“Interesting point,” Mike replied. “One difference, though. I’m not one of your bar customers.”
No, she thought, looking him over. He wasn’t. “I don’t know you much better,” she pointed out.
“You will.”
Something about the way he said those two words made her stomach flutter, and made the already close atmosphere even closer. All evening long, she’d been battling a stirring awareness, and now it threatened to blossom. She didn’t like the feeling one bit.
Jackie’s innuendos popped into her head.
“How do you expect me to pay out?” she blurted. He frowned, clearly confused, but to her the change in topic made perfect sense. “We never talked, and last time I checked you guys don’t work for free. How exactly do you expect to collect payment?”
Realization crested across his face, followed quickly by his mouth drawing into a tight line. “It’s called a contingency fee,” he said tersely.
“Like those personal injury lawyers that advertise on television? The ones that say you don’t have to pay them until you win?”
“Exactly. What else did you expect?”
He already knew, and she felt her skin begin to color. What could she say? She was paranoid. Life made her that way. “I didn’t. Why else would I ask?”
“If you don’t like that plan, you can pay hourly.” He looked around the bar. “If doing so fits your budget.”
Doubtful, and he knew that, too. “Your plan is fine.”
“Good. Glad you approve.”
“Do you still want your diet soda?”
“Please.”
Shoot. She’d been hoping he’d say no, so she wouldn’t have to visit his table again. “Coming right up. I’ll drop it off before I cash out.”
“You’re done for the evening?” He straightened in his seat at the news.
Roxy nodded. The ability to clock out earlier than other bars was one of the reasons she continued working at the place. She could get home at a decent hour and be awake enough to get up with Steffi.
Reaching for his wallet, Mike pulled out a trio of bills. “This should cover my tab and tip. I’ll meet you out front.”
“For what?”
“To drive you home of course.”
Drive her home. Maybe Jackie’s comment wasn’t so far off. She fingered the bills, noting his tip was beyond generous for one drink. “What’s the catch?”
“No catch.”
“Really?” She may have made her share of bad calls, but she wasn’t stupid. Uptown lawyers didn’t hang out at the Elderion and offer waitresses rides for no reason. She hadn’t forgotten what he implied about her mother. “You drive all your clients home in the middle of the night?”
“If they’re dressed like that, I do.”
What was wrong with the way she was dressed?
“For one thing, you’re not,” he replied when she asked.
A comment like that was supposed to make her want to get into a car with him? “I’ll have you know I’ve been riding the same bus for years without a single incident.”
“Well, aren’t you lucky.”
“Luck has nothing to do with it. After a while you develop a kind of invisible armor and no one bothers you.”
He frowned. “Invisible armor?”
“Street smarts, you know? People see you and realize straight off they can’t hassle you. You blend in.” It was outsiders like him that had to worry. Unfortunately, from the way he was already packing his things, Roxy had the distinct feeling he wasn’t interested in her argument or in taking no for an answer.
What the heck. Wouldn’t kill her to ride in a warm car for a change.
“I’ll meet you in five,” she told him.
Did she really think she was safe riding the bus wearing that outfit? Watching her sashay off, Mike rolled his eyes. For crying out loud, she wasn’t even his type.
In this lifetime anyway. A memory danced on the edge of his mind. Of other late-night bus rides and willing partners. He shook it away.
“You make this commute every night?” he asked when they finally met up. She’d slipped a leather jacket over her uniform. The waist-length jacket covered her bare shoulders, but still left the legs exposed.
“Five nights a week.”
They rounded the corner and headed to the pay lot, walking past the bus stop in time to see a drunken patron relieving himself on the wall. Did her invisible armor protect her from that, too? he wondered as the splash narrowly missed his shoe.
“I thought about adding a sixth,” Roxy was saying, “but that would mean less time with Steffi. I hardly see her much as it is. She sees more of her babysitter.”
“When you win this case, you’ll have all the time in the world.”
“At this point in my life I’d settle for not having to schlep drinks for a living. I don’t care what they say, the smell of stale beer doesn’t go away.”
“You never thought of doing something else?”
“Oh, sure. I was going to be a doctor but the Elderion was too awesome to give up.
“Sorry,” she quickly added. “Couldn’t help myself. I could have found a day job, but originally I wanted my days free for auditions.”
“Auditions? You’re an actress?” A strange emotion stirred inside him. He should be concerned her career aspirations made her more interested in grabbing fifteen minutes of fame than in seeing the case through. Instead the tug felt more like envy. He chalked it up to being in the bar. The night had him thinking of old times and old aspirations.
The driver had brought out his sedan from the back of the lot. As Roxy slid into the passenger seat, her skirt bunched higher, almost to the juncture of her thighs. Mike averted his eyes while she adjusted herself. Yeah, she blended in.
“I’m impressed,” he said when he settled into his driver’s seat.
“Don’t be. It was eight years of nothing.”
“Couldn’t have been that bad.”
“Try worse. Turns out you need one of two things to make it in show business. Talent or cleavage. I was saving up for the latter when I had Steffi.”
“So you quit for motherhood.”
“Couldn’t very well work all night, run around to auditions all day and take care of her, too. Since the whole acting thing wasn’t working out anyway, I figured I’d cut my losses and do one thing halfway decently.”
“Halfway?”
Her shrug failed to hide her embarrassment. Clearly she hadn’t expected him to pick up on the modifier. “The whole ‘wish I could spend more time with her’ thing. Not that I have a choice, right?”
“No.” He stared at the brake lights ahead of him. The city that never sleeps. Even after midnight, gridlock could snag you. “But then a lot of choices aren’t really in our control.”
“What do you mean?”
This time he was the one who shrugged as a way of covering up. He didn’t know what he meant. The words sort of bubbled up on their own. “That a lot of the time life makes the decisions for us.”
“You mean like how getting knocked up put my acting career