of my element… whatever. You’re here to do a job, and I need to let you do it however you think is best. I’d like you to be comfortable while doing that job, but I have no idea what you need.”
Again, with her, there was no bullshit. He might not always know what she was thinking, but she didn’t play games. “Josie, you don’t need to apologize. I know this is all stressful, but you’re doing great. Yes, this is my job, but I was glad to volunteer to be here for you.”
Jerking her chin back, she parroted, “Volunteered?”
Now it was his turn to jerk slightly. “My boss will assign some duties, but for missions, he gives us a great deal of latitude. We want the right Keeper for the job, and in this case, that was me. I not only know the area, but I understand the political and financial world. But when I realized it was you, I wasn’t unhappy about that.”
She nibbled on her bottom lip, another telltale sign that she was pondering his comment. Not wanting to give her more time to react negatively, he said, “If you’ve got travel mugs, I’ll pour my coffee into that.” Just as he hoped, she moved into action and soon they were out the door.
After stopping at the clinic where she artfully dodged the curious looks everyone was shooting toward them while she gathered the records she would need, they climbed back into his SUV and she directed him to where her first home visit was.
The neighborhood was older and had seen better days. The walk was cracked and the concrete steps leading to the front door listed slightly to the side. The screen door was barely hanging on its hinges.
“Um, if you want to wait, I’ll be about thirty minutes.”
“Okay,” he agreed, still staring out the windshield toward the front. “I don’t need to know anything confidential, but what can you tell me about the resident?”
“We’ll visit a couple of new people today that I have to evaluate for services, but this is one of my regulars. He’s eighty-four, lives alone. His wife died over ten years ago, but his only son died of cancer about two years ago. His son was the one who came over and helped out, made sure he ate well, and took him to the doctor. His granddaughter helps out when she can, but it’s not always easy.”
“Do you think he’d be amenable to me fixing his screen door?”
He felt her stare and turned to see a little smile curving her lips. It made the beautiful woman even more beautiful, and he wished he could do more to keep the smile there.
“I’m sure he’d be very pleased, but you don’t have to do that.”
“I wouldn’t have offered if I didn’t want to take care of it.” They walked up the cracked sidewalk together, and he carefully moved the screen door to the side as she knocked on the wooden door. Cobb could hear shuffling approaching from the other side before the door was swung open. An older man, his skin aged and wrinkled, with bushy white eyebrows and tufts of white hair sticking straight up from his head, greeted them. He smiled as soon his gaze landed on Josie, then looked over her shoulder and up, his eyes narrowing as they landed on Jorge.
“Who’s he?”
“Mr. Velez. This is my friend, Jorge. He’s helping me out today. And we wondered if perhaps he could take a look at your screen door.”
“My Rob would’ve fixed it if he was still here, God rest his soul.”
“I know, and Jorge would like to see if he can get it to work right. Is that okay?”
Mr. Velez shuffled backward, allowing them to step inside the house. “I’d be a damn fool if I turned down free work.” He stopped suddenly and looked back at them. “It is free, isn’t it?”
“Absolutely,” Cobb said. He stuck his hand out and waited for the old man to balance one hand on his cane and shake with his other. “It’s nice to meet you, sir.”
Josie and Mr. Velez settled into seats in the living room after he told Cobb where to find the tools. Retrieving them from the laundry room, he went to work. Just as he suspected, the screws were simply loose. Once tightened, he oiled the hinges, making sure the door opened and closed easily. Next, he checked the latch to ensure that it could lock when necessary. All the while, he listened as Josie chatted with the older man.
She found out when he’d last been to the doctor and listened patiently as Mr. Velez complained about the young doctor always being in a hurry. She checked his prescription bottles lined up on the kitchen counter with his most recent list of medications. She double-checked to make sure he had food in the pantry and that the delivery meal service that came three times a week with both breakfast and dinner included was still coming on schedule. And all the while, she smiled, patted Mr. Velez’s arm, and listened as he talked of days gone by.
As they were leaving, Mr. Velez cackled with glee as he opened the screen door with ease. Shaking Cobb’s hand, the older man held his gaze and said, “You done good here, boy.”
Back in the car, Josie turned toward him and said, “You did, you know? Good, I mean. What you did for him may have seemed little to you, but it was a big deal to him.”
“Hell, that was nothing. I was listening to the two of you talk, and all I could think of was how much better his life is to have someone looking after him who cares.”
“Well, there’s one thing about social work,” she said, sighing heavily. “There’s not enough of us to go around. It’s not just here. Every state, every city, every county. Some people need services, counseling, sometimes just someone to make sure they’re getting what they need. There’s abuse, neglect, and making sure the elderly and the young are taken care of. And that only scratches the surface of social work.”
He nodded but remained silent as they drove to the next client. Arriving at the apartment building that had seen better days, Cobb turned toward Josie, his jaw tight. “Please, for the love of God, tell me that you would not have gone in here by yourself.”
“When going to visit a new client at their residence, we go in pairs. I’ll often bring Mario with me. He’s big enough that he would give someone pause. Plus, he grew up on the streets before becoming a nursing aide. Believe me, he can handle himself.”
“Thank fuck for that!” Seeing a few unsavory characters hanging around the parking lot, he said, “Looks like you’re stuck with me again. I hope that’s okay.”
“Of course, it is. If it wasn’t, I would have brought somebody else. I have to get permission from the client to let you be in with us.”
He nodded and they walked to one of the first-floor apartments. Knocking on the door, it was opened by a middle-aged woman, her head covered by a large bandana and an apron wrapped around her waist.
“We’re here to meet with Mrs. Carson. I’m the social worker, Josie Rector. This is a friend who is with me but only if Mrs. Carson agrees.”
“Friend!” the woman barked out. “More like a bodyguard, if you ask me!”
“Huh?” Josie sputtered.
“Honey, this neighborhood? Believe me, someone like you would need a bodyguard around here.” She opened the door further and waved them inside. “Come on in. I’m Julienne. My aunt said you’d be coming around.”
Cobb reached out to place his hand on Josie’s back as they entered, twisting around to glare at the young men hanging out in the parking lot.
“Aunt Maude? The social worker is here.” Turning to them, she said, “You’ll have to talk loud. Maude is deaf as a post.”
“I can hear well enough, girl, if someone’s saying something worth listening to.”
Josie bit back a laugh as she twisted her head around to look up at Cobb. He grinned in return. Mrs. Carson easily gave permission for Cobb to stay. They sat on the sofa where he could keep an eye out the front window on his vehicle while allowing Josie to sit closer to the older woman. Julienne sat with them, taking notes since she was the person who would drive Maude back and forth to the clinic.
For the next hour, Josie pleasantly interviewed Maude, finding out about her family, her living arrangements, her meal situation, her medications and doctor visits, and insurance and financial information. By the time they left, Josie had assured Maude that the clinic would be able to assist with her medical needs and that she would work with Julienne to make sure that meals were covered for the week.
Cobb stayed focused on their surroundings but saw no evidence of a threat—at least, not to Josie. For him, spending the day with a woman who was as beautiful on the inside as she was on the outside and whose career was based on helping others, the threat to him was losing his heart to someone who’d made it clear that he wasn’t her type.
