Tough Guy: A Hero Club Novel by Jamie Schmidt (the reading list .TXT) 📗

phone. I haven’t been kidnapped. I’m not strung out on pills or drinking myself to death. And I’m not coming back to New York. Ever. Does that about cover all your questions? You have no idea what the last three months have been like.”

Since she’d decided to be a snide bitch, I felt obligated to reply in the same manner. “You’re no longer a stripper. You’re not a hooker, but it was a close call. You are taking pain medication for your knee, and you’ve been quitting jobs and leaving people in the lurch all over Nevada. How am I doing for facts?”

I could hear the trombones of the burlesque music in the background. Since Lisa didn’t have a quick answer for me, I continued.

“So, no. You’ve only answered half of my questions. I’ve got a pressing one for you tonight and I’d like to see you tomorrow to get the rest of them answered. If I’m going to have to go back to New York and face the firing squad, I want to be prepared.”

“What?” Lisa snapped.

“How much money did you pay Parker to get him to give you the lead?”

“I was the clear choice for the star of the show,” she said coldly.

“Okay, I phrased that wrong. How much money did you pay Parker so he could put on the show and are you getting paid for your performances?”

“That’s two questions.”

I was going to put her through the wall. She was lucky she was six hours’ driving distance away from me. “Answer one of them.”

“None of your business,” she said sweetly.

“I’m your manager.”

“You were my manager in New York. I don’t need one here in Nevada.”

“Is Parker your manager?”

“He’s my boyfriend.”

“I’m still your sister. I came all this way to make sure you were all right.”

Lisa groaned. “I’m only three years younger than you. I’m an adult. I don’t need to ask anyone’s permission to move to Nevada.”

“No, but a few phone calls would have gone a long way to letting us know that you were safe and healthy.”

“At times I wasn’t,” Lisa said. “But I needed to do that on my own too, without Mom and you hovering all over me.”

“I didn’t want to come down here. Mom made me.”

Lisa scoffed. “Made you? Did she threaten to ground you? If you stopped and looked at your life, you’d run away too.”

That stung. It had hints of truth in it as well. We could rip into each other all we wanted, but that wouldn’t solve anything. “I’m concerned about Parker. If you’re not going to tell Mom about the burlesque show, I’m going to have to.”

“Don’t you fucking dare.”

“Why? What’s she going to do? Ground you?” I said in a snotty rendition of her voice.

Yeah, I wasn’t helping the situation. But I had a lot of anger and frustration I wanted to take out on her for the shitty way she’d treated me. “One phone call. Was that too much to ask when you knew I was in town?”

“I didn’t want you to fuck up my opening night.”

It was like she punched me in the stomach. Now, it was my turn to recover in silence.

“Look, I’ve got another set to do. I promised Chance I’d call to let you know that I’m alive and well and I don’t need anything. Go home, Jackie. I’m staying here.”

“It would still ease my mind if I could see you tomorrow. Can I take you and Parker out to lunch or something?”

She sighed. “I don’t know. Sure. I guess. If that’s what it takes for you to leave me alone.”

“That’s what it’s going to take,” I said. I needed to see her and Parker so I could report back to my mother and get her off both our backs.

“Fine. Meet us at the Goldmine Diner on Main Street at noon.” Lisa hung up before I could say anything else.

I ordered a cheesecake from room service. Not a slice of cheesecake. A whole cake. And you can damn well bet I was charging Lisa for it. Of course, my mother was going to wind up paying for it, so revenge wasn’t that sweet. Luckily, the cheesecake was. I hoped Miles would show up so I didn’t have to eat the entire thing, but he didn’t. The rat.

I had almost given up on him. The last time I checked the clock it was three a.m. After I disposed of the cheesecake evidence, I had put on my sexy stripper outfit, but the thong annoyed the shit out of me. I decided to just be naked. But then I got cold, so I put on the fluffy robe. I must have fallen asleep because the heavy knock on my door sent me into a panic. Leaping out of bed, I barely managed to not to smack into the wall before I got my bearings. Peering through the peephole, I saw Miles and my heart did a crazy little jiggle.

“Come on in,” I said, and hid a yawn.

“I’m sorry I’m so late. A lot of shit was happening tonight.”

“Did you call the police on the gang members?”

“Didn’t need to.” He locked the door behind him. “I don’t want to talk about that right now.”

Grabbing his hand and leading him to the bed, I slid out of the robe. “You’re overdressed.”

“Are you sure you’re not too tired?” he asked with a slow smile.

“I’ll sleep afterward.”

“As long as it’s not during.”

Miles shed his clothes and got under the covers with me. We held each other tight for a moment.

“This is nice,” he said, kissing my forehead.

I melted into him. It was more than nice. It was sheer bliss. Coiling myself around him, I slowly stroked his back, his arms, his hips, and leg. Mine. All mine. He returned the favor by kneading my shoulders and back. I groaned and leaned into the massage.

“That feels incredible.” I sighed. My eyelids drooped. I should have had coffee with the cake.

“How did the audition go?”

“It was intense.” I tried to hide