Page 53 of Power Play

I took a deep breath. “That won’t work.”

“Okay then. You don’t. We can figure it out.” His fingers shifted on my skin, sending goosebumps across my arms. I shrugged away from him.

“I should go in,” I said. “Before my land lady sees this truck and gets...” I was going to say her gun, but it was too late. The front door opened and Ms. Rene, with her hair in rollers and her late husband’s shotgun in her arms, stood in the doorway.

“Is that a gun?” Liam asked.

“Yes. And it’s loaded.” I opened the door and waved at her. “It’s me, Ms. Rene. I’ll be in, in a second.”

“You got that hockey player in there?” she shouted back and Liam laughed.

“This isn’t funny,” I muttered.

“Come on,” Liam said and turned off the truck. “It’s a little funny. I’ll walk you to your door.”

I glared at him and he winked at me. He checked that Tess was still asleep and climbed out of the truck. I had no choice but to follow.

“You can put that gun down,” Liam said as he walked up the sidewalk. He was all swagger and bonhomie. Ms. Rene didn’t even pretend not to check him out head to foot.

“Jeez Louise, you’re a big one,” Ms. Rene said as she touched the bottom of one of those curls in a move so practiced I had to laugh. “I’m Ms. Rene,” she said, holding out her hand like she was Scarlett O’Hara. Liam, to his credit, took it between both of his hands and squeezed it. No kiss, which from Ms. Rene’s face, was a bit of a disappointment.

“Thanks for bringing Kit home safe and sound,” Ms. Rene said. “She keeps taking the bus at night. I tell her one of these days her luck will run out and I’m going to have to shoot someone.”

Liam laughed. “Well, it was my pleasure. The last thing this world needs is you shooting anyone.”

“I don’t know,” Ms. Rene said. “Seems like some people need shooting.”

“Okay,” I said, stepping up onto the small porch. “Thanks for the ride.”

“What about my offer?” Liam asked.

“Offer?” Ms. Rene asked, all ears.

“I’ve offered Kit a job for a few weeks.”

“Oh, she’s got enough of those already.”

The problem here was I couldn’t shove Ms. Rene inside the house and slam the door in Liam’s face.

Liam looked at me. “How many more?” he asked.

“Don’t worry about it,” I said at the same time Ms. Rene said, “three.”

“It’s not three,” I muttered. “It’s like two and a half.”

“You’ve got that bar job. Terrible place,” Ms. Rene said. “Have you seen those uniforms?”

“They’re the worst,” Liam agreed. “You’ve got kids’ parties. I know about that. What’s the third job?”

“She helps balance check books down at the senior center,” Ms. Rene said.

“No one pays me for that,” I said. “Can we stop this now?” I asked, painfully aware that Liam was staring holes into the side of my face.

“Well, I’ve offered her a job that would allow her to stop working all those jobs,” Liam said.

“You have?” Ms. Rene’s face lit up and then fell, her eyes narrowed suspiciously. “It isn’t indecent, is it? I saw that movie, you know. And she never should have said yes to that million dollars. Messed up her whole life.”

“It’s not indecent,” Liam said with absolute sincerity. “It’s the opposite. She should take it.”

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