Page 10 of Don’t You Dare Marry Me (Love in Massachusetts #3)

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Nicola’s hands shook as she lay on the bed still wrapped in her towel. Abagail had left an hour ago, with the message that she’d come back tonight and expect something to be planned for them.

She was reading the text from Abagail that had dinged through her phone thirty minutes ago. And she kept reading it on repeat. Half of her had thought that Abagail would never follow through with it, but Nicola had been proven wrong. Again.

Abagail: Your shift at the bar starts at four. Don’t be late. It’s just to fill out paperwork and get acquainted with everything. Short shift.

Nicola had written back a quick thanks and then cringed. She literally had nothing to wear except what she’d worn the night before. All her other belongings were in the car that Abagail had towed somewhere to get fixed, which meant that she was literally at Abagail’s mercy.

Nicola: I don’t have anything to wear. All my clothes are in my car.

Nicola didn’t really know what she expected from that text, but she had to tell Abigail something, because she couldn’t possibly go into a new job with the clothes from last night that reeked of sex and alcohol.

She would if she had to, but that bar was a lot higher class than the ones she was used to working at.

Stretching her legs and back, Nicola moved around on the bed.

Her toe touched the pile of toys that Abagail must have picked up before she’d left the room that morning.

Nicola should at least clean them and get them ready for tonight.

She was supposed to go visit her sister again too, maybe steal a bit of lunch from her tray if she could, but she had no way to get to the rehabilitation facility now.

Abagail: Cal will take you where you need to go, and he has a business card.

“What?” Nicola shook her head in surprise.

Maybe she could get used to having a sugar mommy if this was how it was going to be.

But Warren had been that way in the beginning too, willing to buy her things and take her places.

It had all slowed down and become way more of an argument until it stopped entirely.

She checked the time and then made the call, needing to update her aunt at least on what had happened in the last few hours and days. And her aunt had lunch right about now.

“Nicola!” Aunt Simone sounded worried. “I tried to call you last night and it just went to voicemail.”

“I’m so sorry.” Nicola winced. “My phone died and the charger was in the car. I couldn’t find another one until this morning.” Nicola pointed her toes and stretched her muscles some more. “But it’s all good now.”

“All good?” Simone didn’t sound very convinced of that. “I think you should come out here and stay with me for a while.”

“We already talked about that. You have your hands full and house full already.” Nicola was glad to avoid that one.

Ever since Simone had married Howie, she’d avoided going to their house.

She did not like that man one bit. He gave her the creeps, and every time she was in his vicinity she was pretty sure he was staring her over trying to figure out which way he was going to fuck her. She hated it.

“I know. I know.” Simone sighed. “But I’m worried about you.”

“I’m fine. I promise. In fact, I got a new job!

I start today.” Nicola gnawed on the inside of her cheek.

She couldn’t remember if she’d told Simone that she’d been fired from her last job or not, and she definitely hadn’t told Abagail that.

It had been an unjust firing, but she didn’t have the energy or the time to fight it.

“New job?” Nicola could hear the sound of a bell through the phone, and she knew she’d caught her aunt right when lunch was happening.

“Yeah, at a bar, so it’s perfect for me.” Nicola clenched her jaw. She had to make this sound like it was the best deal in the world. “And it means I can stay out here and take care of Alanna still. I don’t want to leave her all alone.”

“I get that.” Simone sighed heavily. “It’s honestly probably a good thing. Howie and I… I’m working on a way to get out of this marriage. I can’t talk too much about it because I don’t want him to find out what I’m planning, but just know that I hope to be around a lot more often in the future.”

“We’d love that.” Nicola smiled, love seeping into her heart. Simone had been the only stability that she and Alanna had while they’d finished growing up after the accident. “Don’t worry about me, Aunt Simone. I can take care of myself.”

“Mmm… I would like to believe that.” Simone sighed again. “But it’s my job to worry about you. I’m glad you got a new job. Please do let me know if you need any money for Alanna’s care. I know finances are tight right now, but I think I can figure out a way to take out a loan or something.”

