Page 7 of Prettiest Little Thief
“A boyfriend?” she asked.
I laughed. “No. Not a boyfriend. He is pretty flipping hot though.”
“So, what’s the big deal, then. You take him up on his offer and get the hell out of here while you can. It beats getting put in prison for who knows how long.”
She had a point. Confusion about the whole situation made my thought process murky. Somehow, it overshadowed the nervousness of going to prison. Lucas was condescending and mean, but I supposed if I’d managed to learn to steal cars, I could steal a stupid key he wanted me to retrieve. How hard could it be?
“You know what? You’re right. I should take him up on his offer.” I gave her a watery smile.
“Good. You have his number?”
Shoot. I didn’t have his business card on me any longer. “The guards took it when they stripped me.”
She stood and strode across to the barred door. “Hey, Joel!” she yelled at the top of her lungs. Her fingers wrapped around the bars of the cell, and she shook them, making them bang loudly. I cringed, not wanting her to get into trouble for making so much noise. But the sound of swinging keys grew closer, as did the footsteps of the guard as he neared our cell.
“What do you want, Sheila?” he asked. He sounded exasperated.
“My girl over here needs to make a phone call.” She jerked her head in my direction. “You guys took the card with the number on it.”
Joel’s gaze slid to me. “Fine. I’ll try to get it from her belongings bag and then she can call.” He strode back in the direction of where he came from.
“Sheila?” I asked. She turned toward me with raised brows. “Thank you.”
She gave me a grin. “Anytime… what’s your name?”
“Monroe… Roe Whitlock.”
***
A few hours later, I was free to go and trudged out of the jail into the cold evening air. All I had on was the valet uniform I had worn when I was taken to the hospital. I looked around the parking lot, and a black car pulled up just in front of where I stood.
The window rolled down, and the driver leaned over the passenger seat. “Monroe?”
I nodded and shifted on my feet, trying to keep moving so the chill of the night didn’t freeze me to death.
“Come on, doll. Lucas sent me to get you.”
My stomach did a somersault, and I couldn’t believe it, but I was going to get into a car with a stranger. I took a deep breath before I willed my feet to move and get into the front seat of the car.
“My name’s Fox. I’m Lucas’s friend and assistant.” He gave me a beautiful, wide smile. His kind, mahogany eyes were a surprise, glorious dark skin making their richness stand out more in the car light. He stuck out his hand and I took it in mine. The warmth of his skin seeped into my frigid fingers. If it wasn’t weird, I would hold onto his hand until mine defrosted.
“Roe.” I released his hand, and the chill of the night spread back into my icy fingers.
“You stole Lucas’s car?” he asked. I nodded as I buckled my seatbelt, aching with every movement. Fox laughed, putting the car in drive and departing from the jail. “You must have some pretty big balls for a chick if you stole my boy’s car and totaled it.”
“That wasn’t the plan,” I sighed.
“He’s been pissy ever since.” Fox shook his head, but his smile didn’t dissipate.
“He seemed pretty pissy before I even took his car.” My gaze drifted to the darkening sky out the window. Lights of the city blurred past us as we merged onto the interstate.
“Ahhh, so you noticed.”
“Who wouldn’t. He may be good-looking, but he seemed like a real downer.”
“He has his moments,” Fox replied.
“Don’t we all?” I crossed my arms over my chest.
