I looked up at him to protest and kept my silence when I saw his eyes all pissed off glittery.
“Someone offers to do something nice for you, you take ‘em up on it.”
“I’ll be okay,” I repeated, kinda angry myself then too.
“I think it’s pretty clear you won’t be okay. You’re workin’ two jobs; one of them isn’t safe. You don’t have time to sleep. You don’t have a car. You’re taking care of your Mom who isn’t well. Your Dad blows into town, cleans out your bank account and makes you the target of a thug. That’s not okay.”
“It’ll get better,” I told him.
“When?”
“I don’t know but I have to believe that because if I don’t…”
Damn!
Tears started to fill my eyes; I bit my lip and turned my face away. Now was not the time to lose my cool. Not in front of Eddie.
“I have to go in,” I said and I did. I had to get away from him.
There was no getting away from him because his arms went around me and he drew me into his body.
I looked up at him, surprised, and saw his eyes had gone liquid.
My body tensed when it came into contact with his from our chests down our bellies to our hips. Electricity shot through me, I tried to pull away, but one of his arms slid up my back, holding me in position while his head came down and he kissed me.
It was the worst kiss in the history of the world. I could not believe he was kissing me. Hot, handsome Eddie Chavez kissing me, plain, boring Henrietta Louise McAlister. It freaked me out; I went all stiff and this was not a good combination.
His head came up and he looked down at me.
I felt the heat in my face.
Such a bad kiss was humiliating and I knew it was all my fault. I would have been happy to be running from a charging elephant. Dancing around in a g-string at Smithie’s. Anywhere but there.
He didn’t say anything, he was just watching me and I started to squirm to get away but he held on tight.
“Let’s try that again,” he murmured.
“No, I don’t—” I started to say and then his mouth was on mine.
Since I was talking when his lips connected with mine, my mouth was open and, right away, his tongue slid inside.
Dear Lord.
The instant his tongue touched mine, my stomach curled, my bones turned to water and I melted into him. My arms went around his neck, my fingers slid into his hair, I tilted my head to the side and that was it.
His hands went under my camisole, I could feel them sliding across the skin of my back and it made me shiver. I pressed deeper into him, kept one of my hands in his hair and tucked another one under his arm, pulling his t-shirt free of his jeans and then I slid it across the skin at his back. His warm skin felt yummy. In fact, the kiss was pure yum and I wanted it to go on forever.
“Jeez, Jet, get a room.”
I jumped and pulled back; Eddie’s arms went slack (though not that slack, he didn’t let me go). Both Eddie and I turned to see RJ, one of my neighbors, maneuvering out the front door in his wheelchair.
My face felt like it was on fire.
My body was on fire.
“Hey RJ,” I said, still trying to recover from the kiss. This was hard, considering Eddie hadn’t let me go.
“Who’s the dude?” RJ asked, looking at Eddie.
Eddie was looking over his shoulder, his arms still around me.
“The dude is Eddie. Eddie, RJ, RJ, Eddie,” I said, feeling like a complete moron. I’d taken my hand out from under Eddie’s t-shirt but I was now clutching it at his side for fear my legs would give out if I didn’t hold on for dear life.
Eddie nodded to RJ making it plain RJ was interrupting.
In any other circumstance I might find this funny. Eddie and I were necking at the public entrance to an apartment building in broad daylight and Eddie glared at RJ as if we had a right to privacy.
However at that moment, I did not find it funny.
RJ did and his face cracked into a huge smile.
“Boy, Jet, can always count on you to be entertaining.”
Wonderful.
I was never going to convince Eddie I was your normal, everyday, average girl.
RJ put his gloved hands to the angled wheels of his chair and pushed forward.
“Later dudes,” he said, taking the hint, and then he was off.
I looked back to Eddie and he was shaking his head. “I haven’t made out on someone’s doorstep in… fuck, I’ve never made out on someone’s doorstep.”
I smiled at him because he was funny and the minute I did it, his eyes changed and the change made my insides melt.
“Christ, Jet, you should do that more often,” he said.
“What?”
“Smile.”
That wiped the smile from my face.
Eddie’s slack arms tightened around me. “Un-unh, no retreat. I’ve gained ground here, I’m not gonna lose it in two minutes.”
“I have to go upstairs,” I told him.
“I’ll let you go upstairs when you agree to have dinner with me tonight,” Eddie said.
Eek!
I hadn’t had the chance to process kissing Eddie, I certainly wasn’t ready for a date.
Luckily, I had an excuse.
“I can’t, I have a shift at Smithie’s.”
Eddie was not deterred.
“Tomorrow.”
Damn, I had the night off from Smithie’s tomorrow.
Before I could think of a plausible excuse, Eddie grinned. He knew he had me.
“Six o’clock. I’ll pick you up here.”
He didn’t give me a chance to say anything, his lips came down and touched mine. I could feel most of his body pressed up against me, his arms were around me, I could smell him and he’d just touched his lips to mine. Therefore, I lost the ability to think.
His lips went away and he asked, “How’re you getting to work tonight?”
I blinked to clear my Eddie Daze.