“Nah, it’s all fine. I told you that Warren said he’d cover it for a while until I got a new job in place.” Nicola hated lying, but it was the easiest way to not have her aunt worrying about more than she could handle right now.

“All right. He’s such a sweet guy. I’m not sure why it didn’t work out between you.”

Nicola had to hold back the tears that threatened to spill.

She could hold her own in the face of Warren and his crowd, in front of Abagail and Greer, and even Alanna.

But doing it in front of Simone? The one woman who was more her mother than her mother had been, simply because she’d been there the last six years? Yeah, that was impossible.

“It just didn’t,” Nicola whispered. She didn’t want to think about everything that Warren had lobbed in her direction, the hate and anger, the brutal attacks he’d unleashed.

It had been so hard until she’d finally just walked out and decided living in her car was the better option.

She wasn’t exactly thrilled about living in Abagail’s house either, but at least she’d gotten a hot shower and a clean towel in the process.

“I’m here to listen all about it when you’re ready to talk to me. Okay?”

“Yeah. Okay.” Nicola cleared her throat. “I need to go get some khakis for my first shift tonight, so I’ll talk to you later, okay?”

“Okay. Love you, baby.”

“Love you too, Aunt Simone.” Nicola smiled. Simone and Alanna were the only family she had left, and she wasn’t going to lose them ever again. It wasn’t worth it. Taking a deep breath to steady herself, Nicola made sure that she was mentally prepared to start a new job and to get back on her feet.

She just needed a few weeks with Abagail, and that was all she was going to take.

Nicola had finished filling out the paperwork thirty minutes ago, but she was left just sitting in the office with nothing to do until the training manager showed up.

She hated this about first days. She really didn’t need training.

What she needed was just to get up onto her feet and serving customers so she could start earning tips.

Tips were her bread and butter.

And with her tits and flirty personality, she could usually snag herself a handsome sum by the end of the night. But she couldn’t do that if she was stuck in the back office waiting for the one right person to come in and release her from duty.

“You must be Nicola,” a woman with a black halter top and huge breasts came into the office.

Her hair was pulled back into a ponytail, but it was pristine and perfect, the curls bobbing against her shoulders and her makeup done up in a way that made her look young and sexy.

It was a talent that Nicola had used many times over the years, but she hadn’t tonight.

She needed cash flow before she could buy herself some new makeup.

Then again, she probably could have used Abagail’s card, but something about that felt wrong. She didn’t want to push the boundaries of her relationship with Abagail—at least not in this way.

“Yeah.” Nicola stood up, sliding her phone into her back pocket.

“I’m Tommie.” She held out her hand for Nicola to take it and shook. “I’m training you tonight.”

“Perfect.” Nicola grinned. “I have a lot of experience with this, so hopefully I’ll catch on quickly to the policies and procedures here.”

“Even better.” Tommie winked at her. “Grab an apron and let’s get started then. It’s going to pick up in the next hour or two and probably stay pretty steady until about eleven. Then it’ll slow down.”

“Awesome.” Nicola snagged one of the aprons on the shelf that Tommie had pointed to. They finally walked out to the main bar area and Tommie showed her where things were. She told her all about the drink specials and gave her a crash course on what to expect.

Nicola hadn’t expected to like it there so far, but it was looking like this job might not be an awful fit. She’d been hesitant because Abagail owned the place, but it didn’t seem she was there all that often, and that when she did show up, she stayed out of the day-to-day business.

Hours passed, and Nicola was picking everything up easily enough.

She hauled over a drink order to a group of guys who were just starting a round of poker with their cigars stinking up the place.

Nicola was going to have to get used to that and make sure that she showered and put on clean clothes when she went to visit Alanna.

Her sister didn’t need to be exposed to any of that.

She was just heading back to the bar when a new group of young guys came in. They were already loud and pulling the attention of customers and employees alike. Nicola scrunched her nose at them and then went cold.

