Skin Dive by Ava Gray

recognized the desperation in her threadbare secondhand jeans and the slightly too-large sweatshirt.
    “You looking for a cash arrangement?” he asked.
    “That’d be best. I’ll work hard, harder than anybody who ever walked through that door.”
    A gruff laugh escaped him, then he turned and yelled toward the kitchen, “Hear that, you sons of bitches?” Facing her, he added, “It wouldn’t take much to beat this lot. I got one waitress, I tend bar, and Manny makes burgers and cheese fries for the drunks. You’d be on cleanup. You willing to bus tables, too?”
    “I’ll do whatever work needs doing.”
    “Bathrooms, dishes, floors?” He raised a brow like he expected her to argue.
    The fact of the matter was, the money Taye had taken from the ATM in Pittsburgh wouldn’t keep them much longer. He’d rented a studio apartment, using most of it, so if one of them didn’t find a job, they’d starve. If he powered up again, the consequences would be worse.
    She nodded. “I know how to mop, wipe tables, and push a broom.”
    “Come back tonight. You’ll work from seven to three, five nights a week. Five dollars an hour, one meal included in your pay, if you can stand to eat Manny’s cooking.”
    “I heard that!”
    “Ignore him. Anyway, I’m Michael McGinty . . . you can call me Mick.”
    Gillie extended her hand politely. “I’m—”
    “Are you gonna lie to me?”
    “Yes,” she admitted.
    “Then I’ll save you some time and call you Red. Unless you mind.”
    “No, that’s fine. I’ll be back at seven then. Thank you.”
    It didn’t surprise her to find Taye waiting outside, even though she had asked him to let her do this by herself. He felt responsible for her, and she couldn’t seem to cure him of that impulse, no matter how much she insisted she wanted to make her own way. But at the moment, she was too pleased to have that argument again.
    “I got the job.” She grinned up at him.
    He opened his arms, offering a celebratory hug, and she wished his affection didn’t come with such labels on it. But she didn’t turn him down; instead she ran to him and let him swing her off her feet in a slow circle.
    Once he set her back down and they fell in step heading back to the apartment, he said, “Me, too. I’m loading down at the docks.”
    “Under the table?” she guessed.
    “That’s the only work we’ll be able to find until I get us some new IDs.”
    “Which will take money.”
    There was an easy fix, of course. Taye wanted to gamble by using his ability and then bail before Kestrel could get a team to them. But Gillie wasn’t eager to risk capture again; they couldn’t be guaranteed of finding a safe hidey-hole again. She preferred to work and lay low. Living on their combined salaries, surely they could save enough to get new paperwork in time. They just had to take care until then.
    “I’m working the day shift, but I’ll be able to pick you up at night.”
    Gillie stifled a smile. “Thank you.”
    “We need to talk about living arrangements—”
    “Why?” She raised a brow. “It makes sense that we share the apartment. We need to save money, remember?”
    He gave her a dark look, but didn’t argue.
    That set the tone for the next couple of weeks. The work at McGinty’s was hard and unpleasant, as Mick had warned her, but she liked pulling her own weight, even when it involved mopping up someone’s drunken bender or plunging a toilet. By the time she finished at night, she was exhausted, but she always went home feeling like she’d earned her pay.
    And she always found Taye waiting when she got off work. Though she’d never admit it, without him, she would have been frightened walking the blocks between the apartment and the bar. Half the time, the streetlights didn’t work, and sometimes men hung out on corners and on front stoops until all hours. With him beside her, they didn’t bother her.
    Once they got home, she hung up her jacket and gave him the takeout