The Most Explosive Novel Since Fifty Shades of Grey

by BY LENA   Jan 17, 2023

In Mari Carr’s Down and Dirty, a down-on-her-luck single mom, Jess, finds an unexpected lifeline in the form of two charming bachelors, Tony and Rhys. Their carefree world takes a sharp turn as they open their home and hearts to Jess and her son, Jasper. Amid the enticing chemistry and mutual attraction, Jess must grapple with her fears of heartbreak and her growing feelings for her handsome saviors. This enticing narrative explores an unconventional romance, steeped in desire, longing, and the courage to embrace a love that comes with double the benefits.

Chapter 1 Mikalina

“I’m sorry, but we don’t have any more room tonight.”

“Yes, but—” Jess started.

“Lady, if I had room, I’d let you in. I’m not being a d*ck. I’m just telling you we’re maxed out. Try the shelter down on…” The man glanced down at Jasper and hesitated. Then he went ahead and finished. “Forty-Eighth Street. They might have some room.”

Jess could tell from the man’s frustrated tone she wasn’t the first person to beg to be allowed in tonight. She also knew there was no way in hell she was taking Jasper to the 48th Street shelter again. There were degrees of homeless shelters in Philly and she’d learned firsthand that 48th Street was one of the worst. While it was open to women only, that didn’t mean it was particularly safe.

Last night, they’d listened to a mentally ill woman cry loudly for hours, while another woman—strung out on God only knew what—screamed obscenities at anyone who looked at her twice. Jess knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that she and Jasper would be safer taking their chances on the streets.

Instead of continuing to fight, she merely nodded, a feeling of utter defeat washing through her as she watched the man close the door to the shelter.

She remained outside the door for a few moments, her mind whirling over what the hell she was supposed to do now.

January is no time to learn how to be homeless, she thought wearily.

“Mommy. I’m cold.”

Jess glanced down at her sweet little six-year-old and fought back the panic threatening to break through the cracks in her fake composure.

“I’m know, buddy. Let’s, um…”

Let’s what?

She was the mom. She was supposed to have the answers, but she was fresh out of options. She was tired, hungry, stressed out, freaked out, and running on fumes. She’d been racing toward this brick wall in a speeding car with no brakes for weeks now. Tonight, she’d finally slammed into it.

Game over.

“Let’s walk back to Miss Debbie’s and get the car.”

Jasper, who was obviously experiencing the same exhaustion and hunger she was, did exactly what she felt like doing.

He whined.

Loudly.

And even stamped his feet, just to make sure he was driving his point home.

“I don’t want to walk anymore. I’m too tired.” The tears in his eyes were her undoing, and she swallowed the lump in her throat. She couldn’t stand to see him cry, especially when none of this was his fault.

She took a deep breath and beat back her panic, her fear, her own tears. She couldn’t let Jasper down, and she sure as hell couldn’t let him see her fall apart.

She also couldn’t blame him for refusing to walk on. She’d taken him on a ridiculous crisscross pattern around downtown Philadelphia, in search of somewhere they could stay for the night.

Debbie, another waitress at the diner where Jess worked, lived ten blocks from here, and there was no way Jess could cajole Jasper into making that trek. It simply wasn’t fair to ask it of him.

“Come on,” she said, bending down. “I’ll carry you. It won’t take us long.”

He lifted his arms and she hefted him up, positioning him on her hip securely. He was growing up so fast, getting bigger every day, and she realized her days of being able to carry her baby boy around were numbered.

“This way, we’ll stay warmer too,” she added, fighting hard to infuse her tone with some optimism, a difficult task, given the fact she wanted to scream the world down right now.

Jasper didn’t respond, either with words or even a smile. Instead, he put his head on her shoulder and closed his eyes, which proved exactly how tired he was. Lately, Jasper had been proclaiming himself too big to be coddled or babied. The fact he was willing to be carried proved she’d pushed him way past his limits today.

The two of them made the trip back across town, plowing headlong into the biting, brutal January wind. Weather forecasters were predicting more snow in the next day or two. Jasper turned his face away from the strong gales, burying it in the crook of her neck and shoulder. Jess wished she could do the same. Her eyes stung, her nose ran, her cheeks were numb, and she shivered violently, even though she was bundled up in a hat, gloves, boots, and a coat. Granted, her coat and boots had seen better days, and the pointer finger on her right hand was sticking out of a hole in the glove.

Nothing had gone right today.

No, in truth, the shit had been hitting the fan ever since New Year’s Day.

That was when she’d finally run out of ways to rob Peter to pay Paul, and her landlord followed through on his months-long threat to evict them. Jess and Jasper had been couch-hopping since then, trying not to overstay their welcome with friends and even acquaintances, people who truly didn’t have room for them to begin with. She’d used up every favor and then some in the past four weeks. So last night, for the first time, they’d resorted to sleeping in the shelter.

Though Jess wouldn’t call what she did there sleeping. It was probably more accurate to say Jasper slept. She’d merely stayed in place, sitting in an uncomfortable chair, clinging to her son, praying no one did anything to hurt them while counting the hours until morning, when she could fight her way through another day. She’d managed to grab less than an hour of sleep, which had left her stumbling around in a fog all day, her brain struggling to function properly.

“I don’t wanna stay with Miss Debbie. The bad man is there,” Jasper murmured against her neck.

Jess wasn’t intending to ask Debbie to take them in. They’d stayed at Debbie’s house the majority of the first three weeks after losing their apartment, but a week ago, Debbie’s husband had given the couch she and Jasper had been sharing to his just-out-of-jail brother, Mario.

Mario was bad f***ing news, and there was no way Jess could stay at her friend’s place while he was there. Not with the way he leered and made lewd sexual comments about all the vile things he wanted to do to her—in front of Jasper.

When Mario’s hateful, threatening words confused and frightened her son, Jess had tried to explain, as gently as she could to her sweet, innocent little boy, that there were good people in the world, but there were also some bad ones as well.

Unfortunately, it felt like all she and Jasper had been encountering lately were the bad people, including not only Mario but also a junkie who’d tried to steal her bag on the street, the guy at the grocery store who’d embarrassed them when they didn’t have enough money to buy the few measly things in their basket, and…

Jess sighed and mentally added Brenda, her former babysitter to the list. It was Brenda’s fault they’d been too late to get in line for a bed at the shelter. Brenda was a stay-at-home mom of three rambunctious boys, and she’d agreed to take care of Jasper after school every day until Jess finished her shift at the diner.

That afternoon, Brenda had claimed her husband, Rodney, didn’t want her to babysit Jasper anymore. Apparently, he didn’t like having a houseful of loud kids when he got home from work. Then she informed Jess that Jasper had broken a lamp. Jasper said it was an accident and he was sorry, but Brenda was too pissed off to accept his apology.

Jess tried to explain that removing Jasper from the equation wasn’t going to make Brenda’s house suddenly quiet, but the woman wouldn’t back down, claiming she was done taking care of “someone else’s brat.”

Then she demanded that Jess pay everything she owed her for babysitting, plus fifty dollars for a lamp Jess was certain hadn’t cost more than twenty. It had taken every bit of the tip money she had in her purse to cover the debt—which meant in addition to having no place to stay tonight, she didn’t even have cash to buy them food.

And now she only had two days to figure out childcare for Jasper after school on Monday.

She pushed that worry away until tomorrow. The more pressing problem was getting them through tonight.

Jess blew out a sigh of relief when they arrived at Debbie’s. She considered going in for a moment and asking to stay, but then she recalled Mario’s comments about her tight ass—and how he’d like to f*** it raw. So instead, she reached into her bag and pulled out her car keys.

