“That’s a strange way of solving a problem, handsome,” I told him. “Not to mention illegal.”

“Maybe strange to you. Maybe illegal. But, no doubt about it, Red, it’d work. Luckily, your ass is in your office at my garage and you work with all men so you don’t gotta deal with bitches anymore. For some asinine reason you take some other job and you got bitches targeting you, you tell me and I’ll see to it they stop.”

I blinked again.

Then I stated, “Well, first, I like my job and I’m f**king it up less every day so it’s unlikely I’ll be moving on.”

“Babe, you resigned this morning,” he reminded me then finished with, “Again.”

“Yes, because I was fighting with you. Now we’re not fighting so I’m sticking.”

He grinned and muttered, “Good to know.”

I kept on target. “But, second, if some great opportunity came my way and I took it and the same thing happened, you wouldn’t stop it. I’d just know next time to quit before it gets to me.”

“Uh… no. You’ll tell your man and he’ll deliver a lesson.”

“Tack –”

“Tyra,” he cut me off quietly, leaning into me, “baby, listen to me because right now I’m delivering a lesson to you and I’m doin’ it gentle-like so you’ll get it and not freak. This is your new world. People don’t f**k with people like us. They do, payback. This bitch might have been jealous you got promoted over her. But, my guess, she’s butt ugly, possibly overweight and you said she was older. It wasn’t about the promotion. It was about you bein’ funny and sweet and smart and beautiful and she couldn’t find a way to work with what she has and find happiness in herself so she saw all you had goin’ for you and she had to drag you down. That’s bullshit. You don’t get to walk all over people without retribution.”

He said I was beautiful.

Nice.

Further, that was the second time he said something like that today.

Very nice.

And he had my work situation figured out too even with limited information. She hadn’t been exactly attractive, though not overweight but definitely older.

Even so, I said softly, “I’m not sure we agree about this, handsome.”

“That’s all right, darlin’. If what we’re building doesn’t go south, we’re good and the job you got, you’re surrounded by men so that shit’s not gonna happen. And if it does, any man at the garage who’s stupid enough to f**k with you will answer to me.”

I could do that seeing as he was my boss so that would be his job anyway.

Still.

“And, if what we’re building doesn’t go south, something happens, an opportunity I can’t refuse, I move on job-wise and someone targets me, then what?” I asked. “I mean, if you’re my man, I should be able to talk with you about stuff like this without you going scary biker dude and laying a trail of devastation to someone’s life.”

Tack’s hand moved to my neck and his body and face got even closer. “You move outta the office and not outta my life and shit goes down, then, Red, you don’t hesitate to tell me. You talk, I’ll listen. I’ll talk, you’ll listen. And unless it’s extreme, we’ll sort it out before I take action.”

I could do that too, maybe.

“But,” Tack went on, “bottom line, no one f**ks with my woman. So, if we sort shit out and my advice is you move the f**k on, that’s what you do. You sleep beside me, Red, no fears, feeling safe. You do not lose sleep over bitches. And I like your mouth but I won’t like it if you can’t brush your teeth and you’re pukin’ all the time. Further to that, I like your body. You can’t eat and you’re pukin’ all the time, you lose weight, I won’t like your body as much. That don’t work for me. So, you don’t move on from a bad situation when that’s the advice I’m givin’ you, I’ll be forced to take action to take care of you. And I will. We agreed?”

“Boiling that down, I do what you want me to do or you do whatever you want to do. Is that what I’m agreeing?”

Tack’s mouth twitched.

Then he muttered, “Yeah.”

“I’m noticing a theme to Life with Kane Allen,” I remarked.

“Yeah, and that theme is, I got your back. I take care of you. You sleep easy. You eat good. And you feel safe. Are you tellin’ me you got a problem with that?”

Well, presenting it like that, I didn’t.

That said, I still did.

Carefully, I replied, “Do you see how my concerns over your responses to the way people treat me in life would make me think twice about sharing important things with you?”

“Yeah, baby, but do you see that when you’re stuck in a box someone slammed over you and can’t see clear, I give you advice that’s lookin’ out for you, you don’t take it ‘cause you can’t see clear and the result is you come to harm in any way, I’m gonna act but I’ll be doin’ it in your best interests?”

Okay, well, presenting it like that, I did see.

Damn.

“You don’t keep shit from me,” Tack continued. “I will admit, there are times when I’ll react, do it fast and do it on gut. But I lived through some serious shit and I’m still doin’ it. I learned you don’t carry through with a kneejerk response. You think about shit and you do it smart. Eliminate blowback. Get the shit job done in a way you can move ahead free and easy.”

This took us to a new topic of conversation, one I wanted to talk about less but also one that I had been able to avoid when I wasn’t officially pronounced Tack’s woman.

One I couldn’t avoid now.

“Speaking of that,” I started, “the living through serious shit part. Now that circumstances have changed, are you going to share?”

“Yeah, I am,” Tack surprised me by replying. “But I’m not gonna do it now.”

“Why not now?”

“’Cause I gotta get my woman a glass of wine. Then I got green beans to cook. Then I want you to enjoy what you’re eatin’ and not be thinkin’ about that shit while you do it. And after that, we’ll be in your bedroom and we won’t be doin’ much talkin’.”