“You were totally a cheerleader, weren’t you?” Sloane teases Kelly, trying to lighten the mood.
“I’ll never tell,” Kelly quips back.
“Tell what?” Smoke asks as he comes in.
“Nothing,” Kelly says quickly.
Smoke’s eyes narrow, but he doesn’t push. He looks over at Sloane and jerks his thumb over his shoulder.
“Your old man is looking for you.”
Sloane sighs. “Such a slave driver, that one.”
Smoke scoffs but turns back to his woman. “Are you ready to head out?”
“Yes. Feed me before I perish,” Kelly tells him.
Finally, when the room clears out, Jane looks at me.
“Can I help you with something?” she asks softly.
“Brought this in for you,” I tell her as I hand over the ticket.
“Thanks. I’ll get right on that. I have one for Sloane that I need to write up too,” she tells me as she looks it over.
Awkwardly, I stand in front of her and wait for her to look back at me.
She must feel my gaze on her because when she looks up, she frowns.
“Is everything okay?” she asks softly.
“Actually, I need to talk to you about something.”
I can’t help but mentally curse when her body tenses.
“Is it about rent?”
“No, it’s not that at all.” I frown.
Jane lets out a slow breath and nods. “Okay, what’s up?”
“How is the car running?” I ask.
“Good. The kids love it,” she tells me.
“Good. You’ve been here about two months now. I know you said he would find you, but he hasn’t yet. I want you to know that we are keeping an eye out for anything unusual. You are safe here, so you don’t have to keep locked up. It’s too cold now, but when summer comes, take the kids to the beach. There’s even a little water park near downtown. Or we can take them over to OWA Parks and Resort in Alabama. You don’t have to keep living the life you once did.”
She looks at me like I’ve called her out. I hate it.
“I’m sorry. I’m out of line. I shouldn’t have said all that.”
“No. You are right. I hate how right you are. He never liked to let us do anything. Everything was under his control. Hell, I’ve left him, yet I’m still living by his rules. I don’t want to be afraid anymore,” she tells me.
“Good. Let me know if you need anything else.” I take a step toward the shop door when she says my name.
“Yeah?” I ask as I look over my shoulder.
“Do you really think it’s a good idea if I go to this thing this weekend?” she asks softly.
