The phone rang again and she jumped like a startled cat. OhGodohGodohGod. What did he want now? “H-hello?”
“Vanessa Harris, please.”
Nessa clutched the phone receiver. Her heart went pit-a-pat—in a good way this time. “Speaking.”
“Miss Harris, this is Carrie Sparkes from Café Au Lait. I was very impressed with you at the interview and I think you’d fit in very well with our team. The job is yours, if you still want it.”
“Omigosh. Really?”
Carrie’s throaty chuckle sliced the raw edge off Nessa’s fears. “Yes, really. I take it you’re still keen?”
Nessa closed her eyes and pulled herself together. “Yes. Absolutely.”
“I know it’s short notice, but can you come in tonight? I’d like to introduce you to the rest of the crew, show you the ropes—that sort of thing. Plus I’ve some paperwork for you to fill in. And if it’s okay with you, I’d like you to start tomorrow.”
“That would be great!”
“Excellent. See you at nine? I can make it earlier if that suits you better.”
“Nine is fine.”
“Lovely. See you then.”
Carrie rang off and Nessa stood there, still clutching the phone receiver, shocked to her core. Carrie had been impressed with her. She hadn’t screwed it up.
She had a job. She had a job! She hugged herself, unable to stop what was doubtless a big goofy grin stretching her lips. She owed Jay big-time. She’d never have gotten the job if Jay hadn’t bought her some decent clothes, given her a place to stay, helped with her résumé. Hah! Just wait ’til she told Tyler.
Jay and Tyler.
Sixer.
Delight in her accomplishment crumbled. But…. He’d promised to leave her alone if she did this one thing for him—this one little thing.
She straightened her shoulders and tossed her head, channeling a little of the old Nessa. The en suite bathroom was as good a place to start as any, she supposed. God only knew what he expected her to find. Or not find—whatever the hell that meant.
~~~
Chapter Eleven
Jay parked the SUV in the spot reserved for her vehicle and switched off the ignition. She’d never felt compelled to apologize for being what she was before. Today had changed all that.
After a rocky start, Tyler had come to accept her otherness. Caro had needed no time at all to come to terms with Jay being a cyborg. Her acceptance had been immediate and unconditional. Jay believed Michael’s acceptance was intertwined with his gratitude for Jay extracting him from Caine’s clutches and giving him back his family. Marissa, however, had no reason to be grateful to Jay. After all, Jay was the cause of her husband being recruited in the first place. Little wonder Marissa resented Jay for what she had to see as taking her son away from her, too.
“I’m sorry,” she said. The words were inadequate, she knew, but they were all she had to offer him right now.
Tyler paused, his hand halfway to the car-door handle. He sank back against the seat. “What the hell for? You’ve done nothing wrong.”
“I’m sorry this trip didn’t go as you expected.”
He grunted. “Believe me, I had pretty low expectations.”
“You had to have known that forcing my presence on your mother would only aggravate matters.”
“Perhaps if she wasn’t so hormonal she’d have been easier to deal with.”
“Perhaps.” Jay didn’t believe that was the case. From the expression on his face, neither did Tyler. “Even so, I’m sorry you felt compelled to leave straight after dinner rather than staying the night.”
Another grunt. “I’d have left before dinner if Dad and Caro hadn’t begged me to stay. And if we’d been eating in, you’d better believe I’d have been outta there. No way was I putting up with that sort of shit any longer.”
By “shit” Jay guessed he meant the comment from his mother that had been the last straw: “At least we won’t have to argue about Jay sleeping in your room, because robots don’t need sleep.” Jay had watched the angry red crawling up Tyler’s neck and hadn’t been able to think of a single thing to say to deflect his imminent explosion.
Caro had jumped in boots and all and called her mother on her “bitchy” comment. Michael backed her. Marissa, seeing the censure in her family’s eyes, immediately apologized. But it was too late. The uneasy truce they’d all negotiated had shattered. As soon as Tyler had calmed down enough to speak without yelling, he’d claimed to have just remembered he had another assignment due and they’d have to head home right away.
