Page 3 of Dancing With Temptation

Which reminded her, she still had to deal with all of the Nathan messages. She didn’t want to, but curiosity wouldn’t let her ignore his calls. She threw her bag down, flopped down on the bed, and took out her phone.

“I knew you were a fucking whore. I knew you’d move on the minute you found some rich guy to fuck your brains out. I don’t know how I was stupid enough to think you were good enough for me. Fuck you, Roxie. I hope you catch an STD.” Nathan’s angry but still petulant voice spewed from her phone’s speaker.

Roxie rolled her eyes and played the next one. It wasn’t like she’d never been called a whore before. Whatever.

“You’re nothing but a gold-digging bitch. Fuck you.” He was still angry in that one too.

There were more messages, messages she should probably ignore, but she didn’t. She was made of stronger stuff than the idiot gave her credit for.

“I’m sorry, Rox. I was mad. I know you aren’t a whore. I know you’re probably pissed at me, but I really need that money. Can you get 100K from one of your rich friends? Maybe that Emily woman? Or even eighty? Hell, even fifty or thirty thousand dollars would do it. I just need to get these guys off my back. Please? Let me know. Um, yeah. Bye.” He hadn’t sounded so sure in that last call.

Roxie saw there was one more call and took a deep breath before she hit play.

“Fuck you, Roxie. Get me that money however you have to, you fucking slut or you’ll wish you had. Don’t push me, Rox. Or you’ll be in a whole lot of trouble, baby.”

Now, what the fuck did he mean there? Roxie frowned up at the white popcorn ceiling trying to work out what exactly Nathan had meant. She’d be in a whole lot of trouble? For what?

Probably some dream he’d had while he was high, she finally decided and put the phone down. People that snorted opioids weren’t always the most reliable, nor were people that added alcohol to those pills. She’d found a few of the illicit pills scattered around her apartment over the last year and there’d been more there tonight. She’d scooped them up and flushed them before the cops came in, so she wouldn’t get in trouble.

There was only one person that could have dropped the pills and that was Nathan.

Bastard.

Roxie blew air out of her nose, got up, and messaged Wendy.

“I’m at the hotel, got a room, going to the shops to buy a few things.” Read the message she sent to her friend.

Wendy sent back a thumb’s up. “The designer stuff is fine, he probably wanted to sell it. There’s a few more things. I’ll bring them by whenever.”

“Great. I’ll let you know. Going out now.” Roxie sent back and grabbed her handbag from the bigger bag she had some of her stuff stored in.

Going out might not be a good idea, not when thugs were hanging around her apartment and Nathan was vacillating between wanting to kill her and begging her for money, but she couldn’t stay cooped up. Walking would help relieve some of the anxiety that made her want to pace. She’d get something to eat at the restaurant before she went, she decided, though. Being around other anonymous people over a plate of sausage, gravy, and biscuits was something else that would soothe her nerves.

Roxie smiled at a red-head waitress named Pam, or so her badge read, as she walked in, and then went to sit in a booth in the corner of the restaurant. She had a view of the entire parking lot from there. She’d see anyone that came near the restaurant or the hotel.

“Orange juice, coffee, and the special, please,” Roxie said as the waitress walked up, a smile on her pretty face.

“Very good. Want anything extra with it?” The woman offered but Roxie shook her head.

“No, that’ll be fine.” And she hoped it was. Life had suddenly turned upside down. Again. What a fucking mess.

2

Roxie

Life had become incredibly confusing since Lincoln Young walked back into her life, Roxie decided. She looked around the house he’d asked her to decorate, wondering what else life had in store for her. Some peace and quiet wouldn’t be a bad thing, that was for sure.

“Thanks for coming over,” Lincoln said as he came into the kitchen to stand across from her.

He didn’t come close to her or try to kiss her. She wasn’t sure what to expect when she got his message to come by his place. She’d been in the process of getting her car from Wendy, wondering if she should call Emily or any of her other friends, and basically just being numb from the events of the last 24 hours.

With her hands wrapped around her elbows, Roxie turned to face the last man she wanted to talk to right now. At the moment, being anywhere near him felt like her emotions were a sore tooth that her tongue wouldn’t stay away from. Yet, she had to be here, she had to face him.

“What can I do for you, Lincoln?” She moved, her arms out by her side now instead of closed around her middle, and took a seat at the table. Her blue gaze followed him to the chair he took across from her.

“Well, you’re done with the house now and I have enough help at work now that Tanya has moved down here with the company….” His voice trailed off in a way that made Roxie’s eyes narrow.

“So, you’re laying me off? No problem.” She paused to take a deep breath, trying not to panic because it was actually a huge problem. “I can find work somewhere else.”