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Every night after dark, Alex arrived. The four days a week that the restaurant was open, he would wait in her office until she was finished for the night.
Those nights weren’t so bad. Once Fat Cat ate, she and the cat retired to her bedroom, where they watched the news, often going to sleep while watching.
Each morning she awoke and the television was off. Which meant Alex must have turned it off sometime in the night. And that only pissed her off more.
He hadn’t touched her again. He was quiet, often retreating to his own room, bringing his own food with him. He talked to her, very casually. Hell, one night they even discussed politics. Stupid frickin’ politics.
And she was dying. Tossing and turning at night, dreaming of his touch, waking wet and hungry for him in a way she had never imagined being for a man.
A week. There were no more letters so far. Nothing had happened. She was throwing him out tonight.
She’d already made that decision. When she got back, she was kicking him right out the door.
“It looks like hell week doesn’t describe it,” Rogue drawled. “Sweetie, you forgot the makeup. And the skirt. ”
No kidding. She might have forgotten her brain in her rush to get away this evening.
“I was in a hurry. ” Janey shrugged.
“You never get in too big a hurry for your makeup. Grab your beer. We’ll run upstairs and fix you up, then come back down after the band gets started. ”
Janey grabbed her beer, but she wasn’t so sure about this.
“Do I look like a hag?” she asked the bartender as Rogue dragged her away.
“Naw, you look sweet. ” He grinned. “Sweet don’t do well in here, sugar. ”
Great. Now she looked sweet.
“What does he mean by that?” she asked as Rogue dragged her behind the bar and through the Employees Only-marked door.
“He means you look like a fresh-faced virgin. ” Rogue laughed. “Virgins scare men, Janey. Big boys get all kinds of messed up when it comes to a virgin. So we’re going to liven you up some. ”
“That’s a scary thought. ” She sighed as Rogue dragged her up the stairs. “Liven me up?”
She didn’t want to look like a virgin. She didn’t want to act like a virgin. She wanted to have fun. To just be Janey. To let free all the bold, vibrant dreams she had held trapped inside her so long.
“Make sure you have fun?” Rogue threw her a laughing glance as they entered the small apartment upstairs. “Come on in. I think we even have some decent clothes. ”
Janey looked down at her jeans and blouse. “What’s wrong with my clothes?” she exclaimed.
Rogue turned back, pursed her lips, and narrowed her eyes. “Janey, haven’t you ever wanted to be just a woman?” Rogue asked softly. “Not Natches’s sister, or Dayle Mackay’s daughter. ” She grinned. “Or Alex Jansen’s responsibility?”
Janey stared back at Rogue suspiciously. “What do you mean by that?”
“Deny Alex is babysitting you right now,” she dared Janey. “Now, I doubt many people know about it.
But I just happen”—she looked her nails smugly—“to be a little smarter than most people. Besides, I overheard a little comment Natches made to Dawg last week while I was out on the docks at a friend’s boat. Something about murder, babysitters, Janey, and Alex. I’m good at the whole two-and-two-equals-four thing. ”
Janey hesitated.
Rogue smiled back at her. “I’m not asking questions. But a hundred bucks says we have three Mackays and one Jansen that walks in the bar tonight. Now tell me. What do you want them to see? A little girl waiting to be collected? Or a grown woman taking her life back?”
She craved to take her life back. Or rather, to have the life she always dreamed of having. One where she made her own choices, decided her own destiny.
Janey frowned back at her. “I’m not a little girl, Rogue. ”
“No, you’re not. ” Rogue’s expression hardened a bit. “But that’s how they see you, isn’t it?”
