Rock Chick 02 Rescue (2 page)

“Not me.” Tex, Indy’s barista, a Vietnam Vet and ex-con who was crazy as a jay-bird but you couldn’t help liking him, reached across me to give Eddie his cappuccino, “With me, you get what you see.”

Eddie didn’t take his eyes off me, even as he reached for the sugar (Eddie took lots of sugar in his coffee, I’d memorized this fact right away, as I memorized practical y everything about Eddie).

“What about you, Just Jet? Do we get what we see with you?”

Just for your information, I wasn’t a virgin and total y unlucky in love. I had a boyfriend al through high school and three since then, al long-term.

Al boring.

Al predictable.

Al wanting more but not knowing how to get it.

Al just like me.

That said, obviously, I’d had guys flirt with me. It was rare, but it happened. I just couldn’t believe Eddie was doing it, or at least it seemed like it.

“Chavez, for fuck’s sake, quit flirtin’. Christ, you flirt with anything in a skirt.” Tex said (explaining the flirting). “She’s tryin’ to work and you’re embarrassin’ her. Can’t you see her blush?”

At that, my hands slipped on the cups, they went flying in the air, bonking on my head, arms, hands, al over Tex and they fel everywhere. I bent down immediately to hide and to pick up the cups.

Eddie came around the counter to help. He crouched down and said, “Didn’t mean to embarrass you.” I looked up. His smile had dimmed to a grin and his eyes looked different. I couldn’t put my finger on it but it, too, made my insides feel funny. I couldn’t help but think he felt sorry for me, but his eyes weren’t exactly saying that, though I didn’t know what they
were
saying.

I was mortified and maybe a little pissed off at Tex and one look at my face wiped away his grin.

“
You
didn’t embarrass me.” It came out kind of snappish, which wasn’t intentional, more self-defence.

Maybe I was trying to convince myself, I don’t know.

He handed me the cups and looked at me closely, no He handed me the cups and looked at me closely, no smile or even a hint of grin in evidence. I avoided his eyes, avoided him (as best I could with him helping me pick up the cups). When we were done, I got up fast, so fast I made myself dizzy and had to step back or fal over. Eddie’s hand came out to steady me and I jerked my arm away, as if his touch would burn.

That’s when I saw his brows draw together and I stepped around him, giving him as much room as possible. I walked as fast as I could into the acres of bookshelves in the back and hid there until I was certain he was gone.

* * * * *

That was the first time I was an idiot around Eddie, but not the last.

* * * * *

Weeks passed and I got to know the people at Fortnum’s.

It was a laugh riot working there, everyone was hilarious and nice and you could tel they cared a lot about each other.

It was comfortable and stress free (except for Eddie, of course). You made your own hours and I started to relax, except when Eddie came around. Anytime Eddie was there (and he was beginning to stop around more often), I stiffened up, shut my mouth and most of the time, hid in the back.

Lee and Indy had a party about a month after I started and they invited me.

Of course, I thought I couldn’t go. My shift at Smithie’s started at 7 pm and the party started at 7:30 pm.

Mom was beside herself. She made me go, said I could

“just pop by” and tel Smithie I’d be a little late (something he was used to, part of why I drove him nuts).

See, even before Mom had her stroke, she and her best friend Trixie wanted me to find a life and find a man (these were synonymous to Mom and Trixie, by the way). Both of them kept going on about how pretty I was, I just didn’t know it. How I didn’t have any confidence. How I just needed to brighten myself up a bit. They’d been saying that for years but then again, everyone said it, even Lottie.

“Sistah,” Lottie would say, “you are shit-hot. Even without any makeup on and your hair pul ed back in that stupid ponytail. Look in the fuckin’ mirror every once in awhile, would you?”

Then again, Lottie loved me, so did Trixie and Mom.

Trixie, who’s got a license for doing hair, nails, facials, everything, kept trying to give me highlights like Lottie’s.

“Don’t hide your light under a bushel, or in your case, hide that thick, shiny hair in a ponytail. I’m sick of those ponytails! Every day, it’s a ponytail! Enough with the ponytails!” Trixie would say (Trixie was a bit dramatic).

