"Fuck're doing here?" Stopping mid-stride into his office, Jason came to a grounding halt when his eyes landed on the redhead sitting behind his desk. Shelby Smith had the nerve to flash him one of her southern smiles that oozed sexual promise from her perch in his chair, not bothering to remove her boots from the desk.

"Now is that a way to greet a lady?"

"Pardon me." Glaring at the woman, Jason tossed the keys he'd been fisting near her feet. "Good morning, why the fuck are you in my office."

Pretending not to notice the lush sulk she gave him, Jason turned his back on her to look out the large window that had a bird's eye view of the warehouse below. Not barely seven and the place was a fury of activity.

Every dockhand and employee had shown up to lend a hand to clean the mess the PCPD made the night before. Only a handful of men had silently grumbled it was their day off. Besides them, the others were more than willing to pitch in. They had first hand knowledge how most warehouses operated. Crappy conditions. Crappier pay. Threat of a pink slip dogged their every step. So coming to work for him and Sonny was like finding the golden ticket. Steady pay, that was well above any other blue collar job out there. Spotless environment and bosses who respected them, meant loyal employees who were willing to do what had to be done.

Too freaking bad they were giving up their day off because Ric Lansing was a flaming douche bag. His men had torn into almost every burlap bag of Columbian bean. Too bad the idiots only found coffee.

"Now sugar, we used to be friends." Shelby's manipulative purr came from behind, and a red flashing light went off in Jason's head. "More than friends if I remember correctly."

"Yeah." Crossing his arms and turning around, Jason smirked back at the redhead. "We're all entitled to a few mistakes now and again."

Shelby's amber eyes flashed before she could catch herself, but like the good little actress she was she had herself under control in seconds. "I still think you'll realize your mistake and come back to me. Until then I thought I'd pitch in around here."

Reminded of his lack in judgement from a few years back left a nasty taste in his mouth. They couldn't have been more different but it hadn't stopped him from sniffing around. The first few months were fine, especially when he was under the charm of her southern roots. It didn't take long after that to chip away at the carefully created facade to the woman beneath.

Where Carly wanted a powerful man to take care of her. Shelby wanted a powerful man for the power. It was no secret she was vying for the position of the next Mrs Morgan. Which hadn't sat well with Carly. She may have moved out and all but signed her name on the dotted line that would make him a free man, but she wasn't the type to share. Whether she liked the toy or not.

Oddly enough it had been his estranged wife who'd pointed out a few well concealed faults Shelby had lying beneath the surface that he'd missed. The clincher was Shelby's intense dislike of children. Their 'relationship' had quickly unraveled after that, just months before Carly's death.

Jason wasn't a fool and know a coincidence when it was spitting back at him in the face. But the lack of proof couldn't say Sonny into firing the bitch. With all the inside information she had through her employment, then the stuff she'd learned as his #$ buddy, getting handed her walking papers wasn't an option. Her dismissal would have to be permanent. Without the proof, he was stuck with her.

"Heard you had a busy night last night." Heading back to the desk, she plopped herself down on the edge.

Not saying anything, Jason grunted while looking at her from the corner of his eye.

"Also heard a pretty little school teacher came to your rescue."

"Is there a reason you're still here?" Wanting to grab her and physically toss her from the room, Jason turned his scowl in her direction and hoped she bought herself a clue.

Ignoring his response, Shelby put her hands on her knees and leaned over. Her low cut top dipped a little lower, showing off the wonderful assets her mother gave her. "So how'd you get little Miss Purity to lie for you, honey? I thought types like her had brooms shoved up their behinds when it came to lying."

Giving her a steady glare, Jason felt irritation wash over him. He'd made a huge error in judgement the night before by using Elizabeth as an alibi. Not only was she forced in a position to support his claim, but she was now on Ric Lansing's black list. Once word got around town, people were going to start assuming there was something going on between them. Elizabeth Webber's reputation was going to be in shreds by the middle of the next week, if not sooner.

"Hey Jase?" Francis's head popped in the open door and whatever he was about to say died on his lips when he spotted Shelby.

"Hey Francis." In a rich slow drawl, Shelby gave the blushing guard a wink before scooting off the desk. "I'll be on my way. Maybe I'll stop by Miss Webber's house to make sure she's recovering from the injuries she got from her little fall."