“At least eating at a restaurant meant we were all on our best behavior,” Jay offered.
That comment provoked a snort instead of a grunt—an improvement of sorts. “If best behavior means not speaking at all, then yeah, some of us were very well behaved over dinner.”
“The food was good, though. And your dad paid.”
This time she got a grin. “And you let him. Miracles will never cease.”
Jay did a Caro and stuck out her tongue at him.
Tyler jumped from of the SUV and grabbed the bags from the back seat. Jay waited for him to slam the door before she locked up and engaged the alarm. She held out a hand for her bag. When he didn’t comply she figured she had two options: take it from him, or give him a good reason to do what she wanted. If she could pull it off, option number two would provide the best result. She was tired of “discussing” things.
“If I carry my bag and you carry yours, then we can hold hands on the way home. It’ll be romantic.” She wanted to be close to him right now, needed physical contact. She was feeling—
How was she feeling?
Fatigued, despite having eaten well and not having exerted herself physically. Fragile. In need of comfort.
How strange. Apparently being the victim of Marissa’s censure—shrugging off the glares, pretending she hadn’t heard the barbs, biting her tongue against the responses that had bubbled to her lips unbidden—had drained her both physically and emotionally. This constant battle against allowing feelings to adversely affect one’s physical wellbeing…. It was unsurprising humans succumbed to viruses due to compromised immune systems.
Tyler handed over her bag without further demur. He shouldered his own, and slung his spare arm around her waist, hooking his thumb in one of her jeans’ belt-loops. “My turn to apologize.” He pressed a kiss to her temple.
Her skin warmed beneath his touch and her breath eked out in a breathy sigh when he pulled away. “What for?”
He ushered her toward the elevators. “I let Mom hide behind the whole pregnancy thing because I didn’t want her to stress out any more than she already was. But I hate that I didn’t stand up for you more.”
She butted her head against his shoulder. “I can stand up for myself, you know.”
“I know.” He jabbed the Down button.
“And I felt the same way you did. I didn’t want to cause any more upset so I ignored her behavior rather than calling her on it.”
“I pity Dad right now,” Tyler said.
Jay’s senses ratcheted up to high alert. Something was not right. “Me, too.” she said, keeping her tone normal so she didn’t alert Tyler while she scanned her surroundings.
The elevator dinged and the doors slid open. Jay wriggled from Tyler’s embrace and motioned him ahead of her. She cast her gaze quickly about the level. Concrete. Vehicles. The harsh lighting cutting intermittent swathes in the shadows. Faint odors of oil and gas, rubber and leather and vinyl, decaying food and old coffee mingling with ink from newspapers stuffed in the trash cans, and—
The faint whiff of an odor she could not identify.
No movement. No other people on this level of the parking building. They were alone, just the two of them. Even so, she backed into the elevator and stood just in front of Tyler, protecting him. Only when the doors shut and the elevator began to descend did she allow herself to relax somewhat.
The elevator do
ors opened onto the street level and they wandered out onto the sidewalk. Jay inhaled the night air deep into her lungs. Nothing. She was “imagining things” as humans would say. And perhaps that was natural considering recent events. She released the expectant tension from her muscles.
“Something wrong?” Tyler asked, his brow creased with concern.
“No. Everything’s fine.” She summoned a smile for him, and the smile became genuine when he moved in close to her side and took her hand in his again.
“Wonder if Nessa’s left us anything to eat—or anything at all, for that matter.”
Jay hip-popped him—an action she’d observed girls do to boys on occasion, and which seemed appropriate at this moment. He veered off the sidewalk. Oops.
“How can you possibly be hungry after that huge meal you ate at the restaurant?” she asked.
He yanked her wrist, tugging her in close to him again. “I must have worms.”