Her car was the one thing she’d refused to relinquish when facing eviction, even if the money she could’ve made off selling the hunk of junk would have paid a couple of bills initially.

She’d decided against it. For one thing, it really was a piece of shit, and she’d be lucky to get a few hundred bucks for it, nowhere near enough to allow them to rent a new apartment or keep the old one for more than a month or two. Plus, she needed the car to get to her weekend job as a housekeeper at a motel on the outskirts of Philadelphia.

If she was being honest with herself, she knew she was going to have to sell the car at some point. But as she considered the dire straits she and Jasper were in at the moment, she was glad to have the security blanket of a vehicle.

If she could just hold on to it until spring and better weather…

For now, she was able to park it for free at Debbie’s. The only time she drove it was on the weekends, so it wasn’t like she was wasting a ton of money on gas. The rest of the week, she and Jasper either took the bus, the subway, or walked everywhere.

“Come on, Jasper. Hop in.” She opened the back door and secured Jasper into his booster seat, then she reached for a blanket she kept in the car and tucked it around him. Once he was settled, she bopped him on the nose with the finger sticking out of her glove. His scowl finally loosened, and he giggled.

“You’re silly, Mommy.”

She walked around to the driver’s side and climbed behind the wheel, briefly sending up the same short prayer she always did when she turned the key.

“Please start.”

Mercifully—and for the first time today—something went right and the engine turned over. She cranked the heat up on high, even though she knew it would be at least ten minutes before it stopped blowing out cold air. Right now, she was so f***ing freezing, even the cool air felt like a blessing.

She pulled out of the parking lot with absolutely no clue where she was going. All she knew was they were out of the frigid night air and off the streets.

“Are we going to get some dinner? I’m hungry.”

Damn. Now that he was sitting down and out of the cold, it seemed Jasper had moved on to the next item on his list of needs.

Jess did a mental inventory of what she had in her gargantuan bag. Ever since losing their home, she was never without her oversized canvas tote, where she kept her wallet, a change of clothes for both her and Jasper, toiletries, and snacks.

“Let’s find somewhere to park and I’ll rustle something up for us.” Jess glanced at her gas gauge and grimaced when she realized she only had a quarter of a tank. She’d resigned herself to the idea that they would have to sleep in the car, even though the thought terrified her. The streets of Philadelphia weren’t somewhere she really wanted to be after dark, and there was no way she had enough gas to keep the car running all night.

She considered her empty wallet again.

No help there, she thought.

Wait. It wasn’t completely empty.

She fumbled around inside the bag for her wallet while she waited at a stoplight. Once she found it, she withdrew the business card tucked inside and looked at the address. The place wasn’t too far from here.

She turned left at the next stoplight, her course decided. When she pulled up in front of the building, she parallel parked on the street in the spot right outside the main entrance and put the car in park. She took a moment to study the large four-story brick building that was a perfect blend of old and new architecture. Connected to the other buildings on either side, it took up a large part of the block, boasting a corner spot.

She’d always been fond of American history, so when she’d first arrived in Philadelphia, she’d enjoyed walking around the city, studying houses and historical sites that had been around since the nineteenth century. It was clear this building was quite old, though it had been beautifully restored.

The tall, arched windows on the first floor were part of the original design, but the glass inside was new, crystal clear and shiny. The sign on the main entry indicated the two businesses—a doctor’s office and a restoration company—that resided behind the dark brown wooden door. The front portico was impressive, grand and inviting, made even more so by the ornate lunette window above the door.

She assumed the businesses occupied the first and second floors, which were both dark, as it was well after work hours. However, there was lots of light coming from the top two floors, allowing her to easily see the third-story balcony that jutted out above a large bay window on the second floor. She found herself wondering about those top two floors, not because she was terribly fascinated in the layout of the building, but because she was curious about the people inside.

She’d lifted the business card several months earlier from a bulletin board her boss had hanging near the front door of the diner—his way of promoting local businesses. At the time, she hadn’t been able to reason out why on earth she thought she’d ever need it. She sure as hell didn’t have a home that needed renovation.

Jess had brushed it off initially as a foolish—and lonely—woman’s silliness. The men who lived here—Tony Moretti, who owned the restoration company as well as the doctor, Rhys Beaumont—were regulars at the diner where she worked, so she’d seen them pretty much weekly ever since she’d started working there four years ago.

She’d overheard them talking about buying this building a couple of years earlier, describing their plans for renovating it to their weekly Wednesday lunch companions, a large group of men who were either relatives or friends. She’d been so enthralled by their intentions for the building, she’d eavesdropped more than was polite, refilling their water glasses far too often.

The men always sat in her section at the diner, and the other waitresses constantly expressed their jealousy over that fact. Tony, Rhys, and the other men were all handsome and funny, kind to her, and good tippers.

Those small tidbits—plus their names, occupations, and this address, thanks to the business card—were the sum total of Jess’s knowledge about them. So coming here had been stupid as hell. Because apart from where she worked and her first name, the men didn’t know her either, and there was no way she could knock on that grand, gorgeous door, and say, “Hey, remember me from the diner? Can my son and I crash on your couch tonight?”

She shook her head, feeling like a fool for thinking the words, and even more foolish for coming here.

Chalk up another stupid decision due to her lack of sleep.

Her mother had always accused her of having too much pride, but damn if it hadn’t taken a beating this month. Regardless, she pushed away thoughts of the strangers inside the building, turning her attention to the more pressing matter.

Unfastening her seat belt, she twisted around so she could speak to Jasper.

“Are you up for a little adventure tonight?” she asked, trying to infuse as much excitement into her tone as possible.

Jasper gave her a curious look. “What?”

“We’re camping,” she said, aware the word alone would help sell her insane idea to her son.

As expected, he lit up like a Christmas tree, his eyes going wide. The two of them had spent a lot of time at the public library this month, as it gave them somewhere warm to kill a few hours so they wouldn’t arrive at her friends’ houses until just before bedtime. She’d been working hard not to overstay her welcome or be an unwanted burden.

Jasper’s latest obsession was camping books. She couldn’t count how many times she’d read Llama Llama Loves Camping and Curious George Goes Camping to him the past few weeks.

“We are?!” he said, unhooking his seat belt to jump up and hug her.

She laughed at his enthusiasm, even though she knew what she was proposing was stupid, and even dangerous. “Yes, but our camping is going to be a little different from the books we’ve been reading because we’re going city camping.”

Jasper was squirming around, full of energy now. “What’s that?”

“Well, since it’s winter, we have to improvise. So we’re going to build a backseat tent out of clothes. All our clothes.”

God bless six-year-olds and their willingness to try anything.

“Okay!” he shouted, unable to contain himself.

“But first, camp food.”

She did an internal eyeroll because, while she’d never camped, something told her peanut butter crackers weren’t the normal fare when crowding around a campfire. Pulling half a sleeve of saltines and a nearly empty jar of peanut butter from her bag, she waved them in the air, as if displaying something really wonderful. “Since we don’t have a camp stove or a fire, we’ll have to eat something that doesn’t need to be cooked.”

Then she dug around in her bag again, withdrawing a plastic knife. When she’d been younger, she’d read the Harry Potter books voraciously. The tote she now carried reminded her of Hermione’s charmed bag in the final book, the one with a magic extender that allowed her to carry tents, books, pots and pans, and countless other things. Jess’s bag was the muggle equivalent, her version heavy as hell, containing very little that would actually help them.

