For every A she’d made in high school, she’d earned a D in street sense.
She stopped pacing back and forth and stared at him, hands on her hips. Even the cat was glaring at him, switching its tail in accusation. “You were kissing her.” Her voice wobbled. “Like you kissed me.”
Not even close. He closed the distance between them. “What would you have done if you hadn’t found me with her?”
She pulled her mouth in tight and refused to meet his eyes.
“Tell me.”
“I wouldn’t have left.”
“Exactly. You wouldn’t have left.”
The words echoed off each wall, making the silence that followed that much more deafening.
“You were supposed to go to college,” he said at last. “But you said you were going to stay with me.”
She dropped her hands from her hips, looking to the window, and back to him. He saw a tremble in her mouth. “I could have gone to college later.”
“I wasn’t even going to graduate from high school. What do you think we would have lived on?”
Her chin lifted. “Money isn’t everything.”
“It is when you can’t afford a place to live.”
Just as he’d expected, she didn’t have an answer for that. He’d only had one answer himself, at the time.
“So it was a setup.”
He jerked his chin in assent, watching her. For some reason, she kept flexing her hand, making a fist and then releasing it.
The punch replayed in his mind in slow motion. Tensley’s fury. Rhonda’s scream. His disbelief. If he’d had the training then that he had now, he could have blocked the blow. Things would have been different.
But “could-a/would-a” didn’t matter for shit. Max had screwed things up but good.
Her eyes met his. “A pretty lame-ass plan.”
He lifted a shoulder. “All I had at the time.”
“Sounds like your intentions weren’t … bad.” She swiped at one eye with the back of her hand and shook her head, staring out the window again. “Better than mine, I guess.”
He would let her blame him, but not herself. And he’d never been able to handle seeing her cry, so that wasn’t going to work out well. “I’m a cop. That’s why I have the gun.”
She turned back. Her eyes widened and she made a little snort. The sound sent a tingle of memory through him. “A cop. If that’s your idea of a joke, it’s not funny, Max.”
“It’s not a joke.”
“The police in this town would never have allowed that. You were number one on their most-hated list.”
“I left after you did. Went to California. Finished high school, joined a police force and got a degree in criminal justice. Came back here. They offered me a job. I took it.”
She considered that, her eyes narrowing. “You’re kidding. You?”
He put a hand to his heart. “Thanks for the vote of confidence.”
“I didn’t mean — ” She shifted her weight from one foot to the other, staring at the floor. “It’s just that, of all the things I thought you would become, a cop never entered my mind.”
“Right.” He smiled, for the first time in what felt like years. “You thought maybe a car thief.” He had shown her how to start a car without a key.
“Gambler.” She also cracked a smile.
He’d almost forgotten. He’d also shown her how to play poker. “Con artist.”
“Writer.”
“Are you kidding me?” He would have laughed if her words hadn’t sent such an unexpected thrill through him. She didn’t know about the half-written murder mystery buried in his desk. No one did. “I had enough trouble graduating from high school.”
“This is me, remember? You loved books. Words. You wrote me poetry. And it was good.”
They needed to get off this subject. Fast. “Come on. Gangbanger. That’s what you thought.”
She hesitated.
“Don’t lie,” he said. “It entered your mind.”
Her eyes met his, clear and steady. “I knew you’d end up fine.”
“Not just now when you found the gun.”
“I couldn’t — think of a good reason you’d have one.”
He screwed up his mouth. “Guess that’s fair. I wasn’t headed for anything good when you knew me.”
“I never thought of it that way.” Tensley turned away. She dropped into the chair and the cat jumped up to take what looked like a familiar position on her lap. She began stroking his fur. “So much has happened. I wish I could tell you.” Her voice trailed off. “Things you wouldn’t believe.”
Unfortunately, he was pretty sure he would. He took a seat opposite her, on the sofa. “Do you want to talk about it?”
She seemed to consider it for a moment and then make up her mind. “No. I want to know about you and this whole cop thing. Do you like it?”
