"It's been a while since I had to drive anyone around."
"Nicole said you got off sibling driving duty as soon as she got her license."
He laughed. "Very true. I did pawn a lot of those trips off on her."
"You did. We always had to stop what we were doing to go pick up one of your brothers or sisters."
"Nicole was much nicer than I was. But getting back to your original point. I'm happy to help you, Maddie."
"Well, hopefully I won't be a burden much longer."
"What's the story on this apartment?"
"It's a one-bedroom. I'd be renting the living room."
"Wait? Seriously? Why wouldn't you just put two beds in the bedroom?"
"Because I'm in my thirties and my potential roommate is twenty-nine. We're a little past the stage of wanting to share a room."
"You won't have privacy in a living room."
"Carla said she works most nights, so the living room would be private because she wouldn't be there. The apartment is in lower Nob Hill, and apparently there's a bus stop right in front of the building, so it's easy to get around."
He needed to be supportive and happy for her, but there was nothing about what she'd just said that he liked. "Do you really want to live with a stranger?"
"Strangers are just people who aren't friends yet."
"Do you really believe that?"
"I've had strangers for roommates before. Sometimes it's great."
She was working really hard to put a positive spin on things. He admired that, but he was kind of hoping that the apartment wouldn't work out, that she'd have to stay with him for a few more days—a few more weeks.
But that wasn't realistic. She would get tired of sleeping on the couch, and he would get tired of fighting the urge to swoop her off that couch and carry her into his bed.
"I think it's the gray building," Maddie said a moment later, pointing to a four-story building near the corner.
"Let me drive around the block. This street is crowded."
"I can always run in while you double park."
"I want to take a look at it with you. I want to meet Carla."
It wasn't that he didn't trust her, but he also didn't want to see her make a bad decision because she was desperate.
A moment later, he found a parking space on the next block and they walked down the street to the apartment together. He found the neighborhood a little run-down for his taste. It wasn't bad, but it wasn't great, either.
The security lock on the front door was broken, which he didn't like, but maybe that was in the process of getting fixed. They went up the stairs to the second floor and knocked on 2B.
A woman opened the door. She had dark eyes, jet black hair that hung down to her waist and she wore tight black leather pants and a tank top that barely covered her extremely large rack. Her face was pretty but heavily made up, making him wonder what she really looked like. He also couldn't help wondering exactly where she worked that kept her out most nights.
"Hi, are you Carla?" Maddie asked, giving the woman a warm smile. "I'm Maddie Heller."
"Come on in," Carla said.
His first impression when he stepped into the apartment was that it was dark and smelled like cigarette smoke. The green carpet had definitely seen better days, and the paint on the walls was peeling in a few places. The kitchenette was very, very small, and the only window in the living room looked out over an alley.
While Maddie talked to Carla, he poked his head into the bedroom, which was only big enough to hold a double bed. There were clothes strewn all over the bed, and on the nightstand were several pill bottles and an empty wine glass. What the hell was Maddie getting herself into?
When he returned to the living room, he could hear them both trying to make a possible living situation sound great. Carla assured Maddie that she would have lots of privacy and that the couch was a comfortable pullout bed. Maddie commented on the great location and that she liked having roommates.
He thought Maddie was out of her mind to consider living here.
She was a butterfly. She needed light, space, air, and this place struck out on all three. She also needed a kitchen to cook in, a real bed to sleep in and a roommate who didn't look like she was on her way to work a street corner.
"I can give you a hundred-dollar discount off the rent this month if you agree to rent the place tonight," Carla told Maddie.
"What is the rent?" he asked.
"Nine hundred a month," Carla returned. "It's a great deal."
"Seriously?" He shouldn’t be surprised. Rents were exorbitantly high in San Francisco, but a couch in someone's living room was hardly worth nine hundred bucks a month.
"You can't get a studio for less than fifteen hundred," Carla put in. "And you can't share a one-bedroom for less than twelve hundred."
"She's right," Maddie murmured, giving him a helpless shrug.
"You've only been looking for a day or two," he said.
"I looked before when I got into the bad sublet," she reminded him.
"You need to think about it, Maddie."
"I've got other people coming in tonight," Carla said.
"She'll take that chance," he told Carla. He strode to the door and opened it, giving Maddie a pointed look. "Come on."
Annoyance flashed in Maddie's eyes, but she did tell Carla that she'd have to call her later with her answer.
"Don't take too long," Carla warned her. "This place will be gone by tomorrow."
He seriously doubted that, but he kept his mouth shut, not wanting to drive Maddie into making a bad deal just to show she was making the decision, not him.
"That wasn't your call, Burke," she said, as they walked out of the building.
He paused when they reached the sidewalk. "She had pill bottles next to her bed."
"They could have been prescriptions for a cold or something."
"Or something. She was washing them down with wine."
"You're making a big deal out of nothing."
"I'm not. Look around you, Maddie. Look at this neighborhood. Is this where you want to call home?"
"It's not that bad. Carla was nice. She was friendly."
"I think she's a hooker."
"No, she's a dancer and a waitress."
He rolled his eyes. "You're so naïve."
"I am not naïve. But I also don't judge people in two seconds like you do."
"Don't you? It seems to me you found her delightful in the same amount of time that I came to the conclusion that she was not."
"That wasn't the conclusion you came to. You decided she was a drug addict and a hooker because of a pill bottle and a sexy outfit."
"I might be judgmental, but I'm right."
She blew out a frustrated breath. "You're not always right, Burke."
"I am this time. You know that wasn't the right place for you to be. You need to stop rushing into the next part of your life, stop trusting strangers who have a nice smile. Things might turn out better if you think before you act."
