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But the picture coming together under my hand was so compelling, I almost didn’t hear the alert on my phone reminding me to meet my friend Roy for dinner. He threatened that if I canceled one more time because I was too involved in my work or on a deadline, he’d come over here and drag me out. We had grown up together, Roy going on to work in city hall, which was a small place where everyone knew everything about everyone. An evening out with him was sure to be an entertaining time where he would share all the local gossip in a way only Roy could. Never mean or even unkind, he managed to amuse without harm, and sometimes that was just the thing I needed to get me out of my head and refreshed.
I tightened my grip on the charcoal, but then let it fall on the table and pushed to my feet. I would only be gone a couple of hours, and when I got home, the drawing would be waiting.
Plus, I hadn’t had anything to eat all day, I was pretty sure, and my stomach rumbled. I missed a lot of meals when working.
Roy waited for me outside the venue he’d chosen for our meal. Table for Two. The most romantic restaurant in town, and a little more date night than our usual, but not everyone was there for romance, and their food was fantastic. “You showed!” he marveled when I walked up to him. “Wonder of wonders.”
“Ha ha. Like I could chance your coming and dragging me all the way here.” I sighed. “What choice did I have?”
He laughed and slapped me on the back, his grizzly lending heft to the smack that had me swaying a little. “Oh, sorry.” He steadied me. “Let’s get in before they give our table away or make us sit in the section with the dating couples. I don’t need to be reminded that I sleep alone in my cold bed.”
“Aren’t we the cheerful pair tonight. I know…I’ll pick up the check. Will that make you smile?”
“You bet. We civil servants can barely keep body and soul together, you know.”
“Don’t cry poor to me. I know your civil job is only a small part of your income. Wrong person to try that with. I’ve known you too long.” And his gold mining ancestor was one of the few ever to make enough for his descendants to enjoy ancestral wealth. Roy worked because he liked helping people.
We teased each other and laughed while we ordered drinks and then dinner. He, as always, told me funny stories about the people who visited or worked at city hall, and I finally looked at my phone and groaned. “I have to get going.”
“Why? Deadline?”
“Yes, now that you mention it, but mostly I have a model coming to the house in the morning. It’s the last piece for this showing.” I told him how I’d forgotten the centerpiece of the series and how that had indeed put me in a rush situation.
“How did you find a model here? Did you import him from the city?”
“He lives here. Name is West?” Roy knew just about everyone, so his not knowing a famous model had moved in surprised me.
“Oh, is that the West who is going to be opening a shaved ice business? Is he going to do snowballs—that’s the one thing this town needs.”
“I don’t think so. He isn’t the type to run a dessert place, I don’t think. Not with that body.”
Roy hooted with laughter. “Keep thinking that. The stories I could tell you about some of those guys that hang out at the health food store…” And so he did, and it was another hour and a delicious dessert and coffee later before we parted.
Chapter Six
West
That afternoon over a bowl of fifteen bean soup—again—I had some hope.
Until my phone alerted me to an email from the company where I had bought my cart. My time on the payment plan was up. I had to get them the last payment within twenty-four hours or not only would I lose the cart but all the money I’d invested so far.
I couldn’t lose it. That cart had become the reason I worked. The reason I saved up. The reason I had some hope of making a life of my own apart from Clint.
My stomach dropped when I realized the timing of everything. Antoine would be paying me plenty to cover the cart payment but, per the contract, wouldn’t get it until the job was over. That would be too late.
Damn it. Life kept punching me in the face.
I shook my head. No. I wasn’t a victim. Not anymore.
Would Antoine be willing to pay me up front? It wasn’t standard, but would he understand my situation? He seemed like a kind person, but I knew more than anyone that business was business.
It would be beyond unprofessional to ask for my payment before the work was done, but I had no choice.
I hated the thought.
Not only because of the professional side of it but because this omega meant something to my polar bear. While sweeping the already clean house, I rehearsed all the ways I would explain to him that I needed the money up front. There was the truth approach. Spill everything out and let the pieces fall where they may.
Honestly, that was the only approach I knew about. I even starred the email on my phone in case he didn’t believe me and wanted to see proof.