Warren was in the middle of that group.

“Shit.” She ducked into the kitchen area and clenched her fists trying to calm her racing heart. Abagail hadn’t mentioned that Warren frequented the bar. When they were together he often went to the bar with the boys, but he’d never mentioned which one. She should have known better.

“Nicola!” Tommie called to her. “There’s a new table for you.”

Nicola cringed. She was probably getting handed the table of asshats because she was new and no one else wanted to deal with them. And Nicola had been out with those guys before, they were absolute jerks to waitstaff anywhere. But she needed this job.

“Nicola!”

“Yeah, I’m coming.” She cleared her throat.

This was either going to work in her favor or it was going to work against her.

She had no idea what kind of mood Warren was going to be in today, and that would pretty much determine the direction this went.

She put on the best war face that she could manage and headed straight for the table, leaving Tommie and the bartender behind.

This wasn’t going to end well. Nicola already knew that. “What drinks can I get for you?”

The noise stopped abruptly.

“Dude! It’s your ex!” Dominic pointed at her and then gaped at Warren. “She’s a waitress?”

“She’s not one of us,” Warren muttered back, glaring at her. “Though I didn’t think you’d stoop so low as to work at Aunt Abagail’s bar.”

Nicola swallowed her pride and puffed up her chest. “What drinks do you want?”

Warren snorted and shook his head, moving to stand next to her and wrap his arm around her shoulder, tugging her into his side. “She really thinks that she still has a job here.”

He waved over to the bar, getting Tommie’s attention. She came over, looking curiously at Nicola before focusing on Warren. “Yes, Mr. Kerrbox.”

Warren sneered, and it was the ugliest look Nicola had ever seen on his face. “Did she tell you why she was fired from her last job?”

Nicola’s heart sank.

“She stole straight from the till.”

“Warren, you don’t have to be cruel. You know I need this job,” Nicola murmured under her breath, hoping that some of the decency she’d seen in Warren would pop back up.

“And she fucked the boss.”

That wasn’t an all-out lie, and it meant that he was going to play dirty. Tommie frowned at Nicola and then shook her head. “Did you steal from the till?”

Nicola should just lie. It might save her another day or two before they called her former boss and found out, but Warren wasn’t lying about that first accusation. She had stolen. Because she’d been starving and she needed to pay off Alanna’s bill in order to keep her there. She’d been desperate.

“Yes.” She wasn’t going to explain herself either. She was tired of that. She was tired of Warren fucking up her life. “I can see myself out.”

Warren tugged her back to his side, sliding a hand down her body from her breast to her waist to her hip and onto her ass, slapping her butt hard.

She cringed, spinning around, her hand fisted.

She jabbed him in the nose. She heard the crunch and felt it against her hand.

Blood poured from his face, down over his chin and onto his shirt.

Satisfaction was the only thing that she felt.

And she leaned into it. “Fuck off, Warren. And get a damn life.” Without hesitating, she ripped the apron from around her hips and threw it at Tommie. “Don’t bother. I know what you’re going to say.”

“Call the cops!” Warren whined.

Nicola ignored him. She walked straight for the door and stepped outside into the cold drizzling rain. She breathed heavily as she started down the road, just needing to get as far away from there as possible. She needed space between him and her, and she needed to clear her head.

What the hell was Abagail going to think now?

She’d definitely put some of her credibility on the line so that Nicola could have that job. And Nicola had no doubt that she was going to be upset. She had just ruined any chances of getting back on her feet. And Warren was at the very root of it. Again.

“Fuck you, Warren!” Nicola shouted at no one in particular. She just had to get that off her chest. “Fuck you and your entitled ass!”

God, that had felt so good. She stretched her arms out to the sides and shook her head. She was going to have to talk to Abagail again soon because Abagail had her car. And if there was one thing that she couldn’t give up, it was that. She needed to be able to get to see Alanna.

She just couldn’t do that right away. She just needed a few more hours to get her anger under control. She just needed a damn break.