“Maybe he isn’t the ass**le I thought he was,” Eddie said.

“He takes care of his girls,” I told him.

“At least that’s one person trying to look out for you, though if last night’s any indication, he’s not doing very well .”

“Last night was a fluke,” I tried to reassure him.

“Last night is every night at a strip club. You dress like that around drunk guys, shit’s gonna happen.” I stared at him.

“Do you want me to get mad?” I asked.

His eyes changed, they got warm but serious.

“Chiquita, I’l take anything I can get from you.” I didn’t know what to say to that so I didn’t say anything at al and just kept staring at him.

Eddie let me go and held the card up between us.

“I gotta get back to work. You need anything or your Mom needs anything, cal me.”

I took the card. Although I kinda wanted a repeat of what happened when I didn’t take it, I really needed to check on Mom. Then I needed to check on Dad. Then I needed to do a mil ion other things.

“Thanks Eddie,” I said.

He smiled at me, dimple and al , ran his knuckles along my jaw and then he walked away and, without looking back, I ran away.

* * * * *

When I hit the living room, Mom was in her chair at the window and Ada was standing beside her. “Is that Eddie?” Mom asked, not turning her head away from the window.

I went to the window and saw Eddie standing and talking to Mr. Greasy Coveral s.

“Yeah.”

“The Mexican man or the black man?” Ada asked, her eyes not leaving the window either.

“The Mexican man,” I told her, watching Eddie. He had put his mirrored sunglasses on and had his hands on his h*ps while he talked. He looked very cool and very hot.

“He’s cute,” Mom said.

Only Mom would describe Eddie as “cute”. He was a lot of things but he was not cute.

Eddie started to move away and looked up at the apartment building. I jumped out of the window as fast as I could, not wanting him to catch me checking him out. I had enough to worry about with the looming date to have him thinking I was some love struck cocktail waitress staring longingly out the window at him.

Mom and Ada were stil playing nosy neighbors.

“Get away from the window,” I said to them.

“That sure is a fancy truck he has,” Ada said.

She wasn’t wrong, it sure was.

Neither of them moved from the window and I could swear I saw Ada wave.

I groaned and went to the bathroom, because I was dying for a wee. Then I looked in the mirror and let out a little scream. I stil had half my makeup on and it wasn’t the good half. One word: scary. And Eddie had kissed me looking like this.

How weird was that?

At least my sexy hair held up.

I washed my face, went to my bedroom and put on some jeans and a t-shirt. I rol ed up Eddie’s shirt and tucked it under my pil ow, as a keepsake. I’d give it back if he asked for it but if he didn’t, I was stealing it and I didn’t care what that said about me.

Then I walked into the kitchen to get some food and I heard Mom wheel in behind me.

“Why didn’t you ask Eddie up to the apartment?” She asked.

“He had to get to work,” I told her.

Mom wheeled further into the kitchen.

“We saw you drive in. You were down there for a long time. Long enough for him to come up and meet your mother.”

Wonderful.

She was using her snooty mother tone, reminding me I’d been rude.

“We were talking about something,” I explained.

“You could have talked about it up here. I could have made him some iced tea, maybe a sandwich. I’m getting good at sandwiches. It’s lunchtime; everyone has to eat lunch,” Mom pointed out.

“He’s a busy guy.”

“Not so busy he can’t take time to eat.”

“What’s he do?” Ada asked, coming up behind Mom.

“He’s a cop,” I told her.

Ada’s eyes got huge in her wrinkled face.

“Real y?” she breathed, her eyes working, probably wondering how she could finagle a ride-along.

“You’re ashamed,” Mom said.

My eyes moved to Mom and I stared at her.

“What?”

“You’re ashamed of me. That’s why you didn’t bring him up here.”

“I’m not ashamed!”

And I wasn’t, there were far more complicated reasons why I didn’t bring Eddie up and it had nothing to do with being ashamed of my mother.

“There’s no other reason,” she accused.

“I told you, he had to get to work.”

“You didn’t want him to see me like this.” Mom indicated her chair.

“That’s just not true.”

“I don’t believe you. You never bring anyone around. I can’t help how I am right now but I’m getting better al the time.”

“It’s not that,” I said.

“Then what is it?”

“We were kissing, al right!” I shouted.

Yeesh.

Mom’s mouth snapped closed and her eyes got al bright and dreamy. Ada clasped her hands in front of her with obvious joy.

This was not a good sign.

“Ladies, don’t get excited” I warned.

“How can I not get excited? He’s cute, he has a good job and a fancy truck. What’s not to get excited about?”

“And he looks good in those mirrored sunglasses. I bet most cops wish they could wear those sunglasses like your Eddie can, he can real y pul them off,” Ada put in.

I turned to Ada first.

“Ada, honey, he’s not my Eddie.” Then I turned to Mom,

“The reason you shouldn’t get excited is because he’s a nice guy, that’s it, the end. At first, I think he was curious, but now he’s…”

I didn’t know what he was. I had to find an explanation for it, for the kiss, his defending my virtue last night, everything.

I usual y did this in my head, where it was safe, not out loud to my mother.

My mind whirled to find an explanation.

He was a good guy, a cop for goodness sake. He had to wonder about me, especial y since I spent time with his friends. Now he’d figured me out and obviously wanted to rescue me. Although, I wouldn’t mind being rescued by Eddie, what happened after that? What happened when he realized that I wasn’t interesting and exciting? What happened when he found out I was real y Just Jet?