She and Mom kept trying to take me shopping for clothes that “fit a bit better” (they meant tighter which also meant I mainly wore tight jeans and fitted t-shirts and sweaters), tried to get me to go with the girls to parties and out to the bars, they even suggested speed dating once.

“Al the men wil be backed up at your table, I swear to God,” Mom said.

I know Mom felt guilty for everything that happened, it had been a bad few months and she wanted me to have a break. She was working hard at getting better so she could get on with her life, but more, so I could get on with mine.

Mom had bigger dreams for me than I did.

Not that I didn’t have dreams, I used to dream al the time, always had my head in the clouds. When Dad left though, Mom fel apart for awhile (okay, so it was a long while).

I had to keep it together, for Mom, for Lottie, and didn’t have time for dreams when I was taking care of al of us.

When Mom got back to it, she stil needed help. By the time Lottie took off to LA, I was used to the way it was and it was comfortable so why screw with that?

“A party,” Mom said, “is just the thing.” I couldn’t let Mom down. I could never let Mom down. It was just the way it was.

She made me make her famous chocolate caramel layer squares to take with me. I didn’t have time for that either but at that point, I was so exhausted and run down, I didn’t know which way was up. Finding a spare fifteen minutes to make chocolate caramel layer squares for Indy and her friends seemed the least of my worries.

“Men love those!” Mom added as I walked into the kitchen to make the squares.

As if that was incentive. I barely had time to shave my legs, where she thought I’d find time to date, I’d never know.

Anyway, everyone loved chocolate caramel layer squares, mainly because there were five ingredients: chocolate cake mix, butter, chocolate chips, condensed milk and caramel. With those ingredients, it could only be good; it wasn’t like I was a master chef or anything.

I went to the party and got there late. I had my face al done up, ‘cause Smithie liked his girls heavy on the makeup which meant I had smoky eyes, lashes out
to there
, dewy cheeks and serious red lipstick.

Once inside Indy and Lee’s duplex, I stared at the crowd and the only thing I could think of was where I was going to change into my Smithie’s uniform. I didn’t like to go back with the dancers, I had enough confidence problems as it was without being confronted with a dozen perfectly toned, tanning-bed tanned, surgical y enhanced bodies.

And I couldn’t wear the uniform to the party, no way, no how.

Smithie made al his cocktail waitresses wear red, micro-mini skirts, black, skin-tight, shelf-bra camisoles with

“Smithie’s” written in fancy schmancy script across the boobs, and the shoes could be red or black, he didn’t care, just as long as the heel was thin and high.

I only had time to put the chocolate caramel layer squares on the table when I had to find Indy and Lee and say hi and good-bye.

It was a crush, people everywhere. It looked like a good party, folks were laughing and talking, the music was loud and I could see cashews in bowls here and there.

Cashews were definitely the hal mark of a good party.

I found I was stuck against the dining room table, people having closed in al around me.

Then, Eddie pushed in right next to me, his back to me Then, Eddie pushed in right next to me, his back to me and he was hand in hand with a fantastic-looking blonde.

He didn’t notice me and I thought I’d get away when, on the other side of the table, Indy and Hank, Lee’s older brother (who was also
hot
, by the way, and he’s a cop and super-nice) came up. Indy saw me, clapped her hands and laughed, getting everyone’s attention.

“Jet! I didn’t think you’d come!”

Tex lumbered up to the table just as Eddie turned from having his back to me to looking at me. Eddie’s expression was kind of benign when he turned (though he also looked kinda curious, or at least it seemed that way to me) but the minute he clapped eyes on me, he froze and stared.

“Jee-zus, woman, look at you!” Tex boomed, “Fuckin’ A if you don’t clean up good. You look like that behind the counter at Fortnum’s, we’d have a line out the fuckin’ door!” I wanted to run. I didn’t want everyone looking at me.

I looked at Indy to give her my apologies when Indy said,

“Did you make those chocolate caramel things you said you were gonna make?”

