Finding the Magic (Tom Kelly's Boys Book 1) by Casey McMillin Read Free Book Online

business, right?"
    "I mean, yeah, that's the whole point of it being a cover is that it's an actual business, but I don't know the name of it."
    "Can you ask your friend Alex?"
    "You're gonna get your ass shot."
    "No I won't. All I want is some custom furniture."
    "Oh really, the furniture we have in there isn't satisfactory for you?"
    "Well, he doesn't have to know that, now does he? What's the harm in having a little custom table or footstool or something if a girl wants to get a closer look?"
    "A footstool? You're fuckin' crazy."
    "So you'll help me?" I asked, blinking and giving him my best puppy dog eyes.
    "Help you with what?"
    "I don’t know. I might have some questions or need your advice. To start, I need you to ask your friend the name of the furniture business." Steven just gave an almost imperceptible head nod, and I had no idea what he was thinking or if he was gonna help me or not.
    "Can you text him real quick and ask him the name for me?" I asked.
    "You mean right now?"
    "Why not?"
    He gave me a reproachful glare, but dug his phone from the pocket of his saggy athletic shorts. "I'll text him, but I still don't think it's a good idea for you to go messing around with those guys," he said.
    "I thought you'd think it was really thug-like of me. I thought you'd be proud."
    "I'm not trying to see you get capped."
    "I'm not exactly sure what that means, but it sounds like I'm not trying for it to happen either. I'm just relieved to have something else to think about and I want to get a closer look, that's all. I'm curious."
    He sighed, and then tapped out a text that I hoped and assumed was to Alex.
    I took the opportunity to look through the hole again. The beautiful stranger was standing near the pool holding a bowl in one hand and shoveling food into his mouth with the other.
    Before this moment, I would have told you it's impossible to look sexy while eating, but freakin-a, this guy was an absolute sight to behold. I just had to see him up close.
    "Did he text you back?" I whispered.
    "Not yet," he said. "Don't get your hopes up that I'll hear from him right away."
    "Well can you just text me and let me know what you find out?" I asked. Again, I leaned down to get a look through the hole. He had set down the bowl and was standing by the pool. He lifted his arms over his head and stretched upward. The muscles of his chest and arms rippled and flexed and I pulled back from the hole. The sight was so tempting that I instinctually knew I was doing a bad thing by looking at it. Then, I immediately realized how stupid that was, and looked through the hole again. He was still stretching, but doing a different one where he pulled one arm to the side. I blinked and tried to stay focused on him so I could remember what he looked like after he went back inside.
    "What other times does he come out?" I asked. "You said you knew his schedule on weekdays."
    "He's usually out here for lunch and then again sometime around dinner. Anywhere from five to eight. And then again sometimes at night. He's out there a lot. He lives in that house and works there. The others are just in and out of there at different times."
    "I'll bet I could just go around to the front of the house and knock if he's there all the time."
    "It's not like that," he said. "The houses around on the other side are nicer than the ones over here. I've been by the front of their place and it's gated. You can't just drive up their fuckin' driveway, and even if you could, I wouldn't recommend it."
    "You said that already."
    He put his hands up in surrender. "I'm just sayin'."
    We both heard the noise of his phone vibrating in his pocket, and I gave him an expectant glance waiting for him to take it out and see what Alex said. He did as I hoped he'd do. He took it out and focused on it for a few seconds.
    "He said he thinks it's Drake Custom Furniture or Kelly Custom Furniture—something with his name." Steven started tapping out a text, looking frustrated. "Now I