Page 26 of The Toy Maker

The music blasted through the sound system, and in seconds we were on our knees covering our ears.

“Screw off, Jason!” Kitty yelled over the deafening chorus of Cherry Pie.

He made no attempt to turn off the music or discuss his actions with Kitty. Instead, he bore his eyes into me. This was retribution for stumbling into his lair: a pure act of war. If it was a war he wanted, I’d give him one.

After what felt like hours, he finally muted the chorus. “I wanted to check the sound system before showtime.” Jason casually strolled back the way he came and disappeared into the back.

When Kitty released us, I peeled Sarah, Jade, and myself off the laminate floor. The back room, despite smelling like a melting pot of perfumes, became our haven.

“What crawled up Jason’s butt?” Sarah whined while we slumped into our chairs and floor, respectively.

“He needs to be punished or something,” Jade suggested with an uncomfortable amount of seriousness in her voice.

Kitty snorted. “Sarah mentioned riding the rudeness out of him.”

“No way,” she said, her nose scrunched in disgust. “I forfeit.”

“That leaves you.” Jade nudged my side, and an ache from sleeping on the cot throbbed.

I rolled my eyes. “I’ll pass.” He was rude, and demanding, and from my limited experience, I made the resounding judgement that he wasn’t a giver.

“Don’t pretend you don’t want that hot piece of inconsiderate ass.” Sarah thrusted her hips forward, laughing for a moment before her expression twisted and she covered her mouth as if she was about to hurl.

I shook my head and brushed off the comment.

“I think Tara is smart,” Kitty said with a grin. “Nothing good would come from sleeping with the owner of the company.”

“Wrong! I’m sure there would be plenty of orgasms,” Jade corrected.

I tried to block out the rest of the conversation while I gathered my stuff and grabbed my purse. I could finally hibernate in my bed and watch reruns of Frasier. I checked for my essentials; phone, wallet…Where did I leave my keys?

“What’s wrong?” Sarah asked as I frantically dug around the bottom of my bag.

“I can’t find my house keys,” I mumbled.

“You had them with you last night when you went home.” She laughed, confused by my panic.

I swore when I realized where they were. I’d left them in the back, with Jason. I said my goodbyes to the girls and marched over to Jason’s toy room, dread building in my gut. I promised myself I’d be in and out before he could realize I was there.

The old door groaned as I tried to sneak in unnoticed; I spotted the keys on the table underneath the new window. I tiptoed across the room and had my hand on the prize when Jason’s voice suddenly came out of God knows where.

“Are you kidding?” he exclaimed.

I swiveled around and tried to ignore the pounding it caused in my head. “I forgot my keys.”

He looked between me and the keys, raising a brow. “Couldn’t even bother to come up with a new excuse?” he challenged.

“Whatever.” I started toward the door, but he stepped in front of me.

I waited for an explanation, but he turned and reached for the door handle. He opened the door and stepped aside, nodding for me to go through. “I’ll walk you out.”

I blinked. “Why?” I stammered.

“Why not?” he said easily. I could think of a million decent reasons why we shouldn’t be seen together. Kitty for one and Jade’s nudging elbow was another.

Still, Jason waited for me to leave the room and then followed me out.

“I enjoyed the rehearsal earlier,” he said before we could enter the sales floor.