"Don't bother." Swinging his attention from Francis back to her, Jason gave her a calculating look. Like Carly, Shelby enjoyed stirring up trouble where it didn't exist. "She's fine and doesn't need any of your shit."

"Whatever Sugar." With a lazy roll of her shoulders, Shelby sashayed out of the office.

When she was out of sight, Francis moved further into the room. "I thought you two were over."

"We are." Free to take a seat behind his desk, Jason slumped in his chair and lowered his head to his hands. "I can't believe I slept with her."

"I can." Francis quickly replied. "We're men. Which mean we do stupid shit when it comes to getting a piece of ass. What I can't believe is that your sac didn't shrivel up and fall off after you slept with her."

"I wish Sonny'd just get rid of her. Send her to the island or something." Sighing, he rubbed at his eyes while a jaw crackling yawn took over.

"She may be a conniving bitch, but she's one helluva a doctor." Taking a seat across the desk, Francis tried to find a comfortable position. "Light with a needle, and has a gentle touch when it comes to broken ribs. It's the only reason Sonny hired her. You know how he feels about woman in the business."

Grunting, Jason instinctively grabbed for the bottle of Excedrin from the top drawer and swallowed a few dry. He may not have a headache now, but experience had taught him he'd be seeing black dots in a few hours.

"What'd you want?"

Remembering why he'd interrupted in the first place, Francis leaned his large frame forward. "Bart returned your phone call. Something about a pick up? I didn't know one of the vehicle's were acting up."

Searching his scrambled brain, Jason nodded. "They're not. It's Elizabeth's car I want him to fix. It's the least I could do after last night."

Francis's brows shot into his hairline. "If you wanna do her a favor you should buy her a new one and send her death trap to the scrap yard. She know about this?"

Looking perplexed, Jason shook his head. "No. I want you to meet him there. Let her know she'll have it back in a few days."

Grumbling something under his breath that sounded a lot like freaking wuss, Francis straightened up. "I know this isn't any of my business -."

"Then keep your mouth shut." Jason interrupted without much malice.

"But as your best friend -."

"No you're not. Johnny is."

Continuing on without skipping a beat, Francis couldn't keep his mouth from curving into something that might be considered as a smile. "Maybe you should go over there and meet Bart."

"I have crap to do around here." Not liking the way the other man was looking at him, Jason's scowled deepened. "Have you taken a look at the mess the warehouse is in?"

"Yeah. But the men have it under control."

"Then there's Luke's freaking bar."

"Clean up crew left two hours ago. Place is so clean you could eat off the floors." Smirking, Francis imitated one of Jason's favorite poses and crossed his thick arms across his chest. "Why are you fighting this? I've seen the way you look at her."

"Yeah? Kinda like I want to strangle her?"

Rolling his eyes, Francis shook his head sadly. "Maybe when you two first met -."

"I've known her for almost three weeks. I'd have to say we're still in the first met stages." There were certain topics he hated talking about. His parenting, when his well meaning family decided to stick their big fat noses into his life. The business with idiots who were fishing for information. And woman. The later because they confused the hell out of him, and there hadn't been one he'd met who hadn't snowed him over.

"Face it, she's different from the trash we're used to. She's smart, funny and has a killer rack. The rest of her body could make a man swallow their tongue."

Glaring at his friend from across the desk, Jason swallowed down the unwanted urge to strike out at him. "Then you date her."

Looking thoughtful, Francis nodded. "Not a bad idea. Mom's been on my ass to settle down with a good girl who'll pop out a litter of Grandkids. Think she's Catholic?"

"Francis, shut the fuck up."

"I'm just saying -."

"Her car's not running and I wanted to thank her, not get in her pants."

"Bullshit." Francis drawled. "We're men. We think about sex at least twenty-three hours a day. If you don't think of a hot sweaty screw when you look at her there's something wrong with you."

"You didn't hear the way Lansing talked about her." Scratching the side of his head, Jason swallowed the bile that was rising in his throat. "Things are going to get a lot worse for her because of that asshole. I screwed up last night by using her as an alibi. I should've figured out some other way. Now she's got Lansing as an enemy because of me."

"That's crap." Francis snorted. "The second that girl became acquainted with Luke Spencer she inherited a shit load of enemies. You're just the icing on top."