She stared back at him, not just anger in her eyes but also hurt. "Well, at least you're not silently judging me anymore. It's all out on the table. You think I'm an idiot."
"I didn't say that. You can be impulsive. You know that. You said so yourself when you told me about Paul and your whirlwind engagement."
"This isn't the same thing. She's just a roommate. I'm not going to marry her."
"I hope you're not going to live with her, either."
"It's the best option I have, Burke. I can't do the food truck from Portola Valley. It's too far away and I don't have a car, so moving in with my parents doesn't work for me. I barely have enough money to cover what Carla was asking for rent. It's not like there are dozens of people dying to rent me a room."
"She was charging you nine hundred dollars to basically sleep on her couch. You can sleep on mine for free."
"For how long?" she challenged.
"However long you need," he replied.
She let out a breath. "I like to pay my own way."
"We'll work something out. You can cook for me, maybe bring some more meals to the firehouse." As he waited for her decision, he felt his stomach twisting into a knot. It suddenly seemed very, very important for her to say yes, to agree to stay with him, at least temporarily.
"I think I should take your advice and consider all my options," she said.
Now she wanted to take his advice…
"Fine. We can hash out all the pros and cons at home. If you decide in the end to move in with Carla, then I won't say another word."
"Somehow I doubt that. I used to think you were the tall, silent type, but you seem to have a lot to say, especially when it comes to other people's lives."
Not other people's lives, just hers, but he wasn't going to tell her that.
* **
On the way back to Burke's place, Maddie pondered her options. Despite what she'd said to Burke, she hadn't been in love with the apartment. It was gloomy and the smell was bad. Nor had she found Carla to be someone she wanted to be roommates with.
But what choice did she really have? She had to go somewhere, and she had to go soon. Staying with Burke was like playing with fire. She was starting to like him too much. He could hurt her if she let him. So she couldn't let him. Which meant she really needed to move on, before she started to believe that she and Burke might be able to have a relationship together.
He'd asked her at her parents' house why they couldn't have a relationship, and there were a million reasons why, weren't there?
They had different approaches to life, they both had a lot of personal baggage, and Burke didn't respect her. He might be attracted to her, but he didn't hold her decisions in very high regard; she'd just seen evidence of that. She couldn't be with someone who didn't value her opinion.
But she did value
his
opinion. She thought he was amazing, smart, generous, sexy as hell—which was exactly why he could hurt her.
A little sigh escaped her lips…
She'd never been afraid of risk. After losing her sister as a teenager, she'd always felt like the worst had already happened, that there was nothing left to be afraid of. For the most part, that had been true. As long as she didn't put her heart on the line, she could do anything she wanted. And not putting her heart on the line had been easy. Most men didn't want her heart.
But Burke would be different. He didn't do anything halfway. He had always been all or nothing. If he committed to anything, he went all in. He'd want everything from a woman.
And she'd never given a man
everything
.
She told herself Burke wasn't asking for everything. He wasn't really asking for anything at the moment except that she take more time to make decisions. Well, she could do that.
She straightened in her seat as they stopped at a light. "Can you drop me off at the market?" she asked.
"It's almost nine."
"It's still open," she said, pointing to the lighted building. "I need to pick up some ingredients so I can try out some of Joel's meatball recipes."
"Tonight?"
"I like to cook when I'm thinking. It brings me clarity. And you told me to think, remember?"
"Okay, the market it is—as long as I get to be your taste tester."
"That works for me."
As Burke pulled into the parking lot, his phone rang. "Why don't you go ahead?" he said. "I need to get this."
"I'll be quick."
"Take your time."
* * *
As Maddie closed the car door, he answered his phone. "Hello, Max."
"Burke, how's it going?"
"You tell me. What have you found out?"
"Maddie's ex-fiancé was arrested in Las Vegas yesterday for embezzling money from his employer. Maddie wasn't the only one he stole money from to finance his gambling addiction. I spoke to my friend at the LVPD, and he said that they've convinced Paul to work with them to put Harry Barker out of business. They've been trying to shut down his operation for years. If Paul helps them out, he should get an easier sentence, but he probably will serve time."
Burke felt as if a weight had just fallen off his shoulders. If Paul was in Vegas and now under the watch of the Las Vegas Police Department, Maddie would be safe. At least, he hoped so. "Paul told Maddie yesterday that Barker's collection group was after her, that they could possibly use her to leverage Paul. He said they had photos of her here in San Francisco. I don't want Maddie to get caught in the middle of this sting operation."
"I don't know anything about photos. I'll run that by the detective out there, see if he can get the truth from Paul."
"Maddie thought Paul might have made it up to scare her into helping him."
"Let's find out."
Max was always very pragmatic, never too optimistic or too pessimistic. He focused on facts. It sometimes amazed him that Max had gotten together with Emma, who was fiery and emotional and always put her heart on the line. But somehow the two of them worked.
"Thanks for your help, Max. I am happy to know that Paul has been arrested."
"I think Maddie is probably safe here, but until Barker's operation is shut down, I'd still keep an eye out. I'm also tracking down the man who illegally sublet his apartment to her. She's definitely run across some great guys in the last year," he added dryly.
"She trusts a little too easily."
"Emma says she's sleeping on your couch. How's that going?"
"It's all right," he said, hearing the question in Max's voice.
"It's not getting a little too crowded in your apartment?"
"Surprisingly not."
"Interesting."
"What about Mitch's private investigator? Have you been able to reach him?"
"I've got a name but haven't made contact yet. Have you heard from Mitch again?"
"Not since he showed up at my apartment on Saturday. But one of the fire dispatchers told me that Mitch wanted her to give him the transcripts of the call that went out the night Leanne was killed. He's not done."
"It doesn't sound like it."
"Keep me posted, Max, and thanks. I owe you."