Page 45 of Lucky Mother Pucker

Wally runs over to her, his tail wagging, excited to meet a new person. He licks her hands and her face as she laughs.

“Told you he was super friendly,” Blake says.

Briar sits on the floor to play with Wally while Blake sits next to me on the couch.

“Where’s Lucy?” Blake asks.

“Yeah, I can’t wait to hang out with her,” Briar says. “She was so funny, how she busted your balls when she waited on us at the diner last night.”

“She’s at work.” I stand up to take my empty bowl to the kitchen and notice the house key I gave to Lucy earlier sitting on the kitchen counter. She must have forgotten it.

I text her.

Hey, you forgot your copy of the house key. Want me to come to the diner and drop it off to you?

It’s a few minutes before she texts me back.

Lucy: Crap. I can’t believe I forgot it.

Lucy: Actually, I’m not at the diner right now. I’m working at my other job.

Me: That’s fine, I can head there. I’ve got the whole night free.

Lucy: No, it’s okay. I’ll be fine without the key tonight

Me: But you said you won’t get back until late. The house will be locked in. You need a key to get in.

Three gray bubbles appear, then disappear.

I frown at my phone screen, wondering why she seems so hesitant.

Lucy: Okay, sure, if you really don’t mind dropping them off, here’s the address. Just text me when you get here, and I’ll run out to the parking lot and get them from you.

She texts me an address. I’ve never been to that area before, but I know it’s a pretty rundown part of town. Why is she working there?

I tuck her house key in my pocket and grab my car keys.

“Hey, Lucy forgot her keys. I’m gonna go bring them to her,” I say to Blake and Briar. “Do you guys mind hanging out here with Wally while I’m gone? And maybe take him for a walk?”

“Yeah, no problem. We were gonna hang out here the rest of the night anyway,” Blake says.

I tell them thanks and head out. I drive to a seedy part of the city. It’s mostly liquor stores, vape shops, and cash advance places.

When my GPS directs me to pull into the crowded parking lot of a strip club called Gentleman’s Delight, I’m confused.

This can’t be right. But then it hits me. This is why Lucy had her hair and makeup done…Why she was wearing a sexy top underneath her diner uniform.

She works here too.

I don’t have a problem with strip clubs. They’re not really my thing, but if people wanna go there, to work or to enjoy themselves, that’s fine. I don’t care.

But I’m not sure Lucy wants to work here.

If she didn’t have a problem working here, she would have told me.

I’m about to text her that I’m here when I see a couple of twenty-something guys stumble across the parking lot past my car.

“Hey, do you think that redheaded waitress is working tonight?” one of them says.