What was the job of a sidekick to a superhero? That wasn’t a question Kevin ever thought he’d be asking himself. So far he’d provided aid and comfort, material support, drove the getaway vehicle twice, conducted research.
Hot sex in the front seat of his car.
Okay, that probably came under aid and comfort.
What would it take to get Bessonov off the streets, preferably without killing him? Frankly, he had no ideas. He had more experience committing crimes, albeit petty rich boy stuff, than fighting crime. For now, he’d leave that stuff to Dani. As far as he could figure right now, the best thing he could do was make sure she was better protected the next time she went up against Bessonov or any other bad guys. He had a few ideas about how to do that.
He cleaned up and went shopping, first to a motorcycle apparel store, then to a BDSM boutique. Dani was still asleep when he got back, so he arranged everything on the living room furniture for her to examine. Then he waited, and tried to avoid thinking about difficult things while he cleaned up his studio.
That proved impossible.
He wanted her to stay, but the potential consequences scared him. He didn’t want either of them to get hurt, or go to jail. He didn’t want either of them to suffer a broken heart. Helping her, being involved with her in any way, was dangerous on so many levels. But he couldn’t ask her to leave, or stop helping her, or stop caring about her. And it wasn’t just because she’d saved his life. Dani helped people who had no one else on their side. She was fighting a war within herself, and Kevin wanted to see her win.
By the time she woke he’d been downstairs for a while, reading. Her dark hair fell in a mass of thick waves down her back. She rubbed sleep from her eyes and surveyed the clothes arrayed on the sofa.
“This stuff.” She picked up a pair of black straight fit jeans and checked out the pockets right above the knees. “There’s extra padding here.”
“The denim is also reinforced with Kevlar.”
“Kevlar?” She looked up at him, grinning.
“I don’t know that it’s enough to stop a bullet.” He gestured at the clothing. “This is all motorcycle gear. All reinforced with Kevlar. Padding at the knees and elbows. It’s not armor, but it will protect you better than regular clothing and you can still walk around in it and not be noticed.” He picked up a long sleeve black tee. “The guy at the store said you need to wear a regular cotton tee underneath this. Apparently Kevlar isn’t quite as bad as road rash but it’s still not fun in a crash.”
She nodded and moved on to another piece. It was a fitted denim jacket with an attached black hood made of soft sweatshirt material. After that was a long sleeve black leather shirt, then a black and white flannel plaid. More pants, both denim and leather. Two pairs of boots.
He picked up the pair with three buckles on the sides. “Nice functional heel and steel toes. Thought you’d like that.”
“Hell, yeah. This stuff is awesome.”
“There’s more.” Kevin retrieved a glossy black shopping bag from beside his desk. “A hood’s not really good enough and the ski mask can’t be the most comfortable thing to wear this time of year. So I got these for you to try.” He took two black leather masks from the bag and held them out for her inspection. One was a simple domino mask. The other had more to it and would cover the top half of her face. It also had –
“Cat ears?” Dani gave him a death glare.
He coughed. “There wasn’t a lot to choose from.”
“You were doing so good with all the reinforced with Kevlar and the functional heels. But cat ears? Dude.”
“I restrained myself from buying you a cape. And I never seriously considered the skin tight leather body suit and stilettos. Don’t I at least get credit for that?” Another death glare. Okay, so no credit for that.
Dani grabbed the domino mask then gathered up a pair of jeans, the black tee, the flannel shirt, and the denim jacket with the hoodie. “What about gloves?”
He dug through another shopping bag then came up with a pair of black leather motorcycle gloves. She shifted everything to one arm and took the gloves. “I don’t know about these holes at the knuckles.”
Kevin swore. “I didn’t even think about that. Sorry.”
She pointed at the boots. “Can you hand me those?”
He did as asked. “I was thinking I could create a logo for you.”
Dani grimaced. “I don’t like being called a ghost.” She headed for the stairs.
“Have you thought about another name?”
“Nope.”
“We could add a few splashes of hot pink to all the black and you could call yourself Girl Power.”
“Ooh, and your sidekick name could be Boy Toy.”
“I would actually be okay with that.”
Dani came to a stop on the third step. “What the hell kind of girl power is this, letting a guy buy my clothes for me?”
Now it was Kevin’s turn to grimace. “You’re unemployed and broke. I’m unemployed too but I have that handy trust fund.”
“I don’t know what I want,” she said. “But living off somebody else isn’t it.”
That didn’t surprise him. “You’ll figure it out. Until then…I told people I hired you to teach me self-defense. Just because it’s not the whole truth doesn’t mean it can’t be true.”
“Teach you self-defense to pay for all these clothes?” She hefted the load in her arms.
“Seems like a fair trade to me.” He approached the stairs and gazed up at her. “I owe you my life. Let me help you until you get on your feet. I understand why you’re not entirely comfortable with the situation. I wouldn’t be if I were in your place. But don’t let pride keep you from accepting help when you need it.”
Dani gazed at the bundle of clothes in her arms. “I guess the whole brooding loner thing is overrated.”
Kevin smiled. “Why brood alone when you can brood with a friend?”
Her mouth tipped up in a slight smile. “You never brooded in your life, Boy Toy.”
“I’m Irish. Believe me, I brood.”
“Thank you for this,” she said.
“Shakedown run tonight?”
Dani nodded. “Then check in with Housecat.”
“I’ve got to be at the shelter tonight.”
She let out a soft, brief burst of laughter.
“What?”
She said, “We’re both doing community service to atone for our sins.”
Kevin looked away. “That we are.” He indicated the clothes. “Go change. I want to see you in that mask.” He wagged his eyebrows.
This time her glare came with a hint of a smile. While he waited, he folded the rest of the clothes and put them all in one big shopping bag. After a short time he heard boot falls on the stairs.
Dani stood on the bottom step. All in black. Fierce. Beautiful. And sexy as hell in that domino mask.
Kevin whistled. “If you wear the mask with the kitty ears, I’ll let you do naughty things to me.”
“As if it would take even that much.”
He laughed. “True.”
She plunged her hands into her hair and untied the mask then shoved the leather into a pocket. “Anything on the hashtag?”
“Just chatter. You heading out?”
“Time for a workout.” Excitement lit her up like the city lights at night, her eyes gleaming with anticipation.
“Okay. Be careful. Or at least not too egregiously reckless.”
“Sure thing.” She came close, so close that the warmth of her body did funny things to his insides. And some of his outsides. “But just in case, come to the shelter in that stupid fast car.” It wasn’t a request.
He didn’t even mind. “You got it.”
Dani grabbed his collar and pulled him down. Before he knew what hit him, her mouth was on his. The kiss was sweet and a little feral and before it could become a competition for dominance, it was over. She left without another word.