It’s not like she could’ve left earlier. The payroll checks didn’t arrive until two. She did a mental run-through of all the bills her two-hundred-dollar check had to pay. Steal from Peter to pay Paul wouldn’t work this time. This was her last check and every dime had to go to finding another J.O.B.
Exhaustion nipped at her, not physical, because she hadn’t done much in the past few days, but mental exhaustion was just as debilitating. The harder she tried to dig herself out of the hole, the deeper the hole became. Swimming through quicksand had to be easier than applying for job after job and getting no response. She wasn’t picky or proud. Windows, floors, toilets, trash, whatever it took, she’d do it.
The rumble of a Hemi engine snapped her out of the mire her thoughts had sunk to. It was Liam in his Ram 1500 stopped at the corner at a red light. The faint strains of Imagine Dragons’ “Radioactive” reached her as his head bobbed along and he mouthed the words. His truck hadn’t been in the driveway when she left home, so why was he here now? Not that it was any of her business, though she did watch his comings and goings from whatever window happened to be close.
His head panned to the right, swept over her and snapped back. Their eyes locked. Too late to pretend she hadn’t seen him when she clearly had, Sabrina offered a weak smile and an equally weak “Hi, there” wave. The light turned green and Liam rumbled away, turning left in the opposite direction. She watched his taillights, expecting they’d blend in with traffic and she’d lose him.
Instead, he made an illegal U-turn and pulled up in front of the bus stop. The passenger window rolled down and he shouted over the Hemi, “What happened to your car?”
Embarrassed, she replied, “No money for gas.”
He cut the engine and climbed out into the rain. Round the truck, he came. “Get in.”
Her heart leaped, but she squelched it. The last thing she wanted to do was inconvenience him. “We’re fine. The bus will be here soon.”
Brows low on his forehead, he scowled. “The skies about to open up. You’re not fine. I’m not leaving you and Vivi out here to get soaked.” He opened the rear door.
“You don’t even know where we’re going.” She gave one last attempt to send him on his way.
“Doesn’t matter. I’ll take you.” He lifted the plastic shield off the stroller and tossed it behind the passenger seat. Then he studied the stroller. “Do I need to get her car seat out of your car?”
Nonplussed, she stared at him. Not only had he brought her groceries three days ago. Now, he rides up in his blue truck—not white she noted—and saves her from a downpour, but also has the knowledge to ask about a car seat for Vivi. Even willing to return to her house to get it.
“Hey, did you hear what I asked?”
Snapping out of her surprise, she nodded. “Um, yeah, but you don’t need to. The stroller is a combo.” She unlatched the carrier from the stroller. There was a base for the carrier to transform it into a car seat, but that was in her car.
“Need any help?” he asked as she secured Vivi in the rear seat. The way she strapped her in wasn’t ideal, but it would do. After all, the alternative was to wait in the rain for three buses, and that was only one way. A light baby blanket over her legs and she closed the door.
The truck was high, but she managed to thread the seatbelt through the back of the carrier and buckle it. “I got it. The stroller can go in the back of the truck.” The baby bag went between the carrier and the door as an extra cushion. Yeah, this wasn’t ideal, and anything could happen, but damn it, something had to go her way. Nothing would happen on this ride.
Her turn to get into the truck and it was a climb, especially in a long skirt. There’d be nothing ladylike about this— Liam’s hands settled on her waist. Startled, she didn’t know how to react as he lifted her into the cab. Completely flustered, she sat ramrod straight when he stretched the seatbelt over her lap and snapped it into the lock. She’d never been this close to him without tears involved. A whiff of his cologne tickled her nose, or was that him sans cologne? “Um. Thanks.” She inhaled deeply and was grateful when he pulled away before he saw her nipples tightening. Because damn, they were tight.
As he walked around the truck, she angled the air vents toward her. If push came to shove, she’d blame it on the air-conditioning and wet clothing.
Liam dropped into the driver’s seat and started the engine. “Where to?” he asked as if he were a taxi.
