Heartbreaker: A Filthy Dirty Love Novel

When the car in front of her slowed, her cell phone rang from her purse resting on the passenger seat. She contemplated not answering it. Though she quickly thought better of it as she glanced away from the taillights of the car in front of her to her car’s dashboard touch screen, seeing both that it was 4:00 p.m. and that her parents were calling for their weekly chat.

With everything that’d happened lately, she’d forgotten about their call. For a second, guilt crashed over her in a thick wave until she let herself off the hook. She was on her way to Maddox’s, and lately, he seemed to steal up all the space in her mind. She rolled to a stop at the red light, her windshield wipers rhythmically sweeping away the steady rain, and she clicked the button on her steering wheel, enabling the Bluetooth. “Hello.”

“Bonjour,” Mom quipped.

“Oh dear Lord,” Joss said with a laugh. “I seriously hope you don’t try to speak French in front of others.” Knowing her mother, she’d walk around with a dictionary in her fanny pack.

“Of course, I do,” Mom defended, an obvious smile in her voice. “Besides, my French isn’t that terrible, is it?”

“Yes, it’s completely horrible. You shouldn’t try it at all,” Joss joked.

“Leave your mother alone,” Dad interjected, playfully defending his wife. “She sounds lovely, and people seem to understand us.”

“Well, that might not be totally true,” Mom added. “I think they feel sorry for us.”

“There is that,” Dad mused.

Joss smiled and watched the pedestrians stride by the hood of her blue Jetta. Some with umbrellas. Some getting soaking wet and not seeming to care much about the rain. “How’s Paris?” she asked.

“So romantic,” Mom said with a dreamy sigh. “You must come see this place, Jossie. You would love it.”

“Maybe one day,” Joss said, not sure exactly when that day would be. First, she lived and breathed becoming a police officer. Now she had a job to think about. Besides, trips were expensive, and she never liked taking a handout from her parents. They’d both worked hard. She wanted them to live it up, not spoil her. “Are you still sightseeing?” She stepped on the gas pedal, slowly getting back up to speed.

Mom answered her. “That’s all we’ve been doing. There’s so much to see here. We’ve been around to see some lovely churches, the Louvre Museum. Tomorrow, we’re doing the Seine river cruise and lunch at the Eiffel Tower.”

“Man, that sounds amazing.”

“Beyond amazing,” Dad agreed.

Joss smiled, glad for them. Her parents deserved these trips of a lifetime they took every year, and she was proud they’d killed their bucket list instead of sitting at home spending their days around Seattle. “Make sure to take lots of pictures so I can see it all when you get back.”

Dad said, “We’re posting some to Facebook tomorrow. Have you been following us on there?”

“Yep.” Sort of. Work and Maddox had been filling her spare time. She hadn’t had time for Facebook. “I’ll keep an eye out for them. Can’t wait to see what you post.”

She took her first right, stopping for an elderly lady crossing the street where she shouldn’t be, when Dad asked, “What’s in the plans for tonight? Are you working?”

“Not tonight, no. I’ve just finished a couple of night shifts.”

“Brutal,” Dad commented.

“Very,” she agreed, tapping her fingers impatiently against the steering wheel, watching for the lady to inch her way across the road with her walker. “Luckily, I have tomorrow and Friday off, then I’m back to work on Saturday morning and then off again on Sunday and Monday before going into a long stretch of shifts.” She lifted her foot off the brake and pressed the gas, slowly getting back up to speed once more.

“It won’t always be like this, Jossie,” Dad said softly. “You need to put in your time, and then you’ll get the good steady shifts.”

“Oh, it’s not so bad,” Joss said, mainly because her life wasn’t all that bad right now. Sure, the hours sucked and switching from day shifts to night shifts was hell. But she had a lot to look forward to, including some filthy, dirty sex with Maddox in a few minutes.

As if Mom had read her mind, she asked, “Nothing else new or exciting?” Which in Motherland meant, are you dating?

Joss considered telling them that she was seeing someone, so they didn’t think she was a hermit, but they’d never understand if she said that she and Maddox weren’t serious. Answering endless questions wasn’t in Joss’s plans for the night. “Nope, same old, same old.” And to get the subject shifted quickly, she added, “On Friday, I’m going to Jeremy Walsh’s retirement party.”