“Smithie found out about the knife thing. He says I have to be escorted to and from the building and, while my car’s out of commission, he’s arranging for one of the bouncers to take me to work.”
Eddie ran his fingers through my hair at the temple and, I had to admit, it felt nice.
“Maybe he isn’t the asshole I thought he was,” Eddie said.
“He takes care of his girls,” I told him.
“At least that’s one person trying to look out for you, though if last night’s any indication, he’s not doing very well.”
“Last night was a fluke,” I tried to reassure him.
“Last night is every night at a strip club. You dress like that around drunk guys, shit’s gonna happen.”
I stared at him.
“Do you want me to get mad?” I asked.
His eyes changed, they got warm but serious.
“Chiquita, I’ll take anything I can get from you.”
I didn’t know what to say to that so I didn’t say anything at all and just kept staring at him.
Eddie let me go and held the card up between us.
“I gotta get back to work. You need anything or your Mom needs anything, call me.”
I took the card. Although I kinda wanted a repeat of what happened when I didn’t take it, I really needed to check on Mom. Then I needed to check on Dad. Then I needed to do a million other things.
“Thanks Eddie,” I said.
He smiled at me, dimple and all, ran his knuckles along my jaw and then he walked away and, without looking back, I ran away.
* * * * *
When I hit the living room, Mom was in her chair at the window and Ada was standing beside her.
“Is that Eddie?” Mom asked, not turning her head away from the window.
I went to the window and saw Eddie standing and talking to Mr. Greasy Coveralls.
“Yeah.”
“The Mexican man or the black man?” Ada asked, her eyes not leaving t
he window either.
“The Mexican man,” I told her, watching Eddie. He had put his mirrored sunglasses on and had his hands on his hips while he talked. He looked very cool and very hot.
“He’s cute,” Mom said.
Only Mom would describe Eddie as “cute”. He was a lot of things but he was not cute.
Eddie started to move away and looked up at the apartment building. I jumped out of the window as fast as I could, not wanting him to catch me checking him out. I had enough to worry about with the looming date to have him thinking I was some love struck cocktail waitress staring longingly out the window at him.
Mom and Ada were still playing nosy neighbors.
“Get away from the window,” I said to them.
“That sure is a fancy truck he has,” Ada said.
She wasn’t wrong, it sure was.
Neither of them moved from the window and I could swear I saw Ada wave.
I groaned and went to the bathroom, because I was dying for a wee. Then I looked in the mirror and let out a little scream. I still had half my makeup on and it wasn’t the good half. One word: scary. And Eddie had kissed me looking like this.
How weird was that?
At least my sexy hair held up.
I washed my face, went to my bedroom and put on some jeans and a t-shirt. I rolled up Eddie’s shirt and tucked it under my pillow, as a keepsake. I’d give it back if he asked for it but if he didn’t, I was stealing it and I didn’t care what that said about me.
Then I walked into the kitchen to get some food and I heard Mom wheel in behind me.
“Why didn’t you ask Eddie up to the apartment?” She asked.
“He had to get to work,” I told her.
Mom wheeled further into the kitchen.
“We saw you drive in. You were down there for a long time. Long enough for him to come up and meet your mother.”
Wonderful.
She was using her snooty mother tone, reminding me I’d been rude.
“We were talking about something,” I explained.
“You could have talked about it up here. I could have made him some iced tea, maybe a sandwich. I’m getting good at sandwiches. It’s lunchtime; everyone has to eat lunch,” Mom pointed out.
“He’s a busy guy.”
“Not so busy he can’t take time to eat.”
“What’s he do?” Ada asked, coming up behind Mom.
“He’s a cop,” I told her.
Ada’s eyes got huge in her wrinkled face.
“Really?” she breathed, her eyes working, probably wondering how she could finagle a ride-along.
“You’re ashamed,” Mom said.
My eyes moved to Mom and I stared at her.
“What?”
“You’re ashamed of me. That’s why you didn’t bring him up here.”
“I’m not ashamed!”
And I wasn’t, there were far more complicated reasons why I didn’t bring Eddie up and it had nothing to do with being ashamed of my mother.
“There’s no other reason,” she accused.
“I told you, he had to get to work.”
“You didn’t want him to see me like this.” Mom indicated her chair.
“That’s just not true.”
“I don’t believe you. You never bring anyone around. I can’t help how I am right now but I’m getting better all the time.”
“It’s not that,” I said.
“Then what is it?”
“We were kissing, all right!” I shouted.
Yeesh.
Mom’s mouth snapped closed and her eyes got all bright and dreamy. Ada clasped her hands in front of her with obvious joy.
This was not a good sign.
“Ladies, don’t get excited” I warned.
“How can I not get excited? He’s cute, he has a good job and a fancy truck. What’s not to get excited about?”
“And he looks good in those mirrored sunglasses. I bet most cops wish they could wear those sunglasses like your Eddie can, he can really pull them off,” Ada put in.
I turned to Ada first.
“Ada, honey, he’s not my Eddie.” Then I turned to Mom, “The reason you shouldn’t get excited is because he’s a nice guy, that’s it, the end. At first, I think he was curious, but now he’s…”
I didn’t know what he was. I had to find an explanation for it, for the kiss, his defending my virtue last night, everything. I usually did this in my head, where it was safe, not out loud to my mother.
