Page 25 of Ashes’ Addiction

“Sure. But don’t take too long. The longer you wait, the more hacking I have to do to get you into the classes you need. It’s not impossible but it will take longer. Just let me know when you decide,” Hammer said. “Anything else I can do for you?”

“How did you know? How do you have all this already?”

“I started as soon as we confirmed your identity. As soon as we had you back here. I’ve got a few more things in the works, but I’ll let you know what when I get it all worked out. Until then, why don’t you go find someone else to pester?” Hammer waved one hand in the air, dismissing them.

Miranda looked at Winter, wondering what to do now, but before either could say anything, a voice came echoing down the hall.

“Tiny Warrior, where are you?” Ashes called.

Miranda didn’t bother to hide her happiness. She stood and headed for the common room.

“I’m in here. What’s up?”

“Want to go for a ride?” he asked while she was still across the room from him.

“Ride?”

“On my bike. I thought you might like to get out of here for a bit. Have a ride.”

“Oh, that sounds nice.” She looked down at herself. “Should I change?”

“That would be good. Jeans, something long-sleeves and warm. Don’t worry about shoes, I’ve got boots for you when you get back down here.”

She frowned at the idea of coming downstairs barefoot. Who knew what was on the floors in here.

“All right. I’ll be right down.” She headed up to their room to change, excitement and a little fear bubbling in her belly. Not that she thought Ashes would hurt her, but she’d never ridden a motorcycle before and wasn’t sure what to expect. Ashes would take care of her, though. That she had no doubt of.

Chapter Twenty-One

“What’s going on?” Ashes asked Winter after Miranda had disappeared up the stairs.

“We were just talking to Hammer. I thought she could get him to find out what it would take for her to go back to school, if she wants. But he had it all ready. He gave her a new copy of her driver’s license, told her she had more papers on the way, and that she could enroll in classes as soon as she decided if she wanted to keep this major or pick a new one.”

“What did she say?” Ashes shifted from one foot to the other. He had been planning to tell her all this, but was waiting for it to be a done deal. Maybe he should have mentioned it sooner.

“How did she seem?” He kept his gaze on the stairs where she’d disappeared and where she would reappear in a few minutes, he was sure.

“Surprised, confused.” Winter paused. “I think she doesn’t know what to do. Have you talked to her about it?”

“Not yet. I will. I’ll figure out what she wants to do, and we’ll figure out where to go from there.”

“Good plan. Since you’ve got her, I think I’ll go get some work done. I got a couple of new clients, and I’ve had ideas spinning in my head all morning.”

“You might want to go outside for a few minutes first,” he said, not looking away from the stairs.

“You’re up to something, aren’t you?”

Ashes felt Winter’s gaze on him, so he glanced in her direction. She stood with her hands on her hips and eyes narrowed as she watched him.

“You’ll have to go and find out.” He wasn’t going to tell her and risk Miranda overhearing. To his surprise, Winter didn’t push. Instead, she folded her arms across her chest and headed for the door. Good. He had a couple of minutes before Miranda was back, so he headed for Hammer’s office where he’d stashed the boots earlier.

“I’m doing it,” he told the club hacker. He retrieved the box from where it was stashed under the futon Hammer sometimes crashed on when he pulled an all-nighter, then headed back to the common room.

“Shit. I’ll get outside. After all her questions this morning, I forgot.” Hammer locked his terminal and stood.

Ashes heard the other man follow him but didn’t say anything as he went back to where he’d been when Miranda went upstairs and set the box on the table. Hammer had just closed the front door behind him when Miranda appeared on the stairs, a pair of thin little anklet socks on her feet. He shook his head. Good thing he’d had Billy pick up a pair of thick boot socks with the boots. They were in the box waiting for her.

“Okay,” Miranda said as she reached the ground floor. “First, shoes. I don’t like wandering around with nothing on my feet.”