Touch Slowly (Red Light: Silver Girls series) (12 page)

"You think everyone riding a motorcycle has killed someone. They're only men, just like all the men who pay for sex." Nova squinted. In the dark with only the corner streetlight helping, she barely made out the differences between the men. She recognized them by their body shape and length of hair.

"I get dizzy looking down too long." Kathryn pushed back from the edge of the roof.

"That's because you're always on your knees with a dick in your mouth," said Tawny, smothering her laughter with her hand.

Tara sat back on her butt. "Wouldn't you think Tiff would allow the bikers upstairs to hang with us during off-hours, considering her man is the president of the club and he lives on the second floor with us?"

"I'd like to spend time with the bikers." Tawny sighed and pushed away from the short wall. "They're going inside."

"All right, girls. The fun is over for the night." Tara pushed to her feet and straightened. "It must be ten o'clock."

Nova stood and walked back to the table in the middle of the roof beside the door leading into the building. Her phone on the table blinked. She'd missed a call.

"Someone is a popular girl tonight." Tawny eyed the phone.

Nova snatched her cell off the table. "It's my cousin's birthday tomorrow. She's making a big deal out of the celebration and her friends are throwing her a party."

Shayla's birthday was six months away. She added the lie to the hundred other ones she'd told since arriving in Federal.

"And the call earlier at dinner?" asked Tawny.

"Same cousin." Nova slipped the phone into her back pocket and continued her lie. "I ordered her a purse she wanted for her birthday. My gift arrived this morning, and she keeps calling to thank me."

The black, leather satchel with the backpack straps was last years present she'd sent to Shayla. She stepped toward the door, wanting to leave before she buried herself in more lies. There was no reason to make up excuses with the ladies of the Network. They all lived with the same rules and regulations. They all lived in seclusion in every town they worked in. Though none of them knew her cousins lived in Federal, or she snuck out of the building to visit them almost nightly.

All it would take was one of the ladies getting upset with her and telling Tiff about her breaking the rules, and she'd get kicked out of Red Light.

"Night, ladies. I'm going to bed." Nova waved over her shoulder and walked down the stairs to the second floor.

Marci strolled out of the kitchen. "Is everyone coming down from the roof? There's some cake left if anyone wants another piece."

"I think they're going to stay up on the roof for a little longer." Nova smiled. "I kept yawning and wasn't keeping up with the conversations going on around me, so I decided to come in and go to sleep."

The lies kept rolling out of her mouth. If she tried going to bed now, she'd end up thinking about her upcoming conversation she needed to have with Emmet and be wide awake. She had to carry on with the charade of her being a woman who needed a lot of sleep and preferred going to bed early.

Lying had many downfalls.

Once she started, she had to lie again to cover the fake story. If she planned to make it the rest of her time here without getting caught, she'd need to start taking notes.

"I've got a date with an episode of Walking Dead." Marci grinned and stopped outside her room. "Sleep well."

"You, too." Nova walked down the hall and opened the green door. Every door in Red Light was painted a different color according to the prostitute's sexual skills, making it easier for the madam to assign customers to rooms. As the dominant one, she occupied the room with the green door. Kathryn stayed behind the blue door and preferred to submit to the customers' wishes. The red door housed Tara, who was up for anything and enjoyed a little rough play. Tawny roomed in the last suite behind the yellow door and spent all evening on her knees giving blowjobs.

The more a prostitute was willing to do, the bigger tips they received.

Leaving her light off, she pulled out her phone and checked her missed calls. Shayla called twice and a new number.

A text came in from the same unfamiliar number.
"It's Emmett. Call me."

Shit.

What would Emmett Parker be doing calling and texting her?

Who gave him her number?

She tapped her finger on Shayla's name and put the phone to her ear. She was going to kill her cousin.

"Hello, darling. Push seven on your keypad and send me fifty dollars if you'd like to have Miss Shayla predict your future. I see love, good health, and whatever else you think will happen and for an extra twenty dollars I will tell you the sex of your first child," said Shayla, answering the phone in her normal wacky way.