“As Caro would say, eeeuuuwww. Me? I can dose you for that if you’d like. It won’t be pleasant though.”
“Pass.”
“I figured as much.”
“Smartass.”
“Of course. But that’s what you love about me, right?” She fluttered her eyelashes at him.
He held her gaze. “Always.”
One word. It picked her up by the scruff of her neck, shook her like a newborn kitten, and deposited her back on the sidewalk beside him as though nothing had happened and her world hadn’t tilted on its axis.
Jay had always known words had power. How could she not when words her creator had uttered compelled her to end his life? No sentient being forced by words to act against its will could deny their power. But Tyler’s words…. His words were terrible in a wholly different way. His words had the power to stab her through the heart, make the whole world seem bleak and lackluster. Or make her quiver with joy and the hope they could both overcome insurmountable odds and be together forever.
Like now.
Should she kiss him as she so desperately wanted to do? She would be making a public spectacle of herself. Worse, she would be lowering her defenses, leaving herself vulnerable because he would flood her senses and wreak havoc with her ability to detect danger.
Abruptly she didn’t care. Her bag dropped unheeded to the pavement as she raised up on tiptoes and wound her arms around his neck and pressed her lips to his.
She heard his heartbeat escalate, felt his hesitation. And then there was a dull thud as his bag hit the ground, the tensing of his muscles and the searing warmth of his palm against the small of her back, her own pulse rate speeding up to match his as he caught her up against him. His kiss became harder, more demanding. She responded in kind. Their kiss turned urgent, lips and tongues dueling to gain the upper hand, then surrendering and softening to something sweeter and gentler but no less devastating.
Tyler closed his eyes, resting his forehead against hers, one hand cupping the nape of her neck, the other palming the curve of her hip. “Whoa.”
Jay giggled. And then caught herself. She’d never giggled for no reason that she could discern before. Not ever. And then darned if she didn’t giggle again.
“What is wrong with me?” She pulled from his arms and clapped a hand over her mouth.
Tyler grinned. “Gee whizz, Jay. I’d say you’re doing a stellar impression of a girl who’s just been kissed to within an inch of her life and enjoyed the hell out of it.”
She lowered her hand to scowl at him because he was right. His grin got wider. She snatched the bags from the sidewalk and stalked up the path toward her house. Tyler’s laughter chased her and she couldn’t help but smile. Secretively, of course, so he couldn’t see.
She unlocked the door and keyed in the security code to deactivate the alarm. “Nessa’s not home.”
Tyler glanced at his wristwatch. “It’s pretty late. Looks like she’s finally done a runner. Yay.”
“You’re incorrigible,” Jay said, relishing the word Caro had used earlier. The syllables had a lovely rhythm to them. “At least check her room before you jump to conclusions.”
“You check her room. No way I’m barging in there. What if—”
“I’m wrong? What if she didn’t remember she could set the downstairs-only alarm if she was freaked about being alone, so she set the full alarm and then sprinted upstairs before she could set it off, and she’s tucked up in bed?”
He favored her with his “so sue me for being cautious” look. “Yeah. What you said.”
“I’m not wrong.” Jay bounded up the stairs and pushed open the door to Nessa’s room. It was in an unusual state of disarray, with clothes strewn over the bed. Her shoulder bag—the one Jay had bought for her because girls like Nessa needed a bag to carry all their “stuff” around in—was gone. The wardrobe revealed the remaining neatly hung new outfits and the worn duffel filled with the few items Nessa had brought with her.
Tyler stuck his head through the doorway. “Verdict?”
“She’s not done a runner. She’ll be back.”
“Yippee Skippy.”
Jay allowed a hint of rebuke to color her gaze but if Tyler recognized it he remained unrepentant. “Have you done any digging?” he asked, leaning against the door jamb with his arms folded in his “I’m putting you on notice I’m not happy about this” pose.