Jess spread the peanut butter on the crackers, more thinly than she’d have liked, but she wanted to stretch it out. In the end, she was able to make five peanut butter cracker sandwiches. And despite her growling stomach, she gave them all to Jasper because he was a growing boy and she refused to take a single bite of food if she could keep him from going to sleep hungry tonight.

“You don’t want one?” Jasper asked.

She shook her head. “Nope. I had a big lunch. I’m still too full. Couldn’t eat another bite.” It was just a little white lie, and enough to convince her son, who shoved the crackers in his mouth like he’d never eaten before. She’d noticed lately that Jasper attacked his food like it might be his last meal, shoveling it in far too quickly. She’d told him countless times to slow down, but the words fell on deaf ears.

The same vise-like pressure that had been slowly crushing her since she’d come home from work to find the eviction notice taped to their door pressed down hard, and she found it difficult to take in a deep breath of air.

Something was going to have to give, but she didn’t have a clue what. She was terrified of going to social services. Her mother hadn’t been the world’s greatest. Before she finally managed to get sober for good, her mom had been a mean drunk who sometimes forgot to come home at night.

As a result, Jess had been shuffled in and out of the foster care system a handful of times when she wasn’t much older than Jasper, and the experience had stuck with her in a negative way. There was no way in hell she would ever let Jasper experience the bone-shaking fear of sleeping in a houseful of strangers, some of whom hadn’t been kind at all.

What if social services deemed her an unfit mom?

What if they took Jasper away from her?

The thought of spending a single night away from him made her physically ill.

But…would that be better for him?

Was she being selfish, keeping him with her because of her own feelings?

He was cold and hungry and tired, and that was her fault. She’d failed him, failed them both, but she didn’t know what more she could do. She worked seven days a week, for minimum wage and tips, and she hadn’t taken a single day off for herself. Though, she’d missed one day last spring, when Jasper fell down at school and broke his arm. That was the day that had begun their downhill descent, as she’d started drowning in doctor and hospital bills, in addition to the rent and food and Jasper’s ever-growing feet, which seemed to need new shoes every time she turned around.

God. She hated feeling so helpless.

Time to get a grip.

Jess tried to shake off the heavy feelings.

Again.

This was just a bad night at the end of a bad day. They were going to get through tonight, and then tomorrow…she’d come up with a real plan. There had to be a place for women and children in the same position she and Jasper were in. It was time she stopped letting her fear of social services overwhelm her better judgment. She couldn’t keep waiting for a miracle that was never coming. She was an adult, and it was time to act like one, time to figure this shit out.

Tomorrow, she would put the time at the library to good use, researching options for homeless women and children in the city. And she would bite the bullet and seek help from social services.

She stifled a yawn and blinked a few times, her eyes dry from lack of sleep.

Jess turned off the car and got out to open the trunk. They were on a well-lit, quiet street, away from the heavier traffic of downtown. Her landlord had only given them thirty minutes to vacate their apartment, so she’d been forced to quickly shove everything she could into trash bags and lug them down to her car. The trunk had become their closet since then.

She grabbed three huge, overstuffed bags, carrying them to the back car door. Opening it, she put them onto the seat next to Jasper, then returned to the trunk to pull out a blanket and the comforter from the twin beds they’d had in their one-bedroom apartment.

Returning to the car, she quickly climbed back into the driver’s seat, kneeling on it and facing backwards so she could “cocoon” Jasper in a mountain of clothing that she prayed would keep him warm enough. In addition to that, she figured she had enough gas to run the heater ten minutes every hour until dawn, and still have enough to get to the motel for work in the morning. Hopefully, all of that would get them through the freezing-cold night.

She pushed Jasper’s booster seat onto the floor, then told him to add three more pairs of socks to his feet, something he found absolutely hilarious. She let his childlike laughter bolster her, help her to beat back the terror she felt, so that she could make him believe this truly was a great adventure instead of the actions of a desperate woman.

She threw another sweatshirt on over his head, then put his coat, hat, and gloves back on.

“Okay. Here.” She twisted around the back of the driver’s seat awkwardly, grabbing a pile of shirts. “Lay down on the seat and you can use these as your pillow.”

Jasper followed her instructions, though she wasn’t sure if it was exhaustion or excitement making him so compliant. Once he’d settled down comfortably, she picked up the comforter and tucked him in tightly. Thanks to the heater, the car was actually quite toasty—for now—but she knew it would be a different story when she was forced to turn the vehicle off to conserve gas.

He looked at her expectantly. After all, she had promised a tent.

“And now…for the rest.” With a flourish, she picked up one of the bags of clothing and dumped it on Jasper, prompting loud peals of laughter from her young son.

“Mommy!” he said between giggles. “This isn’t a tent.”

She upended another bag of clothes on him, praying it would be enough to keep him warm throughout the night.

“What?” she asked, pretending to be confused. “This isn’t a tent? Are you sure?”

His wide grin gave her a great view of the gap left behind from his loss of a front baby tooth. She could tell even by the dimness of the streetlamps that the other one was loose as hell and wouldn’t be far behind.

“I’m sure,” he insisted.

“Then I guess we’re going to have to change the name of our structure,” she said as she picked up the last bag and shook the clothing out on top of him. “This isn’t a tent. It’s a cocoon.”

She knew he’d understand the word because they’d learned about caterpillars turning into butterflies in his class at school. He’d come home that day to share what had been a thrilling discovery with her. Jasper was an intelligent, inquisitive boy, who had a genuine love for learning. She hoped that never changed.

Once he was buried in a pile of clothing, she glanced at his still-happy face. “All good?” she asked, not allowing herself to ask what she really wanted to know, which was whether or not he was warm enough. She was afraid to point out her true purpose, in case he figured out this wasn’t really a game.

He nodded.

“Good. So…let me get settled and I’ll read you one of your library books.”

Bedtime stories were their one constant. She’d read to him even when he was a baby and too young to understand, and the ritual had become even more important—not just to him but to her as well—as they found themselves sleeping in different strange places at night.

Jess quickly removed her own boots, adding two more pairs of socks. She added another T-shirt and a sweatshirt to her layer of clothing, then put her boots, gloves, hat, and coat back on. Tucking the last remaining blanket over her, she picked up a book and turned off the car.

“Okay.” She took a deep breath, holding the book up over her head, finding the perfect beam from a streetlight so that she could see the words. Jasper would probably struggle to see the pictures, but they’d read this story many times, that wouldn’t matter. “There is a house, a napping house,” she began.

As she read, she realized she didn’t need to see the words any more than Jasper needed a view of the pictures. This book was one of their favorites, and as she began the singsong repetition, she looked less and less at the words and more at the illustrations, at the cozy bedroom, the warm bed, the safe home.

Jasper was asleep before she finished the story, but she kept reading it. When she reached the end, she closed the book, tucked the blanket around herself—aware it would do little to keep her warm—and shivered as she sent a wish out to the universe, not just for herself but for her son as well.

“Help us find a home,” she whispered to the night air.

Chapter 2

“You ready for this, old man?” Tony taunted as they stepped out of the building, both of them instantly assaulted by air so cold it cut like a knife.

“Take it easy with that ‘old man’ shit,” Rhys replied. “I’ve only got three years on you.”

“Yeah, but while you’re knocking on the door to forty, I’m still residing in my mid-thirties. Young, virile, and about to kick your ass on this run.”

Rhys chuckled even as he shook his head. He and Tony Moretti had been roommates for two years, though their association had been much longer than that.

For the last eight years, the two of them had shared office space in this building, Rhys occupying the first floor with his medical practice, while Tony and his brothers ran Moretti Brothers Restorations from the office suites on the second floor. When their landlord told them he was planning to sell the building, both he and Tony had wanted to buy it.