“I’m headed to Riverton.” Which was on the other side of the river and hopefully not too far out of his way.
“What’s in Riverton?”
“My last check. I need to get it.”
He hit a button on his steering wheel. The screen in the middle of the dashboard came to life. The phone app blinked, followed by a phone number. A few seconds later Anna’s voice came through the speakers in the truck. “Where are you, Liam?”
“Delayed. I have to take care of something. I’ll be a bit late to the auction. You know the house we’re interested in. If I’m not there go ahead and bid.”
Anna hemmed and hawed on the other end. “Are you sure? I’ve never bid on anything before.” Her nervousness came through the connection.
“I’m just making a detour. I’m sure I’ll make it in time, in case I don’t, I trust you won’t bankrupt us.” He laughed.
“Oh. All right. But don’t dawdle.”
Sabrina felt horrible. “You really don’t have to do this, help me, that is. The bus should be here any second.” Not true, but she was certain he had no idea about the city’s bus schedule.
“I didn’t get you in the truck to dump you on the side of the road. I wouldn’t do that to my favorite girl.”
What? She was about to demand he pull over and let her out, when Liam angled the rearview mirror and smiled at Vivi in the back seat. And didn’t that make her feel like an idiot, especially when a sudden bout of regret snaked through her.
“Next time you need a ride, let me know.”
Need a ride? Her mind nosedived into the gutter. Get a grip! A few nice words and a few nice deeds does not mean he gets a free pass between your thighs. Sad that she had to remind herself of this, but that’s what being with Vincent did to her self-esteem. If someone was nice to you, they wanted something, and if that someone was a man, then there was only one thing he wanted. Since she didn’t have money or a winning personality, she couldn’t pretend. The only thing she had to offer was between her legs, and even that wasn’t a great commodity.
According to Vincent, she was a lazy lay and couldn’t even give head right. Too much teeth, he complained and punched the side of her head. He also complained she hadn’t kept herself up, wasn’t as pretty as the other guys’ women, wasn’t sexy. Yet every time she wore makeup or tried to show a little leg, a little cleavage, he beat her, called her a slut.
“Hey, what’s doing in that head of yours?”
“Huh?” She couldn’t answer that question.
He glanced at her and then refocused on the road. “I can see steam rising from your head. What’s got you so worked up?”
Sabrina cleared her throat. She couldn’t tell him about Vincent. Even though Liam wasn’t in the club, he still had a connection to Mayhem, the enemy of the Black Dragons. She had no idea what his reaction would be or the club’s reaction to discovering she was Vincent’s ex-old lady, and Vivi’s father. And she wouldn’t tell him the lurid direction her thoughts had taken. She chalked it up to loneliness and her body finally climbing out of hibernation. It wasn’t Liam, per se, her libido has responded to. It was the presence of a nice guy. Hell, any nice guy would cause the same reaction.
“I don’t like being a charity case.”
He shook his head. “This isn’t charity. This is neighbor helping neighbor.”
Somehow, she didn’t quite buy that, yet as the heavens opened and the windshield wipers went into overdrive, she kept her opinion to herself. Pizza, groceries, and now free transportation. Charity case should�
�ve been stamped on her forehead. Maybe he could use her as a deduction.
Lightning cracked the sky. “I’m not ungrateful. I do thank you.” Thunder followed close by. By the time they crossed the bridge, the rain had ceased, and the sun struggled to breach the clouds. What would’ve taken four hours on the bus, boiled down to a thirty-minute drive on the highway. “Drop us off at the corner. I won’t keep you,” she said a block away from the store.
“I’m taking you to your job. You’re going to get your check and then I’m taking you home.”
She was surprised by the offer, especially when he had an auction to get to, then again, this was becoming a pattern of him stepping in to help without her asking for it. A woman could get accustomed to the attention, especially when she didn’t deserve it.
“Really, you’ve done enough. Plus, I have to cash it.”
“No bank account?” he asked.
