Total pages in book: 188
Estimated words: 185811 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 929(@200wpm)___ 743(@250wpm)___ 619(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 185811 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 929(@200wpm)___ 743(@250wpm)___ 619(@300wpm)
In a normal situation, I would offer to go relieve the sitter after my last set.
Mo would never agree to that, so I told her, “I’ll call my mom.”
Carla shook her head again. “You can’t do that, Lottie. It’s after eleven at night.”
I grinned at her. “My mom loves kids, she loves you, and she’s the kind of person who gets off on doing things for folks. And you know Tex. He’s the king of wading in when a damsel is in distress. They’ll be all over it.”
“Tex might scare my boys,” she muttered.
This was true.
“Maybe, but in the end he’ll have them eating out of his hand,” I told her the truth. “But right now, they’re asleep and you’ll be home before they wake up, so they won’t even see him.”
She looked at her ankle then at me. “I can’t be off the stage for a week, Lottie.”
I reached out and gave her wrist a squeeze. “Just go to the hospital. Find out how bad it is.” I scooted closer on my platforms and reminded her, “And you know, if you have to take a break, we’ll take care of you. You know that, babe.”
More shaking of her head. “I can’t ask the girls to help me out. You all have your own bills to pay.”
“You won’t have to, but we will, and we won’t be pissed about it. We’ll only be pissed if you don’t take care of yourself. And anyway, Smithie would rather cut off his own arm than have you and your boys in a bind. You know that too.”
She glanced up at Mo before she whispered to me, “Smithie has a lot on his mind.”
All the girls knew about my sitch. Everyone had been interviewed and they’d all been tasked to keep an eye out for a possible crackpot that tweaked them, as crackpots were wont to do.
It sucked they were in on this, and knew this was happening to me, thus they were worried about me, and it gave me more fodder for nursing the hugest grudge I’d ever held, this being against said crackpot.
Through these thoughts, I shot her another grin, and after I had them, I said, “It’s unusual for a dude, but Smithie’s a multi-tasker.”
Carla gazed down at her ankle again.
“Can I call him?” I asked. “He’ll want to take you to the hospital.”
She gave me her eyes. “He wants to be around to look out for you.”
I jerked my head to Mo. “He gave me someone who’ll look out for me. If he knows you’re hurting, he’ll want to look out for you. And please, let me call him. If he finds out we didn’t tell him this, he’ll be ticked, at me. And I hate it when Smithie’s ticked at me.”
This was a lie. Smithie was all bark, no bite. I didn’t tick him off on purpose, but I didn’t avoid it should such an occasion arise.
Finally, I got a grin from her which meant I got out of my squat, smiling back, then moved to my station.
Mo, for the first time ever in that room, did not follow me.
He stayed close to Carla.
As I grabbed my purse to get out my phone, I watched out of the corners of my eyes and saw that he didn’t murmur reassuring words or offer to help hold the bag of ice or do anything but give her his solid, assuring presence.
But he gave her his solid, assuring presence. She was worried. She was in pain. And he gave her what he had to give.
All right.
Seriously.
I hoped that man was good in bed because I was totally falling in love with him.
I called Smithie to come and see to Carla.
After that, I turned, leaned back against my station, and watched Mo openly while I called my mom.
His silver gaze came to me.
And there it was.
A soft look from Mo.
Jeez, I so wanted to jump him.
I gave him a smile.
His eyes dropped to it, but he didn’t smile back.
And again, I wanted to pounce on him.
Mom answered the phone.
“Lottie? Is everything okay?”
She sounded awake and alert, but not alarmed. Just awake and alert even though I knew I had to have woken her.
This was because she was the mother of a Rock Chick and the Queen of the Corvette Calendar. She had a lot of practice with being woken up in the middle of the night, needing to do it and be alert.
“Hey, Mom. Sorry to call late, but Carla turned her ankle bad coming off stage tonight. Mo had a look at it and thinks she needs to have it checked at the hospital. She needs someone to go relieve her babysitter until she gets home.”
“Mo?”
Shit.
Wrapped up in all that was going on, I not only forgot about dinner on Sunday, I forgot I’d told Jet about Mo coming, but not my mother.