What could have evolved into a nasty battle for real estate instead turned into one of the best business—and personal—decisions Rhys had ever made. The two of them had decided to invest in the large building together, renovating the top two floors into a living space.

After fifteen years of living alone, Rhys certainly hadn’t intended to suddenly move in with a roommate, and it hadn’t been his or Tony’s plan to live where they worked.

When Tony first proposed they renovate the top two floors, the idea had been for them to create an upscale apartment that they would rent out, increasing the value of their purchase, while giving them some income to lower their monthly mortgage payment.

Then Tony and his brothers had built the most gorgeous living space Rhys had ever seen—and he’d realized he wanted the apartment to be his home. At the time, he’d owned a house in the suburbs of Philadelphia, but because he worked long hours, he was rarely there. He’d never made any connections to his neighbors, and the large, cookie-cutter house had never felt like a home, but instead more like a hotel suite. The king of takeout, he hadn’t used the kitchen to do much more than make toast for breakfast. It had basically been a place to store his stuff and sleep at night.

However, just like with their shared desire to own the building, Tony had come to the same conclusion about the apartment, anxious to get out of the too-small apartment he’d been sharing with his brother Joey across town.

And once again…they’d found that middle ground, agreeing that the apartment was large enough—actually, too large—for the two of them. The transition to roommates had been smooth, and Rhys had no regrets. His commute to the office had shrunk from a twenty-five-minute drive to two flights of stairs.

“F***,” Tony muttered, stopping mid-stretch. “It’s cold as shit out here. What do you say we do the three-mile route today and the five-mile one tomorrow?”

Rhys was tempted to accept the suggestion, but he knew putting off the longer trek wouldn’t work out to their benefit in the long run. “I checked the weather,” Rhys said. “Tomorrow is going to be even colder.”

“F***,” Tony repeated. “Philadelphia winters suck.”

They walked down the three steps that led to the sidewalk, did a couple more quick stretches, then turned north, ready to begin one of the three routes they’d established when they first started running together.

“Let’s get this over with,” Tony muttered, and Rhys began with a slow jog.

He’d only taken a few strides when something unusual caught his eye, and he paused, looking toward the street. He noticed Tony hadn’t even started to run—his attention already drawn to the same vehicle parked by the curb, just outside their building.

“What the hell?” Tony mused, stepping toward the vehicle. The windows of the ancient Honda were slightly frosted, but still clear enough that they could make out a person sitting in the driver’s side. The car wasn’t running, and given the low temperatures, it seemed odd that someone would choose to remain in an unheated car.

He and Tony moved slowly, using caution as they approached the vehicle.

“It’s a woman,” Tony said.

Rhys had noticed the same. Though her features were obscured by the frost on the windshield, he was able to see the slight form of a dozing female, violently shivering. Because her eyes were closed, her head tilted awkwardly in an attempt to use the headrest as a pillow, she hadn’t noticed them yet.

True to his take-charge nature, Tony crossed around the car to the driver’s-side door and tapped on the window. The woman inside jerked in surprise as Rhys remained on the sidewalk, observing. Her face was now turned away from him, so all he could see was the back of her winter hat and dark hair beneath, curling over her shoulders.

“Jess?” he heard Tony say.

His curiosity piqued, Rhys walked around the car as he asked, “Jess who?”

“The waitress from the diner.”

Rhys confirmed it was indeed the woman who typically waited on their table every Wednesday, when he and Tony met up with several other friends for lunch at Paulie’s Diner.

It was a tradition the two of them had started long before they’d ever moved in together, and one that stuck afterwards. Once a week, without fail, a large table of Moretti brothers, cousins, and their friends claimed a big table at Paulie’s to indulge in whatever the special of the day was.

Tony knocked on the window, bellowing at her as only a Moretti man could do. While Rhys was known for his gentle bedside-manner tone, Tony was brasher, more demanding, more…Italian. “What the hell are you doing out here? It’s freezing! Open the door.”

Rhys’s doctor instincts took over. “You’re going to scare the hell out of her, Tony. Move over.” He gave the waitress a smile. “It’s Rhys and Tony, from the diner, Jess,” he said. “I can see you’re cold.” She was shivering violently and hypothermia was a real concern. “We live in that building right there. Why don’t you open the car door and come inside for a few minutes? You can warm up.” They needed to get her inside sooner rather than later.

What on earth was their waitress doing parked outside on a cold winter’s morning?

Given the amount of frost on the windshield, it was a safe bet she’d actually been here most of the night.

“I’m o-k-kay,” she said through the closed window, though her chattering teeth and the weakness of her voice belied the reassurance. “I’ll l-leave.”

“That isn’t what we asked you to do,” Tony said gruffly. “Open the damn door.”

Rhys sighed. “Let me handle this, Tony.”

His friend considered the request for a moment before nodding his head just once. “Do it quick.”

Rhys didn’t take offense to the demand, used to Tony’s gruff manner. “Jess. We’re not going to hurt you. You know who we are. Please open the door.”

She didn’t move for a moment, and Rhys feared she’d refuse, start the car, and drive away.

Finally, with trembling hands, she reached for the door, unlocking it.

Tony opened it before she could, swinging it wide.

Jess flinched at the sudden gust of cold air.

“What are you doing out here?” he demanded, forgetting his agreement to let Rhys take over.

“That doesn’t matter,” Rhys interrupted when Jess’s eyes darted around, clearly looking for an escape. She looked like a kitten cornered by two big dogs. “Come on, Jess, we need to get you ins—”

“Mommy, I’m cold.”

Both he and Tony shifted their attention to the backseat as a small boy, who couldn’t be more than five or six, emerged from a huge pile of clothing.

“Mommy?” he whispered, his gaze locked on Rhys and Tony.

Jess, despite her shivering, recognized her son’s unease. “It’s o-k-kay, J-Jasper,” she said, unable to control her intense trembling, her voice weak, breathy.

Rhys’s concern grew. They needed to move her inside—but he now understood her reticence was due to her desire to protect the little boy.

“Are they bad mans?” Jasper whispered, his eyes fearful.

“M-men,” Jess instinctively corrected.

Rhys’s chest tightened when he realized—inadvertently or not—they were genuinely scaring the little boy and his mother.

Mercifully, Jess intervened quickly. “And n-no, b-buddy. Not at all. These men eat at the d-diner, where I work. They’re n-nice.”

Jasper studied them for a moment before a more pressing need than safety took over. “I’m cold,” he repeated.

“I’ll t-turn on the c-car so the heater…” Jess reached for the key, then froze, her gaze shifting to the dashboard before she closed her eyes wearily. “I, uh…” she started, but it didn’t appear as if she was going to find her words.

Utter exhaustion had partnered with her extreme shivering, her face pale with dark circles under her eyes, her dry lips chapped. Rhys hated the look of numb defeat as she lowered her hand, not bothering to attempt to start the car. “I…it…um…”

“You out of gas?” Tony asked.

She nodded, the simple motion appearing to cause her pain, which was no wonder, considering the awkward angle she’d been attempting to sleep in.

“This conversation can continue inside where it’s warm. Come on, Jess,” Rhys said, reaching for her hands, intent on getting her into one of his exam rooms, where he could treat her.

She hesitated, as did Jasper, whose look of trepidation reappeared. “Mommy,” he said, reaching for her, ready to cling to her like a life preserver.

“You like pancakes, Jasper?” Tony asked before either of the skittish pair could attempt to run. “Bacon?”

