Page 18 of Don't You Dare Marry Me

She checked the time and then made the call, needing to update her aunt at least on what had happened in the last few hours and days. And her aunt had lunch right about now.

“Nicola!” Aunt Simone sounded worried. “I tried to call you last night and it just went to voicemail.”

“I’m so sorry.” Nicola winced. “My phone died and the charger was in the car. I couldn’t find another one until thismorning.” Nicola pointed her toes and stretched her muscles some more. “But it’s all good now.”

“All good?” Simone didn’t sound very convinced of that. “I think you should come out here and stay with me for a while.”

“We already talked about that. You have your hands full and house full already.” Nicola was glad to avoid that one. Ever since Simone had married Howie, she’d avoided going to their house. She did not like that man one bit. He gave her the creeps, and every time she was in his vicinity she was pretty sure he was staring her over trying to figure out which way he was going to fuck her. She hated it.

“I know. I know.” Simone sighed. “But I’m worried about you.”

“I’m fine. I promise. In fact, I got a new job! I start today.” Nicola gnawed on the inside of her cheek. She couldn’t remember if she’d told Simone that she’d been fired from her last job or not, and she definitely hadn’t told Abagail that. It had been an unjust firing, but she didn’t have the energy or the time to fight it.

“New job?” Nicola could hear the sound of a bell through the phone, and she knew she’d caught her aunt right when lunch was happening.

“Yeah, at a bar, so it’s perfect for me.” Nicola clenched her jaw. She had to make this sound like it was the best deal in the world. “And it means I can stay out here and take care of Alanna still. I don’t want to leave her all alone.”

“I get that.” Simone sighed heavily. “It’s honestly probably a good thing. Howie and I… I’m working on a way to get out of this marriage. I can’t talk too much about it because I don’t want him to find out what I’m planning, but just know that I hope to be around a lot more often in the future.”

“We’d love that.” Nicola smiled, love seeping into her heart. Simone had been the only stability that she and Alanna hadwhile they’d finished growing up after the accident. “Don’t worry about me, Aunt Simone. I can take care of myself.”

“Mmm… I would like to believe that.” Simone sighed again. “But it’s my job to worry about you. I’m glad you got a new job. Please do let me know if you need any money for Alanna’s care. I know finances are tight right now, but I think I can figure out a way to take out a loan or something.”

“Nah, it’s all fine. I told you that Warren said he’d cover it for a while until I got a new job in place.” Nicola hated lying, but it was the easiest way to not have her aunt worrying about more than she could handle right now.

“All right. He’s such a sweet guy. I’m not sure why it didn’t work out between you.”

Nicola had to hold back the tears that threatened to spill. She could hold her own in the face of Warren and his crowd, in front of Abagail and Greer, and even Alanna. But doing it in front of Simone? The one woman who was more her mother than her mother had been, simply because she’d been there the last six years? Yeah, that was impossible.

“It just didn’t,” Nicola whispered. She didn’t want to think about everything that Warren had lobbed in her direction, the hate and anger, the brutal attacks he’d unleashed. It had been so hard until she’d finally just walked out and decided living in her car was the better option. She wasn’t exactly thrilled about living in Abagail’s house either, but at least she’d gotten a hot shower and a clean towel in the process.

“I’m here to listen all about it when you’re ready to talk to me. Okay?”

“Yeah. Okay.” Nicola cleared her throat. “I need to go get some khakis for my first shift tonight, so I’ll talk to you later, okay?”

“Okay. Love you, baby.”

“Love you too, Aunt Simone.” Nicola smiled. Simone and Alanna were the only family she had left, and she wasn’t going to lose them ever again. It wasn’t worth it. Taking a deep breath to steady herself, Nicola made sure that she was mentally prepared to start a new job and to get back on her feet.

She just needed a few weeks with Abagail, and that was all she was going to take.

Nicola had finished filling out the paperwork thirty minutes ago, but she was left just sitting in the office with nothing to do until the training manager showed up. She hated this about first days. She really didn’t need training. What she needed was just to get up onto her feet and serving customers so she could start earning tips.

Tips were her bread and butter.

And with her tits and flirty personality, she could usually snag herself a handsome sum by the end of the night. But she couldn’t do that if she was stuck in the back office waiting for the one right person to come in and release her from duty.

“You must be Nicola,” a woman with a black halter top and huge breasts came into the office. Her hair was pulled back into a ponytail, but it was pristine and perfect, the curls bobbing against her shoulders and her makeup done up in a way that made her look young and sexy. It was a talent that Nicola had used many times over the years, but she hadn’t tonight. She needed cash flow before she could buy herself some new makeup.

Then again, she probably could have used Abagail’s card, but something about that felt wrong. She didn’t want to push theboundaries of her relationship with Abagail—at least not in this way.

“Yeah.” Nicola stood up, sliding her phone into her back pocket.

“I’m Tommie.” She held out her hand for Nicola to take it and shook. “I’m training you tonight.”

“Perfect.” Nicola grinned. “I have a lot of experience with this, so hopefully I’ll catch on quickly to the policies and procedures here.”

“Even better.” Tommie winked at her. “Grab an apron and let’s get started then. It’s going to pick up in the next hour or two and probably stay pretty steady until about eleven. Then it’ll slow down.”

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