Not when a man like Vincent could track her down through a bank account. “There’s a quick cash place a block away from the store.” She ignored his question rather than answer it.
“Store? Where do you work?” He sped around a school bus.
“99 Cents and More on Monument Road.”
He failed to hide his sneer. “You like it there?”
“They fired me.” Her defenses up. That sneer judged her.
His gaze shifted between her and the road. “Take that as a no. So, firing you was a favor.”
She glared at him. “A favor? I need a job. I needed that job.” Vivi’s squeal was the exclamation point at the end of the sentence.
“Haven’t you ever heard of one door closes, another one opens?”
“All I have are closed doors,” she muttered.
“It always seems like that when you’ve lost one, but—”
“Please, enough with the pep talk.” She rolled her eyes. “I bet you’re a morning person. Perpetually happy. Always seeing the bright side of shit. That ain’t me.” She hiked her thumb at her chest. “I’m the glass empty, never been full, and no way to get full person.”
“I figured that out.” He turned into the strip mall, drove past Publix, ABC Liquors, and China Buffet, to park at the end of the strip in front of her former job.
Why was the neon sign not on? And the interior dark? And why were her former co-workers standing outside milling around? Jennifer was out there standing next to Mavis and Bruce. Those were the only three out of the ten co-workers she ever spoke to. The rest she said hello and kept it moving.
“Shouldn’t the store be open by now?” Liam asked.
“Uh-huh.”
“I don’t like this,” he said as she freed Vivi. “Something ain’t right.” He met her in front of the truck. “No one called you to let you know something was up?”
How could they when her service had been cut for the past two days? Suddenly, the crowd rushed around the corner of the building to the side door, which was propped open. Something was wrong. That door was only opened for deliveries.
Sabrina shrugged off her unease. She was here for one thing. “Hold Vivi.” She passed him the baby. “I just need my check and we’re out of here.” Then she’d figure out her next move. It better be to a new job or we’re back at square one.
He followed her inside to the storage room. It was usually filled with boxes to be unloaded for restocking the inventory. By the bare shelves and uncluttered aisles, the Wednesday truck hadn’t arrived. That was unusual. She shrugged. Not her concern.
She weaved through the racks and exited by the customer bathrooms. The store was dark, illuminated by the weak sunlight filtering through the plate-glass windows at the other end. The empty aisles were strange for this time of the morning, especially with Memorial Day weekend approaching. People liked to stock up on the cheap paper plates, plastic silverware, cups, and napkins.
Someone shouted, followed by the sound of breaking glass. Then, “What do you mean we’re not getting paid?”
Sabrina’s stomach dropped. Oh no!
Chapter Ten
Sabrina rushed forward only to have Liam grab her arm. “What are you doing?” She jerked out of his grasp.
“Stay here. I’ll check it out.”
He tried to hand her Vivi, but she wouldn’t take her. Whatever happened, Vivi would be safe with Liam. “I came here to get my check.”
“Yeah. I know.” Liam stepped in front of her.
She didn’t need to tell him where to go, he followed the growing commotion. She followed his broad back, not quite sure if she should be pleased with this protective streak of his or pissed at his high-handedness. She needed him for Vivi, not this.
“Give me my goddamn check!” Something else broke and her thinking shifted. Not that he was here to protect her. Oh no. He was here to hold Vivi so she could kick Fred’s ass ’cause she was not leaving without her money.
And that’s exactly what she did when Liam stopped halfway to the office. She scooted around him and squeezed around her former co-workers. In the thick of the crowd, she spotted Fred standing in his office doorway, a mixture of worry and fear etched on his face.
“You’re mad at the wrong person! Blame corporate. Not me. I didn’t do this,” Fred shouted.
“You’re corporate’s whipping boy!”
“You’re in on this bullshit with them!”
“I bet you got a paycheck!”
“Look. I didn’t have to open the supply door and let you in. I could’ve left you all out there and called the cops,” was Fred’s reply.