Jasper licked his lips, his hungry reaction the only response as he glanced at his mother, suddenly torn.

Rhys had to hand it to Tony. He’d found the best way to ease the boy into accepting their help. Of course, there wasn’t a Moretti man in existence who didn’t think with their stomach.

Tony knelt down, purposely making himself appear smaller—a futile act, given the man was well over six feet tall and about that broad. “I only ask because my aunt Berta is upstairs, and she makes the fluffiest, most delicious pancakes you’ve ever tasted. She drowns them in butter and maple syrup. Seems to me that might be something you’d like.”

Tony’s aunt Berta was likely still in bed asleep, but again, Tony was using everything in his arsenal to convince Jess she would be safe to come inside. She already seemed less hesitant with the knowledge another woman would be present.

The little boy’s hunger won out. “I love pancakes,” he said enthusiastically. “And bacon!”

Tony chuckled. “Come on. We need to get your mommy out of the cold air and some of those pancakes in your tummy.”

Jasper’s love for his mother took over when he turned his attention back to her, appearing to notice her distress for the first time. “Mommy. You’re shaking.”

“I’m o-k-kay, Jasper. I’m not sure… We c-can’t impose…s-should g-go.” Jess’s inability to reason things out—like the fact she’d just admitted they were out of gas, so they weren’t able to go anywhere—concerned Rhys. Hypothermia was dangerous if left untreated, and there was no way he was letting her leave until he made sure she was okay.

“No,” Rhys said more firmly, ready to drag her out of the car if necessary in order to treat her. “You know I’m a doctor, Jess. You’ve clearly been out in the elements too long. I want to do a quick exam of you—and Jasper,” he added, though it was clear the boy had been better insulated against the cold, indicated by his lack of shivering and the healthy pink hue of his cheeks. Jasper appeared to have escaped their night in the car relatively unscathed. The same couldn’t be said for his mother.

While Jasper could be coerced by food, Jess’s kryptonite was clearly her son. At the mention of examining him, she glanced back at Jasper. “Is h-he okay?” she asked, genuine concern—and fear—in her tone.

“Let’s go inside and I’ll have a look,” Rhys said noncommittally. They needed to get her warm immediately. If she continued to refuse, Rhys was going to have to let Tony steamroll through the situation. He was sort of surprised by the level of patience his friend was currently showing. Tony wasn’t the type to ask for something twice.

“F-fine,” Jess said, turning around to reach for a huge bag on the passenger seat next to her and pulling the strap over her head. It took her several attempts to pull the car keys from the ignition. Rhys started to reach in to do it, but he didn’t want to spook her. He figured the only reason Tony hadn’t intervened was because he’d opened the back door and was attempting to extract Jasper from beneath a mountain of clothing. Jess had obviously used everything at her disposal to protect her son from the cold, at the expense of her own warmth and health.

Jasper bounced out, full of energy and enthusiasm, now that a big breakfast was on his morning agenda. Jess moved more slowly, wincing in pain when her feet touched the ground.

Rhys glanced at Tony, the two of them communicating without words. Jess wasn’t going to be able to walk inside on her own.

Tony, who’d grasped Jasper’s hand, handed the little boy over to Rhys, then bent down in front of Jess, who was clinging to her huge bag and attempting to rise without giving away how much pain she was in. Rhys wasn’t sure if that was for their benefit or her son’s. Given what he’d seen from her this morning, and the small things he’d observed about her at the diner, he decided it was probably both.

“I’m going to carry you,” Tony said quietly. Jess started to shake her head, but he merely reached for her. “Nonnegotiable.”

Rhys waited as Tony picked up Jess, juggling her in his strong arms and carrying her to the sidewalk. Then Rhys shut the driver’s door, guiding Jasper in front of Tony and Jess so the two of them could open the front door to their building.

He started for one of the examination rooms, but Tony blew by him, carrying Jess to the stairs while glancing over his shoulder. “Get what you need. You can check her out in our apartment. Promised Jasper breakfast.”

Rhys considered arguing, then decided against it. Given her violent trembling, he was fairly certain she was only in the first stage of hypothermia, her case mild. Otherwise, the shivering would have stopped, and she’d be fading in and out of consciousness.

He retrieved a stethoscope—which he looped around Jasper’s neck, much to the boy’s delight—heating compresses, ibuprofen, and a couple of thermometers. Then, the two of them followed in Tony’s wake as he carried Jess up the two flights of stairs to their place.

Tony gently sat her on the couch. Jasper dropped Rhys’s hand once they were in the living room, quickly darting across the space to sit next to his mother.

As Tony placed a warm fleece blanket around her shoulders, Rhys perched on the edge of the coffee table in front of her, activated a couple of the heating compresses, and slid them inside her coat.

Turning on one of the thermometers, he held it out. “I need to take your temperature.”

Jess glanced down at Jasper. “What about h-him?”

“I’ll get to him in a minute. You’re the one I’m more worried about.”

“B-but—” Jess started.

Tony dropped down on the couch, claiming the side opposite Jasper. “Put the thermometer in your mouth, Jess.”

Rhys resisted the urge to smile when Jess shot Tony an annoyed look that gave him hope she wasn’t in serious danger, health-wise.

Tony’s demand worked when she turned back to Rhys and opened her mouth. She tried to hold the thermometer in herself, but her hand trembled too hard. Rhys gently took her hand away, holding it in his until the thermometer beeped. He withdrew it and glanced at the reading. “Ninety-five degrees. Not good but not terrible. I need to check you for frostbite,” he said, as he pulled her gloves off, looking closely at her ice-cold fingers, which were red and chapped but didn’t show any signs of severe frostbite. Then he recalled her inability to walk and reached for her foot, pulling one of her boots onto his lap to remove it.

“Tony, I need a tub of warm water and some more hot water bottles. Grab that heating pad from the linen closet too.”

“On it.” Tony rose, pulling his phone from the pocket of his Under Armour twister jacket. “I’ll text Aunt Berta to bring up her electric blanket.”

Around the same time they’d renovated this apartment, Tony’s uncle Renzo had died of a massive heart attack, leaving behind his wife, Berta. The family had been worried about Berta—who’d never had any children of her own—living alone, so Tony had created a small apartment for her on the second floor, claiming Moretti Brothers Restorations didn’t need so many offices. Berta had been delighted by the invitation to move closer to “her favorite nephew,” a line she used when talking to every single one of the Moretti boys.

And while Berta had her own place on the floor below, they were more likely to find her tidying their apartment—claiming she didn’t know how two such intelligent men were incapable of properly cleaning a bathroom—or in their kitchen, cooking them incredible, delicious meals. Those meals were the reason he and Tony were outside at the ass-crack of dawn to run, taking the risk of freezing their balls off. Aunt Berta—as she insisted everyone call her—had sort of become their unofficial third roommate over the past couple of years, as she, Tony, and Rhys formed a strange but working living arrangement.

Rhys unzipped Jess’s boot, observing that it had seen better days. He grimaced when taking note of her attempts to keep herself warm with not one, not two, but three pairs of socks. He suspected she would have kept adding more if she could have gotten the boots over them.

Jess winced once her foot was finally free, the chill of her skin almost painful for Rhys to touch. “How does it feel?” he asked.

“It prickles. Like p-pins and n-needles,” she responded.

“That’s good.”

“It is?”

He smiled. “Means we’re looking at a case of frostnip, not full-blown frostbite. Trust me, this is better.”

Looking over his shoulder, he called out for Tony. “Make sure the water in the tub is warm,” he stressed. “Not hot.”

“Got it,” Tony yelled back from the bathroom.

“What about Jasper?”

