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“You think you can get her back to the house?” Truck asked.

“Fuck no. That’s why I’m heading one block over to The Mulberry Inn.”

“That sounds like a solid plan. I think I’ll do the same and roll back with you two in the morning.”

“Keep on my six where you have eyes on us.”

“Will do.”

Turned out everyone had the same idea as Hemlock. No one wanted to make the hour and a half drive back after drinking. Hemanaged to get down the street before Charlie started dancing around on the bike. It was like having one of the inflatable sales-guys moving in the wind. Slapping her on the thigh, Hemlock got her to stop. All he had to do was turn the corner and get to the end of the street. It would have been easier to have walked her there and went back for the damn bike.

Making the corner, Hemlock glanced over catching their reflection in a shop window. He saw Charlie’s helmet had slipped down over her face. He felt it fall off, getting wedged between them. He wanted to be pissed but it was too damn funny the way she was struggling to get it from between them.

Hemlock waited for Truck to park and come to help with Charlie, before backing his own bike into a parking spot. Taking her helmet, he shoved it into the saddlebag and half walked, half carried her into the hotel lobby. The first chair he spotted was where he planted Charlie while he checked them in.

When he turned around, she was sliding out of the chair like melted ice cream sliding from a sugar cone. As she fell onto the floor, he heard her laugh. “She’s toast,” Truck said beside him with a laugh.

“Yes, she is.” Now all he needed to do was get her upstairs and ready for bed. “I’m blaming all of you on her current condition. All he got was laughter and a lot of ribbing from his brothers. Even the ladies laughed when they were the ones behind giving Charlie not just wine but shots.

“Do you think you can get her off the floor?”

“I’m thinking of leaving her there.”

“Stop you two.” Sway stepped around her husband and Hemlock. Staring down at Charlie and thought the boys mighthave it right. The girl laid on the rug with her eyes closed and a wide spread grin on her face.

It took Hemlock, Vicious, and Truck to get her upright. Once she was on her feet, Hemlock realized getting her to walk to the room was futile. As he scooped her up into his arms, she let out a woo-hoo, which echoed in the hotel lobby.Yep, this is gonna be funhe thought sarcastically.

Late into the night Hemlock lay awake, listening to Charlie softly snoring next to him. As he stared at the ceiling, he thought about Charlie being a part of his life. Seemed he found himself doing that a lot lately. He worried what he was bringing into her life. Baggage, that’s what. Even if she left him tomorrow, he’d had a great time while it lasted. Rolling over, Hemlock wrapped himself around her. Sometimes he just needed to shut his mind off and live in the moment.

Chapter Twenty-Two

Pulling into the driveway, Charlie was exhausted from working a double at the bar and grill. She’d been suspended from her job at the library for a week and had managed to pick up some extra shifts while two of the other waitresses were out for various reasons. She stared at the house, knowing the large tub awaited her along with the leftovers she’d brought home from work.

The entire car smelled like wings and onion rings. To make up for having food in Hemlock’s car, she’d made sure to bring some for him. Heaving a deep sigh she opened the car door. Just thinking of the short walk to the door seemed miles away. Grabbing her purse and food bag, she climbed out of the car. Closing the door, she scanned the area. Across the street she noticed a strange car parked in the neighbor’s driveway. The older couple had mentioned being gone for a two-week vacation. They hadn’t mentioned anyone staying at their home.

Shrugging it off, Charlie knew how neighbors were. It could be someone at another house utilizing the empty drive. Unlocking the door, Charlie reached in, flipping on the lights before heading inside the condo. When she turned around, sheexpected to see Hemlock home from the clinic. But all she saw was the dim light in the kitchen, and she realized he wasn’t there. If she didn’t know how much Hemlock worked, she’d think he was avoiding her. Closing the door, Charlie slumped against it. Well, with him being at work, she could take that hot bath and enjoy the silence. Shoving away from the door, she headed into the kitchen to plate up her food.

An hour later, with her stomach full, Charlie sat cross-legged on the bed, counting her tips from work. They were slowly adding up. She still had a ways to go before she could buy her way out of the apartment’s lease. Once she paid off the apartment, the noose around her neck would be gone. Trying not to think about the apartment and what it was costing her. One of these days, she would have her say when it came to Crispen and Ashley. And when that day came, she’d unleash all her anger on the couple. She knew they wouldn’t stay at the apartment and Charlie hoped she was a witness to their eviction.

Staring at the money, Charlie reminded herself she needed to buy some new clothes, well new to her anyway. The one thing she was good at was being frugal. Pulling fifty dollars from the little piles of money, she put it aside for clothes. She didn’t want to go shopping, what she wanted was not to work three jobs. If she could pick up two more shifts at Sudz and Suds Carwash and Grill, she would be golden.

She could give up the job at the library, after all she couldn’t make money there like the money she made at the carwash. Hell, even working one double at the dinner didn’t equal what she made in a single shift at the carwash.

Charlie reminded herself she had to do her due diligence if she wanted more hours at Sudz and Suds. Climbing off the queensize bed, she stuffed the money into an envelope, then taped it at the back of one of the dresser drawers.

Exhausted from working all day, she stripped off her work clothes and headed to the bathroom and a hot bath. She’d been dreaming of a good soak since the twenty-minute drive from her day job to her evening one. Stretching her arms over her head, Charlie tried getting the knots to relax in her shoulder blades. Rolling dough for bread was taxing on her arms, shoulders, and hands. Then working six hours lifting and hauling loaded down trays at the diner had her lower back hurting. When she’d gotten out of the car, she looked like a drunken sailor from the back spasms that plagued her.

Turning on the water, Charlie walked back out into the bedroom. Grabbing her night clothes and a robe, she was halfway to the bathroom when she turned around and headed for the door. With everything that had happened, sometimes she got weirded out when home alone. Locking the door, she dragged the ladder-back chair over and tucked the back under the doorknob. That would keep an intruder out. For a minute at least.

Quickly turning around, she made quick work of retracing her steps to the bathroom. Dropping her clothes on the bathroom counter, Charlie stepped into the tub and sank into the hot water. Laying back, she rested her head on the tub and sighed. It was the best feeling at the end of a long day. The only way it would be better was if she had a cup of hot tea, a good book, a little music, and bubbles in the bathe. But she didn’t have all of that, so she’d just enjoyed the hot water.

Charlie closed her eyes enjoying the silence. All day she heard miss, honey, hey baby, and every other term customers used to flirt with her at the carwash. It was nothing to have them getfrisky with her. It never failed when she was carrying a tray laden with plates someone would smack her ass or pinch it.

Most of the time she carried a small bar tray and used it as a shield against the unwanted touching. She knew how to handle a crowd; she knew how to handle herself in those situations. She never missed a step when the customers got handsy.

The diner was different. The Tenth street diner had a more laid-back crowd, well, until after the bars closed. Then it got hectic with drunks. Either they were fun, or they were nasty. Still the money was too good to quit.

Pulling the bun out, she let her long hair down. Sliding down under the water, Charlie ran her hands through her hair, loosening it and giving her scalp a good massage. After a few minutes, Charlie pulled the stopper letting the water drain as she turned on the water. Sticking her hand under the water she waited for it to warm up. After which she stood and turned on the shower. It was a quick shampoo and conditioner, then she quickly bathed.