Page 4 of Sly (Dragon Riders MC 5)
“I hear Hawaii’s nice this time of the year,” I murmured to myself.
After sitting there and feeling sorry for myself for a little while, I reached for my laptop. I plugged it in and flipped the top open, readying myself to look for more jobs. And while I had reduced my search to paralegal jobs in upstate New York, I decided to widen my search a bit.
To up and down the entire East Coast.
I mean, why limit myself, right? After all, maybe it was time to fly the coop. Maybe it was time for me to plant roots somewhere else. It wasn’t like I had anything in my hometown to stay for. Ben traveled with his job as often as he could. Mom and Dad had retired to Italy after selling off the e-Commerce company Dad built on a whim. And I wasn’t dating anyone in the area. Or dating anyone at all.
In fact, I hadn’t legitimately dated anyone since high school.
“Weird,” I whispered.
After toggling the search parameters on the job sites I had pulled up, I went from having ten prospective jobs to having dozens. Everywhere from the Florida Keys, Charleston, and the heart of New York City had jobs they were offering, and I let myself dream for once. I envisioned myself sipping a cocktail after work on the sandy beaches of Florida or going out and enjoying a nice beer in a nice bar while deep in the heart of Charleston. I thought about the rich country boys that would come out of the woodworks just to dance with me, or the hot doctors on vacation in the Keys, ready to sweep me into their beds for a week of fun in the sun.
I started applying as quickly as my fingers would let me before the front door opened.
“Ben?” I called out.
The door closed. “What did I tell you about the passcode, Tara?”
I rolled my eyes. “My God, Ben. It’s not an all-boys fort. It’s an apartment.”
He walked down the hallway. “What’s the passcode?”
I rolled my eyes. “Seriously?”
He stood in the frame of my door. “Seriously. If someone opens that door and it’s not me, you’ll know instantaneously if you use that passcode.”
I shrugged. “Or I clock the canter of your step.”
He blinked. “You what?”
I went back to looking at my laptop screen. “You’re not the only one with magical powers. I know if it’s you or not simply by the sound of someone’s walking gait. I’ve always been able to do that.”
“Huh.”
“Yep.”
“So… passcode?”
I groaned. “How’s the day look out there, Ben?”
He chuckled. “Nice and free, that’s how it looks.”
My head lobbed in his direction. “This where we say ‘oo-rah’ and pat each other’s asses like they do in football?”
He blinked. “There’s so much about that sentence to unpack.”
I smiled. “So, how was your day? I’ve just been unpacking a bit and getting more resumes put in.”
He came over and sat on my bed on the floor. “Yeah, I see you’ve been hard at work unpacking all of the boxes that haven’t been opened yet.”
I rolled my eyes again. “You and that mouth of yours.”
“Hey, you’re the one who said it. I was just surveilling the evidence.”
“Yeah, yeah, yeah.”
“So, how goes the job search?”
I drew in a deep breath. “Well, I finally took your advice and widened my search parameters.”
“Looking at the whole of New York now?”
I peeked over at him. “More like up and down the East Coast. I just applied to a job in the Keys.”
His eyes widened. “As in, Florida?”
“Any other state have a place called ‘the Keys’?”
“Well, I’m proud of you. I know you’ve always been attached to this place and it’s always been hard for you to leave. Especially after Mom and Dad moved.”
“How are they, anyway? Have you talked to them at all? I swear, ever since they moved—”
He snickered. “I talked to them a few days ago. Same day you spoke with them. But can you blame them for not checking up on us as much? We’re adults with our own lives and they’re two former business owners enjoying the fruits of their labors for the last years of their lives. I mean, that’s the dream, right?”
I looked back at my laptop screen. “Just miss them, is all.”
He threaded his arm around me. “I know you do.”
“The holidays won’t even be the same this year. I mean, I won’t have the money to get to where they are. And you don’t have the kind of paycheck to pay for me, despite what you keep telling me.”
“If you want to go, I’ll get you there. Simple as that.”
I shook my head. “I need to pick my life back up first. I need to get a new job, find my own place, and try to carve out some stability for myself. I mean, we’re adults now.”