“She wasn’t fired from Time-Out, she quit. She gave no notice so she’s not the most popular person with her former employer right now, and if she comes begging for her old job again he’ll have a thing or two to say to her. She told her housemates she’d come into some money and was getting the hell out of Snapperton. She gave them two weeks rent in lieu of notice. There’s a box of her possessions still at the house. They’re a little hazy as to whether she’ll come pick it up herself or organize a courier pickup when she’s settled. They’re happy for her. They’d do the same in her shoes.”
Tyler blinked. “Good work. So.... She deliberately sought me out. And you were right. She does have an agenda.”
“Yes.”
“And?”
“And, perhaps her sole motivation was to insinuate herself into your life because she wants you back.”
He snorted. “In her dreams. Reckon I’ve thoroughly disabused her of that notion.”
“Me, too.”
“Oh?” His gaze turned speculative. “Went all jealous beyotch on her ass, huh?”
“I might have.”
“Wish I’d been a fly on the wall for that conversation.”
She folded her arms. “Be grateful you weren’t. It wasn’t pretty.”
He puckered up and blew her a kiss—retribution for the one she’d teased him with on the trip down, no doubt. “Awww, I feel all warm and fuzzy thinking about you warning a predatory female off li’l ole me.”
She rolled her eyes ceiling-ward. “Men.”
“There’s still something off about this.”
“Agreed.”
“Okay, so what happens next with Nessa and her somewhat super-secret agenda?”
“She’ll either reveal it, or we’ll figure it out and go from there.”
“You’re being very laid back about this.”
“Yes.”
His gaze settled on the clothes scattered on the bed. “Where do you think she’s gone?”
“Job interview would be my guess.”
“Party would be mine. Knowing Nessa, she’s hooked up with some guy and she’s out whipping him into a hormonal frenzy as we speak.”
Jay scooped a very plain black top from the bed and held it out. “These are hardly Nessa-style party clothes. She was dressing to impress an employer, not a boy.”
“Ah, but she didn’t wear that, did she?” His smugly-pleased-to-get-the-upper-hand expression faltered. “S’pose you can tell me exactly what she did wear if I cared to ask, right?”
“I could.” He was fortunate she wasn’t human or she’d be hitting him with a smug smile right about now.
“Ok
ay. You win.”
Jay cocked her head, listening. “In approximately thirty seconds we’ll know for sure.” She tossed the top back on the bed, and then herded Tyler out the door and downstairs.
Nessa shut the door behind her and flicked the deadlock. When she turned and saw them both sitting on the bottom stair her eyebrows rose to her hairline. “Gee. A welcoming committee. What’d I do to deserve this?”
“How did the job interview go?” Jay asked.
Nessa’s eyes rounded. “How did you know?”
“Lucky guess.”
Nessa hugged the bag she was carrying. A smile lit her face. “I got the job.”
“Which one? The up market café?”
“Yes!” The word burst from her as though she was having to remind herself the job offer was true. “I got called in to meet the staff and go through the ropes. I start tomorrow. Afternoon shift.”
Jay summoned the kind of grin that was appropriate in these circumstances. “That’s fantastic, Nessa. I knew you could do it.”
“I couldn’t have done it without your help—the clothes and the résumé and everything. I don’t know why you even helped me after the way I’ve behaved but thank you for giving me a chance.”
“Everyone deserves a second chance,” Jay said. Instinct made her cast a sideways glance at Tyler. His features were not stern, exactly. Brooding was a better description. She wondered whether he was remembering back to the time he’d given her a second chance.
He’d not wanted anything to do with her after her shocking revelation that she was, in fact, a cyborg. Or so she’d thought at the time. In reality he’d gotten over that, only to be gutted anew by her plans to leave. Even so, he’d agreed to be her date for the farewell party Caro had insisted Jay throw. He’d given her a second chance. And when she’d blown it, even though he’d been hurting and had every reason to be angry with her, he’d put aside his own hurt to reveal how he really felt about her through the heart-wrenching song he’d written for her.
Freaks in the City Page 16