See Jayne Play (9 page)

“
But you like him. That’s what I’m talking about, Janie. You feel something.”

“
Jesus, Vince. Are you insane?”

He chuckled. “I’ve known you long enough to know something’s different.”

Huffing, I climbed off his lap and started pacing. I didn’t like confrontation, and I wasn’t in the mood to try and explain what the hell was going on in my brain concerning Flynn Maguire.

“
Vince, let’s go over the facts, shall we? Flynn is worth, what? Millions? He’s gorgeous, mysterious… gorgeous,” I said, laughing. “Of course I was attracted to him. I’ve been attracted to men before.”

He sat forward and raised an eyebrow. “Yeah, but he made you blush. I’ve never seen you blush, and I sure as hell have never seen you get flustered about a job. That’s one thing, Janie. You turn off before a job. With Flynn, you acted like you were getting ready for a date.”

I threw my hands in the air and stomped my feet. “Jesus! You’re turning into some old romantic ass. A date, Vince? He paid to have sex with me. I don’t remember him showing up at the door with roses and asking your permission. He’s a client, and he sees me as nothing more than a piece of ass. He had a new girl tonight, a real trashy bitch that looked like he picked her up off the strip on his way to the party. He’s a dirtbag, just like the rest.”

He smirked. “Well, I’ll be damned. Janie King, you like him.”

My eyes bugged out of my head. “You’re crazy. Just stop.”

Shaking his head, he stood and walked over to me, clamping his hands down on my shoulders. Leaning in, he smiled and looked deep into my eyes.

“
It’s okay.”

I sighed, shaking my head. “I’m going to bed. You coming?”

He kissed my forehead and nodded. “Yeah, give me a minute. I’m just going to lock up and make sure everything is good before we go to bed.”

I turned and made my way toward my room. I missed my home in California. The townhouse was just a pit stop, and it was so impersonal and shabby compared to what I was used to. There wasn’t much about the place that resembled me at all. I’d gone through a broker and had them find me something furnished so I wouldn’t have to deal with anything. The regret of that decision was fierce on nights like these. It was another reason I was glad I had Vince around.

My room was bare, aside of the bed, a dresser, and a nightstand. I hadn’t exactly had time to decorate since I’d been in town—or the funds, to be honest. I’d liquidated my bank accounts and most of my other assets to pay the fuckers off. The only things I had left were the house, the business, and my car.

I flopped down on the bed and looked up at the ceiling. Thinking about Flynn was the last thing I’d wanted, and I felt so stupid having Vince call me out on it. It was embarrassing.

Vince’s footsteps coming up the staircase snapped me out of my little meltdown, and I quickly jumped under the covers and snuggled into my pillow. In a way, I wanted to open up to Vince and tell him how I really felt, but it would only cause problems. He was all I had, though. I didn’t have any friends, no girlfriends to gossip with, and no sisters to dish with. Vince was it. That wasn’t to say that he wasn’t good enough, because he was the greatest. The saddest part was that I was all he had, too. We were this ridiculous, fucked-up, dysfunctional, thrown together family, like a weeknight casserole created with leftovers. We were tossed away by the people that were supposed to take care of us, and left to find our way in the world.

Thankfully, we found each other.

He walked into the room and turned the light off. “You took the left side, damn it.”

I giggled. “Snooze, you lose, buddy. Deal with it.”

His boots hit the floor with a thud, and then he sat at the edge of the bed and stripped down to his boxers. Climbing in bed, he pulled the blanket over himself and leaned over to kiss me on top of the head.

“
Good night, kid. Love you.”

“
Love you, too, V.”

The next morning, I got up early so I could start working on my financials. I did some research online, looked into some realtors, and left some notes for Vince. He was better with all that crap, so I knew he’d take care of it. Once I crunched some numbers, I figured I would still be around fifty grand short, which meant there was no way I could stop seeing men.

I had double the payment to give to the assholes holding my dad that morning, but it just frustrated me to death that I was still short. It was endless. At that moment, I wondered just how fruitless my attempts were. Was my dad even going to make it out? The questions swirled around in my brain like a ship in a storm. It was chaos. I was so tired, emotionally and physically, and with the insertion of Flynn Maguire, my life no longer made any sense.

Vince came up behind me, squeezing my shoulders. “Stop stressing out, kid. We’ll figure it out. I’ll work on some things today. You want breakfast?”

I gave him a sad smile. “Vince, do you ever wonder what it’d be like to be… normal?”

He laughed, swinging the cupboards open, pulling out pots and pans. “We’re not normal? What are you trying to say?”

I rolled my eyes. “I mean, don’t you wonder about… I don’t know. A real life. No looking over your shoulder, no criminal activity, a normal relationship, stuff like that.”

He barked out a sarcastic laugh and leaned against the counter. “You could have that, Janie. You walk away from this shit, and you go get it. I can deal with this alone. Fuck, your dad could rot in hell for all it matters. You deserve better, and if you want that, you should have that.”

I let my head fall against the table with a thud. “I think I’m fucked, V. I like him. I like Flynn.”

