Hustle Me (Bank Shot Romance #1)(7)
Author: Jennifer Foor

After changing out the five, she slid two bucks across the bar. Before she could let go, I put my hand over hers and slid it back. "Keep it."

She stuck it in her pocket. "I’ll keep it close for when you ask for it back."

I started to laugh. "That bad of a day, huh?"

"I told you, it’s just a bad everything. Do you want anything else or can I go help these ass**les that refuse to leave?"

I motioned my hand for her to attend to the other guys, but as soon as she turned around I started to chuckle. She really was a little walking attitude. I didn’t know what her problem was, but it made her extra sexy.

When her voice got loud, I looked over and saw that those two guys were giving her a hard time. She was actually backing away from the bar to get space between them. I don’t know what made me do it, but I got up and walked over behind the two guys. "Is there a problem here?"

Not only did the guys turn around, but I saw her looking at me like I was crazy. She was behind them shaking her head for me to stop trying to help. That just made me want to help more.

"This ain’t none of your damn concern kid." One of the guys crossed his arms when he spoke.

I hated being called kid.

"The way I see it, I just made it my problem. You two need to leave, now!"

"When the lady pays us, we’ll leave."

She stood where she was. "I told you, I don’t know about any money and I don’t have it."

They went to say something, but I grabbed one of the guy’s arms and pulled it behind his back so it was instantly painful for him. He whined at the amount of pain I’d inflicted so quickly. I got up close to his ear, but didn’t whisper. "Get the f**k out of here, before I show you how to really hurt someone."

The other guy grabbed his buddy’s arm. "We don’t want no trouble, kid. We just came to collect what’s owed to our boss."

"You tell your boss that he isn’t getting anything today." I shoved the guy away from me.

They started walking backwards. "We’ll leave now, but you ain’t always going to have this kid here to protect you, Charlie. We’ll be back and next time you better have what you owe."

They walked out of the door and I felt a wet rag slapping me in the face. "Thanks! You just made it ten times worse."

"I was just trying to help you."

"Well thanks, but no thanks. If you’re not going to drink your beer, please just leave. I can’t take any more of this shit today. Now I’m going to have to close the bar for a few days to keep them away from me."

I leaned against the counter and slid the rag back to her. "What do they want?"

"I’m sorry, do I know you? I don’t think it’s any of your damn business." I loved how pissed she was getting. It made me want to push her buttons more.

"I’m Jammer. I’m actually here to …"

She cut me off before I could say anything. "Look, not that it’s any of your damn business, but my entire life has just been assfucked. I’ve been left this shithole bar by a father that I didn’t even know I had, and if that isn’t even bad enough, I had to drop out of college because the bar came with a kid too. So unless you are Ed McMahon with a damn million dollar check, I suggest you just go."

I kept at it. "What do you mean he left it to you?"

"He’s dead! He died six months ago of liver cancer. Why do you even want to know? Wait…is your name John Thomas?"

When she said my name, I was a little shocked. Nobody called me John. "Who did you say?"

She shook her head. "Never mind, I was just hoping. My piece of shit of a father left something for him, but the lawyers can’t track him down anywhere. He’s probably dead too. I mean, any guy that was a friend of my bastard father, was probably as f**ked up as he was. Look, thanks for trying to help me, but I have work to do. If you don’t mind, when you finish your drink, just see yourself out of here."

I walked over to my beer and drank it all at once. While still swallowing, I slid my glass in her direction and walked out of the door.

Chapter 5

Charlie

Everything had gone downhill after the day I set foot into that Attorney’s office. It didn’t help that Elle was now insisting on going because she swore I was getting some kind of inheritance that would make me as rich as her. I don’t know why I believe her all of the time, because she never seems to be right about anything. Plus, earlier she didn’t want me going.

The secretary was nice enough when we got inside, but I knew something was wrong when I entered the conference room. We sat at one end of a long table. The room had landscaped photos covering every inch of open wall and a giant window looking out at the city. Of course, since we were in Baltimore, it was just looking out onto another building. There was always something to do, but it was so damn congested.

The attorney came in and did his introductions. I was pretty impressed that he seemed so young. In fact, he didn’t seem to be much older than Elle or myself. He wore a grey suit with a baby blue tie that matched his eyes. His bright white teeth were perfectly set inside of even sexier lips. I think Elle was seeing what I was seeing, because she was kicking me from under the table and giving me that eye when he began speaking.

He laid out a bunch of documents in front of me, but the one that caught my eye was a birth certificate. Now, I knew my father’s name hadn’t been listed. I just always thought it was because they weren’t married when I was born. I pulled my birth certificate toward me and started tracing my mother’s name. If she were here she could be right next to me explaining what was going on, but she wasn’t. She was dead and so was my father, so I was left to fend for myself, just like I had since I was ten years old.

"Charlene, are you aware of why you’re here?"

I shook my head. "I have no idea. Nothing makes sense to me right now."

"Did you not know your father?" He asked.

"What do you mean? I knew my father just fine until he died in a fire when I was ten." What did this have to do with my father?

He sighed and grabbed a couple papers. "I mean your biological father. Did you know him?"

My eyes got real big and I looked right at him. I could feel my leg shaking under the table and Elle reached under to tap it. "Are you saying that my dad wasn’t my dad?"

He held his palms up to face us. "Look, I can see how this might sound and I apologize for just coming out and saying it this way, but your biologically father was named Joseph McNally. I have the documentation to prove it." He slid the paper over and I skimmed through it while he continued to talk. "Upon your father’s incarceration, he signed over all of his legal rights to your mother and allowed your stepfather to adopt you."