“No.” The interest in the woman’s face faded, and Jules cursed herself for not lying. She had a new life now. Why couldn’t she have waitressed in her past? Quickly, though, she dismissed that idea. Her inexperience would’ve been obvious in her first five minutes of work. It was better to save the lies for those things not so easily proven false. “You wouldn’t have to pay me, though. I could work for tips.”
As the server eyed her speculatively, Jules held her breath. That would solve the social-security-number issue, as well as bring in some much-needed cash.
“Trial period only. You screw up, and you’re out. Quietly. No tantrum. Got it?”
Resisting the urge to bounce on the seat in excitement, Jules tried to keep her voice calm. “Got it. When do you want me to start?”
“Tomorrow. Be here at five.” She started to turn away.
“In the morning?” Jules’s voice squeaked the tiniest bit. She’d never been a morning person.
“Yep.” The server stopped and looked back over her shoulder. “That a problem?”
It was a small price to pay for a job that kept her off the map. “Nope. I’m Jules, by the way.”
“Megan. Don’t mess this up.” Without another backward glance, she headed for the next table.
“I won’t.” Turning back to her siblings, she shared an excited grin with them. She couldn’t resist a little wiggle of excitement, as well.
A job! She already had a job. Their brand-new life was looking up.
Read on for a sneak peek of the next book in the
Rocky Mountain K9 Unit series from Katie Ruggle
“I don’t trust him.”
Kaylee stared at her friend—her apparently insane friend. “How can you not trust him? Haven’t you seen his cheekbones? And those eyes? And pretty much his entire face? He looks like a freaking Disney prince. How can you not trust a Disney prince?”
“Pretty is as pretty does,” Penny muttered, shoving dresses aside with a little too much force.
Kaylee snorted, reaching toward the rack despite the risk of losing a finger to Penny’s violent sorting. She grabbed a dress and moved out of the closet so she could toss it on the growing pile on her bed. Not for the first time, Kaylee was grateful for her expansive walk-in closet. Not only did it hold her excessive amount of clothes and a truly extravagant number of shoes, but it also made it possible to give a wrathful Penny some space. The woman had pointy elbows and knew how to use them. “You’re channeling your Grandma Nita again.”
Yanking another dress off the rack, Penny used the hanger to point at Kaylee. “She’d totally agree with me on this. You’re blinded by hormones and can’t see that your prince is actually the villain—or at least the semi-villain. I deal with men like him every day. I know what I’m talking about.”
Crossing her arms, Kaylee leaned her shoulder against the closet doorframe. “Do you think that maybe, just maybe, the guys you come into contact with at work are making you a little bitter and jaded? I mean, it’s an emergency women’s shelter. That’s a pretty skewed sample of the male population.”
“I’m not bitter and jaded.” Penny paused before adding, “Not yet, at least. And I’m really good at spotting a toad in prince’s clothing. It’s my superpower.”
Despite her best efforts at keeping Penny’s gloom and doom from darkening her mood, doubt tugged at Kaylee. Trying to hide her sudden frown, she turned to stare at the mound of dresses on the bed, a rainbow of silky fabrics and wonderful possibilities.
The California sun streamed through the window, making the entire room glow and turning the white bedding silver around the edges. When she’d been searching for a condo two years ago, Kaylee’s top requirement had been light—a lot of it. After spending her childhood in a cramped Midwestern basement apartment, she couldn’t get enough sunlight. Her condo was everything her home growing up had not been—warm and bright and clean. She’d spent too many years cold, poor, and helpless, and she wasn’t going to go back to that…ever.
The scrape of a hanger against the rod brought her back to the present.
“It’s been so long since I found a good guy,” Kaylee said wistfully, keeping her gaze on the dresses. “They’re out there, though, and I need to believe that Noah is one of them. After all, he invited me to his uncle’s house, and the man pretty much raised Noah. A toad wouldn’t invite me home to meet his family, right? You just need to give him a chance.”
Risking another glance at Penny, Kaylee hid a half smile. She knew that scowl. It meant her friend was seconds away from caving. “Please? Let me have my fairy tale for a few more dates? If he turns into a complete ass, then I’ll even let you say ‘I told you so’ while we throw darts at his picture—the really pointy, dangerous darts that they’ve banned in the U.S. because too many kids lost their eyeballs. Please?”