Courting Trouble

The slip in language embarrassed her, and she hurried back into the Apple Tree’s dining area, picked up the coffee pot and walked around to pour refills. Her roommate was a part-time musician, while she worked two jobs to make ends meet. She pulled full shifts here and then went to her paid internship in the evenings. She had enough to get them by, but she couldn’t keep carrying Margo.

They weren’t even friends. Her college roommate had got a job soon after graduation and had sublet her half of the lease to the first person she’d found who’d sign the paperwork.

Sienna topped off a travel mug for one of her regulars who’d soon be making a mad dash for his office.

What was she going to do when this internship ran out?

Making the extra cash had been a piece of cake. The topics that Nina considered important were second nature to her. Manners, cultural awareness and diplomacy had been drilled into her since birth. More interesting had been the self-defence courses and the self-awareness workshops Luxxor mandated for all employees. She’d passed every test the company had thrown at her.

But she wasn’t going to accept the job.

They’d offered it to her last week, a full two weeks before the internship was up. She’d told them she’d need to think about it, but there really was nothing left to consider. She couldn’t allow herself to be paid for going out on dates – sex-prohibited contract clause or not.

It wasn’t that the job was beneath her. It was simply something she couldn’t do.

She sighed as she put the coffee pot back onto the warmer. It let out a hiss that sounded an awful lot like the air going out of her lungs.

What was she going to do? Kick Margo out? Then she’d have to pay full rent until she found somebody to replace her.

Pasting a pleasant smile on her face, she headed to the cash register to help her harried businessman on his way.

‘See you tomorrow,’ he said as he hit the door.

Tomorrow. How many of those was she going to spend here?

Chin dipping, she went to clean off the empty table. With practised moves, she swept up the remaining silverware and water glass. She grabbed the morning paper, but stopped when a picture above the fold caught her eye.

It was him, the super-hot guy from the Aquamarine charity event.

She quickly read the caption underneath.

Jason Sloan.

His name was Jason Sloan. A sturdy, masculine name. A sexy name.

A puff of air left her lips. Wow, even in a photograph he still packed a punch. The black and white shot showed him exiting a building. He looked sharp in a dark suit that fitted his powerful form. He had a rangy build, muscular and lethal.

It was the look in his eyes, though, that set her heart racing. They were full of triumph. She scanned the article and quickly understood. The Senate Appropriations Committee had recommended continuing to fund the contract with Bodycheck, his company.

She scanned the other people in the photograph. There was Senator McHale, the man he’d been hounding at the Aquamarine event. Her stomach gave a little squeeze of pleasure when she couldn’t find the curvy brunette in the tight dress.

Sienna looked again at those eyes. She didn’t see happiness in her imaginary lover’s gaze. No, the look in his eyes was the satisfaction of a predator after a successful hunt. He’d got what he’d gone after.

Her thighs quivered, and she pressed them together tightly, remembering the feel of her vibrator deep inside her. Was that how he looked when he got a woman, too?

A sharp crack broke her out of her sexual trance. She felt dampness on her hand and realised the water glass had broken.

‘Shoot,’ she hissed. She grabbed a napkin and quickly began to clean up the mess – until she realised that the liquid was more red than clear. Turning her hand over, she looked at her palm, and her thoughts became muddled. She was bleeding.

‘Sienna!’ The manager caught her wrist in a firm grip. People were staring as he pressed a towel against the cut. One look at her face, and he quickly pulled her into the back.

She made it that far, but her knees were becoming more and more unsteady. Her boss pushed her into a chair in his office, wrapping up her hand and lifted it above her heart. ‘What happened?’ he demanded.

‘I don’t know,’ she said. Her head was getting woozy. ‘I squeezed it or it hit the table.’

She didn’t know, and she wasn’t going to admit where her mind had been.

Her hand suddenly began to throb. She tried to pull the towel back to look, but the manager refused to let up on the pressure.

‘Do you have a bandage big enough?’ she asked.

‘Honey,’ he said, looking her in the eye, ‘you’re going to need stitches.’

* * *

Sienna sat on one of the hard hospital beds in the emergency room, listening to the cacophony surrounding her and staring in disbelief at the virtual cast of gauze that had been wrapped around her hand.

‘He said you were lucky,’ Erin reminded her. She rolled the tray table closer when Sienna once again dropped her hand too low. ‘Here, brace your elbow on this.’

Sienna gratefully took the rest. The throbbing in her hand was now matched by the throbbing in her head. She’d had twelve stitches. The cut had been deep, but not so bad that ligaments or muscles had been injured.

It was her pocketbook that was taking a beating this morning.

‘Thanks for driving me here.’ Thank God Erin had been willing to drop her wedding planning for an hour or so.

Which was becoming more like three.

‘Your mom should be here soon.’ Erin sweetly ran her hand up and down Sienna’s back.

Sienna stared at the chart on the far wall showing the cardiovascular system. She wanted to see her mom. Who didn’t when they got a boo-boo? But that wasn’t what made her uncomfortable.

She was going to have to ask for help. Financially.

It was something she’d avoided for months and months. She’d scrimped and saved and had got by, but with an emergency-room bill added to the pile? Not even her Luxxor money was going to cover that. Benefits didn’t come until a full-time offer was accepted.

Sienna rubbed at the throbbing in her forehead. ‘I should never have opted for the high-deductible plan,’ she murmured.

‘The what?’

‘My insurance.’

‘But you’re covered, right?’

Erin didn’t understand these types of things. Her father took care of money and insurance, and Marty would pick up the responsibility as soon as they were married.

‘Yes,’ Sienna explained. ‘But I have to pay a high deductible before it kicks in.’

Erin’s eyes glazed over.