Jane Sullivan - Tall, Dark And Texan

“Isn’t it just the cutest thing?” she gushed. “I was gonna grab it myself, but it’s eight bucks, and I don’t get paid till Friday. Besides, it’d look better on you with your hair color and complexion and all.”

Wendy decided to take that as a compliment. But eight bucks? Right now, that sounded like eight thousand. Not that it wasn’t a steal for such a stunning garment, but her hundred dollars was slowly dwindling away.

She turned to Wolfe. “You’re paying for the coat.”

“Excuse me?”

“It’s up to you to provide me with adequate working conditions. Warmth is a basic necessity.”

“But you get to keep it when you’re through.”

“Well, I should hope so. I didn’t think you’d want to add it to your wardrobe.”

He leaned in close to her and whispered, “But I might use it as a drop cloth to change the oil in my cars.”

“Which would only make it more attractive,” she whispered back.

He glared at her a moment more, then heaved a sigh of disgust. “Fine. I’ll buy you the damned coat.”

Wendy turned to the clerk. “I’ll just wear this stuff out of here. Could I have a sack for my other clothes?”

“I’m out up here, so I’ll get some from the back.”

Wendy took the coat off the hanger, slid into it and checked out her reflection in a nearby mirror. “Ooh!” she cooed, looking back over her shoulder at Wolfe. “She’s right! It’s really me, isn’t it?”

“Yeah,” he muttered. “It’s you, all right.”

She gave him a sigh of mock disgust. “What’s a girl gotta do to get a compliment out of you, anyway?”

“This is a job, not a date.”

“Then I’m betting you have a lot more jobs than dates.”

“My personal life is none of your business.”

“Have you ever thought about smiling once in a while? Just a tiny bit?”

“Waste of energy.”

“So you’re always this crabby?”

He pulled out a twenty and tossed it on the counter, pointedly ignoring her.

“Having a bad day?”

He said nothing.

“Bad month?”

Not a word.

“Well, it certainly can’t be a systemic problem. Not with those fiber-loaded power bars you eat. A few of those once a week and you’ll never, ever have to worry about—”

He clamped his hand onto her arm and pulled her aside, dropping his voice to an angry whisper. “Do you want this job, or don’t you?”

She blinked with surprise. “Of course I do.”

“It requires shutting the hell up when it’s necessary. And it’s necessary from here on out. Do you think you can handle that?”

She raised her eyebrows. “So I’m supposed to play the sexy, silent type?”

“That’s right.”

She gave him a sly smile. “What if the guy wants me to talk dirty?”

Wolfe just stared at her, shaking his head slowly. The clerk returned. He grabbed the sack from her hand, stuffed Wendy’s clothes inside and hustled her out of the store.

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