“Yeah, right here.” I pointed to them and then said,

“Listen, I’m so sorry. I gotta go. I’ve got something else on that I can’t miss.”

“Hot date?” Tex asked, reaching for a chocolate caramel layer square.

I chanced a look at Eddie out of the corner of my eye and he was stil staring at me, no longer a frozen stare, there was activity behind his eyes, lots of it. Just nothing I could understand. I stopped trying to look at Eddie without looking like I was looking at Eddie and answered Tex, “Not exactly.”

“Shame.” Tex bit into the square, chewed twice and his eyes got huge, “
Fuck!
” he exploded, chocolate and caramel flying out of his mouth. My heart seized. He looked like he was going to have a chocolate-caramel-layer-square-induced heart attack.

“Tex!” Indy yel ed, “You’re spewing al over the food!” Tex ignored Indy and was staring at me.

“These are unbe-fucking-lievable. I think I’ve final y fal en in love, with a fuckin’ brownie!” It was a nice thing to say, especial y from Tex. I smiled at him, ful -on, forgetting for a second that Eddie was there.

Only a second, because Eddie muttered something under his breath and I looked at him, stil smiling a bit. Then, I realized where I was, about four inches away from Eddie Chavez, and the smile died on my face. He was stil staring at me, but now he was staring at my mouth.

I felt my knees get a bit weak.

There was one thing on my mind… escape, escape, escape!

I turned back to Indy, “Thanks for asking me. Please ask me again.”

Indy was looking at Eddie when I talked to her and I noticed that so was Hank. Then both Indy and Hank’s eyes moved back to me and they both were sort of grinning.

“You’re always invited, girl,” Indy said.

It felt tremendously cool that she said that to me and I smiled at her. Then, there was a break in the crush behind me, I started to go but Eddie grabbed my wrist.

“Hang on, Jet,” he said.

I looked down at my wrist, then up at him. I felt his touch
everywhere
. It was like his fingers hit a switch and I was a light bulb and he turned me on, a total-body, electric shock.

Panic went through me and I pul ed my wrist away. If I hadn’t, I’d have thrown myself at him, right in front of his date. That would have been far more humiliating than the cup incident, I’m pretty sure.

His hands came up, palms out and his face closed down.

“What?” I asked, because I couldn’t string two words together. Even if someone told me they could cure my Mom, make her walk steady and give her back her arm, I stil couldn’t have said more than “what”.

“Forget it,” he said and turned away.

That’s when I fled.

* * * * *

That was strike two. Strike three was even worse.

* * * * *

For the next couple of months, I total y avoided Eddie.

This was kind of hard to do, considering he was most definitely not avoiding me.

Before Indy’s party, Eddie came in every once in awhile, got a cup of coffee, had a chat and left. After Indy’s party, Eddie came in al the time, got a cup of coffee, had a chat and hung around to torture me.

Let me explain about Eddie Torture.

Once, Jane and I were going through a box of used books that Jane bought. We were going to put some on the shelves, but most of them were going in the dol ar bin.

I was crouched down and I had on a pair of those low-rider jeans and a fitted, square-necked, long-sleeved, plum-colored t-shirt. In the crouch, the jeans came down; the hem of the tee went up, completely exposing the smal of my back. The bel over the front door jangled and I turned to see Eddie walk in, cool, mirrored sunglasses covering his eyes. He took them off, looked down at me, and his eyes moved to my behind.

Immediately I said to Jane, “Let’s take these to the counter.” And I stood, picking up the box.

Unfortunately, the box weighed a ton and I staggered back, right into Eddie, who’d somehow managed to make it the six feet from the door to me in that short expanse of time.

Instead of just putting out a hand to steady me, both of his hands came to my hips,
low
on my hips, fingers splayed wide so his fingertips rested on my pelvic bones.

“Steady,” he said, his lips
this close
to my ear and a shiver went through my body and I swear, I nearly dropped the box.

Then his hands were gone and so was he. He came around, reached under the box, his fingers just barely (but stil , it happened, I know it did) grazing my midriff. He took it from me and walked it to the book counter.