"Why the hell did you give Emmett my phone number?" said Nova on a hiss.

"Emmett called you?"

She kicked off her shoes. "Didn't I just say that?"

"Not exactly." Shayla paused. "I didn't give him your number, Nova. I wouldn't do that to you. Maybe Nick did it."

She groaned. Even worse. She couldn't get mad at Nick. He believed she worked for an art dealer and would question why she wasn't allowed to get phone calls except after eight o'clock. She'd given her number to Nick because she only had two people left in her life that she cared to stay connected with while she worked. If something happened to her, or heaven help her someone killed her and left her body in the woods, they needed to know.

Nick had never called her before. He usually preferred to yell hi from the background whenever Shayla spoke with her on the phone.

"Shayla, I have to end this tonight. Emmett has to get a clear message that I'm off limits. I can't have him calling me here. He's going to ruin everything, and I can't lose this job." Nova stepped over and pulled the bedspread clear off the bed and carried it to the chair in the corner of the room.

Several seconds passed with both of them not saying anything. Finally, Shayla asked, "Would Emmett calling really cause you to lose your job?"

Nova sighed. Shayla would never understand the pressure or the state of mind she'd developed to become a prostitute or how she disconnected from reality when working with customers. When both of them talked about signing up with the Network years ago, they'd joked that they'd have pleasure and companionship all day long and at the end of the day, they'd crawl into bed exhausted and feel completely relaxed. Body, mind, and bank account.

The real world of prostitution ended up being much different than reality, and she wouldn't put the burden of realism on Shayla, because she had made her choice to go through with signing the contract and Shayla had not. She knew her cousin would regret not talking Nova out of signing up, not that she could've at the time. There was no going back. She took responsibility for her choices, and in her heart, she regretted nothing. She'd left the trailer park and achieved her goals. Everything would come to fruition soon, and she'd put her past behind her.

"No, I shut off the phone when I'm working. I wouldn't get in trouble." Nova curled her toes against the hardwood floor. "I need to...I'm not interested in Emmett. That's all."

"Then come over tonight. Emmett's outside sitting by the fire with the others. You can talk with him, and then keep me company," said Shayla.

"No, I'm already getting ready for bed." Nova gazed down at her clothes. "I'll call him and get it done over the phone, and then tomorrow I can sneak out and be with you without worrying about Emmett anymore. Okay?"

"Sure. Though getting dumped over the phone is low."

"I can't dump him when we're not seeing each other. He's...well he's got the idea that he wants me." Nova pushed aside her feelings of wanting him too. "There are no other options. I'll see you tomorrow night."

"Awesome." Shayla's voice picked up. "Thanks for calling Miss Shayla's psychic hotline." Shayla laughed and disconnected the call.

Nova smiled and set her phone on the bed. Shayla's silly phone conversations got her through many hard times. Since they were twelve years old and prank called their teachers, friends, and even tried to fool Aunt Jennie, Shayla made being with her fun and gave Nova laughter when she believed there was nothing left to find amusing. She loved Shayla's attitude. Nothing ever got her down.

Feeding off Shayla's good spirit, Nova undressed, slipped an oversized T-shirt over her head, and retrieved the two blankets and pillow that came with her everywhere she worked. She placed one over the bed and used the other one to cover up. No matter how clean Red Light kept the room and enforced the rules to use the rubber-backed throw rugs on the bed with the customers, she wanted the comfort of her blankets against her skin rather than the memory of all the male traffic that had been on her bed.

Settled down on her pillow, she tapped Emmett's name on her phone. Fidgety, she pulled the blanket up under her armpits.

"Nova?" Emmett's deep voice seemed to fill the room blocking out the music wafting in from Silver Girls downstairs.

"Yes." She swallowed, suddenly apprehensive about talking him into staying away from her. "I noticed you called. How did you get my number?"

"I asked Nick for it." He chuckled. "Then I received at least ten questions on why I needed to call you. He's protective of you."

"Did you answer him?"

"Nah. It wasn't any of his business why I wanted to call."

