Page 26 of Cold Hard Cash

She dropped her voice low, imitating her sibling as she greeted him, “Hello, Mr. Poe.”

Jimmy smiled in spite of himself, gesturing for her to come on in. “Hey!”

“Never too early for margaritas,” Rowena chirped as if answering a question Jimmy hadn’t asked. She brushed by him and headed straight to the kitchen as if she had been over here a thousand times before, pulling out bottles from the paper bag that Jimmy recognized as tequila and sweet and sour mix. “You know, you really live in a fucking dump,” she said dryly, glancing around the dilapidated kitchen.

“I know,” Jimmy said, frowning at the jab. “It’s all I can afford.”

“Aw, I’m sorry, sweetie,” Rowena soothed, batting her eyes at him. “Don’t feel bad. You know, me and Roddy actually used to live two blocks down from here.”

“Really?” It was hard to imagine Cold living in this part of town. It wasn’t exactly nice.

“Yeah. Fortunes can change overnight, sweetie,” Rowena snorted, turning her head to smirk at him as she pulled a blender out of her large purse. “You don’t know my brother very well, do you?”

Jimmy blushed slightly. “Didn’t exactly have time to Google him while Jules was trying to roast my hand.”

Rowena laughed, a pretty sound like a bell ringing. “Aw, but it was worth it, right? After all, now you have this little ‘arrangement.’” She briefly paused making drinks to wiggle her fingers in air quotes.

“He told you.” Jimmy blushed, watching Rowena dig ice out of his freezer and dump everything into the blender.

“There’s very little my brother doesn’t tell me,” Rowena informed him smugly, popping the lid on and hitting the start button. She let the machine do its thing, pausing to add more tequila and orange juice before blending it all down to slush.

Jimmy gulped at that, wondering how much detail Cold was giving her. He must have looked properly horrified because Rowena started laughing again.

“Oh! Sweetie!” Rowena patted his arm gently. “Don’t you fret, he doesn’t tell meeverything. What you boys do behind closed doors is none of my business. Whips and chains, all that, don’t care!”

Jimmy briefly daydreamed about Cold tying him up and quickly aborted. He did not need to catch wood while hanging out with Cold’s sister.

Rowena found a plate, poured a glittering liquor onto it, then pouted at Jimmy. “Don’t suppose you have margarita glasses, do you?”

“No,” Jimmy replied, scratching the back of his neck with a shy grin. “Uhm, but I have these?” He reached into the cabinet above the sink and pulled out two very cheerful Christmas mugs. One was a reindeer, and the other was a snowman. “They’re clean at least.”

“Awww, they’re adorable!” Rowena squeaked, eagerly accepting them. She dipped the rims in the liquor on the plate and sprinkled salt all along the damp edges, before pouring in the contents of the blender and holding her chosen reindeer mug out in a toast. “Cheers!”

“Cheers,” Jimmy chuckled, gently tapping the snowman mug against hers. He was honestly a little concerned about the taste having seen how much tequila had made it into the blender. Taking a dainty sip, he was surprised to find that it was quite delicious. He smacked his lips, an unexpected taste pleasantly tingling on his tongue. “Is that... cinnamon?”

“Yup!” Rowena said proudly. “It’s Goldschlager. I always put it on the rim of the glass, in the glass, wherever. I love that stuff.”

“Pretty tasty,” Jimmy agreed, taking another sip.

Rowena hopped up on the counter, perching contently as she drank. “Now, here’s the plan, Jimmy,” she said, her lips curling smugly. “First, we make the margaritas. Then we drink the margaritas. Then we make more, and we drink those, too.”

“And when we run out?”

“Then we go shopping,” Rowena said with a grin.

Jimmy let out a low whistle. The drinks were strong, and there was still a generous amount of slush left in the blender. “And we’re gonna drink all of that?”

“Need to get you good and liquored up so you’ll tell me everything I want to know,” Rowena said with a bright smile.

Jimmy didn’t know how good of an idea that was. “You could just ask me,” he said, fidgeting anxiously. “I mean, I can’t promise you I’ll answer everything.”

“In that case, definitely keep drinking,” Rowena commanded playfully.

“Shit,” Jimmy chuckled and took another swallow. It had been a very long time since he’d had any alcohol, and it wasn’t going to take much to get him good and pliable for Rowena’s interrogating.

“So, are you from Strassen Springs?” Rowena chirped curiously.

“Born and raised,” Jimmy replied easily. These kinds of questions he could handle.