“I do. And I’m good at it.”
Tensley’s smile was wistful. “I’ll bet. They probably have you deal with the teenagers just like you.”
They had in his first job. “Sometimes.”
“So an old lady bakes you muffins because you’re single. Have you ever been married?”
Careful, Max. “Once. For about a minute.”
“Any kids?”
“No. You?”
An odd expression, as though she had to think about it. “Not that I know of.”
At least she hadn’t lost her sense of humor.
Then she raised her head, fixing her gaze on him. “Why were you there last night?”
He leaned forward, clasping his hands in front of him.
Tensley sat up straighter, dislodging the cat.
Max switched into his best no-bullshit cop voice. “We need to talk about that.”
CHAPTER SIX
“I was working last night,” Max said. “But I’m sure you figured that out.”
Tensley ignored Gemini the cat, who had leaped from the chair after losing his spot and was now attempting to sear his disapproval into her brain. “No. I didn’t.” Here’s where Max would say he knew she didn’t belong in that place. That a real stripper would be able to spot a cop the minute she laid eyes on him.
She leaned forward. Waiting. Hoping.
“First time I’d been to that club. Just got assigned.” He hesitated, staring down at his hands. “I knew you worked there, though. Saw the flyer.”
Right. How could she have forgotten the flyer? Lila Friggin’ Delightful. Her heart sank. So much for her not belonging there. She leaned into the back of the chair, shoulders slumping.
“You must have been surprised to see me.”
“You could say that.” Tensley clasped her hands together so tight, her fingertips went red and her knuckles white.
“Or maybe not. Given the fact that you remember me as number one on the cops’ most-hated list.”
Oh dear God, his smile made her knees go weak. She hoped she didn’t have to use them any time soon because, if he kept smiling, she was pretty sure her knees would wobble. She loosened her fingers, as numbness began to set in, and shifted her gaze to the cat. “What?” she asked Gemini, who turned and left the room with an annoyed switch of his tail.
Tensley braved another look at Max. Her fingers, now that they had regained feeling, longed to touch the curl of dark hair below his ears. She remembered how it used to wrap perfectly around her index finger.
“You know, though, I have to say, Ten. When I saw you … ” He leaned back against the sofa, drumming his fingers on one jeans-clad leg.
Her inner roller coaster ride began another steep ascent of hope as a clock she hadn’t noticed ticked off the seconds. Loud seconds. Keep talking, Max. What had happened when he saw her? He’d realized what he’d thrown away, that he’d never stopped loving her? Or maybe he’d thanked his lucky stars for a narrow escape when he saw what he thought she’d become. Okay, don’t talk.
A sharp rap on the apartment door jolted Tensley from ticking off the
possibilities. She jumped, looking at the door and then back at Max.
“Do you need to get that?” he asked, when she didn’t move.
“No.” Nothing good could be on the other side of that door.
Another knock, more insistent this time.
“Ignore it,” she said. She drew a steadying breath as the roller coaster crept upward. “You were saying?”
He looked puzzled for a second, but then leaned forward, deep blue eyes focused on her. “When I saw you last night, I couldn’t believe — ”
The apartment door screeched open and a heavy footstep sounded in the hall.
Tensley turned, picturing herself in a slow motion suicide leap toward the intruder, the word n-o-o-o-o-o roaring from somewhere deep inside. No more surprises. No more terrifying revelations into a life that wasn’t hers. No more.
“Babe! What’s the deal? Why didn’t you answer the door?” A man moved into view. A short, muscular man with huge, tattooed arms. He was wearing a sleeveless tank top. In October. Jeans with a hole in one knee. And a grin that showed even, white teeth.
The man’s expression changed to a frown that settled into deep creases between his dark brows. He looked to be in his thirties. He looked to be someone who lifted weights full-time. And he looked to be … not very happy. “Who’s this joker?” He jabbed a stubby finger in Max’s direction.
Max stood. “Just an old friend.”
“Old friend.” Thunder clouds formed in the man’s eyes.
