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She sniffled and forced herself to put on some makeup, todry her hair and put it in a neat ponytail. Forced herself to put on cleanclothes. She would go to the café and order what she could afford, and maybe ifshe was lucky Christa would need some help with the after-church rush.Sometimes it got overwhelming and she stepped in for an hour or two. The tipsfrom the church crowd weren’t the best, but it would pass some time. Tomorrowshe would work her shift and go to the mechanic and give him the go-ahead tofix her car. By the end of the week, she would be able to pay it off and she’dbe gone by the weekend.
Another few days and she would be on the road to Mexico,Josh and Grim in her rearview mirror.
Hopefully she would have learned her damn lesson.
She wished she hadn’t slept so well the night before. She’dhad one dream, and Grim had been there to wrap her up and ease her back tosleep. After that she’d slept like a baby, and she hadn’t in so very long.
Maybe the nightmare had been the reason they hadn’t hungaround. Her dreams could be…upsetting.
She closed the mirrored door to the closet.
Just the night before she’d looked at herself in that mirrorand watched as she’d been between Josh and Grim. She’d thought about how sexythey looked together.
Now she looked weary.
Last night she’d been ready to explore some insane new worldwith them, and today she was right back to the world she actually lived in, theone filled with anxiety and pain. The one where she never stopped looking overher shoulder.
She’d been fooling herself when she’d thought about takingthis time and leaving. She stared at the woman in the mirror.
You thought maybe they could save you. You thought ifthey could love you, you might be able to tell them, and then you wouldn’t beso fucking alone. Then you wouldn’t have to fight this fight forever.
A deep sense of sorrow wrapped around her. If she lovedthem, would she want to drag them into her hell? They could get hurt or chargedwith aiding and abetting. No. All she was ever going to get out of thoseglorious men was a couple of nights.
It was better this way.
Deep breath. She was going to hold her head high. It wasn’tlike she cared what anyone thought.
Of course when she’d said that, she’d thought they would betogether for a little while, like she would be in a relationship with them.Then she wouldn’t have cared. It felt different being their latest one-nightstand.
The one thing she wasn’t going to do was stay hidden insidethis motel room. She shoved the book she was reading in her bag. She’d pickedit up at the Willow Fork Library’s recent fund-raiser sale for a buck fifty. Itwas a fantasy romance by one of her favorite authors. Books, she’d come torealize, were a thing she couldn’t give up.
She would have whatever was on special and order a lot ofcoffee and read her book and then she would forget about them.
She walked out into the morning light, making sure the doorwas locked behind her.
“Hey, neighbor,” a feminine voice said. “I don’t suppose youknow where I could get a cheap breakfast around here?”
She glanced over and there was a lovely blonde woman wearingjeans and a T-shirt that showed off her every curve. She was definitely olderthan Nicole, but she had a timeless beauty that made it hard to peg her age. Atleast late thirties, but she could be fifty with excellent skin care andgenetics. She had deep blue eyes and a friendly smile.
Nicole hadn’t seen her before, so she must have gotten inyesterday. Her room had previously been rented by three men who claimed they’dcome for the hunting. She wasn’t sure what they’d been hunting except for beerand a fun place to sexually harass women. Having a chick next door would be awelcome change. “Christa’s Café. I might be biased but my boss makes anexcellent breakfast, and it’s not expensive. Nothing around here is, really.Except car repairs.”
“Don’t I know it,” the woman commiserated. “Car repairs arehell anywhere. I’m Heather, by the way. I’m here for a couple of weeks. My momlives close by, but my sister’s already staying there, and I am not about tosleep with her and five dogs. This was the only motel in town.”
The last was said with a sad sigh.
“Yeah, like I said most things around here are cheap, andyou should be careful.” The woman looked out of place here. Probably like sheherself did.
She’d felt like her place had been in between Josh and Grim.She’d been so perfect in between them, their hard bodies sheltering hers.
And now they were gone and Cinderella was right back towork. Hopefully.
“Oh, because of the…” Heather gestured around. “Clientele?Yeah, I think someone was working last night on the other side of me. Hard, ifyou know what I mean.”
She felt her whole body flush. “I’m so sorry. The walls arethin.”
A grin lit the woman’s face. “Not you, honey. No. I’mtalking about the other side.”
Nicole felt a wave of relief. “Oh, you’re talking aboutClaudine. Yeah, she’s a sex worker, and a diligent one, too. Nice lady,though.” She frowned. “I don’t know why I said though. Like a sexworker can’t be nice.”