Those were the first words Jess had spoken this morning that weren’t labored, either by shallow breathing or trembling. She was beginning to warm up.

“Hang on, Miss Impatient,” he said. “You have another foot.” He removed the second boot and socks, checking it out as well. Like the other, there wasn’t a sign of frostbite, but there was no question if she’d remained outside in that cold car for much longer, the damage would have been more severe.

Jasper had remained quiet during the examination, his wide eyes tinged with fear. Rhys offered him a comforting smile. “Your mommy is fine. She just got a little bit too cold. How are you feeling?”

“Hungry,” the little boy answered honestly, and Rhys laughed. Even Jess managed a weak smile, clearly relieved to know Jasper wasn’t suffering like she was.

Now that she was warming up, her energy was waning fast. Jess looked like she hadn’t seen the inside of her eyelids in months. Her face was gaunt, pale, making the dark circles under her eyes all the more prominent.

Rhys was angry at himself for not noticing the subtle changes in her…but now that he considered it, she had lost weight in the past couple of months, and the tiredness that was now amplified by a thousand had been right there on her face the last few weeks when she’d waited on them as well.

“The clothes tent was w-warm enough?” she asked Jasper, who nodded.

“Yeah. I liked car camping, Mommy, but I don’t want to do that again.”

Jess shuddered, blinking rapidly several times. “I know.”

Rhys noticed that she didn’t offer any reassurances that they wouldn’t have to—which told him exactly how bad Jess’s situation was. Bur there wasn’t time to delve into that. Priority number one was getting her warm.

Tony returned with the tub of water and a couple towels. He placed the tub on the floor, then slid it between Rhys and Jess. Rhys checked the temperature, nodding with approval. “This is probably going to sting, but it’s the quickest way to bring your temperature back up. I assure you, this water isn’t hot enough to burn. It’s lukewarm at best.”

Jess nodded wearily as Rhys lowered her feet into the water. She winced at the first contact, then closed her eyes, trying hard not to let them see her discomfort.

She stilled for a few moments, her breathing slower, steadier, and he let her acclimate to the water.

Tony lifted the hot water bottle in his hands. “Still need this?”

Rhys took it from him. “Yes. We’ll wait a few minutes for her feet to warm up, then she can lay down and sleep with this against her chest.”

Jess’s eyes flew open. “I—we can’t stay. I have work in a couple of hours.”

Tony scowled. “I’m sure they can make do at the diner without you this morning, Jess.”

She shook her head. “Not the diner. I work as a housekeeper on the weekends. At Crossings Motel, just on the outskirts of town.”

“Rocco’s place?” Tony asked, as Rhys chuckled. Their group of friends had a standing joke, referring to Tony as “the mayor” because they were convinced that he knew every single person in the city of Philadelphia. It was impossible to go out with Tony without him stopping to chat with no less than half a dozen people he knew from God only knows where.

“Yes. You know him?” Jess asked.

Tony nodded. “My dad’s got a bunch of buddies who get together for a monthly poker game. Rocco’s always there. The guy is shit at—” Tony paused as he remembered Jasper’s presence, too late to clean up his language but making the attempt anyway. “He’s crap at bluffing.”

“What’s bluffing?” Jasper asked.

“Lying about the cards,” Tony explained.

Jasper was clearly still confused, but he didn’t press for a better answer.

“I don’t have time to sleep,” Jess repeated. “I really need to get to work. I can’t miss.”

Tony looked ready to argue the point, but that would only serve to agitate Rhys’s patient. “You said you have to be there in a couple hours?”

Jess nodded.

“Then you can lay down for one hour. Get some rest and warm up while Tony and I—”

Before he could finish, the door to their apartment opened, a female voice calling out. Jasper and Jess both jumped, but neither he nor Tony were alarmed when Aunt Berta hustled into the living room.

Tony’s aunt Berta had free rein of the place, and no doubt the unusual, early morning call for an electric blanket had been the equivalent of throwing up the Bat Signal. She fussed over them like the most loving of mother hens, and while Tony pretended to be annoyed by it, Rhys felt nothing but gratitude for her efforts on their behalf. He worked extremely long hours, his work always coming first, so he appreciated Aunt Berta taking over the household chores, buying groceries, doing the laundry, preparing meals.

They’d tried to convince her that wasn’t something they expected from her, but Aunt Berta had confided in him shortly after moving in that they’d given her a purpose after losing her beloved husband, who’d been the previous recipient of all her attention. Aunt Berta was only happy if she had someone to take care of and, according to her, they were filling that need.

“What do we have here?” Aunt Berta said, her arms laden with three hot water bottles and an electric blanket. Her curious gaze landed on Jasper first, then morphed into one of genuine concern when she saw Jess huddled under the blanket, her feet in the water.

“Oh my heavens,” she said, crossing the room to stand next to Tony. “Is everything alright?”

Tony took over the introductions. “Aunt Berta, this is Jess…” He paused. “I just realized I don’t know your last name, Jess.”

“It’s Monroe,” she replied.

“Jess Monroe,” Tony continued. “And her son, Jasper. Jess is a waitress at Paulie’s. She usually has the misfortune of having to wait on me and Rhys and the rest of the guys every Wednesday.”

Jess laughed. “It’s not a hardship. You’re good tippers.”

“I’d read him the riot act if he wasn’t,” Aunt Berta added. “I brought up the electric blanket.”

It was obvious Aunt Berta was dying of curiosity about why a waitress from Paulie’s, and her son, were in his and Tony’s apartment this early in the morning, but she didn’t ask. Rhys knew she’d corner one of them later for all the details.

“Thanks.” Tony took the blanket and plugged it in. “Jess was just going to lay down for a while. Then we have some work to do in the kitchen. We promised this little man some of your award-winning pancakes.”

“And bacon!” Jasper practically shouted.

“Jasper,” Jess said, putting her hand on his knee.

Aunt Berta lit up. If there was something she loved more than anything else, it was feeding people. “Absolutely bacon. There’s no way I’d serve pancakes without it. Would you like to help me, Jasper?”

Jasper hopped up instantly, then seemed to reconsider. “Mommy,” he said, “can I?”

“I’d welcome the help,” Aunt Berta said when it became obvious Jess was resistant. Now that she was warmer, she was plotting to escape once more.

“Please?” Jasper pleaded.

Jess relented, obviously too tired to put up much of a fight. “Okay. But be on your best behavior. It’s very nice of Miss Berta—”

“Aunt,” Berta interjected. “You call me Aunt Berta, sweet pea,” she said to Jasper, who seemed more excited about a new relative than the promised food.

“I’ll be good, Aunt Berta,” Jasper promised.

“I know you will. Now you come right on with me to the kitchen and we’ll whip up a breakfast fit for a king.”

Jasper practically bounced out of the room after taking Aunt Berta’s hand.

“And now…” Rhys said, lifting Jess’s feet from the water. After another quick, cursory exam, he dried them off and shifted the tub of water out of the way. “Lay down, Jess.”

She looked as if she wanted to argue, but exhaustion was clearly winning the day. “Only for a few minutes,” she said, shifting on the couch to lie on her side, facing them. She hadn’t bothered to take off her coat, and he wondered if that was based on the fact that she was still cold or simply too tired to make the effort.

Tony took the electric blanket and spread it over her. “Warm enough?”

She nodded drowsily. “So warm. Just going to rest my eyes. Just a little while. I promise,” she murmured, sleep claiming her quickly, her breathing slower, deeper.

Rhys knew a brief respite wasn’t going to be nearly enough, but he’d missed his opportunity to convince her to call in sick. She was already dead to the world.

