Page 40 of Hell to Pay

“How come?” She sounded genuinely curious.

“I was fired from the motel during the last big storm of the season. I was stuck on the mountain and the roads weren’t clear in time for my shift.”

“Ever missed a day before that?”

I shook my head. “I couldn’t… Well, the truth is, I couldn’t afford to miss work. Can’t. Can’t afford to miss work.”

“And the bar?”

I thought about lying, but I’d been honest so far and I hadn’t been dismissed yet.

“My boss was a creep.”

She held my gaze, her brown eyes sharp. “The phones aren’t usually crazy here, but they do ring throughout the day. We also need someone to file — paper copies and digital archives — and to make coffee, order office supplies, that kind of thing. Think you can pick it up?”

I didn’t have to think about my answer to this one. “Yes.”

“Can you work twice a week, Tuesday and Thursday from nine to five?”

“Yes.” I could hardly breathe, didn’t dare hope I was actually going to get this thing.

“Great, you’re hired.” She flashed me a warm smile. “Assuming you want it.”

“I want it.”

She laughed. “You haven’t asked about the pay.”

“Is it at least minimum wage?”

“A bit more,” she said. “With opportunities for advancement if you’re good at the job.”

“I want it,” I said again.

She pushed off the desk and extended her hand. “Welcome to the team, Lilah.”

28

LILAH

The Bastards insistedon getting pizza to celebrate and Rafe didn’t even complain. He almost seemed happy for me, although he’d been avoiding me since he’d spied on Jude and me having sex on the couch.

We ate on the sofa watching one of the cooking shows the Bastards liked where teams of two people rushed to cook something against a giant ticking clock. It seemed stressful to me, but I guess I shouldn’t have been surprised that if the Bastards enjoyed something like cooking, they enjoyed it more when the intensity was turned up to a hundred and there was a lot on the line. In this case, prize money for the winning team.

When it was over we hung out in the living room, talking about the teams and the dishes they’d made, debating if the winners really deserved to win or if one of the other teams had been robbed.

It was weirdly normal, domestic even, and I couldn’t remember how I’d ended up lying on the couch with my head in Nolan’s lap, his fingers combing through my hair, and my feet on Jude’s lap.

It was nice. Too nice.

I couldn’t remember the last time I had something to celebrate, let alone anyone to celebrate with. The closest I’d come since I’d been living on my own was winning a tough sparring match at the Gym or getting an extra shift’s worth of pay in one of my paychecks. Both times I’d bought a pint of ice cream and eaten it in my apartment while I’d watched TV.

Alone.

But the Bastards had been surprisingly psyched about my new job, even though it was just part-time and both Jude and Nolan seemed more inclined to throw money at me than to let me get another job.

And I was excited too. It felt like a fresh start. Mayor Maxwell had said there were advancement opportunities and now I would have office work on my resume. I’d get a chance to learn how to work the complicated phone system at the greeter’s desk and how to order office supplies and stuff, all of which seemed more promising for my future than being a maid at the Mountaintop Inn or a bartender at the Dive.

My phone buzzed on the coffee table. I picked it up and frowned when I saw Matt’s face on the screen — a picture of the two of us eating ice cream and goofing for the camera back in the days when we still did things like that together.

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