Tensley also stood. Combat yoga, anyone?
“From years ago.” Max’s tone was smooth, unruffled. “We ran into each other and were catching up. My wife and I went to high school with Tensley.”
That stopped her. His wife. Is he lying to muscle man … or me?
“We were talking about getting together for dinner sometime soon,” Max went on. “Tensley told me she had someone special she wanted to bring.” He aimed a questioning look at her. “I’m thinking this must be him.”
Her mouth opened, but all she could do was stare at muscle man, at Max, and back again.
Uncertainty flickered across the other man’s face, but then, after appearing to make a decision, he stepped toward Max. “Name’s Razor,” he said. “Razor Burns.”
Seriously? Razor Burns? This wasn’t happening.
“Yep, I would be her someone special.” Razor dipped his chin toward Tensley. “That’s my girl.”
And the roller coaster, having reached the top, plunged straight downward, Tensley screaming silently until her lungs ached. She did not have a boyfriend named Razor. Razor Burns.
“Nice to meet you.” Max extended his hand, barely flinching when Razor did his best to crush it. “I’d better get home. It was great to run into you, Tensley.” He flashed a smile at her. “Rhonda will be excited. I’ll have her call you to set up dinner.”
Rhonda? As in Rhonda the Skank? What the fuck. Of all the names he had to pull up for a fake wife, he picked Rhonda?
“Yeah. Great,” she choked out. “Tell Rhonda the Ska — ”
She knew that look on Max’s face. It meant “play along.” He’d signaled her with it many times in high school.
“Ska — git Valley Homecoming Queen,” she managed to finish, “to call me.” As if Rhonda could have ever gotten off her knees long enough to walk across a stage. She tried a smile, but it disappeared before it even got started.
“I’ll do that,” Max said.
“Homecoming queen, huh?” Razor gave a hoarse way-to-go chuckle. “Yeah, I nailed the homecoming queen at my high school, too. She kept her crown on the whole time. Damn thing almost poked my eyes out.” He shook his head, then brightened. “Huge tits, though.”
Again. Seriously?
Max gave an easy answering chuckle.
She might have to kill both of them. From the deadly lotus position.
“They were nothing like yours, though, babe.” Razor snaked a possessive arm around her waist and nuzzled her neck, causing every one of her nerve endings to shout its protest. He dropped his voice. “Don’t worry. I don’t even remember her name. And you don’t wear a crown so your Razor-man is safe to keep on going a-l-l night long.”
Give her a minute and she’d get a crown. A huge one that would stab her Razor-man in all kinds of sensitive places.
Max lifted his hand. “So Rhonda will be in touch. Good seeing you, Tensley. Nice meeting you, Razor.” He strode to the door.
Tensley would have run after him, but Razor Burns held on to her as what felt like every hope she’d had of regaining her normal life disappeared with Max Hunter. She hadn’t always had the greatest life, but it was hers and from this vantage point, it looked pretty damned near perfect. She wanted it back.
The door shut, leaving Tensley standing with a man named after a facial injury.
He landed a drive-by kiss on her cheek and took off toward the kitchen. “What’s to eat? I’m starved.”
She put a hand to her cheek, where his rough whiskers and wet lips had brushed her skin, and scrubbed at it with her fingers. As he walked away, he flexed his arms and pulled his hands into fists, swinging them from side to side like a boxer. Wine glasses hanging from an iron rack near the kitchen clinked together in alarm.
His walk reminded her of someone, but she couldn’t think who. She couldn’t think much of anything.
“Babe?” Razor called from the kitchen. “Some of the guys are gettin’ a game going over at Rod’s house. You care if I go, after the gym?”
She was one-hundred-percent sure she did not care what Razor did. Now or ever.
He appeared again, a stalk of broccoli in one hand, a bottle of vitamin water in the other, and an expectant look on his face. He tipped his head. “You okay? You look kinda funny.” He took a big bite of broccoli, watching her as he crunched. Bits of green clung to the corners of his mouth.