"Will you just go away?"

"Nah, I enjoy putting a hair across your ass." Leaning back again, in apparent good cheer, Francis sighed. "Just go Jase. You know if you stay here you'll only end up swallowing a handful of pills and still end up with a raging headache."

Contemplating his friend's words, Jason heard a loud crash from somewhere in the building. "I think you're right."

Feeling the persistent nudge against her cheek, Elizabeth made one last swipe, knowing that it was futile. There was one thing to be said about Church. He wasn't the type of cat who would be ignored. When he wanted attention or food, not necessarily in that order, he always got what he wanted. If not, he had ways of making an owner pay. As of date, his favorite retribution was hacking up hairballs. In a shoe, on a new throw rug, the couch. It didn't matter, just as long as his aggravation was known.

He also didn't particularly care that his owner had gotten little to no sleep the night prior. Middle of the night visits that had his owner being pulled out of the house meant nothing to him. As long as breakfast was on time, and his ears were scratched.

Elizabeth knew this about her cat. She knew he was grumpy and didn't care much for strangers. But it was also the reason why she loved him so much. He'd adopted her three years ago, when she'd forced him out of the rain. She'd told him it was only for the night. He'd looked back at her with a gleam in his beady little eyes.

Trying to pull the covers over her head, Elizabeth gave up in a huff when Church started walking up and down the length of her body. Meowing as if he'd been injured in a four car pile up.

"Fine!" Swiping off the blankets, Elizabeth glared at the animal who'd gracefully leapt out of the way. "You act like you're starved."

Grabbing the terrycloth rob from the chair she flung it last, Elizabeth pulled it on. "You know, since the move you've been packing on the weight. I'm only telling you this cause I love you."

With a indignant meow and a flick of his tail, Church turned his nose up in the air and headed to the door.

"I'm up your highness." Hurrying after him, Elizabeth watched as he disappeared around the corner. "Don't you dare cough up any hairballs buddy! Or I swear I will go out and buy a puppy."

Reaching the kitchen in time to watch her house mate circle his bowl, Elizabeth wasted no time in filling up the water dish and cracking open Church's favorite canned meal. "I'm surprised you don't insist on eating out of crystal."

Looking down for a brief moment while he licked at his breakfast, Elizabeth wondered if she was on the verge of becoming that crazy cat-woman everyone talked about. She was still a little young to fit the profile, but her relationship with the furball was pushing on neurotic.

"After the night I had, I was hoping you'd have the courtesy to let me sleep in." Elizabeth smothered a laugh when Church lifted his head and stared at her before licking his chops lazily. She believed it was a cat's equivalent of a shoulder shrug.

She was becoming the crazy Cat lady.

The sound of a low roll of thunder from off in the distance snapped her back. Looking outside, Elizabeth frowned at the weather. Never in her life had she seen so much rain. It seemed like that's all it ever did was drizzle bucket loads. Unlike Colorado, with it's drier climates, New York seemed to survive in a water tank.

"Are you satisfied now?" Looking back down at the cat, Elizabeth ran a hand through her tousled hair. "If it's not too much of a bother I'm going to go take a shower now."

Pushing herself away from the counter, Elizabeth headed to the next room. Her eyes drifted to the window, to the falling rain before stopping and taking a double take. A frown spread across her lips, and her heart skipped a beat. Backed up to her rust bucket of a car, was a huge white truck, with flashing yellow lights. The words Bart's Towing was written on the side in black and blue letters.

It wasn't the truck that had her running for the front door. Instead it was the man who was situating her car on the back ramp that made her break out into a cold sweat. It may be a crappy car, but damnit, it was her car.

Ignoring the pelting raindrops, or the fact she was still barefoot, Elizabeth rushed across the muddy front yard. Cold guck oozed through her perfectly bubble gum painted toenails. The slipperiness causing her to slide every few feet.

It seemed like she'd run a hundred miles before she got to her destination. Out of breath and her right side aching, she tried to get the man's attention.

"Excuse me?" Having to yell to be heard over the motor of the running tow truck and the gale of wind, Elizabeth repeated herself a few times before she began to think her endeavor was hopeless. She was starting to think the man was ignoring her, when a hand gripped her shoulder from behind.

"Are you crazy?"