Hard Freak

When the waitress came over, I folded my arms and didn’t order, but no one noticed. They were too busy ordering their own food. Even Crow put in an order. I could die of starvation before anyone cared.

When the waitress started walking off, I called her back. I grabbed one of the menus off the table.

“The double beef bonanza,” I told her. “Cheese and bacon fries on the side.”

Starving myself wouldn’t hurt Polly, just me.

I hated the way Polly made me feel like the naughty kid. She didn’t need to watch me constantly or monitor my behavior. I was more tightly controlled on tour than I was at home. So much for sex, drugs and rock ’n’ roll. This was more like work, work and work. Things were easier when Elijah was around. He became a buffer between Polly and me. When sparks started flying, he’d make some stupid crack and totally defuse things. But Elijah had rushed off to win his lady love and wouldn’t be back tonight.

While Polly was distracted, I managed to get in a glance at Crow.

No matter what Polly or anyone else said, Crow didn’t have any malice in him. He was the sort of guy who looked tough but would cry if he saw a puppy get hurt. Other people didn’t notice the way his dark eyes sparkled when he was happy or the way they dulled when something bad happened. Just because he didn’t like to mouth off didn’t mean he was hard to communicate with. He just didn’t like talking too much.

And then, when he was really happy, he got those crinkles around his eyes. Every time, that made my heart leap. I wanted to make him especially happy so I could see those crinkles as often as possible.

Crow would never be considered as mainstream good-looking as Elijah, but he had a depth to his face that Elijah lacked.

Crow looked back at me. That glance zinged right through me, making my toes curl and my hair stand on end. He could say what he liked about wanting to stay friends, but that glance told a whole other story, and that story would have “X-rated” slapped all over it.

Then Polly moved to block my view of him. As much as I loved my cousin, I hated her sometimes.

When my burger arrived, I cheered up. That was one awesome-looking burger.

“You’re quiet tonight, Firecracker,” Jax said from across the table.

I wanted to yell at him for calling me Firecracker. That was Elijah’s nickname for me, and I hated it. But I had a mouthful of burger.

Finally, I got it down and could speak.

“The name’s Fay, to you, mister,” I said. “And, yeah, I’m tired from all the traveling today.”

“Not going out drinking with the rest of us? We’re thinking about hitting one of the rock clubs in town.”

I tried to check Crow’s reaction to that. If he wanted to go, I’d go, but otherwise, I wasn’t too keen. And maybe if he stayed back, I could get him alone. Nothing would ever progress between Crow and me without us having some alone time. Not that alone time had been that productive, either. Like everyone else on this tour, Crow treated me like a kid sister. If that was all, I’d leave him alone, but he didn’t really think of me as a kid sister, not one bit.

“What about you, Crow?” Jax asked. “You’ll be up for a drink, yeah?”

I couldn’t see his face. Not with Polly blocking me. I’d have to squirm around in my seat, and that’d look obvious.

“Yeah, maybe just a couple,” Crow said.

Damn, if I changed my mind about going to the bar now, Polly would watch me like a hawk.

That was when I had my brilliant idea.

If I went back to the hotel alone, she’d think I was having an early night. But I didn’t have to go back to my own bed. That desk clerk at the hotel would give me the key to Crow’s room if I batted my eyelashes at him.

Luckily, I no longer had to share a room with Polly, so she’d get back to the hotel and think I was sound asleep.

I just had to prove to Crow that I was serious. I mean, what man would say no to a hot chick naked in their bed? Not many, that’s for certain.

I hugged myself over the brilliance of my plan. Okay, there might’ve been a few flaws, but I didn’t want to think about that. I’d focus on the important stuff, like Crow realizing I was much more than the kid sister type. Once we were established as a couple, there’d be nothing Polly could do about it.