“Uh, no. No, I’m not.” She shook her head, hugging her waist. “I don’t feel well.” True enough.
“Oh, man. Really?” Another bite. More crunching. More pieces of broccoli refusing to enter his mouth. “Can I get you anything?”
“Nothing. Except … ” She gestured toward the broccoli. “I don’t think I can watch you eat.”
“Sorry.” Another large bite and a swig of water and he was done. He disappeared into the kitchen. When he returned a minute later, he was drawing one large hand across his mouth. “You gonna be able to work?”
If he meant work at Gary’s, she was never setting foot in that strip club again. Not if they dragged her by her tiny thong. She shook her head. And then shook it even harder.
“Pops told me you were acting weird last night. Bet it was because you were feeling sick, huh?”
Pops. As in … father. That walk. She knew she’d seen it before.
“You don’t have to keep telling him you’re quitting, you know. You can just ignore him if he’s making you mad. Hell, that’s what I do.”
Gary. The owner of the strip club. Was this man’s father.
Razor started making his way toward her, but came to an abrupt stop when Gemini planted himself squarely in the man’s path. “I swear,” Razor muttered as he went around him, “that cat hates me.”
Gemini was beginning to grow on Tensley. Something began to bubble in the back of her throat. Hysteria. Nausea. Maybe both.
It deflated as soon as Razor leaned in to kiss her. “Stay away!” She put her hands in front of her face.
He pulled up, looking hurt.
She felt bad. For all she knew, or didn’t know, he was an okay guy. “Sorry. I just — don’t want you to get sick, too.”
His expression softened. “Aw thanks, babe. You don’t want me to miss the game.” He stepped back, rubbing his hands together. “’Cause I’m feelin’ lucky tonight.”
“So go be lucky.” And leave me the hell alone.
“You bet I will.” He chortled at his own joke. “Okay. I’m leavin’ now.” He aimed a finger at Gemini. “Stay,” he ordered
.
The cat ignored him, zipping by Razor’s feet and causing him to stumble. “Shit. You’d better get over this, dude. I’ll be movin’ in here before long and she’s not gonna let you get away with that crap anymore.” He turned and winked at Tensley. “Right, babe?”
Tensley couldn’t even begin to muster a response.
Razor didn’t seem to mind. “Hey, I’m gonna call you from Rod’s. Make sure you’re okay. Can’t have my girl being sick.” He flashed his white-toothed grin at her. “Unless you want me to play doctor.”
Her stomach turned over. “I’m good,” she managed.
“Call if you need your Razor-man.”
Not in a million years. “Uh-huh.”
“Don’t want you passin’ out on stage and hurtin’ yourself now. Pops will get all pissed off and — ” He continued to talk, even as the door banged shut behind him.
There was apparently no sick leave for Gary’s Gorgeous Grecians.
Tensley stood, riveted to her spot, for several minutes and then turned. She fell onto the sofa, face down, inhaling the smell of cloth and cat.
Max. Maybe with a wife. Who might or might not be Rhonda. And she still didn’t know why he had come to see her or what he had been about to say.
A job at a strip club. Where she owed money. A flyer circulating who knew where. Her entire life, upside down and spinning.
Two days ago, even two hours ago, she never would have believed it, but right now it appeared as though a heavy-footed, broccoli-chewing alleged boyfriend named Razor Burns might be the least of her problems.
As Alice in Wonderland, the queen of upside down, had said, “It would be so nice if something made sense for a change.”
• • •
Tensley sat cross-legged in the middle of the apartment’s bedroom, surveying the damage. She’d gone a little crazy after her face plant in the sofa, making her way into the bedroom to overturn drawers and pile the entire contents of the closet into one corner. She’d even crawled under the bed to see if anything had escaped her tornado of scrutiny, though she’d only found dust bunnies. All that proved was that her housekeeping skills hadn’t improved any in her new life.
She hadn’t known what she was looking for. But it had seemed reasonable that somehow, somewhere, she’d find a clue. A clue that would lead her home.
Careful What You Kiss For Page 6