She muttered, "So much for Nick protecting me."

"Is that why you haven't been around the last couple of days? You think you need to be protected from me?"

She sat up. There was no way she could talk to Emmett laying down. She had to stay on track, tell him no, and set things right before her life spiraled out of control. She could do that better in an upright position.

"Nova-girl?" whispered Emmett.

She inhaled deeply. "I'm still here."

"Are you going to answer my question?"

She nodded, realizing too late that he couldn't see her. "I appreciate your interest in getting to know me better, but I don't have any time in my life right now to get involved with you. With traveling and the odd hours I'm needed to work, I must keep myself available to the customers and artists that work through...my boss's gallery. It wouldn't be fair to you when I’m focused on my professional life at the moment, and not on my private life. That's the reason I think you need to stop pushing me. You're a good guy and well, you're nice, and it's only fair that you know where I stand."

"Good and nice in the same sentence?" Emmett exhaled harshly. "No woman has said that about me before."

"Well, I imagine women don't say no to you very often either," she said.

"Thank fuck for that." He paused. "What's that music coming through the phone."

She gazed around the room. The music from downstairs no longer bothered her. She tuned out the noise or she was gone during the hours Silver Girls was open.

"It's, uh, the people who stay in the room next door." She bit her lip waiting for him to believe her lie. When he remained quiet, she added, "I told you they were loud."

"Yeah, I remember."

"Anyway..." She held the blanket to her waist. "Now that you understand where I stand, I'll let you go."

"Wait."

"Why?"

"I called you first, remember?" said Emmett.

"Right," she whispered. "What did you want?"

"I wanted to know if you were coming to Nick and Shayla's tonight, but seeing as how it's late and you're not here, I'm now wondering if you'll come tomorrow night."

Her shoulders drooped, and she pressed the phone to her ear. "Emmett, I explained to you why we can't—"

"You're going to stay away from your cousins because of me?"

"No."

He cleared his throat. "Then you'll come tomorrow night?"

"Maybe."

"I'll take a maybe." His voice deepened. "See you then."

"Wait." She closed her eyes. "You didn't listen to a thing I said, did you?"

He paused. "I've noticed you lie a lot, Nova-girl. But when I kiss you, you're telling me the truth. You want me. I plan to have you. I don't give a shit about your schedule or how unfair you think you're being. I only know you have three months—"

"Two months, two days," she said.

"I want to spend part of that time around you."

"Why?" Her irritated voice sounded snappy to her ears.

"I don't know yet. When I do, I'll let you know." He cleared his throat. "Sleep tight, Nova-girl, and I'll see you tomorrow night."

The phone call disconnected. She laid her cell on the nightstand and scooted lower in the bed, and laid down. Her heart beat erratically, and she rolled onto her side, holding her arms tight against her chest.

Her plan to get his attention off her backfired. He was more determined to spend time with her, which would end up with her kissing him because she obviously had zero control around him.

She closed her eyes and willed her chest to stop fluttering in excitement for tomorrow night. His lack of listening to her and refusal to do what she needed only made her anticipate seeing him more. He was making her crazy.

S
hayla and Nova swayed to the sound of Foreigner on the bed of Nick's pickup and belted out the lyrics of Juke Box Hero. Emmett stood between Nick and Kirkland, enjoying the unrehearsed concert. Neither woman could sing worth shit, but the effort they put in to entertain everyone gathered on the lot was worth staying up late.

Kirkland held up his phone. Emmett glanced over at him and shook his head. It never took long until someone got the bright idea to pull out their cell and capture an embarrassing moment to post on YouTube.

"If you piss her off, you'll never have a chance with her." Emmett shoved him. "Let Shayla have her fun while her cousin is here."

Kirkland stumbled and righted himself. "I'm going to wear her down. She'll figure out she's in love with me by the end of summer."

The singing stopped. Emmett gazed up at the pickup and barely had time to get out of the way of Shayla jumping to the ground and landing in front of him. He grabbed her arm, steadying her, and she ripped out of his hold and dove for Kirkland's phone.