Dances with Monsters(55)

"Be safe," he said in her ear. "Have a good night."

"You, too," she breathed, pressing her cheek lightly to his. She stepped away as her bus pulled up and started to climb the steps when the doors hissed open.

"Hey," he called, and she turned.

"Yes?" she called back, curious.

"Don't forget to text me what I need to know about Sunday," he replied, referencing the family dinner. Drew groaned aloud and slapped a hand to her forehead. "Yeah, you're not getting rid of me that easy," Heath added, smirking at her. She waved him off and took her seat. She glanced at him out of the window as the bus pulled off. He remained on the sidewalk for a moment, then turned slowly and headed back inside the gym.

Drew turned around in her seat to face forward, staring out the other window, allowing a real smile of pleasure to cross her face as she stared off into the distance.





Chapter Thirteen


"You ready for your last night?" Bunz teased the next morning. "Cliff's was a cushy job, yo. You sure you want to give all that lavishness up?"

Drew laughed in disbelief. "Uh, if by 'lavishness' you mean dressing like a harlot with my tits on front street to be ogled over by drunk stock brokers and men in the heat of their mid-life crises, then yes. I am definitely very ready to give all that up!"

She swiped at the counter and couldn't help grinning. Even though losing an entire source of income was scary, since she'd had it for so long, Drew was ready to bid it good-bye. She was bound by blood to the café and teaching dance was her passion, so Cliff's was the only expendable option. Fortunately, it happened to be the one she really disliked. She liked her co-workers, and even Cliff could be all right on occasion, but working nights every weekend in skimpy clothing was not her style.

"We should make a night of it," Bunz said. "I'll bring Anthony down. You should call your crazy sisters. They might be married and moms and everything but as I recall, they know how to have a good time."

"Have a good time?" Drew repeated. "Nik and Toni are fucking animals when they get a night away from the kids."

Bunz laughed. "That's why I love them so much. Let's see. Who else?" She barely paused for a nanosecond when false inspiration struck and she lifted a finger. "Ah!" she exclaimed. "That's right, it just came to me. You should call Heath."

"Yeah," Drew said sarcastically, pulling out large bags of full espresso beans to grind for the day. "I'll do that. Because he would love nothing more than to hang out with a bunch of crazy chicks."

"Well, tell him to bring his friends!" Bunz said cheerfully. "Like he did last time."

"B, he's training right now," Drew insisted. "He's got to rest and take care of his body, and stuff."

"He'll be fine for a night," Bunz said dismissively. She pointed a finger at Drew. "Call him, Drusilla. I'm not playing." She headed back into the kitchen to resume working on her newest batch of cupcakes.

"For the last time, that's not my name!" Drew bellowed after her.

"Yeah, yeah," Bunz called back, sounding faintly bored. "I'm not really sure what that has to do with me, though, Drusilla. Now call the man."

Drew muttered darkly under her breath and began to grind espresso beans into a fine blend. She pursed her lips as she considered Bunz's suggestion. She couldn't remember the last time she'd had a night out that didn't involve working. She hadn't cut loose and blown off steam in an extremely long time. If she was being honest with herself, she hadn't really wanted to before; she'd always been content to spend her free nights at home watching movie marathons or reading and eating frozen yogurt with Rocky on her couch or in bed, if she was feeling especially indulgent.

But now, the thought of drinking and dancing with Bunz and her sisters and the girls from the bar made her smile a little. And the thought of Heath being there made her smile more. She knew he wasn't the party-hardy type by any means, but any time spent around him was time well spent in her book and she dimpled at the thought that maybe she could pull him out of his shell a little bit.

The thought brought her up sharply and she actually stopped grinding the beans for a moment. She realized that Heath had done a lot to bring her out of her shell; it was one thing to be silly and loud with her family or Bunz but it was quite another to imagine having fun and being rambunctious and playful with anyone else, especially a guy. But she realized she'd changed a little over the past several weeks in a positive way, slowly but surely, and she knew that he had a lot to do with it.

She heaved a sigh and looked toward the kitchen for several long moments. As if she could sense it, Bunz called out to her.