I could hear him chuckle, then heard the crack of eggs against the pan. “Tell me something I don’t know, kid. So, what are you going to do about it?”

I peeked at him from underneath my hair, not letting my face leave the cold surface of the table.

“
Nothing. There’s nothing to be done. It’s a bitch when you can’t get what you want.”

He clucked his tongue and shook his head. “First for you, baby.”

It sucked, but it was true, which is why it was incredibly miserable to think about. “Yeah, well, disappointment doesn’t look good on me. It’s not my color.”

He raised an eyebrow. “No, no it’s not.”

EIGHT

They were getting antsy. Things were slowly falling out of my hands, and time was no longer on my side. They’d shot down every option Vince threw their way, and I was close to giving up. There was only one thing I could do, and with Flynn calling constantly, I had to go through with it.

“
He wants you to meet him at The Maguire again. He will be in the club at eight o’clock sharp. He left another note.”

I snagged it out of Vince’s hand and flopped down on the couch to read it. “I really hate these stupid memos.”

I couldn’t help the excitement that stirred inside of my belly at the thought of seeing him again—the traitorous flutters and the silly girl smiles I hated with a passion. It’d been a full ten days since I’d seen him, and you would’ve thought it’d been years. The ridiculous part was that I didn’t even know the guy well enough to care, but I did, and being at his mercy was humiliating.

For the first time ever, I was humiliated by what I was doing.

“
Red. Jesus, he’s so predictable.”

That’s all it said. Red.

“
So, what are you going to do?”

I looked over my shoulder and sighed. “I guess I’m going shopping. I’ve run out of red, and this guy obviously isn’t giving up on the red fetish.”

Vince had the nerve to chuckle. “Well, I apologize, but I’ll pass on shopping. You have two dates tomorrow, and one on Tuesday. I’ll work on getting you a few more, but if you can pull off more dates with Maguire, that’s our best bet.”

I grabbed at the roots of my hair, frustrated as hell. “I’m not going to beg him, Vince. He obviously isn’t backing away, and after the fiasco at the poker party, that says something. He’s either crazy, or crazy.” I laughed. “He’s fucking crazy. That’s all there is to it.”

He squeezed my shoulder. “You can do this. We’re so close, and I promise I won’t back down. I’m still trying to get some intel on who has Sammie. We could find something on this guy, and we’d be set.”

I didn’t see that as an option. We were out of our league, and as much as I wanted to deny it, it was the truth. They were smart, whoever they were. My dad had royally screwed himself, and I still wasn’t sure why. Sloppy. He’d gotten so damn sloppy. Knowing what caused him to make the decisions he made would have given me the clues I needed.

“
That sounds good, Vince. Monday I have an appointment with the doctor, and I truly need another day off.”

“
I know you do.”

He was as frustrated as I was, and in a way it scared me. Vince wasn’t one to let people get an advantage on him. He was smart, really smart.

I trusted him to handle it, and between the two of us, we were bringing in regular money. I just had to hope that they’d stay patient with me while I tried to get together the ridiculous amount of money they wanted. I still wasn’t convinced that my dad actually owed as much as they wanted from me, but there wasn’t much I could do about it.

A few hours later, I’d spent way more money than I’d intended and hurried home to get ready to meet Flynn. Since he wanted to meet me at the club, I chose a slinky little number and a hot pair of heels. Red. All red, of course.

Thankfully, red was a great color for me. I had natural auburn highlights in my hair, so the rich color looked good against my pale skin and dark hair. Lord knew I was happy he wasn’t into yellow or something equally disgusting.

I was running late after spending so long at the mall, so I gathered my things and sped out of the house as quickly as possible. There was a ton of traffic, typical for a Friday night, but my little race car easily swept in and out of it like a pro.

I pulled into the valet, once again greeted by a handsome young man, eager to help me out of my car.

I liked practicing on them. Putting on the Jayne mask was never a difficult task, but when men looked at me the way they did, I remembered who I was and what I was about to do. So, I gave them my smiles, put a wag in my step, and pushed forward through the casino toward Flynn.

The place was bustling with laughter and people milling around at every turn. I was confident and sure as I walked past them, knowing that every head turned my way. My heels tapped against the marble floors and then silenced as I hit the plush carpet that led to the nightclub.

It, too, was remarkable. Everything about The Maguire was lush. It reminded me that Flynn was so unbelievably different than I was. He’d grown up in excess, where I’d only had a taste of it, and it was usually while I was on my back. I had to admit that I enjoyed the high life. I craved it. Bits and pieces of it were introduced to me as a child, but as quick as we had them, they were gone again. That was the way it was, and so I learned not to get too attached to things—or people.

A hostess with a shiny uniform and a delightful smile met me at the entrance of the club, and I told her who I was and who I was there to meet. She gave me a strange smile and then had me follow her toward the back of the room. The lights were flashing, the music blaring, and not unlike most nightclubs, patrons were dancing and grinding and drinking. I’d always hated that scene. In my youth, it was all I had. My escape. I drank too much, fucked too much, and played too much. It was insane that at twenty-five, I already felt old and over it all.