He gently felt her forehead, relieved to discover she was warmer. She’d been very lucky—and he intended to make sure she realized just how much, before she left their apartment.

“Breakfast?” he whispered to Tony, who was staring at Jess with an expression somewhere between concern and frustration.

Tony nodded and followed him out of the living room.

Chapter 3

“She needs hours of sleep, not a damn catnap,” Tony said to Rhys, just outside the doorway to the kitchen. He kept his voice low so that Aunt Berta and Jasper wouldn’t hear him.

“I know, but I think we’ve already pushed the limit on what we can get her to agree to. She was reluctant to come in and be examined. I’m fairly certain there’s no way we’ll talk her into staying longer.”

“Of course we can. We just take away her reason for leaving.” Tony pulled out his phone.

“Who are you calling?” Rhys asked, but Tony ignored him, knowing perfectly well his friend wouldn’t agree with what he was about to do.

He turned away from Rhys when Rocco answered on the third ring.

“Hey, Rocco,” he said. “This is Tony Moretti.”

He heard Rhys’s heavy sigh behind him. “Jesus, Tony.”

He didn’t bother turning around to acknowledge his friend’s disdain.

“Tony,” Rocco said, his voice thick and raspy, a dead giveaway that the old guy was a two-pack-a-day chain smoker and had been since birth. “How you doin’?”

“Doing good.”

“Your dad tell you about my big win last month?” Rocco asked. “I cleaned up.”

Tony chuckled. “He told me.”

“You finally gonna get in on the game?”

“Hell no,” Tony said. “You guys cheat.”

Rocco laughed, the mirthful sound dissolving into a wet cough that had Tony wondering if he should suggest the old guy pay Rhys a visit for a checkup.

“Not me,” Rocco declared after catching his breath. “But I wouldn’t put it past Harvey Mitchell to hide an ace or three up his sleeve. Competitive bastard.”

“Takes one to know one. Listen, Rocco,” Tony said, getting to the reason for his call. “I’m calling about Jess Monroe. She works for you as a housekeeper.”

“Jess? Is she okay?”

Tony took note of Rocco’s sudden change in demeanor, the joking tone replaced by one of concern.

“Yeah, she’s fine. She showed up here this morning,” Tony fibbed, “to see Rhys. She’s sick and needs some rest. I was wondering if you thought you could make do without her today.”

“Oh sure, sure. Got a couple a gals I can call in to take the shift. Is Jasper sick too?”

“No. He’s in the kitchen putting a dent in a stack of Aunt Berta’s pancakes.”

Rocco chuckled. “I bet he is. God bless that kid’s appetite. Tell Jess to take it easy and if she’s not better by tomorrow, just give me a call and I’ll get someone to cover her again.”

“Will do. And thanks, Rocco.”

“No problem. Hope you reconsider joining us for this month’s game—and bring your doctor friend. Be nice to have some new blood in the group.”

“You’re just looking for someone else to fleece.”

Rocco laughed. “That too. Gets boring stealing your dad’s money month after month. Give it some thought,” he said before disconnecting.

When Tony finally faced his friend, he saw exactly what he expected.

Rhys was annoyed. “Seriously, Tony? You barely know this woman, yet you think it’s okay to call in sick for her?”

“Rocco’s motel rooms have exterior doors, not some fancy interior hallway. Which means Jess would be going right back out in the elements in a couple of hours. Would you recommend that as a doctor?”

“Of course not, but that’s not our call to make.”

Tony shrugged unapologetically. “Well, I made it my call.”

Rhys’s expression was just what Tony would have expected—resigned but unwilling to rock the boat or make a big issue of it.

Tony had lots of lifelong friends, guys he’d grown up with, played street hockey with, chased pretty girls with, and gotten drunk with.

Rhys wasn’t on that list. The two of them had met eight years ago, when Rhys began renting the first floor of this building and converted it into a doctor’s office. At the time, Tony had been working on the second floor with his dad and Uncle Renzo, learning the ropes of running Moretti Brothers Restorations. For the first couple of years, he and Rhys had been nothing more than acquaintances, exchanging a few pleasantries whenever their paths crossed.

One day, on a lark, Tony had invited Rhys to join him, his brothers, and friends for the Wednesday lunch get-together. And to his surprise, the workaholic doctor accepted.

Since then, Rhys had surpassed all the guys Tony had known forever, becoming his best friend in an opposites-attract sort of way.

Rhys was calm to Tony’s hot-headed, careful to Tony’s impulsive, and where Rhys was driven by rational thought, Tony tended to act on pure emotion most of the time, led by gut feelings instead of his brain.

As such, he’d seen Jess shivering in that car and it flipped a switch inside him. He couldn’t stand aside when someone was suffering, and though Jess put on a strong front, he could see the fear, the desperation lingering in her eyes.

He was going to help her whether she wanted him to or not.

“I wouldn’t expect her to thank you for that call,” Rhys said, proving exactly what Tony knew. Rhys had seen Tony’s alpha male surface, and had—in his logical way—played the entire scenario through to the fallout. “Something tells me that once she’s warmed up and gotten some sleep, her real personality will emerge. My money is on spitfire.”

Tony smiled, hoping that was true. Over the years, Jess had become more at ease with their lunchtime gang, trading jokes and sometimes playful barbs. Ordinarily, she was always cheerful and friendly, and it wasn’t a coincidence they always chose to sit in her section.

Jess was a great waitress, attentive without hovering, intelligent, funny…and if he was being really honest, gorgeous as hell. She wasn’t hard on the eyes with her wavy chocolate-brown hair, bright blue eyes, high cheekbones, and petite but curvy figure.

He hadn’t liked seeing her so beaten down this morning. And he realized there had been subtle changes in her appearance—weight loss and dark circles under her eyes—for several weeks now. He was kicking himself for not taking the time to ask if she was okay.

“She’s looked tired at work,” Tony mused.

“Yeah. I was thinking the same thing. I should have noticed. Should have asked if she was alright. I’m feeling like a pretty shitty doctor right now.”

Tony waved those words away. “You’re a good doctor. We don’t know Jess outside of the diner, so how were we supposed to know the tiredness was more than just a bad night’s sleep or the weight loss wasn’t part of some diet?”

Rhys wasn’t that easily convinced, but he didn’t continue the argument. “She’s going to be pissed when she wakes up.”

“Yeah, well, she would have been late for work even if I hadn’t called Rocco—because I don’t intend to let her leave here today until we find out why she was sleeping in a car outside our building.”

“Awesome,” Rhys muttered. “So now you’re adding kidnapping to your list of offenses.”

Tony laughed. “Nothing quite that dire. Unless it becomes necessary, of course. Let’s keep that option in reserve.”

The sound of Jasper’s laughter drifted from the kitchen, prompting both him and Rhys to smile. Jess had a seriously cute son.

“We better get in there,” Tony said, “before the kid eats all our pancakes.”

Rhys turned and led the way just as Aunt Berta placed another pancake on Jasper’s plate.

The little boy looked up at their arrival, his cheeks protruding like a squirrel hoarding nuts.

“Aunt Berta can make pictures in her pancakes!” he said through his full mouth. “I got Mickey Mouse.”

Rhys joined the boy at the table, while Tony stepped next to his aunt at the stove. “Can I get an Angelina Jolie one?” he joked.

Aunt Berta playfully smacked him on the arm. “You and Rhys are getting my standard circles.”

“You’re no fun,” he teased, giving her a quick kiss on the cheek. “What can I help you with?”

“Nothing. I have everything well in hand. You go on over there and sit with Jasper and Rhys, and I’ll have a stack ready for both of you in a jiffy.”

