Rock Chick Redemption (Rock Chick #3)(14)

After Hank took me back inside Indy’s house, I accepted martini number five, or Stupid Girl Martini. If memory served, I spent the rest of the evening standing next to Hank, giggling myself sil y. And, I think I might have even spent some of that time holding his hand.

Good God.

Luckily, before I could get to martini number six, or Puking Girl Martini, Uncle Tex took me back to my hotel. I laid in bed until the room stopped spinning and fel asleep.

I woke up feeling like I’d been run over by a truck. I stood under the shower until I could pry open my eyes without them burning gaping holes into my skul . I did my massive Get Ready Preparations, ful on makeup and flippy hair. I opted for jeans because everything went with jeans and I didn’t have the brain capacity to pul together a complete outfit. It was a Monday, Hank would be working and I wouldn’t run into him. I didn’t need to be Glamorous High Maintenance Girl until six thirty that night.

I topped the jeans with a fitted, white, col arless shirt that buttoned up the front and had several rows of miniature ruffles along the chest. I completed this with a Me&Ro choker on my neck and Me&Ro dangly hoops at my ears and a pair of silver bal et flats.

I stumbled into Fortnum’s after maneuvering the four lanes of traffic on Broadway and Uncle Tex, Duke and Indy al looked up at me through the line of customers.

“Shit, girl,” Uncle Tex grinned as I made it to the counter, cutting in front of everyone and not giving a good God damn.

“Coffee,” I breathed.

“Hey, I’m next,” the man at the front of the line said.

I turned to him.

“I had five martinis last night and kissed a seriously hot guy I barely knew. Twice,” I told him.

“You can go first,” he said.

Indy laughed.

I got my caramel latte and found out why Indy hired Uncle Tex. The latte was sublime.

“Uncle Tex, this is beautiful,” I told him.

“You got foam on your mouth,” he said.

I licked it off.

Duke was staring at me.

Then he looked at Tex. “Couldn’t we have, like, maybe a week before the next one rol ed in the door?”

“Gotta take life as it comes,” Uncle Tex said with a shrug.

I looked between them.

“What are they talking about?” I asked Indy, taking another sip.

She was digging in her purse. She pul ed out a pil bottle, shook out two ibuprofens and handed them to me.

“Tex tel you about Jet’s troubles?” she asked.

I sucked down the pil s with another gulp of latte. “You mean the ra**st and the loan shark and her Dad being in the hospital after being thrown from a moving car?” The eyes of the customer next to me bugged out of his head.

I ignored him and Indy did too.

She said, “Wel , that al finished up on Friday. You came in on Sunday. Seein’ as you and Hank, um… seem to be, um—”

I interrupted her, “Yeah, and…?”

“Wel , I think Duke’s a little gun shy.”

“Gun shy, hel . Hank is f**ked,” he looked at me. “No offense but you’re gonna run him through the mil , I can tel .

And no doubt, we’l al get ground up with him.” I blinked.

“I’m only in town for a couple of days,” I said.

“I can see it comin’,” Duke said.

“Hal elujah!” Uncle Tex boomed. “No lag this time, keep

‘im hoppin’, darlin’ girl, that’s what I say.” I looked to Indy.

“I think I might throw up,” I told her.

“Hungover?” she asked.

“That too.”

She laughed again but I couldn’t figure out what was so funny.

At that point, Daisy powered in the door wearing a hot pink, velour, skintight, Juicy Couture track suit with the top’s zipper unzipped to what could only be cal ed the Cleavage Danger Zone and a braided terry cloth bandana around her forehead, looking like Dol y Parton halfway morphed into Jackie Stal one, but younger.

“Hey Roxie! Popped by to see if you wanted to do a power walk with me while Tex is working,” she said.

My stomach roiled. “I’m going to get a cheeseburger,” I replied.

Cheeseburgers (with fries) were the only hangover cure I knew that worked. It only lasted fifteen minutes after the last fry was chewed and swal owed, but it was fifteen minutes of nirvana.

Daisy frowned. “Sugar bunch, cheeseburgers kinda defeat the purpose of a power walk.”

How did these people avoid hangovers? They’d al been right with me, drink for drink. It was unreal.

I figured it had to be the altitude.

“Maybe you can power walk to the burger place and back,” Indy suggested.

“Maybe you can power walk to Siberia and stay there,” Duke put in.

I turned and scowled at Duke.

“Shee-it,” he said when he caught my scowl. “Hank is f**ked.”

“Hank’s gonna be f**ked, you ask me,” Daisy giggled and it sounded like tinkling bel s.

“I’ve entered a loony bin,” I told another unwitting customer, this one a female.

“It’s always like that around here,” the customer replied.

“That’s why I come, it’s like walking into a sitcom that could only air on HBO.”