Since I've Been Lovin' You | Happy Lowman/OC (Book 2)

four | Interview

TWO MONTHS AFTER ARREST

"Are you sure this is a good idea?" Jacquelyn asked as Victoria finished the final touches on her sleeked back ponytail.

"Happy wants me out of the clubhouse like, yesterday, and I don't want to use his money for a house."

Her plans to get a job and move out had been put on hold since the situation with Jackson. Victoria had put her efforts into helping Tara, into watching Abel so she could go be with Jax while he recovered from his near death experience in the hospital. Moving had been a bottom priority the last few weeks, and even Happy stopped hassling her about it, but she knew that grace wouldn't last forever.

"You know you could ask me for a deposit."

Victoria glared at her best friend in the mirror. Jac was laying on her stomach on the bed flipping through one of Victoria's magazines. "I'd take your money as fast as I'd take his. I already owe you for storing all of my stuff."

"I really don't mind. I'm never home anymore anyway."

Victoria reached for her favorite shade of red lipstick. "Yeah, are things that serious with Kozik?"

Jac shrugged, trying to be nonchalant, but Victoria caught the smile that threatened to spread. "If we're not at his place, we're at the clubhouse, so I guess so."

"So, you're officially living together?"

"I mean, we haven't put it into words, but kind of." She blushed and sat up, tossing the magazine aside.

"Well, official or not, I'm happy for you."

"Back to you now. Have you found a place?"

"There's a few potential ones I think I could afford, but if I don't land this job, I won't be going anywhere."

"But it's the police station," Jac said. "You're dating someone in prison."

When Victoria was satisfied with her hair and makeup, she stood and smoothed her hands down the front of the black dress pants she'd bought the day before for this very occasion. On her upper half she wore a tightly fitted black top, and she'd gotten her nails done, too, painted the same color. She felt more put together than she'd been in a long time.

"I'm not married to Happy. They don't need to know."

"What if they ask you where you live, huh? You have to put an address on the application," Jac said.

"Gemma told me to put hers. I'm just a friend of the family, that's all."

"What happens when they find out the truth?"

Victoria couldn't worry about all of that right now. She needed to secure a job to get out of the clubhouse, and the dispatch position was the only thing available that might be able to support her lifestyle. She didn't have a ton of options.

"Can we just focus on one thing at a time?" Victoria asked, slipping her feet into a pair of black heels she'd borrowed from Gemma. "How do I look?"

Jac looked her over top to bottom. "Like Dracula's hot mistress."

Victoria frowned. "I can't tell if that's good or bad."