Well, what did you do, Fred? Then she realized Fred was right. He was the whipping boy, corporate’s fall guy, the human face corporate used to take the heat. The lack of a paycheck wasn’t Fred’s fault, but… Sabrina remembered the timecards splayed over his desk and what Bruce had said about something being up at the head office. Fred had to have known. He could’ve warned them and didn’t.
“No way you didn’t know about this earlier,” she yelled.
Fred hemmed and hawed for a second before giving in. “I found out yesterday. Last night the head office called when the checks didn’t arrive.”
This was such bullshit. “Corporate?” Sabrina elbowed her way closer. “You act as if corporate is some headquarters five states away, when it’s ten stores run by the same family.” Fred’s gaze landed on her and what he said a few days ago came back to her. For however long it lasts. “Are the other stores closed too, or just this one?”
The crowd quieted.
Fred threw up his hands. “All the stores are closed. What I understand is the family’s filed for bankruptcy and is planning to liquidate everything.”
Bankruptcy meant the workers were the last ones to get paid, if they got paid at all. And there went her house of cards, blown away not by a hurricane, but by a gavel in an unseen courtroom. Sabrina’s stomach heaved. She doubled over, one hand on her stomach, the other covering her mouth.
“I don’t know when or if you guys are ever gonna get paid,” Fred said.
Someone jostled her. She banged into a shelf filled with wicker baskets and got pummeled. She ducked and threw up her hands to protect her head. Someone screamed and fists started flying. Bumped again, her hip slammed into a metal shelf. She pushed off to collide with Bruce, who shoved her away in order to reach for Mavis who was on the floor. She tried to help and got an elbow to her chin. On her ass, in the middle of a brawl, Sabrina covered her head and made herself as small as possible. That didn’t work because she became a floor mat people tripped over.
I’ve got to get up.
A body landed on her. She couldn’t move, barely breathe. She’d suffocate over two hundred dollars. She couldn’t summon enough air to scream. Suddenly, the weight was lifted. Caught between a gasp and a cough, she looked up to see Liam punching one of the stock boys. The guy went flying, and with his body, Liam muscled everyone out of the way. He fisted her shirt and hauled her to her feet. He dragged her into his arms, his body shielding her from harm. She’d never be
en more relieved to be in his arms. Then she realized who wasn’t in his arms.
“Where’s Vivi!” she demanded. The cry of a baby jerked her around to see Vivi crying in Jennifer’s arms. She reached for her, but Liam beat her there, and Vivi went willingly to him. Together with Jennifer, he led them back outside as two police cars rushed into the parking lot.
She didn’t want to leave. There had to be a way to get her money even though the rational part of her brain knew that wasn’t about to happen. She had as much luck at getting that check today as she had at hitting the Lotto.
Stumbling along she murmured, “What am I gonna do?”
“Don’t worry about it,” he said.
“Don’t worry about it.” She cranked her head to the side, and glared at him in amazement. “I have nothing left.” She shoved her hand into the pocket of her jean skirt and pulled out all she had. Exactly six dollars and fifty-five cents. “That check you told me not to worry about, that was it! And it had to last me till my next job. A job I got to hunt for because it’s not going to land in my lap! So, I can’t just not worry about it when it is literally all I have to worry about!” she screamed.
Vivi let out a wail and clung to Liam. Great, even her daughter didn’t want her. Sabrina stomped away. She didn’t go far, just enough distance to cry without an audience.
She’d have to go on assistance, not only the food stamps, but full assistance. There was no other way around it. Food stamps were one thing, but with full assistance sometimes people got on it and never got off. She didn’t want that for herself or her child. She didn’t escape Vincent to end up dependent on the state. Fuck. One step forward, ten steps back. There she was on that treadmill going nowhere fast.
“How much was your check?” Liam asked. He was right behind her holding Vivi.
“Two hundred bucks.” Two hundred measly dollars she counted on.
Plain Jane and the Bad Boy (Plain Jane Series) Page 8