As Tony approached the table, he watched as Rhys put his hand over Jasper’s, stopping the boy from taking another bite.

“Slow down, Jasper. Chew what’s in your mouth and swallow first. Otherwise, you’re likely to choke,” he cautioned.

Jasper nodded. “Okay,” he said, the word muffled once more by his mouthful of pancakes.

“Here we are,” Aunt Berta said as she placed two more plates on the table, one for him and one for Rhys. She turned back to the stove, then returned with another plate loaded down with crisp bacon.

Jasper’s eyes widened. “Could I have a piece of bacon, please?”

Aunt Berta picked up a fork and speared three pieces to put on Jasper’s plate. “You can have as many slices as you want.”

“Really?” Jasper picked up the first piece, consuming it so fast, Tony wondered if he’d swallowed it whole.

“Now there’s a good lad,” Aunt Berta said, patting Jasper on the head. “Nice to see a boy enjoying his breakfast. Not picking at it like young Billy.”

Billy was one of Tony’s second cousins, and the finickiest kid he’d ever met. The family joked that Billy must have been switched at birth because if there was one thing the Morettis loved more than hockey, it was food.

“Is Mommy going to eat?” Jasper asked, eyeballing the bacon plate that was dwindling, now that he and Rhys had helped themselves to several slices.

“Your mom is asleep,” Rhys said. “I don’t think she got much rest last night.”

Jasper put another bite of pancakes in his mouth, but this one was smaller. He appeared to have hit his limit on breakfast after four Mickey Mouse pancakes and three pieces of bacon. Tony wondered if it was a bad idea to let him stuff himself so full. While he had several cousins with kids about Jasper’s age, he didn’t spend a lot of time with them, and he certainly didn’t pay much attention to their eating habits.

“She stayed up to turn the heat on when I got cold,” Jasper explained.

“I see. Do you and your mommy spend the night in the car a lot?” Rhys asked.

Jasper shook his head. “No. Last night was the first time we went car camping.”

“Where do you usually sleep?” Tony asked, aware they were more likely to get truthful answers from Jasper than Jess.

Jasper shrugged. “Depends. We used to sleep in our apartment until Mr. Robertson put a letter on our door and said we couldn’t stay there anymore. Then we started sleeping on Miss Debbie’s couch, but now we can’t stay there on account of the bad man.”

“Bad man?” Tony asked.

“He’s Miss Debbie’s brother-law,” Jasper said, mislabeling the title. “He got out of jail and he’s not very nice. He said some mean things to Mommy.” He leaned forward and whispered, “Bad words. About her butt,” before adding, “I…I didn’t like him. He was scary.” The slight tremble in his voice gave away his fear—and suddenly Tony understood Jasper’s question in the car about whether or not he and Rhys were bad men.

“So you don’t sleep there anymore?” Rhys asked.

Jasper shook his head. “No. We stayed with a couple more people, on their couches, but they said we couldn’t keep doing that. And we couldn’t ask to stay with Miss Brenda, on account she doesn’t want to babysit me anymore. And we can’t go back to that one shelter ’cause there was a mean woman there. Mommy said she took some drugs and they made her say a lot of bad words, just like the bad man who tried to steal Mommy’s bag with all our stuff in it. She wouldn’t give it to him and he knocked her down, and then some other guys came over and they made the bad man run away.”

Tony felt sick as he listened to Jasper retell stories of things he was too young to have experienced. “You stay in the shelter a lot?”

“Just the one time. We tried to go to the nice one last night, but they didn’t have any beds, so Mommy said we could go car camping. She made me a cocoon, like a butterfly, and put all our clothes on me. And we had camp food.”

“Camp food?” Rhys asked.

“Peanut butter crackers. But Mommy didn’t have any because she was still stuffed from lunch, couldn’t eat another bite.”

Under normal circumstances, Tony might have found humor in the small boy parroting back what were clearly his mother’s words. As it was, he suspected Jess gave up her food to ensure Jasper wouldn’t go to sleep hungry. Just as she’d made certain he would be warm at the expense of her own comfort. Those things would be admirable…if her actions hadn’t been so damned dangerous.

He exchanged glances with Rhys, aware that his friend had come to the same conclusion. Jess and Jasper had absolutely no business staying in the homeless shelters.

“Sounds like you’ve had quite the adventure,” Aunt Berta said carefully.

Tony had been aware of her quiet presence by the stove, knew she’d been hanging on Jasper’s every word. He glanced in her direction, and it was as if he was looking in a mirror. He felt every bit of the determination he saw etched on his aunt’s face. Aunt Berta had found a new cause—and it was Jess and Jasper.

He hated to break it to his aunt, but she was going to have to get in line behind him.

Then he mentally added Rhys’s name to that list as well, when his roommate reached out to ruffle the boy’s hair fondly. “We’re glad we ran into you and your mommy.”

Now that his stomach was full and he was warm, Jasper began squirming on the chair, uncertain what to do without his mother there to guide him.

“I have some crayons and coloring books down in my apartment,” Aunt Berta said to Jasper. “I keep them there for when the great-nieces and nephews come to visit.”

“What makes them great?” Jasper asked with genuine interest, prompting all three of the adults to laugh.

“So many things,” Aunt Berta said in response. “How would you like to come color me a picture while your mommy sleeps?”

“Okay,” Jasper said enthusiastically as he glanced at Rhys and Tony. “May I be excused?”

Rhys nodded. “Of course.”

“Such lovely manners,” Aunt Berta said, praising Jasper as he rose from his chair and accepted her proffered hand, the two of them leaving the kitchen, as if they were long-lost friends.

“Those two can’t spend any more nights in the shelters.” Tony wasn’t sure how he was going to convince Jess to accept their help, but she sure as hell wasn’t leaving until she did.

“I agree, but I don’t know how she’d feel about accepting financial help from us. Seems to be quite a bit of pride in that little frame of hers.” Rhys looked at his watch and cursed under his breath. “Unfortunately, I don’t have time to brainstorm options with you. I have a couple of patients coming in this morning.”

“You know…you could take Saturdays off occasionally.”

Rhys grinned. “I’ll do that. Just as soon as people stop getting sick over the weekend.”

Tony shook his head, well aware his words were wasted on his workaholic roommate.

“I need to get downstairs. You good here?”

“Yeah. I’ll be fine. I’ve got some paperwork to do. I’ll hit the recliner in the living room with my laptop and watch over our patient, make sure she’s okay.”

Rhys nodded. “Text me when she wakes up.”

“I will.”

Rhys left the room as Tony remained at the kitchen table, lightly tapping his fork against the surface as he considered everything Jasper had told them.

Then he thought about Jess. He’d seen her nearly every Wednesday for years as she waited on him and Rhys, as well as his brothers and cousins, but apart from her pretty face and cheerful demeanor, he’d known very little else about her.

Hell, he didn’t even know she had a kid until this morning.

He hadn’t truly noticed Jess Monroe before today. She was simply one of a hundred people who crossed his path during any given day, their interactions straightforward, simple, never going any deeper than what was on the surface.

However, now that he had seen her, learned about her life, discovered bits and pieces of who she was, he couldn’t look away.

Wouldn’t look away.

Because he wanted to know more.

Rising, he grabbed his laptop and quietly walked into the living room. Jess was still sound asleep, and he was relieved to see some color had returned to her cheeks. She was breathing slowly and steadily, getting the rest she desperately needed.

He refused to wake her up, and he didn’t care if she gave him hell for it.

Jess was exactly where she needed to be for now.

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