the strange girl, when Regina spoke.
“I’m just waiting for Gary. Howard asked him to stop by.”
With that, as Lexi watched, Regina’s gaze shifted, her brown eyes once again...human.
A man’s voice, raised in ire, echoed from the offices in the back. The voice had a clipped, edgy tone. When Gary stepped into the main area, Lexi couldn’t stop the surprise widening her eyes. Gary? That in-your-face tone belonged to nice Gary?
For all his appearance of a contender for WWF, Gary’s normal voice had a soft quality to it that was completely non-existent at this moment.
He stopped when he saw her, then his face split into a wide grin. “Hey, Lexi,” he said, his voice returning to its regular soft, friendly tone. What happened to the hard edge? “I’m glad to see you. How ya doin’?”
The bouncer came up next to Regina and wrapped an arm around her waist. Lexi’s brow lifted. Taking a risk aren’t you, big boy ? Their boss, Howard, discouraged interaction, in all its forms, between his employees.
“I’m good,” she replied. “You guys seen Devyn? I promised her a dance lesson. Figured I had time today. Is she here?”
Gary shook his head. “Not here. Haven’t seen her, not since last night. Not since she left with you.”
Left with me?
As if he realized he said something he shouldn’t have, he swallowed heavily, his Adam’s apple bobbing. A swelling of uneasiness rose up inside Lexi. The world had turned topsy-turvy, everyone acting like someone she didn’t know, hadn’t worked with for two years and it had started with the man from last night.
Mikos.
Maybe he hadn’t had anything to do with the guys at the club, but her life had turned to crap after she’d seen Mikos in the audience. Irrational? Possibly, but she couldn’t shake the feeling that with his arrival, everything had changed.
Still. She opened her mouth to challenge Gary’s comment about Devyn being with Lexi. Obviously he knew more than he admitted. Maybe even what happened to her.
“Ah, Lexi, dear, I didn’t expect to see you today.”
Big Joe, a long-time patron of the club and a person Lexi usually enjoyed chatting with, came out from the shadows behind the bar. When the hell had he arrived? A person couldn’t get into the freaking club without that damn squeaky front door announcing entry. If she judged by the wide-eyed expression on Gary’s face, Big Joe’s presence had come as a shock.
“Hey, Joe.” Lexi kept her tone airy, unconcerned, but never removed her eyes from Gary’s shiny face. “Skulking in the dark?”
From the corner of her eye, she saw Joe’s round face quiver in what might pass as a smile, yet his pale brown eyes were chips of stone when he looked at…Regina.
Not Gary. Regina. Lexi had never seen the short accountant with anything except a constant state of amusement on his face. Not now. Hard lines etched deep into his forehead and at the corner of his mouth.
“We gotta go,” Gary stammered, his pale face glowing like a beacon in the dim light. He grabbed Regina’s arm and propelled her in front of him when it appeared she wanted to stay.
Go? Go where? The question had barely formed in her mind before Gary and Regina slipped through the shadows at the back of the stage and disappeared. The distant sound of the back exit door slamming echoed.
Lexi scowled. Shit. Joe had perfect timing. Now she’d have to wait to find out what Gary knew.
“Lexi, my dear, Devyn is not your concern.” Joe spoke in an unusual, gentle tone.
With a deliberately casual movement opposed to her current confused condition, Lexi regarded the man coming from out of the shadows near the bar.
Still the same short, rotund man she’d known for a couple of years. However, his twinkling brown eyes told a different story. No longer hard, they held that ages-old wisdom that totally clashed with the image of a lust-crazed accountant.
“Excuse me?”
Joe sighed. “Lexi, you are neither stupid nor dense. Please
“I’m just waiting for Gary. Howard asked him to stop by.”
With that, as Lexi watched, Regina’s gaze shifted, her brown eyes once again...human.
A man’s voice, raised in ire, echoed from the offices in the back. The voice had a clipped, edgy tone. When Gary stepped into the main area, Lexi couldn’t stop the surprise widening her eyes. Gary? That in-your-face tone belonged to nice Gary?
For all his appearance of a contender for WWF, Gary’s normal voice had a soft quality to it that was completely non-existent at this moment.
He stopped when he saw her, then his face split into a wide grin. “Hey, Lexi,” he said, his voice returning to its regular soft, friendly tone. What happened to the hard edge? “I’m glad to see you. How ya doin’?”
The bouncer came up next to Regina and wrapped an arm around her waist. Lexi’s brow lifted. Taking a risk aren’t you, big boy ? Their boss, Howard, discouraged interaction, in all its forms, between his employees.
“I’m good,” she replied. “You guys seen Devyn? I promised her a dance lesson. Figured I had time today. Is she here?”
Gary shook his head. “Not here. Haven’t seen her, not since last night. Not since she left with you.”
Left with me?
As if he realized he said something he shouldn’t have, he swallowed heavily, his Adam’s apple bobbing. A swelling of uneasiness rose up inside Lexi. The world had turned topsy-turvy, everyone acting like someone she didn’t know, hadn’t worked with for two years and it had started with the man from last night.
Mikos.
Maybe he hadn’t had anything to do with the guys at the club, but her life had turned to crap after she’d seen Mikos in the audience. Irrational? Possibly, but she couldn’t shake the feeling that with his arrival, everything had changed.
Still. She opened her mouth to challenge Gary’s comment about Devyn being with Lexi. Obviously he knew more than he admitted. Maybe even what happened to her.
“Ah, Lexi, dear, I didn’t expect to see you today.”
Big Joe, a long-time patron of the club and a person Lexi usually enjoyed chatting with, came out from the shadows behind the bar. When the hell had he arrived? A person couldn’t get into the freaking club without that damn squeaky front door announcing entry. If she judged by the wide-eyed expression on Gary’s face, Big Joe’s presence had come as a shock.
“Hey, Joe.” Lexi kept her tone airy, unconcerned, but never removed her eyes from Gary’s shiny face. “Skulking in the dark?”
From the corner of her eye, she saw Joe’s round face quiver in what might pass as a smile, yet his pale brown eyes were chips of stone when he looked at…Regina.
Not Gary. Regina. Lexi had never seen the short accountant with anything except a constant state of amusement on his face. Not now. Hard lines etched deep into his forehead and at the corner of his mouth.
“We gotta go,” Gary stammered, his pale face glowing like a beacon in the dim light. He grabbed Regina’s arm and propelled her in front of him when it appeared she wanted to stay.
Go? Go where? The question had barely formed in her mind before Gary and Regina slipped through the shadows at the back of the stage and disappeared. The distant sound of the back exit door slamming echoed.
Lexi scowled. Shit. Joe had perfect timing. Now she’d have to wait to find out what Gary knew.
“Lexi, my dear, Devyn is not your concern.” Joe spoke in an unusual, gentle tone.
With a deliberately casual movement opposed to her current confused condition, Lexi regarded the man coming from out of the shadows near the bar.
Still the same short, rotund man she’d known for a couple of years. However, his twinkling brown eyes told a different story. No longer hard, they held that ages-old wisdom that totally clashed with the image of a lust-crazed accountant.
“Excuse me?”
Joe sighed. “Lexi, you are neither stupid nor dense. Please
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