Page 54 of The Fast Lane

Tammy scowled. “Hold on. I’m obviously on the phone here.”

I pressed my lips together and tried to tune out her conversation. But this was not a large room and the fake dark wood paneling and carpet of indeterminate color, circa 1975, made the office area seem even smaller and more cramped.

“I have next Friday and Saturday off. We should do it.” Tammy twisted a piece of pink hair around her finger, her eyes growing unfocused. “I want to meet someone new and exciting.”

With a sigh, I leaned an elbow on the counter, my foot tapping a frustrated beat. There was a service bell three inches away from me. My fingers crept closer and closer until the bell was snatched away. I jerked up to find Tammy doing her best to make my brain explode with only her eyes, bell in hand. Holding my gaze, she yanked open a drawer behind the counter and tossed it inside.

“Yeah, all night. You should come keep me company,” she said into the phone sweetly, even though her face screwed up as though she’d bitten into a lemon.

The door opened.

Tammy’s eyes drifted above my head and her expression went from annoyed to predatory with cougar-like speed. “Tiff, I have to go. Got a guest.”

After tossing her phone to the side, she smiled widely, showing too many teeth.

“Everything okay?” Theo asked, coming to a stop right next to me.

Tammy licked her bottom lip. “I was helping your sister here get all checked in.”

“She’s not my sister.” Theo wrapped an arm around my shoulders. For a microsecond, I held myself stiff as a board and then I melted into his side. My dragon wings fluttered about happily.

“Oh?” Tammy traced her bottom lip with a finger, determination in her eye. She gave her t-shirt hem a tug, so the V-neck dipped lower. Might as well have hung a sign that said OPEN FOR BUSINESS on them. “Cousin, then?”

“Not a cousin. We’re actua?—”

She squinted at me. “Now that I got a good look, she’s older than I thought. Aunt?”

I narrowed my eyes. Okay, lady? His aunt?

Theo chuckled. “We aren’t related. Did we get rooms yet?”

“Oh, honey,” Tammy said, her voice breathy. She ran a finger along the edge of her shirt collar. Was I stuck in a B-rated teen movie? “I can help you with anything you need.”

“Great.” Theo shot me an uneasy look.

Tammy straightened and began tapping away at her computer. She pulled a piece of paper off the printer and slid it across the counter. With a finger and a sly smile, she beckoned Theo to come closer. Theo pulled me with him. “I’m gonna need your name and an ID and your phone number.”

“Sure.”

She slid the paper toward him, making sure to brush his hand with her fingers. “Could you fill this out for me?”

“Do I need to do that too? For the other room,” I said, not keeping the annoyance out of my voice.

“Hmm. Separate rooms.” With a wink in Theo’s direction, she shoved a piece of paper and half a pencil at me. “Do it.”

“Thanks,” I muttered.

“So, where you from, handsome?” She twirled a piece of pink hair around her finger while somehow managing to simultaneously yank down her shirt AGAIN and squish her boobs together. If I didn’t want to scratch her eyes out, I might have been impressed.

“Oh, um, Texas,” Theo said, not lifting his head.

Tammy giggled. “I’ve never been but I heard everything is bigger in Texas. Is that true, cowboy?”

Gag me now. I slapped the pencil down and gave her a grimace barely disguised as a smile. “Done. What about you, Theo? Almost done?”

“No rush on my part.” She skated her fingernails over the back of Theo’s hand, her voice breathy. “I’ll be here all night long.”

Theo froze and turned his head, his look of alarm causing a surge of anger in me. I had the strongest urge to scream at her to keep her hands to herself, perhaps shave her head and make a necklace out of her hair. Okay, not that. That was weird.