Be Mine (Jackson Boys 2)

Suddenly, I know that this is the only job I’ll be safe at. Chip wants to pretend like we don’t know each other. Like Cass isn’t his kid, and he’ll be afraid to do anything to me in front of people he knows. In another workplace, another bar, he’d be free to harass me or get me fired. But not here.

With that knowledge, I march up to the counter. “I’m here for the waitressing job.”

The bartender blinks. “What’s your qualifications?”

“I’ll work whatever hours you want and do whatever you tell me.”

He presses his lips together, nods a few times, and shrugs. “Sure. We can try it out.” He reaches behind him and tosses me an apron. “Start now.”

“Now?” I squeak.

Over my shoulder, I hear Chip laugh. He thinks I’m screwed.

“There a problem?” the bartender asks. “You said you’d work the hours I told you to work.”

“Give her a day, man,” says a burly man at the counter.

“Leroy, you were just complaining about how the service here is so slow that the rookies will be veterans by the time you get your food.”

The big man shrugs. “Another day isn’t gonna kill me. Go on and come back tomorrow, girl.”

I look toward the bartender, who sighs. “Fine. Come back tomorrow.”

I nearly collapse with relief. “Yes. I will. No problem. What time?”

“We open at eleven.”

“I’ll be here.”

“By ten.”

“By ten,” I confirm. Then I turn and sprint for the door before he can change his mind. At the exit, Chip catches up to me.

“You breathe one word about how you think Cassidy is my kid and I’ll ruin you,” he whispers.

He might be serious. I plaster on a fake smile for the benefit of the curious eyes staring at us.

“Don’t worry. The last thing I want to do is to be associated with you.” I pull open the door and run toward my child. This is dangerous, but I feel like it’s the best solution for me. It’s not as if I have a ton of choices. I have to earn money. I have to protect my baby. This seems the right way forward, at least for now.

“Did you get the job?” Nick asks. He’s sitting on the asphalt, drawing on the surface with a piece of chalk. There are little x’s and o’s. “Like I said, I don’t have kids, so I didn’t know what to do. I was teaching her plays,” he says, slightly embarrassed.

My toes curl at his charm. “She appears to like it.”

He reaches out and ruffles Cassidy’s dark curls. “So she does.”

“I did get the job. Thank you for watching her. Can I pay you something?”

“Nah, just make sure when you pour my beer, I don’t have much foam. That stuff gives me a headache.”

“No foam.” I’d scrape every last white speck off with a toothpick if I had to.

With a lazy grace, he jumps to his feet. “I hope to see you again, Cass.”

“Bye ’ick!” She waves both hands.

He waves both of his large, long-fingered hands back at her. Before he leaves, he sticks his palm in my direction. “I never did catch your name.”

“Lainey. Lainey Valdez,” I croak out. His hand is warm, calloused, and so inviting. I want to lay my head against his big chest and feel that hand on the back of my head—along with other places.

“Nice to meet you, Lainey Valdez.” He tips an imaginary hat in my direction. “I’ll see you around.”

He lets me go. In my imagination, his release is slow. His fingers drag along mine and my long-dead girl parts stir. What would it be like to have this man touch me? What would it feel like to have my hand clasped in his? What would it feel like to be able to lean on him when I’m tired, rest against his broad shoulders when I’m feeling down? My breath quickens. My hand trembles. I sway…

“Mommy?”

Cass’s voice jerks me out of my half-baked fantasy.

“Yup, baby. Let’s go.” Earth to Lainey. You’ve got a truckload of things to do starting with finding a place to sleep tonight. I reach down and pick my girl up and slide her onto my hip. I give Nick a brief, curt nod. “Thanks for all your help. I’ll be going now.”

Without waiting for another response, I force myself to turn away.

“Like ’ick. Like ’ick,” Cass sings to herself.

Me too. I wonder what’s more dangerous—liking Nick or being so close to Chip. As I walk down the sidewalk, away from the bar, the heat of Chip’s stare burns through my back. I danced close to the flame once and burned myself all the way through. It doesn’t matter how handsome that Nick Jackson is or how charming he is. My life has no room for a man.

“Cass, baby, it’s you and me. Okay?”

“No ’ick?” she pouts.

“No Nick.”