My mind whirled to find an explanation.
He was a good guy, a cop for goodness sake. He had to wonder about me, especially since I spent time with his friends. Now he’d figured me out and obviously wanted to rescue me. Although, I wouldn’t mind being rescued by Eddie, what happened after that? What happened when he realized that I wasn’t interesting and exciting? What happened when he found out I was really Just Jet?
I didn’t want to know.
“He’s what?” Mom snapped me out of my thoughts.
“Nothing. We’ll see. Just don’t get excited, okay?”
She nodded but she still looked dreamy.
Wonderful.
I thought about the fifty in my wallet.
“You’ve been cooped up in here for days. I’m wheeling you down to Chipotle for lunch. Ada, you comin’? My treat.”
Ada smiled, “I’d love to, I never go anywhere.”
“All right ladies, we’re movin’ out.”
Food, I found, was always a good way of getting people’s minds off things, including handsome cops with fancy trucks.
* * * * *
I made it to Smithie’s on time because Lenny picked me up and took me in.
The minute Smithie saw me, his eyes rolled to the ceiling and he shouted, “It’s a fuckin’ miracle!”
I smiled at him as I handed him my jeans jacket and purse and he handed me my apron and an envelope.
“Your cell’s still in the pocket. The envelope has your tips from last night. Your fuckin’ flea-bitten, ratty-ass sweater is behind the bar.”
“Thanks, Smithie,” I said.
I opened the top of the envelope, which was tucked in and flipped through the notes. I kept a running tally of my tips, mentally paying bills and buying groceries the minute I made the money. As I flipped through the notes, I decided I’d done a miscalculation because, if my calculation was correct, there were two hundred more dollars than I expected to be there and that was impossible.
I’d remember an extra two hundred dollars. I’d remember an extra two dollars.
It was packed last night but the tips weren’t that good.
I flipped through it again and the two hundred dollars were still there.
“Smithie, I think you gave me part of my float.” And part of everyone else’s float too.
Smithie’s head was turned away, looking at the stage and he didn’t look at me when he spoke. “Nope. That’s what was in your apron after I cashed you out.”
I stared at him.
“Smithie, there’s an extra two hundred dollars in here. Maybe you accidentally gave me…”
His head turned to me, “It was in your fuckin’ apron.”
“Smithie…” I started again.
His hand went up and he had a funny look on his face. It was then that I knew he’d slipped in the extra money.
I’d started at Smithie’s in the days when Mom was still bad. Back then, I’d drag in after visiting her in the hospital. He knew about Mom and my job at Fortnum’s and now he knew about my car.
My heart clutched, my eyes filled with tears and I opened my mouth to speak but he leaned in to me.
“Don’t fuckin’ cry and don’t say another fuckin’ word. I don’t want this gettin’ around. As far as you’re concerned, that was your take last night. Do you fuckin’ understand me?”
I nodded.
“Good,” he said, turning away from me again. “Get to work.”
I was hoping for a quiet night
and it seemed to be going that way. It was a completely different experience, working after having a full night’s sleep (and then some).
Before I went to work, and after I’d taken Mom and Ada to lunch and cleaned the house, I called Dad’s hotel just in case he was still there, but they said he’d checked out. Then I called Indy and she was cool with me making up the hours (or not, she really didn’t care, everyone came and went at Fortnum’s and somehow it worked). I asked her if Dad had dropped by but she said she hadn’t seen him.
It was close to closing and I’d had a decent night. I had energy, I had two night’s tips and I had Smithie’s generosity. If I wasn’t in slow-burn, freak-out zone that would likely escalate to complete hysteria by the time my date with Eddie swung around, I would have actually relaxed.
I was coming back from a bathroom break, leaving the restroom and entering the back hall when I was grabbed by the arm and pulled back.
“Hey!” I shouted, turning around, ready to scream, when I saw Dad.
Not good.
I really didn’t want my Dad to know I was working in a titty bar and I really, really didn’t want him to see me in my Smithie’s uniform.
“Dad, what are you doing here?”
“Jet, I didn’t want to drag you into this but I have no choice.” He looked down the hall, clearly in a panic.
“Dad, what’s going on?”
He started pulling me down the hall, toward the fire exit at the back. “We gotta go.”
I jerked my arm out of his hand and said, “I can’t go, I’m working. Tell me what’s going on.”
He didn’t have a chance to tell me as we both heard someone at the other end of the hall say Dad’s name.
Dad shoved me behind him and we both looked down the hall at Slick.
“You’re a hard man to find,” Slick said.
At that, I realized that Dad hadn’t spent the last two days looking for Slick and sorting this out as he promised. Dad had spent it hiding from Slick.
“We got things to talk about, you and me,” Slick said.
“Fine. Sure. We’ll talk. We’ll go back in the club,” Dad replied.
Dad was positioning his body in front of me so Slick couldn’t get to me.
“Not in the club, here. This conversation should last about two seconds after you give me the thirty grand you owe me.”
Oh… Dear… Lord.
Thirty thousand dollars?