She pulled back the covers and climbed in, scooting over until she settled with her cheek to his chest, her arm around him, she tangled a leg with his. He pushed his arm under her, pulled up her tee and cupped her bared ass with his hand.
That was new too. If he fucked her, she slept without underwear. She didn’t used to do that.
He liked it.
He moved and turned out the lamp on the nightstand, plunging the room into blackness but she didn’t make a noise.
He settled back and ran his hand over the cheek of her ass. “Did I hit you too hard?” he murmured.
She shook her head slightly against his chest, her arm getting tight a second and she mumbled, “Unh-unh.”
He grinned in the dark. “You liked it.”
It was a statement.
She didn’t respond except to curl deeper into him which was her response. She liked it.
“I dream of you,” he told her and that caused a response. Her head came up and she looked at him through the dark.
“What?” she asked.
“After you came to visit me in the hospital, I started dreaming of you. Every night. Even when I was in the hospital, I dreamed of you. I still do.”
“Really?” she whispered.
“Yep,” he replied.
“Wow,” she breathed and his hand moved to find her face, cupping her jaw he pulled her up as his neck bent. Then he touched his lips to hers.
After, he said softly, “Yeah, wow. More than wow, sweetcheeks, in my dreams, we’re almost always fucking.”
Her head moved back an inch and her hand slid up his chest to curl her fingers where his shoulder met his neck.
“Really?” she repeated.
“Oh yeah,” he whispered.
“Is it good?” she asked.
“Yeah, it’s good. As good as what we just did, not by a long shot but it’s good. I haven’t dreamed of us having sex since you came back but I still dream of you. You talk to me.”
Her body got tight and she asked, “Talk to you?”
“Yeah.”
“What do I say?”
“You wake me up. Tell me you need to get to work. The two times I was at your place, you told me to get home to my boys.”
“That’s it?”
“Yep.”
She relaxed then asked, “Why?”
“What?”
“Why?” Rocky repeated. “Why are you dreaming of me?”
“No clue,” Layne answered. “But I like havin’ you here and there.” He pulled her face to his until their lips were touching. “Best of both worlds.”
He felt her smile then he kissed her lightly, released her jaw and she moved down to rest against his chest again.
“So, you going to tell me what you learned with your search?” she prompted.
After he’d kissed her at her place, he’d rendez voused with Ryker who was waiting by Layne’s truck. Ryker had told Layne he’d scoped out unit K, apartment three and assured him he was “on the job” then took off on his Harley. Layne went to the office, ran his searches, ran more because of the results and got home in time for his mother to lecture him on punctuality and courtesy and since dinner was ready, Keira was there again and Devin was home and visibly salivating to tuck into beef tenderloin, Layne hadn’t had a chance to brief Rocky.
He did get the chance to watch her eat an ice cream cone and therefore they went to bed early.
“Both cars are registered to a woman,” Layne told her. “Victoria Aubry.”
“Victoria Aubry,” Rocky whispered.
“You heard that name?” Layne asked and she shook her head against his chest so he went on. “She rents the apartment too. She’s also married to a man named Baxter Aubry.”
Her head came up and he felt her eyes on him through the dark. “Who’s that?”
“Driver’s license picture in the system shows he’s TJ Gaines.”
“Oh my,” she breathed.
“Yep,” he replied.
“What else?” she prompted.
“Nothin’,” Layne said and Rocky was silent.
Then she said, “Nothing?”
“Not one fuckin’ thing. Both of them came into existence about nine months ago. I’ve run every check there is, couldn’t find anything. They got credit cards, bank accounts, own their cars outright, pay their insurance, rent, utilities on time, except they do it with cash. Only thing they pay with check is the credit cards which, even though they live high, are cleared every month.”
“What does this tell you?” she asked.
“Well, seein’ as I dug deeper and found Victoria Aubry died of a stroke at age eight-two six years ago and her husband Baxter Aubry died a year and a half later of emphysema, it tells me the least those two are guilty of is identity theft.”
“Shit,” she whispered.
“Other than that, not much else,” Layne finished.
“What’s next?”
“What’s next is, we need a fuckin’ print. For both of ‘em.”
“Right,” she said softly.
“Baby,” he called and her arm squeezed him in response. “Goes without sayin’ it won’t be you gettin’ those prints.”
Rocky’s body tensed and her voice was terse when she said, “Of course.”
Layne slid down into the bed, taking her with him and rolling them both to their sides so they were face to face but his hand didn’t leave her ass and he gripped it when he murmured, “Just makin’ sure you stay my good girl.”
He felt her body give a small jerk before she relaxed into him and kissed his throat.
“I’m still your good girl,” she whispered there.
“Good,” he whispered back.
Her face came out of his throat and her head settled on the pillow. “Isn’t that enough?” she asked. “Identity theft is bad, even if people are dead. Can’t you hand it over to Merry now, get him away from those girls?”
“Yep,” Layne answered.
“Are you going to do that?”
“Yep, Merry or Colt or Sully or Mike, whoever I get to first.”
“Excellent,” she replied quietly.
“One problem with that, sweetcheeks,” Layne told her.
“What?”
“There’s somethin’ bigger here, somethin’ we don’t know. They got a shitload of money in the bank, they live high, she’s got a nice car, his is less than a year old, middle of the road but top of the line of its model. She’s either into somethin’ or they’re bankrolled.”
“So?”
“So, a weed grows, you don’t pull off its leaves, you yank out the root. My gut tells me there’s a big man pullin’ their strings and that man’s gotta go down so this stops, not only here but everywhere.”
“But the girls –”
“I’ll take care of the girls,” Layne assured her.
“How?”
“People like this, they got one allegiance, it isn’t to the head honcho, it isn’t even to money, it’s to themselves. If they know they’re fucked, they’ll play.”
“Sorry?”
“We turn ‘em.”
“Layne, I’m not getting –”
“We get to them, get them to make a deal. In exchange for reduced jail time, they give us the big man and, in the meantime, stop whatever shit they’re doin’ with the girls.”
She was silent a second then she said, “Oh.” Then she shared her news. “Rumor in the halls is, Seth is taking Alexis McGraw out for pizza after the game tomorrow.”
Layne grinned.
Rocky continued, “And, word today was, Youth Group attendance spiked last night. It’s become the hot, in thing to go and see what the Layne boys are up to. Apparently, Jasper, Seth and their friend Mitch didn’t disappoint and TJ-slash-Baxter had his hands full attempting to explain how there could be dinosaurs and Adam and Eve. Not to mention, since half the football team was there, it’s becoming the hot spot to see and be seen, pick up chicks and socialize. It sounded to me like Wednesday’s Youth Group meeting was half Single’s Club and half philosophical debate on religion, both of which TJ-slash-Baxter didn’t have the tools to deal with.”