“Are you okay?”
Drake looked up at her, staring into her eyes. He made her feel like he was looking right into her soul. He surprised her by asking, “Who’s Steve?”
Frowning she tilted her head. “What?”
“The person who called you—Steve. Who is he?”
“My boyfriend...kind of.” She offered her hand to help him up, but he waved it off and pulled himself to his feet.
“How can someone bekind ofa boyfriend?” His voice sounded a little harsh.
Jinx shrugged her shoulders and started back down the stairs. “We were dating but I didn’t see it going further. I decided that we needed to take a break. He’s having a hard time letting go.”
“He wants you back?”
Jinx shrugged, “Yeah, but I don’t think I want him back.”
“Why not?”
“Why are you so interested?”
“I’m just trying to get to know my new coworker.”
She gave him a doubtful look. “If it matters so much, it’s because I was coming here to train with Vic and Jagger. Long distance relationships never work out in my opinion so I ended things with him. Well, part of the reason I ended things. He doesn’t support my choice of careers.”
“Ah, he was angry over you leaving for a dangerous job.”
“No...yes. I mean, yes it’s true he had a problem with me coming here. I wanted to concentrate on learning my new job and he would have been a distraction.”
“He never should have let you go, especially for such a dangerous job.”
Jinx stopped in her tracks, whipping around to glare up at him. “It’s my decision,not Steve’sand certainlynot yours.” She was furious as she turned and rushed down the last few stairs. It had been bad enough to deal with Steve’s attitude about dream job. She remembered the night she told him what she planned to do. She had made a special dinner, all his favorite foods. Had soft music and candles lit. Steve had come back from a flight and was surprised.
“What’s this all for?”
“For you. Welcome back.” She leaned up and kissed his smooth cheek.
He smiled at her as he sat down at the table. She rushed to put the food on his plate and poured him a glass of wine.
“I would have used the good dishes but…”
“They broke somehow?” He didn’t sound surprised.
“All but one place setting, I’ve already ordered the replacements.” She moved to sit in the chair across from him. Steve began eating and she admired him in admiration. Steve was tall and lanky, with dark black hair and pale blue eyes. He was very attractive, and she often wondered why he was so attracted to her. She had asked him once, and he joked once that it was because she was wild in the sack. It was supposed to be a joke but she sensed that he had meant it. It made sense; she did have a high sex drive. Jinx found that the more sex, she had the less klutzy she was. She had gotten caught up in her thoughts and didn’t touch her dinner.
“Jinx, is something wrong?”
She smiled at Steve. “I have something to tell you. I asked my friends Vic and Jagger about training with them and working as a bail bondsman.”
Steve spat out his wine and looked at her in utter shock. “They said no of course.”
She frowned at him. “They said yes. I’m moving at the end of the month.”
“What the hell?”
“I’ve talked about doing this for years. You know that.”
“I thought it was just some childhood fantasy. You can’t be serious. This is too dangerous; it’s flat out stupid.”
