Then I got busy filling my makeshift plate with a little bit of everything as Milo and Dom took turns grunting at my phone.
I curled up on my chair, using my legs as a table as I stared out the windows at the moon on the water below.
I was vaguely aware of the men talking but went ahead and let it become background noise as I focused on my own thoughts again.
And they were, as they always were with Milo, conflicted.
Because on the one hand, the pressure on my lower stomach reminded me that we hadn’t finished what we’d started.
But on the other, I knew I had to be thankful for that. Because I’d been about to be incredibly reckless.
I mean, no, I hadn’t had to worry about pregnancy since my mom put me on the Pill when I was fifteen because she said it would help my (nonexistent) acne.
That said, that wasn’t the only worry when it came to unprotected sex with practical strangers. Especially ones I had to assume got around often.
I didn’t even know how that happened.
I was always careful. Always.
I mean, I once dated a guy for six months, both tested, me on birth control, and still made him use condoms. And he had not been happy about it either.
I simply didn’t do careless when it came to my body.
Well, this wildly unhealthy meal aside.
I knew I was going to be bloated and uncomfortable after, that I might need to wear a compression garment for my next shift until I could flush the salt out of me. I just couldn’t bring myself to care.
The worst thing that could happen was Frank pulling me aside and telling me I was getting chunky. Which he’d done before. And to give him the tiniest bit of credit, he’d done it with a lot more tact than my former agent, photographers, designers, and my own mother.
“Roe?”
My head whipped over, finding Milo watching me with a look that made me think he must have called me more than once.
“Yeah?”
“You okay?”
“I was just thinking that my dresses aren’t going to fit after I eat all of this,” I told him, waving down at my half-eaten plate.
“Curves are good,” Dom said, shrugging. “Gives a man something to grab onto.”
I shot him a smile. “Good to know,” I said before focusing back on Milo. “Was there anything useful?”
“Maybe. There was something fishy in that last picture you took. Gonna see if one of our guys can clean it up a bit to make out more of the words.”
“Sorry. My hands were shaking so bad.”
“Don’t be sorry. We’d have nothing without you. Hopefully, it leads to something we can use.”
“Do you need me to go back in?” All the food I’d just shoveled in threatened to come back up.
“I think we need to shelve that now. You’ve almost gotten caught twice. And now they’re going to be watching the place like hawks. It’s not worth it.”
“My job can’t be done.”
I hadn’t earned that much money.
“We’re just… putting a pin in things. If Frank wants to invite you to sing at private events, that might be worth doing still. But nothing outwardly covert right now.”
